Brain Injury

Purging #TSJ

I got the sense that Janet had a bit of a restless night last night as she seemed to be tossing and turning quite a bit. Not that she can toss and turn very well but I did notice her moving a fair bit and on a good night she barely moves once. When she opened her eyes she was ready to go though and wasted no time in getting up. The only plan for the day was to go to church for eleven so when Janet was dressed by nine I thought we had tons of time and offered her pancakes for breakfast. She of course jumped on that idea and when all was said and done we were in the car at 10:40 and in jeopardy of not getting the only seat in the house that allows Janet a good view of the stage even when people are standing. Thankfully we got that seat and enjoyed the message by Tony Campolo who had some intriguing things to say. Janet had a tough time staying awake despite Tony’s solid message, further testament to my theory of a restless night.

Back at home and after lunch Janet was eager to help me purge some of the kitchen cupboards. Really I think she would have done anything to avoid nap time. I didn’t pressure her on that as I really wanted her help with this project as there was a lot she could do that would be good therapy. We made it around the kitchen cupboard by cupboard and drawer by drawer with Janet spreading things out on the counter and table so we could see it all and make the decision whether to toss, donate, sell or keep. We filled a garbage bag of junk and have a lot to dispose of in other ways.

Two huge benefits came from our purging efforts. One was finding a box of straws. Janet failed the straw drinking test a while back so I was curious to see if she could do it now in hopes that it might get more liquids into her more rapidly. I gave her a straw in her glass of Fresca and she caught on right away and seemed to think it was fun enough to keep drinking that way the rest of the day, expect for her glass of wine later, that would be a no no. The other cool thing we found was a rocker knife. As soon as I saw it I remembered Janet using it from time to time but had totally forgotten about it. I think Mary/Gaga and Keith gave it to us when the cruised to Alaska or it could have been my mom after a similar trip?

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After our weekly Skype chat with Leslie I had Janet use it to chop some peppers and broccoli for dinner and she did very well with it. High five!

The late night last night, restless sleep and napless day today caught up with Janet as she started fading during dinner. By the time we got to Connect she was beyond tired and getting a little confused. She argued with me about going to bed so early, 8:30, who I was, Elfie, just some guy, not her husband and there is no way we’ve been married ten years. I’m convinced this all came from being over tired, not the little bit of wine or Dilatin side effects and by the time I turned the lights out she was smiling that peaceful about to sleep smile.

Praying for lots of rest tonight that brings more healing and prepares Janet for all her activities tomorrow. Thanking Jesus for the great weekend together.

Helpful #TSJ

I took my time before going out to pick up Janet today knowing she’d be home all weekend. After doing some minor chores around the house I went for my first bike ride of the year. It was a beautiful sunny day and warm enough for shorts. Barely.

Janet was waiting patiently in the living room for me and after a final check of the wound care protocol we took off for home. We got there a little too late for a walk as the sun still sets a little too early so Janet played with Nash for a bit while I got things set for dinner. My plan for this weekend is to have Janet help out around the house as much as possible and tonight was a good start. She set the table for us and with no coaching got it all right except for missing forks and putting the knives and spoons on the wrong side. She pulled salad ingredients out of the fridge for us and I taught her how to tear the lettuce with one hand. She caught on really fast and after I chopped the peppers and tomatoes she added the croutons and tossed it all up. High five! Putting things back where they came from was a little challenging for her and she needed quite a bit of coaching on that. She also needed some help when it came to eating as well tonight. We had penne with meatballs thinking that would be easier to eat than spaghetti. But she struggled with the concept of stabbing with her fork, she always wants to scoop.

Friday night is turning into movie night for us and while scrolling through titles we came across The Kids Are Alright. I asked Janet if she remembered seeing it before and she said no but as I contained scrolling she said “there it is”. That was the one title she could read on the screen so we watched it “again”. Janet did not remember any of it but enjoyed it “again” and was able to give me a reasonable summary afterwards. Of course we paused about half way through for dessert. Vanilla frozen yogurt with butterscotch sauce is Janet’s new favorite.

The bedtime routine is a little longer now with having to change the dressing on her former peg site. It looks like its healing well to me. Janet fell asleep quickly and is looking forward to a fun day tomorrow. Praying for rest and healing tonight and recovery and learning tomorrow.

