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Janet, A Success Story. May 9. #TSJ

Going home day for Janet today and she didn’t get to go as early as she had hoped. I had lots to do before I could go and get her so while she waited she did lots of walking with Nicole, a student on practicum at Connect. Janet complained of that sore right foot when I called her at lunch but never mentioned it at home tonight. That foot does seem a little swollen on the arch to me so we may be headed for the doctor for this one. On our way home we stopped at the show repair place as they requested Janet’s foot to make sure the strap they put on her clog fits. I used the opportunity to have Janet walk from the car into the store and back as we were able to park right outside. She did well on the way in, stepping up a three inch curb very nicely. The way back she chose not to follow my directions and went a little sideways stepping off that curb. No risk of falling but not very graceful.

We hosted two couples at our house this evening who are interested in joining a Small Group we have been wanting to start for a while. They all seem nice and the conversation was good although Janet seemed a little disconnected after the first twenty minutes or so. She had all positives to say after our guests left though and we are looking forward to meeting with them every other Friday to study Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick.

It was late when the company left but we stayed up to catch up on The Voice and I’m happy to report that Janet’s new pick is on to the semi finals. We haven’t done so well this season but Janet is really enjoying the show.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep and a fun day tomorrow.

Janet, A Success Story. May 7. #TSJ

Getting needles stuck into her is one of Janet’s favourite things. Not. Yesterday was one little one for a blood test, today was multiple large ones for Botox. Both for good causes but neither very pleasant. Dr. McCann administered today’s treatment at his office which is only a ten minute walk from our house so we walked. Janet thought I meant really walk at first but that would be a little extreme. Janet did walk into the office though and Dr. McCann made sure to point out how much Janet has improved since he saw her last. We changed the plan of attack a little today and left Janet’s right fingers alone as they are looking pretty good. That part of the dosage was targeted at Janet’s right elbow in hopes of limiting its pronating. The right leg treatment stayed the same and with Janet’s overall improvement Dr. McCann wants to space out the treatments more so we are now every four months instead of three. I asked what the indicator would be for the ending of treatments and he said Janet walking with a cane for one or two blocks. I explained Janet doesn’t like the cane so she’d be walking free style and he said great. Janet then gave a little demonstration of her free style walking by putting four steps back to back. On our walk home I pointed out where she’d have to walk to from our place and she asked if that was supposed to be some sort of incentive. I’m hoping that was a rhetorical question.

Fresh from a nap Janet enjoyed some time in the sun before going to SheLife. We arrived on time but as I turned the last corner into the parking lot Janet tried to place her water bottle back in its holder and missed a little so the entire contents ended up in her lap. The only option was to race back home to change. That prevented her from being able to walk in as I was hoping she would to work in that Botox. Oh well. This was the last session at the church as next week Heidi is having her table over to her house then SheLife is over until September. Janet was excited to tell me she got to speak during their discussion time and reiterated how much she appreciates everyone there.

When we got back to Connect it was late of course and Janet needed a bathroom break so she missed that opportunity to walk as well. I guess its OK if she gets rested up and starts fresh tomorrow. Praying for a long night of deep sleep and an abundance of physical activity tomorrow.

Janet, A Success Story. May 3. #TSJ

Today we eliminated one stressful item off of my to do list. Janet found shoes for the wedding! AFO lady had suggested a store called Hollywood Shoes and that was our first task of the day. Half an hour later we left the store with wedding shoes and a pair of clogs for outings away from Connect. Happy happy.

Since we were in the area we stopped by to see John who is still at the care home he doesn’t want to be in. It is a pretty sad place and John has yet to recapture his positive personality although he tries hard to put on a brave face. He was pleased to see us and Janet felt good about visiting him.

