Month: October 2013

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #dishes

Renovation Day 14. Lots of progress today, wiring for audio, building cabinetry near the fireplace, sanding texture off ceilings and removing a small wall to make room for the washer. We’ve decided to put the washer on one side of a small hallway and the dryer on the other so Janet can easily access both machines. All this because the manufacturers of laundry machines won’t make a front load washer with a right hand hinge. Thanks.

Janet was actually sleeping when I got to Connect this afternoon. Curtis reports she was in the gym this morning with him but nodding off a bit by lunch time so off for a nap she went. Nash and I went into her room about 3:30 and she was still sleeping. After she woke she even believed she had been sleeping and was feeling much better. Janet felt even better as we sat in the sun for happy hour with no jacket on. I guess she felt really good as she agreed to go to the gym before dinner without much of a debate.

I gave Janet the choice between Shuttle and bike as it was unclear which she had done with Curtis this morning. In hopes of keeping this as enjoyable as possible I gave her very loose targets for this ride and set the time for twenty minutes which is about how long a simple Shuttle workout takes. She surpassed the goal of 15rpm average easily by doing 18rpm without complaint and only an observation afterwards that “it was tiring”.

After dinner Garrett and Tiffany suggested Janet do the dishes while in the Standing Frame. I thought that was a great idea but of course Janet didn’t. Reluctantly and under protest Janet got into the Standing Frame and without the knee brace washed a sink full of dishes. There was lots of complaining about leg pain and “I can’t do anymore” but each complaint was followed by another plate washed rinsed and placed into the clean sink. For a first attempt Janet did very well. It may be hard to get her to do it again but hopefully she will as this forces her to put weight through both legs. The balance of her Standing Frame time was spent in the usual position and she tolerated that very well.

Janet complained a lot about her splint today and says her fingers hurt when straightened. I made an appointment for her to see Julie at the hand clinic Friday where I suspect she’ll adjust Janet’s splint to fit better.

With her exercises complete the rest of the night was Janet’s. She chose for me to read some Not a Fan to her first and I had her read some too. She continues to improve her reading skills nicely. We just got through a chapter and it was time to watch The Voice. Although we can’t focus as intently on the show like we would watching it at home I think its great that others join us for parts of it and Janet seems to enjoy the conversations that take place in and around the living room. She is getting to be more outgoing in engaging with other residents, visitors and staff.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep that brings lots of energy and confidence to tomorrow’s activities.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #walk

Renovation Day 13 was a quiet one. I ripped up a little more of the former pink tile floor leaving the last of it until just before the new floor goes in. Tomorrow I get to sand the last of the texture off the second bedroom ceiling. I can hardly wait.

Janet had just finished lunch and was waiting for me when I got to Connect. It was a beautiful sunny day here so I suggested a walk and Janet agreed saying that others were going for a walk too. We ended up going for a nice long walk with Willie and his wife Val. Towards the end, Janet was complaining of being cold even though it was fourteen degrees and she had her winter coat on. I guess we need to shop for a warmer coat.

We got back inside for a Skype chat with Mary/Gaga that went well then Janet had a brief nap. I know it was brief because I laid down with her just to remind myself what a bed feels like. Once up, we sat in the kitchen and chatted with Jess and Sydney. Janet was a little quiet but enjoyed the time and drank her Fresca surprisingly quickly.

The rest of the evening was very quiet as I gave Janet the day off from the gym. We watched football while visiting with various people that came in and out of the living room and I had Janet read a little on the iPad. She is getting so much better at that its very exciting. When Janet started to fade around 8:30 we headed off to get ready for bed. Each night for a while now I’ve been trying to get Janet to lift her left leg while standing so I can slip off her socks and or pants. She has tried unsuccessfully saying “it won’t work”. Tonight, seconds after saying those exact words, she did it! She was hanging onto the stripper pole for dear life and only held her leg up for one second but that is the first time with me she’s been able to do that. True to form she played it all down but I could see in her eyes she was pleased with herself.

Praying for restoration of the use of her right arm and hand and continued building of strength.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #TrinityKelowna

Renovation Day 12. I had so much fun breaking up the lovely pink tile in the bathrooms yesterday I decided to rip up the floor that the tiles we glued to today. More fun for me. Randy continues to make good progress in the kitchen and I think we are almost ready for a video tour update. Stay tuned.

