Saturday, January 31, 2015
MRI
Well, things didn't quite go as we thought with Aaron's last dose of sole medrol. We had hoped it would stop his symptoms and he'd be feeling better by now. But, unfortunately it hasn't. The numbness and pain are still there and have travelled further down into his foot. He is says it isn't too painful, just irritating and frustrating. Aaron called the Dr. office Wednesday to see what this means. They weren't for certain, but are guessing he is having an actual relapse of MS. The only way to know for certain is to have his MRI a little early. If it is an actual relapse, then this might mean a No go on the medication and a start all over of something new. Bummer. Not the news we want to hear. It's frustrating because he had 9 months of really good health. To see that decline and the reality that this disease will truly never go away is hard. But, we can't get down yet. We really just need to see the MRI results and then go from there. Once those are in, I'll hopefully be able to tell you more. WE are glad he's getting the MRI earlier due to insurance and upcoming events in life. I hope it gives us the answers we need too.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Update...
Our hope was that Aaron would continue his long stretch of no relapses in the year of 2015, but sadly at the beginning of Jan. the 9 month stretch ended. Boo!
Aaron began to experience, numbness, and some pain on his left side again, along with sleepless nights and a lot of discomfort. I always feel bad when he gets like this. It must be a real pain and confidence crusher. Of course Aaron pushes through it, doesn't tell anyone and deals with it quietly. He's learned though not to toy with it and as soon as the pain comes, to do something about it. I'm glad he is getting better about doing this. Thus, he went in for infusion treatments the next week and feels like they helped a ton.
I'm grateful there is a fast fix to helping these symptoms. I wish I understood more, if it is helping the problem. At least, he can go back to his same old self after these infusions. We are always grateful that the MS is not manifesting itself in another area. I guess that means bigger troubles if it is. So our hopes are, if the symptoms are back, that at least they stay on the left side.
We did feel it was a tender mercy the flare up came on when it did, since the next week we left for our family vacation. The infusion is like a shield for about 6 weeks. So he had the extra help while we were gone for his immune system and treatment of symptoms. Which was comforting to me, especially since we went to Disneyland where there was just a measles out break. Plus he had to do a lot of physical walking, driving and some sleepless nights.
Aaron's a trooper. We are learning of so many that deal with autoimmune diseases. They are horrible and can be such a set back in life. Yet, so many are persevering through pain and trials and just living life to the best they can despite their physical difficulties. I hate that out of all the autoimmune diseases Aaron has to have the one that attacks the brain! But, I am proud of Aaron and his way of facing this trial in his life. Though it is truly a daily struggle for him, he is pushing forward with such optimism and desire to not let it stop him. There are days when it does, that's got to be frustrating. But he pushes on and is stalwart. I truly look to him as an example. We all face trial, but not letting it stop us is truly an accomplishment.
Hang in there babe! Love ya! Keep up the perseverance and know we are rooting for you!
Aaron began to experience, numbness, and some pain on his left side again, along with sleepless nights and a lot of discomfort. I always feel bad when he gets like this. It must be a real pain and confidence crusher. Of course Aaron pushes through it, doesn't tell anyone and deals with it quietly. He's learned though not to toy with it and as soon as the pain comes, to do something about it. I'm glad he is getting better about doing this. Thus, he went in for infusion treatments the next week and feels like they helped a ton.
I'm grateful there is a fast fix to helping these symptoms. I wish I understood more, if it is helping the problem. At least, he can go back to his same old self after these infusions. We are always grateful that the MS is not manifesting itself in another area. I guess that means bigger troubles if it is. So our hopes are, if the symptoms are back, that at least they stay on the left side.
We did feel it was a tender mercy the flare up came on when it did, since the next week we left for our family vacation. The infusion is like a shield for about 6 weeks. So he had the extra help while we were gone for his immune system and treatment of symptoms. Which was comforting to me, especially since we went to Disneyland where there was just a measles out break. Plus he had to do a lot of physical walking, driving and some sleepless nights.
Aaron's a trooper. We are learning of so many that deal with autoimmune diseases. They are horrible and can be such a set back in life. Yet, so many are persevering through pain and trials and just living life to the best they can despite their physical difficulties. I hate that out of all the autoimmune diseases Aaron has to have the one that attacks the brain! But, I am proud of Aaron and his way of facing this trial in his life. Though it is truly a daily struggle for him, he is pushing forward with such optimism and desire to not let it stop him. There are days when it does, that's got to be frustrating. But he pushes on and is stalwart. I truly look to him as an example. We all face trial, but not letting it stop us is truly an accomplishment.
