A stand up day for Janet. Just not where we thought.

Because Janet is officially C diff. positive she is not allowed to participate in any rehab games. She can roll through but not touch anything. Tom came in around nine to tell me that and Janet seemed visibly disappointed she wasn’t going as I believe she had herself psyched up to go. Not sure why this wasn’t pointed out during the set up phase, I thought of it but wasn’t going to bring it up as I really want Janet to have a shot at this. I spoke to Dr. Sharko and she agreed that Janet isn’t displaying any symptoms of C diff. but until she is off the antibiotic she can’t even be tested. Dr. Sharko set up a test for Monday and Tom will set up an appointment in rehab for next week.

The day got off to a busy start with nurse Diana in the room when I arrived. She is nice but not the most detail oriented or delicate person so she made more of a mess around Janet than when she came in and I had to get Janet into the wheelchair so the bed could be changed. So after all the rolling around and shifting up and down Janet was relieved to sit in the chair for twenty minutes. I sat her on the edge of the nice clean bed and she insisted on staying there for fifteen minutes before her eyes started closing. I started stretching her as Tom was coming soon with the tilt table.

Janet woke up as I was finishing her legs and was good and ready for some serious standing. She set a record today going almost an hour at seventy degrees. Tom was happy the way her legs stretched out and she seemed to handle the pressure on her feet and ankles well. Leanne did some range of motion with Janet while standing and Janet followed Leanne’s command to raise her left arm above her head and let it down ten times back to back. High five! She gave a better one to Leanne than me and seemed sad when Leanne left. Janet’s vitals stayed very stable throughout and she had a real good sweat going by the end of it all. Back in bed she was asleep before I could change her shirt so I headed home for my break with Brenda coming in to visit a little before two. Hoping Janet is well rested and raring to go.

A rather mellow afternoon with Janet.

I arrived to find her in Houdieno mode and Janet F. in the room for a visit. Interesting to see how close Houdieno comes to actually falling out of bed head first. She’s getting close folks. Janet had a little nap towards the end of Janet F’s visit and when she awoke we just had time to drive around the ward in the little wheelchair before dinner. Janet did well and I got excited when we saw a baby visiting someone in a hallway bed. I thought Janet would be all over seeing a baby. We made it up to the bed and I was telling Janet how there’s a baby there and the mom picked the baby up so we could see and the kid smiled and laughed and blew bubbles with her tongue stuck out, could not have been cuter, seriously. Janet looked at her like she was from Mars for about a minute then put her hand on the wheel and drove off.

Back in the room I sat Janet on the edge of the bed for some unassisted sitting before dinner. I did help her straighten her back a few times, she loves that, but overall she sat there for a good forty minutes. About fifteen minutes in Naomi came in to start dinner and Janet clearly wanted no part of lying down yet so we started the feed with her sitting up. Cool. A silly preschool song came on that has a bunch of actions to it for waking up in the morning and exercising. I tried doing the actions with Janet and thought I was in total control of her and she wasn’t paying attention until the guy singing said “stand up”, and Janet leaned into me and put her hand on my shoulder like let’s stand up. I was not in position to help her stand but congratulated her on the effort. High five! She did finally indicate she wanted to lay down and when she was all comfy I read some more Anne of Green Gables to her. She was totally in to it again and when I stumbled over a couple of lines she shot me a raised brow look like “you dummy” then smiled. She knew I screwed up. I didn’t laugh or anything but I guess she could tell my cadence had changed and maybe she didn’t understand some of the words. Impressive.

She very willingly gave me a goodnight kiss followed by a “we just kissed, hee hee hee”, kind of smile. Love her.

Praying for a very alert, responsive and strong Janet during her physio workout at rehab tomorrow.

A decent day so far.

Janet had already been cleaned and changed when I arrived at eight this morning, the music was even playing, well done Naomi. Only problem was Janet was sleeping. She woke up at nine and we got into some stretching and sitting and standing. A solid performance by Janet, not her best but solid. She of course had a little nap after that then we did more sitting. This time totally unassisted and I tried giving her tasks to do while sitting. She managed a couple of weak hair brushing strokes by her left ear and a few more on her cheeks and chin. She has always been concerned about facial hair but hers isn’t that long. I don’t think she fully gets the hair brush thing yet and after each stroke she wants to look at the brush to see if there’s anything in it. I held up the mirror so she could see herself brushing but that had little effect. I did get a hug out of her so that was worth the effort right there. With a little prodding she managed to lay down almost unassisted then I sat the bed up so we could do a little iBlackboard work. Right off the bat she was drawing a circle on command. Many circles all in one again but a circle none the less. That seemed to tire her out so nap time it was.

