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.

Many thanks to those that helped care for Janet while Laurel, Cam and I were away. Especially to Kiko who continues to bless Janet with loving attention and musical therapy. Congratulations on your first Physio session with her today Kiko! You are an invaluable part of this team. A huge thank you to Joel, Wendy, Twyla, Wayne, Kiko, Kyle and Nick for the thoughtful card of support and the gift cards! The iTunes one has been used to purchase an app for Janet that was recommended by the speech therapist. Laurel, Raj and I tried it out tonight and we feel it will be very useful and worth the investment. More info here. Naming Therapy

I love my wife. That’s all I can say.

Laurel and Raj arrived around 4:30 to find Janet very awake. They did a little stretching and some sign language practice with Janet doing well with the yes sign. Laurel read some Anne of Green Gables to Janet and there was one line that reads funnier than intended and Raj laughed at it which made Laurel laugh at it and they noticed a big smile on Janet’s face as well. Maybe we need to do some comedy therapy next. Their visit was very positive with Janet staying awake till about 6.

I arrived just after seven to a real pretty smile from my beautiful wife. One ongoing lesson from this ordeal is the reinforcement of “appreciate the small things”. A simple smile from her after not seeing her for thirty two hours was enough to fill my heart (and my eyes but we won’t talk about that). She was incredibly bright my whole visit and was following commands like crazy. Even with her nurse at snack time. I dare say Janet seems to really have stepped it up a notch or two these past few days. I’m really looking forward to my afternoon with her tomorrow.

Laurel and Raj are heading back to Calgary tomorrow where Cam is now as well. Praying for a safe drive for them and very grateful for the important work Laurel has done with her mom so far and for Raj being so supportive to both Janet and Laurel. Janet will miss Cam’s late night visits but maybe her sleep patterns will improve now 🙂

Really looking forward to tomorrow and thanking God for all we have been blessed with.

From Kiko

September 1, 2012 AM
Janet was asleep when I arrived. I started playing music softly to wake her up. First bit I spent wiping her face, brushing her hair, etc – general grooming. Then I stretched her out. My first experience 🙂 She did seem more loosened up after, which was great. After that she snored away softly. I took that opportunity to take off her nail polish (to see the white part of the nails that needed the trim) and trimmed and filed her nails. Didn’t get a chance to repaint – perhaps one of the TSJ members can do that when they visit, cuz Janet seemed sad that the pink nail polish was gone. I left just before 1:30 and told her to expect Laurel and Raj later this aft and Larry tonight.

A quick update before Cam and I hit the road. Janet was sleepy till 9:30 then had a quick change before Tom arrived to put her on the tilt table. She tolerated it really well and actually seemed quite relaxed the whole 35 minutes.

Looking forward tom seeing her tomorrow night.

I know you are all laughing at the picture so I will talk about that first. I DID NOT PUT THE BOOTY ON HER HEAD. Honest! I had put her into bed for dinner and put one booty on her tummy while I put the other on her foot. I knew she started playing with it and by the time I looked up to see what she was doing she had it on her head and was making it “just so”. I laughed so hard and scrambled to take a picture before she realized what she had done. With the picture taken I was able to laughingly tell her that is not a hat and she took it off. I laughed so much she actually smiled!

It was a very enjoyable afternoon with Janet. I really missed her yesterday and was happy she was awake when I came in. Brenda was finishing her visit and had been singing to her when Janet woke up. I coached Brenda through some basic range of motion exercises she can do with Janet then had a little chat with Christi and Arlene. Christi mentioned some redness on Janet’s coccyx and we noticed some discoloration around her peg site. I asked Dr. Price to have a look and he said her coccyx is a little red but not nearly like it has been in the past so no worries there. When he came in I asked Janet to roll onto her side so he could look and she did! Dr. Price said he had not seen a peg site go the color Janet’s is right now but feels its just a mild reaction to the silver that was put on it a couple days ago. We will watch it closely. Laurel was a little concerned about Janet’s cough today so Dr. Price had a good listen and says her chest and lungs seem fine and the cough is likely a result of her inability to swallow effectively. I asked about that and he agreed to order a swallow test as it has been over a month since the last one. I think Janet is close to being able to try some food orally but not quite yet. The test will be interesting. I also asked him about the C diff. and he was unsure of protocol at KGH. Christi later said they will send another sample to the lab and if negative we are good to lose the gloves and gowns.

Just as Dr. Price arrived so did Kiko ready to learn some range of motion stuff too. Kiko will stretch Janet out for us Saturday morning while I’m in Calgary and Laurel is in Vancouver. If anyone else has time to visit Friday afternoon or Saturday please do.

Janet and I went for a little stroll to the beach then up to the front of KGH. She drove her wheelchair a little bit but not as well as previous. When I told her it was time to go in for dinner she immediately released the brake on her wheelchair! She actually took the handle right off and had a good look at it. Back in the room it was into bed for dinner and of course the booty hat. Janet fell asleep shortly after dinner stated to I went home to load the car up for Calgary. Cam has done a good job of getting ready.

Laurel and I went back to say goodnight to Janet this evening and she was sound asleep. We got her into her PJ top and splint and left her to rest.

Praying for a safe drive to Vancouver for Laurel, a safe flight to Vancouver for Raju, a safe drive to Calgary for Cam and I, and a joyous day for Nancy and Jim Church as their daughter Gillian is married tomorrow. Praying also for Janet’s full and immediate healing.