Hang in there babe! Love ya! Keep up the perseverance and know we are rooting for you!
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Catch up!
Wow, I didn't realize how long its been since I last wrote on this blog. I'm sure no one reads it anymore, but its good for me and our memory books.
Aaron's physically felt fairly well since my last post of him graduating and having that stress out of his life. He actually just got his paper completely turned in, accepted and published! We are now finally waiting for the "real" degree to come in the mail.
MS we are learning is a disease of ups and down that can effect you daily. People ask us how he is doing. Which is a hard one to answer. Because, yes, he is doing better than the past. He hasn't been in for steroids in a few months and the meds seem to working for the most part. But, he physically has daily problems, these come and range in differing symptoms and degrees of pain. He is learning what things effect what and what he can do to minimize things. The hard part is when something new comes up and we aren't sure what is causing it and how to minimize it. When you look at Aaron you would never know he is sick. He is such an upbeat, positive, loving and kind person. His set backs he deals with quietly and I'm honestly the only person who picks up on these things and I'm sure I even miss some of them at times. Like today, he looked pale, I could tell he was struggling with his speech and feeling tired. He showed me he has been biting his lip consecutively, and has a huge sore on the inside of his mouth. Yet, he pushes through it, tries to fast, does a full day at church and meetings, and worries about others the whole time. I forced him to eat lunch and lay down for a little bit today, but of course that lasted for a few minutes before he had to jump on the busy bandwagon again with life.
I pray that he never has the intense limitations that MS can bring like, a cane, wheelchair or other extremely physical debilitating effects. We feel blessed that we've escaped those thus far. So we will continue to be grateful for that.
We saw his specialist this past week. There's not much to share. We are learning that the MRI is really the only way other than symptoms to track and know how he is doing. We are planning on getting one late March, early April. From there we will decide on the direction we should take him as far as medication and treatments go.
We received good news that most likely the medicine that Aaron's on now, will not effect out new baby that will be born in March. We've been really nervous about it, because there are some drugs out there that can cause big problems in the development of babies. We were never planning on having us get pregnant while on medication, but life has a way of surprising you. We feel at peace about the whole thing now though and are grateful that all looks well with the development of the baby so far.
That's pretty much the summary of everything right now. Hope this helps those who are wondering. We are happy to have a active, happy dad in our lives, despite the hardships. We are grateful he has done so well these past 6 months and hoping it continues.
Aaron's physically felt fairly well since my last post of him graduating and having that stress out of his life. He actually just got his paper completely turned in, accepted and published! We are now finally waiting for the "real" degree to come in the mail.
MS we are learning is a disease of ups and down that can effect you daily. People ask us how he is doing. Which is a hard one to answer. Because, yes, he is doing better than the past. He hasn't been in for steroids in a few months and the meds seem to working for the most part. But, he physically has daily problems, these come and range in differing symptoms and degrees of pain. He is learning what things effect what and what he can do to minimize things. The hard part is when something new comes up and we aren't sure what is causing it and how to minimize it. When you look at Aaron you would never know he is sick. He is such an upbeat, positive, loving and kind person. His set backs he deals with quietly and I'm honestly the only person who picks up on these things and I'm sure I even miss some of them at times. Like today, he looked pale, I could tell he was struggling with his speech and feeling tired. He showed me he has been biting his lip consecutively, and has a huge sore on the inside of his mouth. Yet, he pushes through it, tries to fast, does a full day at church and meetings, and worries about others the whole time. I forced him to eat lunch and lay down for a little bit today, but of course that lasted for a few minutes before he had to jump on the busy bandwagon again with life.
I pray that he never has the intense limitations that MS can bring like, a cane, wheelchair or other extremely physical debilitating effects. We feel blessed that we've escaped those thus far. So we will continue to be grateful for that.
We saw his specialist this past week. There's not much to share. We are learning that the MRI is really the only way other than symptoms to track and know how he is doing. We are planning on getting one late March, early April. From there we will decide on the direction we should take him as far as medication and treatments go.
We received good news that most likely the medicine that Aaron's on now, will not effect out new baby that will be born in March. We've been really nervous about it, because there are some drugs out there that can cause big problems in the development of babies. We were never planning on having us get pregnant while on medication, but life has a way of surprising you. We feel at peace about the whole thing now though and are grateful that all looks well with the development of the baby so far.