The whole time I was with Janet yesterday I teased her about going to sledge hockey today in hopes that if I said it enough she might actually go. Lo and behold, she did go! Just to watch though, which is fine as she still got out with a group of people and that’s good. She created some excitement on the way out of the arena as she was propelling herself and got going too fast and tumbled out of her wheelchair. The only thing hurt was her pride and she actually told me the story almost word for word as Garrett did when I arrived at Connect. The staff were very attentive to her and I didn’t notice any ill effects at all.

That outing prevented Janet from getting to the gym this morning so she agreed to do The Shuttle before church. Her performance was satisfactory. To me, her right leg seems to not have gained any strength since I last worked with her over a week ago but she is getting significantly more extension from her pushes so that’s good. Janet had a decent Skype chat with Heather and a good phone conversation with Cam and Gina. I think it’s soon time for her to learn to initiate or answer phone and Skype calls herself as the prearranged ones or requests that come through me seem to annoy her most of the time. Spontaneous or self initiated would be better.

For as long as we’ve been attending Trinity Janet has nine times out of ten just wanted to leave right after the service. The last few weeks she has agreed to exit via the front row so we can say hi to people and tonight she was the one that asked if we could do that. She was able to talk to a number of people, some of whom she said she didn’t really know but it was nice talking to them anyways. I’m really glad Janet is starting to seek people out and hope it continues.

Back at Connect Janet went into the Standing Frame while our pizza cooked. In honour of Gina’s family we watched a little of the baseball game and cheered for Boston. Janet said she had a good lunch then proceeded to eat four slices of pizza for dinner! All she could do after that was watch a little more TV on the couch with me then fall asleep with her head on my shoulder. I let her sleep like that for a little while before attempting to get her back in her wheelchair and when I finally woke her up she came to pretty well and got herself ready for bed as usual.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep tonight and lots of energy for tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Transfer

Renovation Day 12. Lots of progress today, construction, demolition and decision making. Randy made good progress on the kitchen cabinets as well as the area around the fireplace. I managed to break up most of the lovely pink tile in both bathrooms and with Randy’s help Janet and I decided on a counter top, handles for the cabinets, moulding for the fireplace area and floor for the bathrooms. Good day.

Just after lunch Janet was hanging out in the dining area with Kieran, Wes, Willie and Humberto, laughing at the verbal jabs being thrown by Kieran and Wes. I hid from her for a bit to watch how she interacted with it all and she was seeming quite entertained. She was ready to go when I made my appearance knowing we were looking at something for the house. I dragged her around to a number of places where we met Randy with the goal of deciding on a number of key items for the new house. Janet was a real trooper, admitting she was tired but pushing through and helping make some really good choices. I was pretty confident we’d get the counter top quickly and we did. I thought the handles would be more challenging than it was. Janet did very well in saying what she liked and didn’t like and the choice was made a lot sooner than I thought. Neither of us had too strong an opinion on the mouldings so that was easy but the bathroom floor was another story. Janet was quite tired by this time and the process was made more difficult as soon as we realized I had brought home the wrong floor sample the other day. What me and the salesman that day thought was the right one wasn’t so when our actual salesman came out with the real one this afternoon I freaked a little. Luckily after we inspected it, all of what we’ve chosen so far works well with the floor so no need to freak. It still took a long time to narrow the choices and make a decision on the bathroom floors and Janet was getting a little frustrated but hung in there really well and contributed right to the end.

I’d been wanting to have Brian coach me on car transfers soon as I feel I’m doing more than I should and probably not using the best technique for Janet’s right foot. While we were out today and making so many stops I thought it was a good idea to try some different moves. First up was having Janet wheeled up to and facing the open car door. I asked her to hold the top of it and stand up. She did, pivoted around easily and sat in her seat. Just like that. All I did was hold the wheelchair and move it out of her way. I was very impressed. The first attempt at getting out of the car was that same move in reverse. Janet nailed it and again, all I did was hold the wheelchair and be ready to catch if need be. No need. As much as I praised her accomplishment she still didn’t think it was that big of a deal but by the end of the night she was starting to believe and agreed we don’t need Brian’s help. Kidding.

After all our running around we picked up Nash and some dinner and headed back to Connect. Janet reluctantly agreed to a gym session after dinner and was not having a good time on the Shuttle as she was cold and tired. Garrett told me the bike was now in Janet condition again so I got her on it for a little test ride and I think it will be a nice addition to her routine. She looked good on it and peddled more than twice as fast as she was the last time she was on it. Janet won’t admit it but I think she thought it was OK.