Tubeless #TSJ

Just finishing her morning routine as I arrived Janet was all smiles but her eyes showed a little apprehension as well. There was no time to spare as we headed for her doctor’s office and the much anticipated peg tube removal. Janet held it together quite nicely right up until her name was called. She calmed down as soon as we got into the room and was totally fine when her doctor came in. I wasn’t though as despite a conversation with Janet’s GI I could tell her doctor had no idea of what she was about to do. Before leaving Connect, Jess had applied a topical anisthetic around the peg site and the doctor was pleased with that work. I asked if she’d spoken to the GI and she said yes and that he repeated, “just pull it out”. And so it began. What should have taken thirty seconds took more than thirty minutes including a call to the GI for further instructions which came back as “pull harder”. Janet was very calm and patient during all of this but when the tube finally came out she burst into tears. Can’t blame her as the suddenness with which the thing loudly popped out surprised us all. In the end it was a good learning experience for us all and even if the doctor had done it a hundred times before there was no other way to do it than pull harder. Now the healing process begins with the hole apparently sealing over within a matter of hours and the wound needing care for a little over a week maybe.

This is me flushing her tube for the last time.

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Before the doctor left I made sure to ask two questions. One was about Janet traveling. Can she? If not, what has to happen before she can? The doctor’s answer was as long as Janet is strong enough to last the time it takes to go somewhere, do it. She recommended some short drives before attempting a flight anywhere and said there is nothing stopping Janet from going anywhere other than her stamina. I think I feel a sushi run to the coast coming on. My other question was about alcohol. I received a shocking yes to this one as well. No harm in having a glass of wine with dinner once in a while. Janet was smiling big as her doctor said this. Never thought I’d get that response ever. Yay!

Janet was absolutely fine within minutes of the extrication and we were on our way home for lunch. She had a well deserved relaxing time before we went house hunting this afternoon. We were visiting a new condo building that I was quite hopeful for but the floor plans are just too tight for someone in a wheelchair. Since we were in the area and needed a nice white wine for dinner we stopped at Discover Wines and thanks to Kris, a former CedarCreeker, we went home with a nice Desert Hills Viognier.

It was kind of late but I tricked Janet into a rest time anyways and as she was laying down she said “I’m pooped” and slept for well over an hour. She would have slept more if she hadn’t been woken up by the dog barking because some other dog was barking. She still loves him though.

Dinner was made even nicer by being able to enjoy the Viognier. It was a nice pairing with our Basa Thermidor.

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Desert was a scrumptious heart shaped macaron for two from Sandrine French Pastry and Chocolate. Thanks Sandrine! The only down side to the day was it was too short. Back at Connect Bob changed the dressing on Janet’s former peg site and coached me on how to look after it this weekend. Janet was happy the day was over and is looking forward to a more relaxing weekend.

Praying for a restful night and a strong day of rehab tomorrow. Thanking Jesus for the progress Janet has made and for all the people that have helped get her here.

Butterflies #TSJ

Janet was waiting for me in the living room having just watched a soccer game on TV. She said it was a good game but couldn’t tell me who played. Lorne gave me the run down of her day so far and it was good. Janet had a good workout in the gym this morning with Lorne and Jess including some kneeling which she said hurt a little but was good. Mary Lou visited Janet for some Speech and was impressed with Janet’s increased vocal volume. Mary Lou has a program on her lap top that allows her to record the decibel level of Janet’s voice so she got a good baseline today and can now monitor Janet’s progress more accurately.

Today was the day for a little blood work to be done to ensure the levels of Dilatin are where they should be so I loaded Janet into the car and drove down to the lab. Prior to being stabbed Janet started to cry but stopped when she realized it was over, which was like ten seconds later. She thought she was having her peg tube removed then. She is quite nervous about that which should make for an interesting morning tomorrow. I offered her a stop at Starbucks on the way back to Connect but she declined. Turned down the pub too. She did accept an invite for a rest period and had a good one for over an hour.

Janet awoke refreshed and ready to help prepare dinner. Garrett had everyone helping to make chicken fajitas and Janet’s job was chopping onions. A regular knife proved too hard for her but she did well with a rocker knife and only needed some light guidance from me. Everyone got to build their own fajita once everything was ready and Janet loved that part almost as much as she enjoyed eating it. Garrett mentioned that he will discuss the dinner program at tomorrow’s coaches meeting. I think he’s got a good thing going here. We found out it was Garrett’s birthday today so after dinner I had Janet deliver him a happy face lollipop and that earned her a nice thank you hug.