That's pretty much the summary of everything right now. Hope this helps those who are wondering. We are happy to have a active, happy dad in our lives, despite the hardships. We are grateful he has done so well these past 6 months and hoping it continues.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
He did it!
Amongst the craziness of this past year, Aaron was able to graduate today with Honors! He truly is one amazing man. It just proves that despite the trials or hardships we face, with the Lords help we can overcome and accomplish hard things. Though our hardships don't end with a degree or a completion of a phase of life, overcoming them does give us greater strength, fortitude and courage to face the next challenge head on.
Congratulations Dr. Meacham! Thanks for your example to us all!
Congratulations Dr. Meacham! Thanks for your example to us all!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Update on Aaron's MS
It's been a rough few days in the MS world. It's a funny thing, just as you start to think you've got this disease figured out and that Aaron's feeling better, we take a new turn. I'm starting to realize that its an unpredictable disease and effects everyone very differently. Aaron is a champ tho and is so positive and upbeat. He's facing things head on and trying to just move forward with his life. With that said, it's a draining disease and I can tell it gets him down and mainly just frustrates him. It tends to hold him back at times and I can't imagine how hard that would be.
Aaron got another MRI and blood work done 2 weeks ago. What an intense, horrible and expensive little pain that is and we have to do yearly or maybe even more. Luckily Aaron's not clasterphobic and handles the machine just fine. If it were me, there would be BIG problems.
We waited a few days and then we were able to get the results of the MRI on a disk. When we pulled everything up, not much made sense to us, other than the fact it mentioned "New Lesion" and "Active Lesions". Yep, my heart sank and I had a moment of anger. My thoughts were "Um, I thought we were on the right track, but I had a feeling it wasn't working... yet, why not!?? Ugh! Always questions, never answers!" I then had to sit back and think, we don't know exactly what this all means, so calm down and be patient. I had my mom who is a nurse look over them. She came to the same conclusion as we did. I was not anticipating the appointment we had in a few days.
A day after we got the results the Doctors office called. It was Sally, one of the PA's we had worked with. She told Aaron that the results showed that he was having an active lesion as we speak and needed to get in to receive more soul medrol. We weren't sure what to do. We were meeting with the specialist on Monday, should we wait until we get further info. or should we just take care of it. I was bugged because it had only been about 8 weeks since his last dose. Shouldn't that have done the trick? But we both decided it'd be best to go and get it done. Aaron is leaving on a business trip for a few weeks the next week and so we figured we'd better get him better. So Friday and Saturday afternoon's were spent pumping Aaron full of steroids. Hopefully it does the trick!
The rest of the weekend we spent praying and hoping something good would come of this appointment on Monday. On Monday we headed into the Specialists office. Once there, there were two other couples hanging out and chatting. We joined is once there and started a "group therapy" session. No, really it kind of was like that. Everyone was sharing "their" story. It was interesting to hear and see how MS really effects everyone so differently, attacks in such strange ways and is never the same story with anyone. It was nice to talk to others, but hard at the same time. Normal looking people, who you'd look at and think they were perfectly healthy, but inside their own immune system is attacking them. One gal spoke of her frustration about just that. That everyone saw a normal girl, yet, they had no idea the pain and suffering she was experiencing inside. They didn't understand why she was sooooo tired and couldn't accomplish all that others do. She said it's hard as a mom, to have people not understand where she is coming from and why she is the way she is. You can't tell just looking at her. That hit me hard. This must be how Aaron feels. Not only that, but the pressure he must feel with these symptoms and trying to work in a demanding job, keep up in school/church and be this energetic fun father and husband. My heart broke for him. I was a wake up call once again for me. Of how for a minute I could see into Aaron's head and how he must be feeling.
Anyways, after a long wait, we headed back in. The Doctor came in. You knew he was behind. We were his 3:00 appointment and the people there we had been chatting with were his 2 and 2:30 appointments. He was kind, but quick. He confirmed the new lesion, and that things maybe weren't going as smooth as we had hoped. He told us that unfortunately we may have to change medications. We need to watch it a little longer, to know for sure. He said if the flare ups continue, we'd definitely change. If the MS manifest itself in a new form, we will for sure new to change and need a new MRI. If he starts to stabilize and have no problems. Then we can keep at what we are doing. And of course... Time will only tell.
Haven't we already given it enough time? Its been almost a year! More Damage! But, this how this disease works and how the whole medication situation will always be.