I know you are all laughing at the picture so I will talk about that first. I DID NOT PUT THE BOOTY ON HER HEAD. Honest! I had put her into bed for dinner and put one booty on her tummy while I put the other on her foot. I knew she started playing with it and by the time I looked up to see what she was doing she had it on her head and was making it “just so”. I laughed so hard and scrambled to take a picture before she realized what she had done. With the picture taken I was able to laughingly tell her that is not a hat and she took it off. I laughed so much she actually smiled!

It was a very enjoyable afternoon with Janet. I really missed her yesterday and was happy she was awake when I came in. Brenda was finishing her visit and had been singing to her when Janet woke up. I coached Brenda through some basic range of motion exercises she can do with Janet then had a little chat with Christi and Arlene. Christi mentioned some redness on Janet’s coccyx and we noticed some discoloration around her peg site. I asked Dr. Price to have a look and he said her coccyx is a little red but not nearly like it has been in the past so no worries there. When he came in I asked Janet to roll onto her side so he could look and she did! Dr. Price said he had not seen a peg site go the color Janet’s is right now but feels its just a mild reaction to the silver that was put on it a couple days ago. We will watch it closely. Laurel was a little concerned about Janet’s cough today so Dr. Price had a good listen and says her chest and lungs seem fine and the cough is likely a result of her inability to swallow effectively. I asked about that and he agreed to order a swallow test as it has been over a month since the last one. I think Janet is close to being able to try some food orally but not quite yet. The test will be interesting. I also asked him about the C diff. and he was unsure of protocol at KGH. Christi later said they will send another sample to the lab and if negative we are good to lose the gloves and gowns.

Just as Dr. Price arrived so did Kiko ready to learn some range of motion stuff too. Kiko will stretch Janet out for us Saturday morning while I’m in Calgary and Laurel is in Vancouver. If anyone else has time to visit Friday afternoon or Saturday please do.

Janet and I went for a little stroll to the beach then up to the front of KGH. She drove her wheelchair a little bit but not as well as previous. When I told her it was time to go in for dinner she immediately released the brake on her wheelchair! She actually took the handle right off and had a good look at it. Back in the room it was into bed for dinner and of course the booty hat. Janet fell asleep shortly after dinner stated to I went home to load the car up for Calgary. Cam has done a good job of getting ready.

Laurel and I went back to say goodnight to Janet this evening and she was sound asleep. We got her into her PJ top and splint and left her to rest.

Praying for a safe drive to Vancouver for Laurel, a safe flight to Vancouver for Raju, a safe drive to Calgary for Cam and I, and a joyous day for Nancy and Jim Church as their daughter Gillian is married tomorrow. Praying also for Janet’s full and immediate healing.

From Laurel

A very sleepy morning for Mom. The nurse said she was following commands extremely well as she was getting her cleaned up this morning, but since then she has seemed pretty tired. The report over the night was that she was “moving a lot throughout the night,” so I wouldn’t be surprised if she is catching up on missed sleep today. I also think she may just not be feeling the greatest.

Tom did a physio workout that I felt was pretty lack lustre, so I planned to do an extra workout of my own with her afterward. Unfortunately, her sleep got a little in the way of that, but we did do some extra stretching eventually. A little reading and then she was back to sleep again, with a visit from Brenda on the agenda shortly after I left. Larry is headed down now, so hopefully she is caught up on sleep and ready for a good afternoon with him.

From Kiko

Yes I did have a better luck the second time! 😊 After Laurel left, Janet (wearing a super cute pink PJ) wanted to practice her get up move. I helped her with that a few times. Then I brought out my fruit props. A banana (dying one) and an apple. She held each one in her hand and looked at them intently as I told her what they were. Then the cutest moment came when she noticed a sticker on the apple. She successfully took it off and gave the sticker to me when I asked, and then gave me the apple, cuz now it was ready to be eaten 😃 Then I gave her the hairbrush, she also looked at it intently but seemed a bit confused as to where she should be holding this pokey thing…? I asked her if she could brush her hair and she didn’t, so I guided her to brush my hair and she did! I wiped her face as usual, then it was time to jet as my ride arrived. She seemed quite alert tonight, and I’m glad I came back to have a short but quality time with beautiful Janet. Thank you for the opportunity. xoxoxo

From Laurel

Mom was a little more subdued this afternoon than this morning. Kiko stopped by for a couple of hours after I left this afternoon, but it sounds like Mom slept through most of it. Her only major nap today though, which was good. Kiko kindly came back as I was leaving at 8 this evening to try to catch Mom more awake, so I’m hoping she had better luck with her second try. Mom was quickly put in her wheelchair for an earlier dinner when I arrived, and I am guessing her knee pain was at least in part to do with her less bright, more worried expression. I propped her left foot up on some pillows while she was in her chair, which seemed to relax her somewhat. I had brought a pinwheel to try to help Mom with relearning some mouth movements (e.g., blowing on it to make it move), but she didn’t seem interested, nor did she really want to look much at books. Not her greatest few hours. Interestingly however, at one point I got up to throw my banana out and left my glove on my chair, and as I walked back to my chair Mom picked the glove up as if to make sure I didn’t sit on it and then put it back on my lap when I sat down. So cute. After dinner we went for a walk outside to try to perk her up, but she seemed a little overwhelmed going through the halls. A little better once outside, but better yet when finally back in bed. Best part of my week came as I leaned in to thank her for the day together and to say goodnight, and she began rubbing my back. So amazing.

Had a quick visit with mom and dad in Nanaimo today while Laurel led things at KGH. It’s been three months since I’ve been able to see my dad and it was cool to put the team shirt on him. There are many people on the island praying for and cheering Janet on and I appreciate you all. if you want shirts let me know.