The lack of an afternoon nap made for a relatively early night and after a nice sleep time chat I said goodnight. Praying for continued building of strength, improved flexibility and greater command of her right leg.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Seahawks

Renovation Day 11. Lots of construction going on as Randy continues to make the kitchen look like a kitchen.
KitchenDay11
I managed to find a few more things to destroy and had the pleasure of sanding texture off of the second bedroom ceiling. Fun times.

There was too much going on this morning for me to join Janet at the pool. She said swimming was fine and Carly mentioned they did a lot of walking as well as swimming. Janet said it still took her a while to warm up but she did get comfortable but still wanted more time in the hot tub.

We had a nice chat out in the sunshine once I got to Connect and Janet was quite talkative and cheery. Dinner was a miss tonight especially after so many good meals out lately. Curtis kindly tried to find something Janet would like instead but it seems that once the bad taste is there its hard to correct. The food woes were diminished by being able to watch the Seahawks victory and having a phone conversation with Laurel. Janet spoke really well and made lots of good comments totally relevant to the topic. I am more and more impressed with her that way each day.

Janet showed no interest in going to the gym tonight at all using the swimming session as an excuse. I gave her a pass more due to the football game and the fact she was really engaged and communicative not just staring blankly at the TV. She is starting to recognize good plays without me prompting her and she genuinely cheers when Seattle scores. Go ‘Hawks!

Recognizing she was tired around nine, Janet called bedtime and in an all too familiar fashion was asleep two pages into my reading of Not a Fan. We are going to have to schedule reading time earlier in the day so she can actually retain some of what she’s hearing.

Praying for a restful and healing sleep and an active day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #SheLife

Renovation Day 10. Construction continues in the kitchen and we made a decision regarding the bathroom. No major changes. I feel we can make it work for Janet and the changes that could be made just aren’t worth it.

Nancy met Janet at Connect and took her out for lunch. They ventured to a little cafe just down the road called The Wooden Nickel.JanetNancyWoodenNickel
Turned out to be pretty good with Janet impressing Nancy with her conversational abilities. Janet said she really enjoyed the visit and knows “what a special friend Nancy is”.

Janet is having quite the social life these days and it continued this evening as we went for a sushi dinner before her SHElife meeting. This was by far the cleanest sushi meal Janet has ever eaten and her chop stick skills are improving too. I didn’t have her as prepared for SHElife as last week and at the end of the evening Janet was a little disappointed she didn’t really talk much tonight. She agreed that we should read the corresponding chapters of the book no sooner than the night before so it is fresher in her mind.

Upon our return to Connect Janet asked to watch a little TV to wind down then it was off to bed where she was falling asleep as we prayed. She did manage a goodnight and when I explained I’d see her before the football game started tomorrow she said “yay them”, meaning Seahawks of course. I pray Janet has a night of uninterrupted and healing sleep that provides lots of energy for tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #friend

Renovation Day 9. Cabinets are taking shape, blinds are ordered and I spent a lot of time discussing bathroom options with two experts. Conclusion? Not yet.

Janet called me just before noon wondering if Nancy was meeting her for lunch. I reminded her Nancy wasn’t due until around three. Janet was quite disappointed as I think she was hoping to use the visit as an excuse not to do the Standing Frame. As it turned out, she was in it when John arrived early for his singing session with her and stayed in it the whole session. My guess is she sang well as she said it was fun and her voice has been notably louder lately.

Nancy arrived as scheduled and Janet gave her a tour of Connect during which Nancy got introduced to a lot of the other residents. The two of them had a nice visit, looking at photos and chatting. Nancy reports she’s very impressed with Janet’s ability to comment correctly on a number of topics and was able to identify a lot of people in the photos they looked at. What was especially impressive was Janet navigating on their drive to our house. She called a number of correct turns especially the last two before arriving here. Very well done considering she’s only been to the house a few times.

After we gave Nancy a quick tour of the construction site we went down the street for a fabulous dinner at The Fixx Cafe. Janet ate very well and enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir. I continue to be impressed by her neatness now. She really doesn’t need a shirt saver for most meals and is also better at cutting her food. The meal and conversation were most enjoyable tonight and tuckered Janet right out. She was asleep minutes after I started reading to her in bed at Connect which she chose to do as soon as we got there rather than watch The Voice. Good call I think.

Praying for a solid night of sleep and thanking Nancy for her friendship and support.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #construction

Renovation Day Eight. Construction has begun! The demolition phase has pretty much come to an end unless we decide on something major for the ensuite. Randy laid the bases for most of the kitchen today so now we can actually see what the layout will look like.BaseForKitchen
The first piece to go down of course was for what will be the wine “cellar” slash liquor cabinet.
RandyWineCabinet
Priorities. Right?