In the spirit of Valentines Day I changed up Janet’s nail polish to a nice bright red. Not sure what she thinks of all this but she humors me anyways.

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Suzanne dropped by just as I was finishing Janet’s nails and stayed for a nice visit. I was impressed by some of Janet’s responses to Suzanne’s questions especially on Heather’s wedding plans, what each kid is doing now and who is visiting next. She remembered that Mike has threatened to visit this month but forgot he’s her brother and thought he was the “third youngest”. Youngest what we never did figure out. Still good signs of more short term memory coming back.

Janet did well at getting ready for bed and was tired but also worked up a little about the peg tube removal tomorrow. I asked Bob to check on her a couple times before he leaves at eleven just to make sure she is settled. Praying for a fun and productive day tomorrow.

Two Sleeps #TSJ

Janet met me in the hallway as she returned from a reading session in the Den. She was quite smiley and chatty saying she was having a good day. She mentioned going to the gym and having lunch and reading and while she tried hard to say what she had for lunch, just couldn’t get it out. Lorne reminded her it was grilled cheese and she smiled big when she heard that. Sensing she needed a bit of a break after reading I lead her to the living room to watch some TV before Brian’s scheduled session at three.

It was good to chat with Brian this afternoon so we could all get up to speed with each other. He reads this Blog daily so is well aware of what Janet has been up to and that enabled us to talk about bigger picture items such as the wheelchair, food and transfers. I requested a few tweaks to the chair before we purchase it and Brian is confident those will be done without problem. He had read about the beef stew incident and I was able to tell him about Garrett’s meal plan that is in writing somewhere and he said he’d find it and follow up on its implementation. He encouraged a discussion with Tez over which form of transfer Janet should be focusing on now. I’ve been using mostly a standing transfer where Tez would prefer using the sliding board probably feeling it’s too early for Janet to do the standing thing and he’s probably right. I paid close attention to our transfers today and although Janet is stepping with her left leg without cueing now I notice she is not really holding her body that straight, I’m doing most of that, and her right leg is taking virtually no weight at all. I’ll use the sliding board between her bed and wheelchair and other chairs and will stand her for toilet transfers.

Time for a bio break after Brian’s visit. Success again! I then had Janet put her laundry away which she seemed quite pleased to do and was happy when she completed that task. I need to find more chores like that for her to do as she is now not at all interested in the board games. The last couple of days she has demonstrated some real assertiveness and I can sense her wanting to do more constructive things. After a brief rest time she started getting up from bed and got a little mad at me for being in her way. I now realize that reaction came from a “I can do this myself” perspective and she did. I backed right off and said nothing and she got herself all the way to sitting and was quite pleased.

We headed down to see what was happening in the kitchen where Garrett was preparing a nice salmon dinner. Janet asked if she could help with anything but most of it was done by that time so we watched a little more TV until dinner was served. Janet really enjoyed the meal and was too full for dessert. We hung out in the living room for a little while after and I threw some family geography questions at her. She did pretty well, correctly answering where she was born, where Andrew lives and where we met. We had a heated argument over where her mom and Keith live with her finally relenting when she remembered we visited them in Collingwood a couple of summers ago.

I have been counting down until Thursday when Janet gets her peg tube removed and think I am more excited about it than she is. Only two sleeps to go! Originally I figured that was because I deal with it way more than she does but tonight it came to the surface that she’s afraid it will hurt when it comes out. I explained as much of the procedure as I know to her and then changed the subject to focus on the more fun things we are doing that day and she calmed down then. The time I’m spending with Janet is split pretty evenly now between moments of heightened awareness and real insightfullness and moments where she just isn’t processing things effectively. We had another talk on the importance of the afternoon rest time this evening as she lost her energy before 7:30 tonight where as when she has that rest she can go strong until 8:30. I got a little bit of a “so what” from her but I think deep down she knows the rest makes a difference. Before bed I read to her a Christmas letter she started writing a couple of years ago that I found while purging some cupboards today. Janet’s writing has always been very difficult to read and this was no different and we both had a good laugh trying to decipher what she had scribbled. Janet says she remembers writing that letter and I believe her as she wrote some things there that are true Janet things to say and I could see the recognition on her face before she even said anything. Cool.

Praying for rest tonight and an active day of learning and recovery tomorrow.

