Three Years On

On this day in 2005, Jip and I arrived in Thailand to start this chapter of our lives. Returning here still seems like the best decision we could have made.

Jip’s moods and overall health have plateaued instead of continuing downhill as I feared they might. She has surprised me recently with how many activities are back on her list again. I often read aloud to her for about twenty minutes before bedtime—two years ago she would have said it took too much effort to listen. At the end of this month we’re going down to her village for the fifth anniversary of Jip’s dad’s passing. Last year she didn’t want to go, so I went alone and represented her.

Consistent, experienced care providers make all the difference. The current team of three women has been together nearly a year. They like Jip and they like each other. Jip can worry about other things besides whether or not her caregivers knows what they’re doing. I’m riding this wave of stability, knowing that it won’t last. In early August I’ll visit the U.S. for a couple weeks.

All this relatively good news is built on the foundation of Jip having had no major loss of physical function or cognitive ability, which also amazes me. We’d been warned for years that heat would be a problem if we ever moved back to the tropics, but the weather doesn’t seem to have led to her disease getting worse.

Well, maybe a little worse. She’s definitely still got spasticity problems … now in one arm as well as the legs. But luckily with round-the-clock care she’s always able to convince somebody to help her “de-stiff” her limbs, so the discomfort doesn’t last too long.

My brain and body are also doing pretty well. I get enough exercise, I finish the book club book before the book club meeting, and I get out of town on a regular basis. None of those things was true for me in Seattle just before we moved.