Jess had Janet very busy all morning today with a full workout, Standing Frame, shower and a trip to the grocery store before lunch. By one o’clock Janet asked for a nap and was sleeping still when I got in at 2:45. Her cold is lingering but hasn’t affected her willingness to do things and she got up soon after my arrival.

We started our time together with back to back Skype chats with Heather and Leslie. Janet talked well to both and rather confidently asked to end the one with Leslie. She’s almost always been scared to end a call out of fear of upsetting the other person but today she knew she wanted to stop and she spoke up. Nice.

Since Janet’s cold was still affecting her I gave her the night off from the gym and we watched a little football after dinner with the fire as its harder for her to stay warm when she’s feeling sick. Once she got warm we read some SheLife materials and Janet impressed me with her improved reading skills. She still lacks confidence but when following a pen pointing to each word she was going a line and a half without breaking and that is a huge improvement. Jess said she has noticed Janet trying to read more on her own during down times now and that’s good. One chapter we read was titled “lost that loving feeling” and as soon as I “sang” a bit of the song, Janet jumped right in nice and loud singing practically the whole song. Cool.

Reading filled out the time until The Voice started and we watched that with Wes, his wife Roz and sometimes Kieran. Janet interacted with everyone well and also had quite a lively phone conversation with Cam. At med time I encouraged Janet to yell at Jess, who was in the kitchen, to get her meds for her. Janet responded with the loudest voice I’ve heard from her and Jess heard her loud and clear. Not bad for a sicko.

Praying for a good sleep tonight and a fun day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Thanksgiving

Renovation Day seven and Randy deservedly took the day off. I pulled more staples out of the floor this morning then cruised in the sunshine to watch football with Janet.

Waiting for me in the living room Janet greeted me with a big smile saying she had waited for me so we could have lunch and watch the game, and that’s what we did with our jerseys on and feeling excited for Laurel and Raj who were actually in Seattle at the game. Janet almost made it to half time before getting tired and needing a nap. Her cold is still with her enough to sap some of her energy and she slept for an hour and a half, waking in time to see the last few minutes of an ugly Seahawks victory.

Nash was hanging with us at Connect for the afternoon and before we went to Mark and Veronica’s for dinner we had to drop him off at the house. He really enjoys being at Connect and Humberto especially likes him. I wonder if Connect needs a mascot? The good part about having to go home for a bit was Janet got to see it again and we went for a little walk around the neighbourhood to get some fresh air. Janet still likes the place and I’m really looking forward to being able to bring her home for a weekend soon.

Janet did a great job being a dinner guest tonight. Nice confident greetings to everyone, chatted with the ladies in the kitchen and did awesome at introducing herself and saying what she was thankful for. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and conversation and Janet wants to do more of that sort of thing so once the house is ready some invites will be going out. These more public appearances are good therapy for her. We got back to Connect in time to get ready for bed and I pray Janet has an uninterrupted night of sleep that heals her of her cold and gives her lots of energy for an active Monday.

This evening was a reminder of how blessed we are to have friends willing to share their home, food and time with us. Janet and I are thankful to all of you who read this blog, cheer us on, visit us, cook for us and spend time with us. God continues to place the right people in our lives at the right time and we are most thankful for that.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Sushi

Renovation Day 6 was another day of sanding, mudding and pulling staples. Progress none the less.

Janet had a busy first part of her day and was sleeping when I got to Connect this afternoon. Of course she woke up saying she wasn’t sleeping when I snuck into her room but she clearly had been and wasn’t quite ready to get up. When she did we went in search of countertops for the new house, a more difficult task than I imagined. I was counting on Janet to be relatively quick in picking a few colours she would be happy with but that proved a challenge without being in the house and having things like cabinets and flooring to match with. Then there’s the materiel and how much we want to spend. Oh well. We ended up with a few samples and ran into Connie at one store who told us they had just done their kitchen and found Quartz to be the best bang for the buck so we’ll look more at that.

Janet has a little bit of a cold and that did impede her ability to focus on colour matching but not her participation at church. Tim gave an excellent message that Janet picked up on fully. She hung in there real well as we picked up Nash then some sushi and went back to Connect. Even with her cold her appetite remains strong and she really enjoyed the sushi. We had a quiet night watching a little TV before getting Janet into bed.

Praying for a restful night that heals Janet from her cold and gives her lots of energy for the Seahawks game tomorrow and what promises to be a fabulous feast at Mark and Veronica’s house tomorrow night.