Easing Back In #TSJ

Monday, a day to get back into the “normal” routine. Janet apparently was too tired to jump back into her routine so took it pretty easy today with just a short workout in the gym and a little bit of reading for Speech. The rest of her time before I arrived was spent hanging out in the kitchen and living room mostly just watching what was going on. She was pleased to see me when I got there and seemed upset that she hadn’t done much but when she was reminded of what she was offered and attempted she agreed she was kinda tired. That led to a more than an hour long sleep with some of the loudest snoring I’ve ever heard from her.

I was prepared to let her sleep until 4:30 but she woke up just after four and wanted “to do something”. She managed to get herself up from laying down on the bed and elected to go and see if she could help prep dinner in the kitchen. She flat out refused my offer of playing games or reading. Just not into “school” today at all. It’s a good thing we went to the kitchen when we did as the guys had made another beef stew but there was plenty of time to prepare something else for Janet. Bob made her a nice chicken and pasta dish while we laughed at the movie Happy Gilmore. Janet wasn’t too thrilled by the pasta dish and was kind of jealous of the leftover enchilada I had brought for me. I continue to struggle with this dinner thing. I want her to participate in the Connect dinners and she really wants me to eat with her. If I bring my own dinner then she’s going to want that instead of what Connect has made, evidenced tonight. If I bring her dinner all the time then she’s somewhat disconnected from Connect. I think I’ll stick to eating when I get home for now.

After dinner we got a Skype call into Andrew and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Janet spoke to him. She had been pretty quiet and gurgley before that but turned it on nicely for Andrew. We listened to some music after that as I tried to find some she could sing along to. She was all over a couple of Brian McKnight songs and very readily agreed with me that she likes muscley black guys that can sing. I’m OK with that as I tan pretty good in the summer so I just need to work on the singing part and I’ll be fine.

Lights out at 8:30 for a tired but content Janet. The chat with Andrew and the singing before bed really seemed to brighten her spirits and I think set her up for a good nights rest. Praying for an active day of learning tomorrow.

Stupendous Sunday #TSJ

Sensing she was hungry, Janet woke up at 7:30 this morning and asked for pancakes for breakfast. After the getting up routine was complete I found my recipe and Heather made us some nice fluffy pancakes which Janet devoured with a compliment of chocolate chips scattered on them. Because she was up so early she had plenty of time to enjoy her breakfast and coffee this sunny Sunday morning.

We left for church in plenty of time and sat across the aisle from a former KGH Rehab patient who is now living at his home and waiting to go back as an outpatient. Nice to see him and the progress he’s made.

I had arranged with our realtor to look at three houses this afternoon so we could see if they fit our needs at all and the first appointment was for one o’clock which meant lunch on the run. A couple slices of pizza and a can of pop from the church and off we went. The first place was a total no go which gave us plenty of time to picnic in the car with the sunroof open as we drove to the next place. That one was better but not by much. Third time lucky maybe? Not quite, but there is potential for this type of place. It was in a gated community designed for adults only, 45+. Janet and I have never liked the idea of age restricted complexes but the style of homes there may be what we have to go for. They are built with some accessibility issues in mind and the one we saw would work fine with just some minor improvements. We didn’t like its location or the fact it has a basement as we would never use that. Other than that, in the right location and for the right price I think we would have to seriously consider that type of home but for now the search continues. We invited our realtor to have a look at our house so he can give us an idea of what it might sell for and after touring him around for a bit we decided to enjoy more sunshine and go for a little walk around the neighborhood. This was the first day we’ve been able to do this since early November with Janet and it felt good to be out getting some natural vitamin D. Janet had been going hard since 7:30 and was clearly fading after our walk so Heather and I managed to convince her to have a rest after our walk. She was sleeping three minutes after hitting the pillow and knowing the Grammys were about to start woke up forty five minutes later. I had just snuck out of the room to start dinner five minutes prior and when I went back and found her awake she was actually a little mad that I wasn’t there when she woke up.

The Grammys show is pretty good entertainment for Janet. There were no sing along songs but enough good music to hold her attention and enough of a fashion show in between songs to keep her interested as well. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing evening that ended too early for Heather and I but a little too late for Janet. It was approaching ten o’clock by the time I turned her lights off at Connect and she was very tired.

Today was a good day for Janet. She ate well, talked well, enjoyed some sunshine and was busy all day long but always at a nice pace. Heather’s visit was way too short but I’m glad she got to hang out with her mom to see first hand how much she’s improved. Janet enjoyed talking wedding with Heather and looks forward to going dress shopping during her next visit.

