A firsthand account of surviving catastrophic brain trauma and learning what recovery actually looks like.

On December 20, 2016, Reverend Cheryl Rieder lay in a hospital bed already recovering from a ruptured spinal disk when a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage struck without warning. Survival came down to a single moment: a physical therapist who placed a call button in her hand just before the rupture. That act of attentive care, those seconds of attention, made the difference.

Better is the story of everything that followed. It covers the emergency procedure to place titanium coils in her brain to stop the bleeding. It covers the procedural stroke that came during a routine follow-up visit. It covers the months of what Cheryl describes as “brief dementia,” the loss of the concept of time, the needle scratch sensation when memory failed, and the spiritual crisis of asking God why she was still alive when part of her was not sure she wanted to be.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

• Patients and caregivers navigating the long, unglamorous work of recovery.
• Faith leaders who have experienced a traumatic interruption to their ministry, or who support congregants through one.
• Anyone who has survived something difficult and is still working to make sense of it.