Tom came in around 11:30 and slid her into the little wheelchair. From there he did this cool standing exercise where Janet has her left hand on the bed rail pushing herself up as she leans forward into Tom who is picking her up from the hips. She was a little scared or uncomfortable the first couple times, leaving her head on Tom’s shoulder, then I tried it with her and she straightened right up and was looking all around quite confidently. This kinda feeds my suspicion that she doesn’t really connect with Tom right now. He has arranged a workout session for Janet in rehab tomorrow around eleven. I look forward to taking her down there for that and have been telling her continually she needs to do really well there.

Naomi came in to start the lunch feed around 12:15 and I mentioned that this round of C diff. doesn’t seem nearly as intense as the first. She agreed and doesn’t think Janet has it right now. I asked if we could send another sample away and she agreed to as soon as they are able to collect one.

Praying for some clear communication from Janet.

An active afternoon it was. I could tell Janet had been in Houdieno mode while I was gone but she was asleep when I arrived. When she woke it was time for a little stretching then a phone call to Mary/Gaga. Janet listened intently often looking directly at the phone. She likes to hear her mother’s voice. A walk in the sun was next and in the essence of time I drove off the ward and to the beach. I did get Janet to push the elevator button though and she did. I guide her hand to it but she can now get enough force behind her finger to light the button. It was a beautiful afternoon here and only a handful of people at the beach. I could tell Janet was loving the warm sun. She was also the most comfortable in the chair I’ve noticed for a long time. She still grabs for her left knee but not with the sense of pain and urgency of before. On the way back I challenged her to drive all the way from the security desk in the Centennial Building to the first bench in the hall. About fifty feet. She did it non stop. High five! I drove a little ways farther down the hall and challenged her to go the rest of the way to the door. About forty feet. She did with only one short pause and did not take her hand off the wheel. High five! Also on this outing for the first time I noticed Janet grab the wheel herself. I have always had to guide her hand to it so this is a good sign she is gaining confidence. Back in the room it was past dinner time (oops) so into bed she went. I suggested we weigh Janet then so we did. A slight loss from last week but very slight so I’m not concerned.

I expected a nap during dinner and was wrong so I brought school into session. She loves iBlackboard. She scribbled unassisted a few times then I tried getting her to write Y, X, a circle and a check mark. Pictures of her attempt at Y and X are attached. I think she did well considering. She totally has the motion for drawing a circle but as you can see she just doesn’t want to stop. She only had mild interest in the ABC song today and none in the Naming Therapy. No luck with signing either but the drawing more than made up for that.

I could sense her starting to tire and the sun was setting so I decided to read some Anne of Green Gables. Aren’t I brave? I’ve never read it before. Too girly but I have to admit it is fun to read. Love the style and the word choices. I’m amazed at how into it Janet is. She had her head on my shoulder the whole thirty minutes and I guess listened because she didn’t fall asleep. Cool. I got her changed for bed, she gave me a goodnight kiss and I left feeling very happy and encouraged by everything that she did today.

Thanking God, thanking Team Save Janet and praying for complete healing and a productive day tomorrow.

Some things are worth waiting for.

Janet was awake when I came in this morning and was getting cleaned up. As soon as Naomi was done Janet was back to sleep. Till 10am! Think of the sleep in I could have had. I did manage to be productive while waiting and she woke up just in time for Tom’s physio session. He wanted to demonstrate the high tech sliding board to me as I had not seen it in action. It is a plastic board with a disc that Janet sits on and she in theory can slide herself from bed to chair and back. We were both in demonstration mode not expecting much from Janet as she had just woken up but she totally understood what was going on and how she could move herself. Once about half way across she could grab the arm rail of the wheelchair and she pulled herself the rest of the way. High five!(which she gladly gave to Tom btw). It’s more difficult going back into the bed but still good for Janet to try. I demonstrated the standing from sitting that I do with Janet and Tom was happy. So much so that he suggests we take her to rehab to try a couple workout sessions there. Apparently there is a “standing rack” down there that would allow Janet to stand in the position I had her in only on her own and for much longer. I can only hold her for a minute at a time. Tom is also wanting to see how Janet responds to the busy environment of rehab in hopes that the stimuli there might trigger some re connections in her brain. Praying that this is a foot in the door to rehab if she does well.

The good news continues as after Tom was done I took Janet for a drive around the ward in the little wheelchair. She did the best she’s ever done. On one stretch she went about thirty feet without stopping. She also did a lot of moving without me coaching her. High five!

So far this round of C diff. doesn’t seem as bad as the first round. I left Janet at 12:30 as she was napping during her lunch feed. Looking forward to an active afternoon.