Praying for a restful night that brings lots more healing and an active day of learning tomorrow.

Thorough Thursday #TSJ

Janet was hard at work in the gym when I arrived this afternoon. This was Simon’s first day working with her and he was getting some good results. Garrett had Janet in the gym in the morning to do a good stretching routine and now she was back for a more active workout session. Simon had her doing some leg exercises then Tez came in and helped get Janet onto her tummy for a hamstring stretch and some more on command leg movements. Then came the big test. Yesterday Tez had Janet kneeling on her own a little bit so he was going to try that again. With Garrett watching her back, Tez lifted Janet to a sort of push up position on her way to kneeling. We noticed how strongly Janet was pushing with her left arm so Tez decided to try and have her do a push up. The tears started immediately and Tez let her down a little and Janet responded by pushing part way up. You couldn’t call it a push up but there was an effort there for sure. On her knees the tears were still flowing as they would for the rest of the workout. Undeterred and knowing the tears were a lack of confidence rather than pain, Tez and Garrett gradually let go of Janet until she was kneeling completely on her own. She was able to lift her head and straighten her back so she was up nice and tall. Very impressive and according to Tez, much improved over yesterday. Simon held out some colored pieces of paper an arms length away from Janet and she was able to reach out, grab them and pass them off to me on her left side. Major high five! She cried each time she did it but again, not from pain. At least that’s what she told us. Finally sitting on the edge of the table mat, Janet could relax a little. But not for long. I had told Tez I was doing mainly standing transfers with Janet and he wanted to see her stand as he was surprised to hear she was “stepping” with her left leg. Considering how tired Janet was she stood really well with me, impressing Tez enough that he pulled out a couple of scales and placed them under each of her feet and asked her to stand again to see how much weight she was carrying herself. The left leg registered about forty five pounds and the right leg not quite half that. Pretty darn good and more than Tez thought she could do. One final task for Janet was to transfer herself from the table mat to her wheelchair using the sliding board. Janet didn’t understand how to get onto the board but once she was there it was an easy slide onto the chair. Visibly relieved, her gym day was over and she wheeled her way out and left me chatting with Simon and Tez.

I found Janet in her room ready for a bio break. Success. Our before dinner activity was reading a card and looking at some photos that Gillian had sent us as a thank you from her wedding. Janet surprised me by reading a fair number of the hand written words in the card and a little of the inscriptions on the backs of the photos. When she first started reading I noticed she was only reading the first two or three words on each line so I had her follow along with her finger and she was able to go seven or eight words before losing focus. She did a good job of identifying people in the photos, even Gillian’s husband Josh, whom she’s never met. There’s that improved short term memory again.

Dinner was a fail tonight. Beef stew which I knew would be a challenge and I tried to convince her she liked all the ingredients. No go. I rescued her with half a peanut butter sandwich and a bowl of pears. She is looking forward to making pizza at home tomorrow.

Back in her room it was time for a birthday Skype with Laurel. Janet very loudly and clearly sang Happy Birthday to her right off the top of the call and carried on a good conversation for almost half an hour. Janet is no longer rambling on about nothing. When she does ramble it’s because she is stuck on a word and she is clearly trying really hard to say something constructive. She is even getting mad at herself a little now when she can’t find the right word. So far it is all with a smile on her face. Speaking of smiles, there was another noticeable improvement today. Since very near the beginning of all this I have been randomly trying to tickle Janet, notably at her armpits where she used to be quite sensitive. Up until this evening I had gotten no response. Someone taught Janet to raise her left arm when she is coughing to help her cough bigger. She was doing that tonight and I tried to tickle her and got an immediate pull away reaction with her telling me “stop that, it…” she couldn’t find the word but agreed with tickles. Not sure of the significance but I’m taking it as a positive.

Janet did most of her bedtime prep herself and before I was half way through our prayer I felt her hand relax and she was asleep. Quite the day. Janet is showing signs of improvement in a lot of areas and I think gained some confidence the last couple of days. Praying for a restful and healing night and a fun day of learning before heading home for the weekend tomorrow.

