February 2024 - When you are getting married and say the vows “in sickness and in health” you don’t have an inkling of what that promise will mean in the future. Angie and I surely did not expect her to be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis early in our marriage and to have the increasing complications of that disease and related health issues over the decades. We had a very difficult end of 2023 that continued into this year. Much of February has been very focused on Angie’s ongoing health challenges and we feel we are finally seeing some healing and resolution. We thought it would be good to share some more detailed updates for all of you who have been praying for us.
The jaw pain that has been ongoing since October has now begun to decline after Botox-related shots from her neurologist. They say it could be weeks before we will know if this fully removes the pain or if further shots will be necessary. Her leg infection that started in January has finally healed, and the scars are fading. We now know it is an adult-onset allergy to latex and latex-adjacent materials. We are working to find alternatives for bandages, wraps, and such for her. Angie’s Multiple Sclerosis did not take a back seat during all these challenges, it has continued to progress and has been impacting her posture and attentiveness most recently. We have a new seat back for her wheelchair which is helping her sit up with better posture. We also have begun a new medication to help her focus her thoughts and memories better throughout the day. Love is an active word like Mr. Rogers says in the quote above, and T.R. shares his love through his caregiving of Angie.
T.R. balances these caregiver duties with his SIL responsibilities. He has been busy at work finalizing the 2024 budgets (yeah, major issues put those significantly behind this year) and leading the logistical planning for the biennial Language Technology Conference (LTCon 2024) which is coming up March 11 to 15 at the International Linguistics Center in Dallas, TX. Somehow, outside of caregiving and working at SIL, he still finds time for hobbies like gaming, cooking, and gardening.