I eased Janet back into some walking practice today and I didn’t notice any real set back after the day off. The big test came at church this evening where she propelled in wearing her new clogs then walked down the aisle to her seat. She did well saying the left show feels a little loose. It was better on the way up the aisle after church and Janet thinks it’ll be fine but I will test her more tomorrow. Janet took a few steps on her own without even thinking about it and did a nice turn to her spot at the table without assistance. If she would just believe in herself she could do so much more.

We got some great news about our friend Wendy in Nanaimo this evening, she is off the respirator, conscious and “out of the woods”. Still in ICU but things look positive. Thanks to those who prayed for her.

Janet and I closed our day catching up on American Idol with Janet offering some good critiques and correctly naming who’d be sent home. Her favourite, surprisingly is Caleb.

Praying that Janet sleeps well and is bright and energetic for tomorrow.

Janet, A Success Story. April 30. #TSJ

When I checked in with Janet at lunchtime today she was sounding quite cheery and energetic. Her morning had been good and included a long walk, Janet said to the gym, Jess corrected it was to the living room. The fact that Janet was excited about it is great and she continued to act positively when I got to Connect to take her to SheLife.

I arrived early thinking we’d go bathing suit shopping but an old pair of shorts and one top still barely fits Janet and will do for tomorrow so the shopping can wait for some rainy day. Tez wants Janet to wear her AFO in the pool with some water shoes on her feet and I forgot to take them to Connect so we went home to see if any fit and decided to stay for our first outside dinner of the year.

Al fresco dining in April. #whywelivehere

Al fresco dining in April. #whywelivehere


The water shoes will do for tomorrow. I mentioned Janet was in a pretty positive mood and one example was her eagerness to walk from her room to the car. It was if she expected to do that and never even mentioned her wheelchair. It was fun walking out in the sun with her and we did it again at church as Janet walked from the car to her table at SheLife, a distance I later stepped out as 215 feet. By far her longest yet and it included going up two ramps, one about 30 feet long. Her steps were strong and deliberate most of the time with a little more wobbliness than I’d like but that will change. The fact she had the energy to go that far is impressive.

With a big smile on her face Janet excitedly told me how she “actually contributed tonight”. She managed to talk about patience and how she could be really angry or sad about what’s happened to her but she’s not. It was a fun car ride back to Connect as Janet talked about the positive things in her life.

My time with Janet today was very refreshing and uplifting and a great antidote to what had happened earlier. My cousin and second cousin both work at the mill in Nanaimo where the shooting took place this morning and there were some anxious moments in waiting to hear if they were OK. They are but were shaken by what took place. We also received word that our friend Wendy in Nanaimo is in ICU after a botched procedure to remove kidney stones. Janet’s table prayed for her tonight and I ask you to do the same.

Janet, A Success Story. April 26. #TSJ

Thanks for complying with the new settings to the emails you receive for this blog, there was a nice spike in the numbers today and that is encouraging to me.

Our morning was leisurely today and Janet started off with a decent Skype chat with her mom. She seemed a little quiet to me in spite of a sleep in but she did toss and turn quite a bit last night so maybe the sleep in just kind of evened things out. Janet came outside with me as we met with the Gardening Committee from our Strata to discuss what shrubs we would like removed and who’s responsibility each one is. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that costs would be shared and most of what Janet and I want to do is likely to be approved.

It was just warm enough outside for Janet and the gardening ladies but not enough to stay out any longer than that so we scanned old photos into the computer until we were hungry for lunch. I made sure Janet helped as much as she could in the kitchen today and she did a solid job. I did give her a break from chopping duty though as she does that a lot at Connect so today was largely assembly practice and Janet is improving nicely.

After a decent nap we went to church this evening where Janet got her first real walking done today. She bravely walked the entire length of the aisle to her seat with me in front acting as her cane. Her steps were large and fast and wobbly at times but got praise from Tim who saw her without the wheelchair and came over to encourage her as did Randi and Wayne a little later. We had a nice long chat with Randi after the service that Janet chose as one of her highlights of the day tonight. He is a kind man going through some tough times and we are grateful we get to cheer him on a little. Janet then walked back up the aisle to her wheelchair more confidently than she did down. Soon I won’t have to be her cane. Walking around the house didn’t happen as much as I wanted to today but when Janet did, she did well. I’ll try again tomorrow to get some video.