Wonderful Wednesday #TSJ

While reclining in her comfy chair in the living room watching Ellen, Janet gave me a pretty good report on her day so far when I arrived this afternoon. Once again she was very smiley and talkative saying she’d had a good day and that Mary Lou had come to see her and Brian did some awfully hard things with her and she was almost in tears. She mentioned she went to the gym and helped in the kitchen. The staff gave me a more accurate report saying Janet did go to the gym with Lorne then Tez showed up again and that’s where the awfully hard things and tears happened. From the sounds of it Janet had a very good workout again even getting onto her knees and balancing quite well. I notice Janet getting stronger in the legs despite the spasticity holding steady. Brian reported that he had a good session with Janet, taking her to the kitchen where she cut an apple for her afternoon snack.

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Brian also mentioned how impressed he was with Janet’s speech volume and her overall alertness and ability to answer his questions. That was reinforced to me when we made a Skype call to Nancy to wish her happy birthday. Janet talked very loud and clear and made some good comments and observations. Probably her best conversation to date.

Continuing in her heightened state of alertness Janet asked if she could go and help with dinner. Garrett was very accommodating in trying to get everyone involved in the meal prep. Janet set the table with a minimum of assistance and seemed ready to do more but there wasn’t anything left to do but eat. She was happy I had some leftover skiing lunch with me and was eating with her. Usually part way through dinner she will ask me “where’s yours?” And I’ll have to explain I’m eating at home. But not today. She made quick work of her fish and chips and vegetables but was not too excited about drinking her water. Garrett has teamed Janet up with Fred and Humberto for dinner menus and prep. They will eat essentially the same meals at dinner and share in the making of them. He also put together a shopping list of groceries for Janet but she declined the invite to go to the store with him tonight.

Winding down to bedtime I read some of Slow Dance to her and she was able to recount the basics of what we read when I asked her right after I stopped. Good to know she’s paying attention and nice to see more improvement of her short term memory. I’m often tempted when reading this book to tell her that similar things happened to her but I don’t want to cause tears. I did ask if she thought any thing similar had happened to her and she said no. Probably a good thing.

Today was another really good day for Janet with a good workout in the gym, some good experience in daily kitchen type activities, good standing transfers and excellent conversational skills. Praying for more healing overnight and a good day of learning tomorrow.

Terrific Tuesday #TSJ

Janet had had another shower, finished her breakfast and was wheeling down the hall looking for help going to the bathroom when I arrived this morning. I reminded her she needs to use the pendant alarm to call for help instead of wheeling around looking for someone. She said ok. She laughed about having a shower this morning after having one last night too. I guess you can’t be too clean. After her bio break we took off for the eye doctor to see what she can see.

The test Janet did is a standard vision field test and was quite difficult for her. I can now see why Dr. McCann was reluctant to send her for one while she was in the hospital. If you’ve never had one, you stare at a little pin point of light in the centre of a vertical bowl while other pin points of light randomly flash around the bowl. You are to click a button every time you see one of those random flashes. Those flashes are fast but the test is not nor is Janet’s response time. Each eye took about nine minutes to test including a short break mid way through each eye so Janet could rest. Dr. Percival came in after to review the results and as expected Janet’s vision is noticeably stronger on the left side of each eye and in the lower half of the field of vision. He showed us an example of someone that suffered a stroke and how their entire right side of both eyes was blacked out initially then after six to eight months some vision was starting to return to those quadrants. I think Janet has been through a similar pattern and may still be changing so we’ll likely run the test again in three months. There is nothing medically that can be done to improve Janet’s vision but at last now we know what’s going on and can monitor any changes.

We spent the rest of the day at home having lunch, playing with Nash, doing a really good job of asking and going to the bathroom, having a long nap, Skypeing Mary/Gaga and Keith who are heading to Africa in a couple days, watching Pick a Puppy, rearranging furniture in the family room, having dinner and watching American Idol. My contribution to Janet’s rehab lately has been more involved with common things she would do around the house. One reason for moving the furniture around is to try and position a comfy chair for her to use instead of being in her wheelchair all the time. She can now get a treat for Nash out of the fridge by herself but her voice isn’t quite loud enough to get him to sit and wait while she puts it in his dish. The singing is helping with her volume and with her state of mind too. She always sings with a big smile on her face. She’s getting better at setting the table but her vision is hampering her a little there so I’m going to try and set things up in the drawers differently so she can see them better.

The drive back to Connect was fun with Janet singing a lot especially to The Carpenters, Close to You. Great moment. Praying for a good night of rest and an active day of learning tomorrow.