We were told some encouraging news that new meds are coming out in 2015. The scary part is will insurances pick them up, will they be something Aaron can tolerate and help him. Who knows. Once again, time will only tell.
We left realizing that this is completely out of our control. We honestly just have to trust completely in the Lord on this one. There isn't much we can do. We can try to take care of Aaron, be healthy, fast, pray and exercise faith, but the rest is up to Him.
I keep going back to Elder Uctdorf's talk from General Conference this year.
"Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
MS=Meacham Strength
Aaron got another MRI and blood work done 2 weeks ago. What an intense, horrible and expensive little pain that is and we have to do yearly or maybe even more. Luckily Aaron's not clasterphobic and handles the machine just fine. If it were me, there would be BIG problems.
We waited a few days and then we were able to get the results of the MRI on a disk. When we pulled everything up, not much made sense to us, other than the fact it mentioned "New Lesion" and "Active Lesions". Yep, my heart sank and I had a moment of anger. My thoughts were "Um, I thought we were on the right track, but I had a feeling it wasn't working... yet, why not!?? Ugh! Always questions, never answers!" I then had to sit back and think, we don't know exactly what this all means, so calm down and be patient. I had my mom who is a nurse look over them. She came to the same conclusion as we did. I was not anticipating the appointment we had in a few days.
A day after we got the results the Doctors office called. It was Sally, one of the PA's we had worked with. She told Aaron that the results showed that he was having an active lesion as we speak and needed to get in to receive more soul medrol. We weren't sure what to do. We were meeting with the specialist on Monday, should we wait until we get further info. or should we just take care of it. I was bugged because it had only been about 8 weeks since his last dose. Shouldn't that have done the trick? But we both decided it'd be best to go and get it done. Aaron is leaving on a business trip for a few weeks the next week and so we figured we'd better get him better. So Friday and Saturday afternoon's were spent pumping Aaron full of steroids. Hopefully it does the trick!
The rest of the weekend we spent praying and hoping something good would come of this appointment on Monday. On Monday we headed into the Specialists office. Once there, there were two other couples hanging out and chatting. We joined is once there and started a "group therapy" session. No, really it kind of was like that. Everyone was sharing "their" story. It was interesting to hear and see how MS really effects everyone so differently, attacks in such strange ways and is never the same story with anyone. It was nice to talk to others, but hard at the same time. Normal looking people, who you'd look at and think they were perfectly healthy, but inside their own immune system is attacking them. One gal spoke of her frustration about just that. That everyone saw a normal girl, yet, they had no idea the pain and suffering she was experiencing inside. They didn't understand why she was sooooo tired and couldn't accomplish all that others do. She said it's hard as a mom, to have people not understand where she is coming from and why she is the way she is. You can't tell just looking at her. That hit me hard. This must be how Aaron feels. Not only that, but the pressure he must feel with these symptoms and trying to work in a demanding job, keep up in school/church and be this energetic fun father and husband. My heart broke for him. I was a wake up call once again for me. Of how for a minute I could see into Aaron's head and how he must be feeling.
Anyways, after a long wait, we headed back in. The Doctor came in. You knew he was behind. We were his 3:00 appointment and the people there we had been chatting with were his 2 and 2:30 appointments. He was kind, but quick. He confirmed the new lesion, and that things maybe weren't going as smooth as we had hoped. He told us that unfortunately we may have to change medications. We need to watch it a little longer, to know for sure. He said if the flare ups continue, we'd definitely change. If the MS manifest itself in a new form, we will for sure new to change and need a new MRI. If he starts to stabilize and have no problems. Then we can keep at what we are doing. And of course... Time will only tell.
Haven't we already given it enough time? Its been almost a year! More Damage! But, this how this disease works and how the whole medication situation will always be.
We were told some encouraging news that new meds are coming out in 2015. The scary part is will insurances pick them up, will they be something Aaron can tolerate and help him. Who knows. Once again, time will only tell.
We left realizing that this is completely out of our control. We honestly just have to trust completely in the Lord on this one. There isn't much we can do. We can try to take care of Aaron, be healthy, fast, pray and exercise faith, but the rest is up to Him.
I keep going back to Elder Uctdorf's talk from General Conference this year.
"Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
We can be grateful!
But some might say, “What do I have to be grateful for when my world is falling apart?”
Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be."