Janet and I hadn’t watched a movie for a while so when I pitched the idea, Janet actually got excited. We chose Philomena, making sure the only options were Janet appropriate films. I only had to explain a couple things as the movie went along and Janet remembers seeing the great Judi Dench in other films but couldn’t name them. Unlike Noah, there was not a lot of discussion afterwards but Janet and I both enjoyed.

Praying for a night of uninterrupted sleep and a productive Sunday.

Janet, A Success Story. April 23. #TSJ

Remember those toileting issues Janet was having recently? They appear to be gone, at least for now. Janet had just rung her alarm when I walked into her room this afternoon. She had been in bed for an hour and a half, not sleeping she says, and needed to go to the bathroom. Often this requires some pretty fast action but today she said there was time to put her AFO and shoes on and I actually had her walk to the toilet. She held it all the way and walked back out when finished. High five!

After a little chat and opening a very nice card made by our neighbour Bonnie, we headed out for dinner and SheLife and arrived at the church with lots of time for a bathroom break and some walking. Janet did the same distance she’d done the first time walking into SheLife and did it considerably faster tonight. I’m still not happy with her tendency to walk a little sideways but she’s working on it. Janet enjoyed the session tonight and was happy she got to share Willie’s story with her table. Other than that, she said she didn’t say much but enjoyed listening to the discussion.

Back at Connect while Janet was taking her meds and enjoying some Easter chocolate we watched another TEDx talk from Dr. Grahn. This one was on the myth that listening to Mozart makes you or your baby smarter. There is one line in the talk that I thought really pertained to Janet, watch it and let me know what you think it is.

Praying that Janet realizes full and complete healing soon.

Janet, A Success Story. April 22. #TSJ #firstrealsteps

This is one of those days where I could just post a video and let it speak for itself but there is more to today than that. Janet continues to amaze.

The first part of her day seemed routine and she was giggly and doing fine when I called at lunchtime. She was awake in bed when I arrived a few hours later and was happy to open a package from her mom while I did some light maintenance on her wheelchair. In addition to some Easter treats, the package contained info on a lecture Mary Gaga and Keith had attended given by Dr. Jessica Grahn, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music. Check out her talk at TEDx Waterloo, it’s fascinating and we’ll be checking into her studies more as we all know Janet has benefitted hugely from music during her recovery.

We spent our pre dinner time talking and learning and after a good dinner I challenged Janet to walk back to her room. Her acceptance was reluctant of course but for once there was no real complaining during the walk. She asked a few times to stop at the Den and complained once of feeling a little dizzy. I asked her to stop and stand tall and stretch a little then she was able to power on, reaching her bed in a record smashing thirty five minutes! Her technique has improved for sure, larger steps, much larger steps with her right leg, and managing to stay on a better angle. Janet was visibly pleased when it was over, both that it was over and that she had done it. Chelsea and Curtis stopped by and encouraged her a little and when Janet stood up for a reason I can’t remember, I felt prompted to ask her to step to me without hanging onto anything. Without hesitation she made three steps toward me in succession. Chelsea agreed to be camera operator and here’s what happened next.


So exciting!

Janet repeatedly said she was not going to Games Night but she did and she participated well and said it was OK afterwards. Willie stopped by to tell us he was able to share his story at his church this weekend. There seems to be a lot of that going on lately. Good stuff.

After Janet shared and ate more Easter chocolate it was reading time and we shared a lot of chuckles from Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. Feeling very blessed for the gains Janet is making and praying for Janet to be a willing participant in everything she’s asked to do tomorrow.