What a “diff.” three hours makes! After returning from a lunch break and while Kiko was painting Janet’s finger nails it was announced that the C diff. is back. Ugh. Apparently the test results we saw from this morning were from a sample sent a few days ago and yesterday’s sample came back positive this afternoon. That means Janet was clear for a while but has recontracted. I suspect Dr. Sharko will put her on some med for it tomorrow and back to the gloves and gowns we go. Sigh.

The return of the C diff. put a real damper on the rest of the day which had been pretty darn good up until that point. Deb and Ramona stopped by the house on my break and left a nice care package. Thanks you guys. Totally unnecessary but very much appreciated and it’s so nice to have you on the team! After Kiko painted Janet’s finger nails I sat her up on the side of the bed and did some standing with her. She continues to improve at this, standing way more upright each day. She is also getting better at lying back down on her own, I help with the legs and aiming her for the right spot and she does the rest. Janet fell asleep around 5:15 and was still out just after six when I decided to go home. Once again as soon as I changed and leaned in to say goodnight she woke up. I very reluctantly left anyways telling her to get lots of rest and make that C diff. go away.

Praying for a restful and healing night and a day of massive improvement tomorrow.

C Diff. is officially gone! Yay!

No more gloves and gown! Test results came back negative so all that needed to be done was a detailed cleaning of the room. Janet was awake when I arrived after a reported very good nights sleep. I got her all stretched out just as the special cleaning lady showed up. She cleaned the wheelchair first then I got Janet into it and we went for a walk while the rest of the room got sanitized.
We found a nice warm sunny spot in the courtyard of the rehab area and Janet had a twenty minute sun nap. We then took a lap around the perimeter of
the hospital and ended up going down to the rehab wing. Dr. Main saw us and was very impressed and happy with Janet’s progress. It has been a month since he was Hospitalist on her ward. Still always amazes me how people see the changes in Janet right away. Cool.

Back in the room it was noon and past Janet’s lunch time so back into bed she went and Mirella plugged her in for lunch. As I said goodbye to go home for a bit, I asked for a goodbye kiss and got one! Happy day!

A pretty good visit with Janet today. She didn’t seem quite as bright but there were moments of radiance for sure and no naps!

I arrived shortly after two and got a little smile of recognition from her as she sat in her wheelchair. I moved her into bed so I could do some stretching. Her left leg and right arm are still problematic and as I tried to make a fist with her right hand she winced in pain. Surprisingly when I stretched out her right leg she actually cried. I took it easy on her after that and got her seated on the edge of the bed. Once she was sitting up straight her whole mood changed. You could see the lights coming on and her awareness improving. I stood her up a few times and noted she is able to stand much straighter than previous and really seems to enjoy that. Next up was the new wheelchair which hadn’t been used for a few days therefore today wasn’t her best effort but it was decent. We took a quick walk to the beach as I didn’t want her to be late for dinner. Janet was very aware of the people at the beach as well as the flowers we pass by on our walk. I often stop and let her look at them and touch them, this time she reached out without any prompting to have a feel and look at one.

Back in bed and plugged in for dinner I was expecting her to fall asleep, but no, wide awake the whole time. We used the iBlackboard, practiced sign language, played the abc song on the iPad, tried a few different things on the Naming Therapy app and tried to speak. She was not stellar at any activity but is quite interested in the iBlackboard and the Naming Therapy apps. We will keep practicing. I got one yes sign on command today but still not in response to a question. The best part of the visit was when I got two kisses on command! I got two because the first one was kinda awkward (as first kisses usually are). I didn’t expect her to actually do it and I was a little too far away to make contact but the second one I was ready as she moved in and puckered up. The sweetest thing about it was I asked her again half an hour later and all I got was a ” are you kidding” look.

Had a little chat with Dr. Price and he confirmed Janet did not pass the swallowing test. She needs to follow commands better to have a chance at it. He did agree to write an order for Dr. McCann to come and see Janet and assess her rehab potential. Pray hard y’all.

I tucked her in and headed home just after 7:30, she was finally getting sleepy. Praying for a restful and healing night and productive and active day tomorrow.

Laurel and Raju hung out with Janet for the first part of today before hitting the trail to cowtown.

Laurel gave Janet a good stretch then practiced sign language with her. That went well then Janet scribbled a bit on the iblackboard. Laurel feels Janet likes that app. She always has preferred old school stuff. Only a couple small naps for Janet before Laurel and Raj left just after noon.

Grateful for the opportunity to worship at Trinity this morning and welcoming some new members to the Team. Thank you Deb and Ramona for the promise of food for the freezer and I look forward to training Ramona on the range of motion exercises for Janet. If anyone else is able to visit Janet for thirty minutes or so at anytime and read or sing or tell jokes please let me know.

Looking forward to my visit this afternoon.