Grateful in our circumstances. So for me, I'm grateful I have Aaron in my life. No matter what happens, how much life changes or where his health takes us... I'm so glad I have him in my life. I wouldn't change a thing. 7 years ago when I met him, I knew there was something different about him. I knew that the world he started to share with me, was better than I had ever hoped for. I'm grateful that this is the struggle he has. That this is what we are facing. There are other things I'm grateful we don't have to face together. I'm grateful that he has changed me for the better and continues to challenge and help me. I love Aaron. This whole MS thing has opened my eyes to an even better understanding of Love, devotion and hope. I'm grateful for the lessons it is teaching us about the Atonement, our Savior, hope and the idea that this earth life is a trial and test of Faith. He gave us all we have, we owe it all to Him. Circumstances such as these truly have helped us become more grounded and our perspectives are continually changing, and I'm grateful for that.MS=Meacham Strength
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Because of Him...
Because of Him
I know that no matter what our family will be together again!
I know that Aaron and All will be healthy, whole and complete again someday!
That our family is eternal and that we Can live together again.
That I can lay my fears aside and Trust in the Lord's plan for my family and I.
That there isn't an end, a finale or just an earth life.
That death, disease, heartache, pain, suffering, and loneliness can and has been overcome!
Because of Him, I can be and live with hope and peace.
I'm so grateful for my Savior, my Redeemer, my brother and my friend.
Happy Easter from the Meacham's!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
A day MS meant something else!
MS= Meacham Strength
A week ago MS meant something very different to us than the typical Mulitple Sclerosis... it meant Meacham Strength.
On April 8, 2014 Aaron stood in front of a room of people and defended his doctoral dissertation. Not only did he pass, but he presented with confidence, humility, ease and eloquence. I might add he looked very handsome too. Anyways, since his diagnosis with MS we wondered if this day would come. Aaron took all of Fall semester off. We focused on him feeling better and getting his life back to a somewhat normal routine. After Christmas Aaron approached me and told me he was going to finish, and he was going to do it by Spring. I was like, OK! So instead of spending New Year's Eve together, Aaron started his semester long goal of working hard on his dissertation. It has been a long few months for us both. Aaron at the height of it got pretty sick and frustrated. I think he almost gave up a few times. But with blessings, prayers, fasting and perseverance on Aaron's side, he plowed through it and finished his presentation hours before his Tuesday night defense.
As I sat and watched Aaron that night I had a wave of emotions.
It started off with my stomach dropping into a pit of nothingness, I was probably as or if not more nervous for him that he was. Once he started, he was so cool, collected and eloquent, I started to feel elated and proud. I also had moments where I felt stupid... I would think, "Wow, Aaron's really, really smart. I feel kind of dumb right now, those last 3 words I don't even know what they mean!" But, honestly I was really just so humbled, happy and so impressed by this man standing in front of me. If you all only knew. If you really knew what I have watched him go through for the past 7 years of studying and even more so the past 9 months since his diagnosis. At that moment Aaron was my hero in so many ways.
After he finished presenting, the questions came. At this point I was nervous again. I wanted Aaron to be all knowing and answer every question exactly the way he was suppose to. But, to my delight, he didn't answer every question with arrogance and exactness, he did it the "Aaron" way, he did it with humility. If he didn't know the answer, he'd admit to it, if he did know the answer, he'd answer it with a quiet, yet strong understanding of what he was saying. I sat back in awe, he really is one of those people who aren't there to be the show off, but to present and share in the knowledge he gained.
Once the questioning was done. I sat back in relief. Aaron entered the committee question answer session and I headed home. I waited anxiously for the phone to read with good news.
On my drive home I thought a lot. I thought a lot about what he overcame that day. Not just the typical fears and hardships a normal person faces with a defense, but also the walls and mtns. he had to climb with MS while doing it. I remembered 9 months back when you could barely make out what Aaron was saying. His speech was so slurred and his frustration so apparent. We worried the stress of this presentation would cause some of that to come back. But it didn't. I worried he'd lose his train of thought or forget while up there due to the effects of his MS, but he didn't. I worried he'd have a red flushing attack, but he didn't. I then had a huge wave of gratitude, love and peace feel my heart. The Lord had truly blessed, supported and strengthened Aaron that night and these past few months. I also thought of the strength and support of our friends and family.