Janet, A Success Story. April 19. #TSJ

I could go on and on about today but I won’t. It was our eleventh anniversary and we celebrated that as well as our risen Lord. Happy Easter!

Anniversary dinner at Quail's Gate.

Anniversary dinner at Quail’s Gate.

Janet, A Success Story. April 18. #TSJ

A Good Friday it was! Janet was up early and I’m glad now that she was as we had an unhurried breakfast and a smooth trip to church for a 10am service which could have been a real scramble. Had we been five minutes later we would not have gotten our usual seat, which is important to me as we’ve chosen one that allows Janet the best view. Janet really enjoyed the service as it was done in a narrative form with four different readers and interspersed with songs. Janet said she could follow it the whole time.

Since we were in the area we stopped by to see John, Janet’s first visit to his room. She commented on the way up that “this place is really run down” and on the way out “I hope I never have to be in a place like that”. I reminded her that she was in the queue for just such a place even as she transferred to the Rehab ward and because of her hard work she progressed past that. John put on a good show for us but I get a sense he’s not too happy and maybe concerned about something he’s not sharing with us. It was also evident that no one is pushing him to do anything, if he wants to sleep until 9:30 and not have breakfast, they let him. Not cool. Please keep him in your prayers.

Janet helped make lunch before we both had a nap this afternoon which for some reason I seemed to need as much as her. The sun was shining when we got up and Janet went for a nice walk around the kitchen area. It was her first time on this particular course and it included lots of turns, even a 180 degree one that she executed very well. High five! Tomorrow I’m going to try and have her take a step without hanging on to anything. She sort of did it at bedtime tonight and I think she can, I just have to convince her she can.

Our evening was quiet save for a nice conversation with Cam who is in snowy Saskatoon and we got a picture from Laurel in snowy Calgary.

Good Friday?

Good Friday?


Glad we live here!
Our sun bathed tulips

Our sun bathed tulips


Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep and a day of celebration tomorrow.

Janet, A Success Story. April 16. Video of SheLife Speech #TSJ

During my lunchtime phone call with Janet I encouraged her to have an early nap as we had to leave earlier than usual to get in a doctor appointment before SheLife. No surprise that when I got to Connect, Janet was hanging out in the living room and telling me she couldn’t sleep. Oh well, I was confident the adrenaline would keep her going and it did, she even managed a 23 minute walk down the hallway before we left.

Her doctor doesn’t feel there is anything physiological causing Janet’s “accidents”. She feels it’s more likely Janet is distracted or stressed at the time, which makes sense in a lot of ways looking back on the incidents. The plan for the next little while is to ask and encourage Janet to go to the bathroom more frequently and assure her that it’s OK to stop what she’s doing and go. She reminded us that although Janet is improving overall, the rate of improvement will not be constant. There will be moments of decline but overall the trend will continue upwards. I’m glad we went to the doctor about this and now I can be more patient and understanding going forward. As a side note Janet’s Dilantin levels were nicely in the therapeutic range so it’s safe to say that is not a contributing factor.

The doctor’s appointment ran late leaving us very little time for dinner and we arrived at Trinity with just enough time for a pee break and a quick run through of Janet’s speech. She was pretty amped up heading into this as were her table mates.

After her run through

After her run through

Standing confidently

Standing confidently


She did a fabulous job standing at the podium confidently and speaking clearly and loudly. Janet ad libbed a lot of it, maybe in part because I forgot to give her her reading glasses, but mostly because she really wanted to speak to the ladies rather than read to them. It worked and she made all of the points she wanted to make. Here is the video.

And here is her original script.
SHELife Speech
Janet was very pleased she made her speech tonight and was surprised at the reaction she got. I’m not. As I said goodnight I told her she was awesome and her reply was, “I’m wasn’t awesome but sure was on tonight”. Indeed you were Janet.

Praying thankfully for all that Janet has accomplished, for everyone that has helped along the way and that this is only the beginning of more improvement.