Charity George: A Living Miracle

Hello, my name is Charity George. I'm 29 years old and I am a miracle.

Charity is beautiful, with short brown hair and blue eyes. She is the wife to a wonderful husband named Jeremy, a pastor at Christian Homes in Holdrege. She is the mother of two beautiful girls, ages two and four, and is expecting another in early September. She is a daughter and a friend. She is an avid blogger. And She survived a brain tumor that affected her body to the point that only her eyes could move in her frozen body.

On April 19, 2007, Charity greeted the morning with numbness on her left side. April 23 revealed to Charity and the doctors that a massive brain tumor was attached to her brain stem. Twenty-six days later, Charity was trapped in her own body. The doctors at the Mayo clinic hung their heads and predicted dark and limited days ahead. But Jeremy prayed to God and promised to take her on a cruise once she was better. Charity blinked in agreement. Once for yes, two for no.

Four days later, Charity's thumb twitched. The steroid treatments were working. As Charity describes, the next six months floated by like a dream. On November 12, Charity looked at her mother and said, "I'm awake."

March 13, 2008, found Charity with another MRI, this time with good news. The tumor had shrunk from three centimeters to two point two. Her vertebrae was healing. On March 25, Charity was able to move to Omaha to Quality Living, a home for those in rehabilitation, after nine months at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln.

Nearly a year after her first symptoms, Charity was able to eat and swallow, speak small sentences, type with a regular keyboard, use a manual wheelchair, operate a powered wheelchair, sit in a chair and remain standing with most of her own strength. She began to take over her father's blog that he wrote on to keep family and friends updated on her progress. "I used to spend all day talking, now saying a sentence can be taxing," wrote Charity.

In December 2008, Charity moved to Christan Nursing Homes in Holdrege, Nebraska where her husband and children lived. Charity was almost home. She blogged daily to vent her frustrations and praise those around her. Her biggest pet peeves included handling early morning showers and her speech.

On January 31 she wrote, "It drives me nuts when people just give up understanding me or get super frustrated and walk away saying, "well,I can't understand her," as if I'm some third-party or when they pretend to understand me. Uh, this new life of mine has given me radar for this and I KNOW WHEN YOU ARE FAKING. It's not their fault if they can't understand me, I am well aware I have a speech problem. People don't have to feel bad saying 'what, I didn't get that.' Not in a million years would I be offended, ask away, I would so much rather be understood, than misunderstood."

Charity kept blogging daily until April 18, 2009. She greeted the morning with anticipation and a smile on her face. Her husband and children welcomed her in the main lobby. Jeremy helped her into the new handicap-accessible van and drove her to the new handicap-accessible home. After two years away, Charity came home. As a wife. As a mother. As a friend. As an equal. And her speech isn't all that bad, either.

And as for that cruise, it's scheduled for 2010, Charity and Jeremy's 10th anniversary.

Hello Charity George, you are a miracle.