Suddenly the phone rang and the best feeling of all came. RELIEF! Aaron passed his doctoral dissertation! He was done with his presentation part! Though he still has some writing to do, the hardest and scariest part was over. When I finally saw Aaron a few hours later, my heart skipped a beat. I realized how much I loved that boy and how proud I was to be his wife. He has worked endless hours and sacrificed so much for this point of our lives. He overcame so much to get here. We had so many sleepless and hard nights. Though life will continues, hardships will come, at least this phase of life is finally over.
The day of the defense my family showed Aaron their support by all sending Aaron texts or emails of their support with the blue MS=Meacham Strength bands. Our little family jumped in on the action:
Here is our humble hero! Love you Aaron!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
A week ago MS meant something very different to us than the typical Mulitple Sclerosis... it meant Meacham Strength.
On April 8, 2014 Aaron stood in front of a room of people and defended his doctoral dissertation. Not only did he pass, but he presented with confidence, humility, ease and eloquence. I might add he looked very handsome too. Anyways, since his diagnosis with MS we wondered if this day would come. Aaron took all of Fall semester off. We focused on him feeling better and getting his life back to a somewhat normal routine. After Christmas Aaron approached me and told me he was going to finish, and he was going to do it by Spring. I was like, OK! So instead of spending New Year's Eve together, Aaron started his semester long goal of working hard on his dissertation. It has been a long few months for us both. Aaron at the height of it got pretty sick and frustrated. I think he almost gave up a few times. But with blessings, prayers, fasting and perseverance on Aaron's side, he plowed through it and finished his presentation hours before his Tuesday night defense.
As I sat and watched Aaron that night I had a wave of emotions.
It started off with my stomach dropping into a pit of nothingness, I was probably as or if not more nervous for him that he was. Once he started, he was so cool, collected and eloquent, I started to feel elated and proud. I also had moments where I felt stupid... I would think, "Wow, Aaron's really, really smart. I feel kind of dumb right now, those last 3 words I don't even know what they mean!" But, honestly I was really just so humbled, happy and so impressed by this man standing in front of me. If you all only knew. If you really knew what I have watched him go through for the past 7 years of studying and even more so the past 9 months since his diagnosis. At that moment Aaron was my hero in so many ways.
After he finished presenting, the questions came. At this point I was nervous again. I wanted Aaron to be all knowing and answer every question exactly the way he was suppose to. But, to my delight, he didn't answer every question with arrogance and exactness, he did it the "Aaron" way, he did it with humility. If he didn't know the answer, he'd admit to it, if he did know the answer, he'd answer it with a quiet, yet strong understanding of what he was saying. I sat back in awe, he really is one of those people who aren't there to be the show off, but to present and share in the knowledge he gained.
Once the questioning was done. I sat back in relief. Aaron entered the committee question answer session and I headed home. I waited anxiously for the phone to read with good news.
On my drive home I thought a lot. I thought a lot about what he overcame that day. Not just the typical fears and hardships a normal person faces with a defense, but also the walls and mtns. he had to climb with MS while doing it. I remembered 9 months back when you could barely make out what Aaron was saying. His speech was so slurred and his frustration so apparent. We worried the stress of this presentation would cause some of that to come back. But it didn't. I worried he'd lose his train of thought or forget while up there due to the effects of his MS, but he didn't. I worried he'd have a red flushing attack, but he didn't. I then had a huge wave of gratitude, love and peace feel my heart. The Lord had truly blessed, supported and strengthened Aaron that night and these past few months. I also thought of the strength and support of our friends and family.
Suddenly the phone rang and the best feeling of all came. RELIEF! Aaron passed his doctoral dissertation! He was done with his presentation part! Though he still has some writing to do, the hardest and scariest part was over. When I finally saw Aaron a few hours later, my heart skipped a beat. I realized how much I loved that boy and how proud I was to be his wife. He has worked endless hours and sacrificed so much for this point of our lives. He overcame so much to get here. We had so many sleepless and hard nights. Though life will continues, hardships will come, at least this phase of life is finally over.
The day of the defense my family showed Aaron their support by all sending Aaron texts or emails of their support with the blue MS=Meacham Strength bands. Our little family jumped in on the action:
Only Jon...
Here is our humble hero! Love you Aaron!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Aaron's good friend and committee member wrote this comment and shared a picture of Aaron on Facebook for all to see. I thought it was so kind I had to share:
My friend, Aaron Meacham, successfully defended his dissertation this evening. Very inspiring guy who has overcome great obstacles to accomplish this all the while staying brilliantly humble and genuine! #truehero #congrats — with Aaron Meacham.
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