Commitment

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 6. #TSJ

I think I’ve figured out how to get Janet to sleep earlier, work her butt off. Today was a marathon of walking for Janet starting with Tez in the sling this morning. He took her up there right after breakfast so there wasn’t time for me to get there but all reports, even from Janet, are that it was a good session. Besides walking the laid out course Tez pushed Janet from behind at times and had Jess pull Janet quickly from in front at times as well. Both techniques designed to help Janet with momentum. She even did a little free walking with them.

When I arrived this afternoon Janet had just gone to bed but needed the bathroom and after that disruption really never got to sleep. As we talked about the day I realized I had forgotten to request a trip to the lab for her this morning so we decided to go before dinner. I challenged Janet to make the trip without her wheelchair and she walked from her room to the car, from the car down a switchback ramp then down a long corridor to the lab entrance. The tech saw her coming in walking and cheered her on. Janet repeated the course after getting stabbed, thereby completing her first wheelchair free outing!

After a rest in the sun Janet agreed to get her bike ride in before dinner and walked from the patio to her room. I let her wheel to the gym but set the bike to level five instead of four and she set a new distance record of 3.4 miles in 30 minutes that included three hills. High five!

Dinner got devoured, no surprise, while we practiced Spanish with Big Country. Janet even pulled out some German she learned in high school and a little French. Janet had walked to the dining area and therefore had to walk back to her room afterwards. She started to complain a little of a sore right foot on the way to her room so I took her shoe and AFO off for a bit to have a look and give her a rest. There are no pressure points that I can see and she walked well up to the Pool Room for Games Night following that brief breather. The feature game of the evening was Heads Up which once everyone got the hang of being able to shout out clues when they wanted, was a lot of fun. Even Janet enjoyed.

The walk back to her room was clearly pushing the limits but before she was done for the night Janet walked free style from her bed to the bathroom door! She kept saying she couldn’t do it after each couple of steps then low and behold she was there. Awesome!

Janet really wanted me to read to her but after all that walking she fell asleep within a few minutes of me starting. Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep.

Janet, A Success Story. May 5. #TSJ

Its a good thing Janet got lots of rest over the weekend as today was a big work day for her. Jess had her in the gym and walking this morning. Wendy had her and the other residents filling out daily schedules that they need to follow and check things off as they complete them. Janet was not thrilled with that idea as she doesn’t “like people telling me what to do”. When I explained it was a way for her to map out what she had to do each day she was more accepting of it. All this info is on Janet’s calendar on her iPhone so I guess its time to teach her how to access that better.

Nap time was without sleep again for the most part and Janet admitted to being “out of it” as I helped her get up. To her credit she suggested doing something active to get herself going again so off to the Shuttle we went. Janet is slowly getting stronger and more able to control her right leg. The increases are minimal but there. Her effort was good and overall she showed stronger than a week ago. It took a lot of convincing but Janet got onto the Tilt Table next and tolerated it for thirty minutes. I was impressed by her ability to stand on her right leg for a count of four or five and pleased that she’s starting to recognize the benefits her left leg receives when she shares the load with the right.

Karl’s chicken curry was too spicy for Janet so we switched dinners tonight then started the real work, walking. Janet is pleased with her new shoes and I notice more stability for the left foot with them and we had a nice warm up walk from the kitchen to her room. That used to be the absolute extreme for Janet, now its a warm up. After a break and chat in her room we headed back to the kitchen to ask Chelsea if she would assist with the sling. Janet was nervous about doing this but is starting to understand the safety aspect of it and I think thats what allowed her to agree to do it tonight. Compared to her first attempt last Thursday she was a hundred times better tonight. After a forced fall to better understand the equipment Janet walked around the course really well and without complaining until she got tired. Her cornering was great and as long as she keeps momentum she walks quite well. Fear still controls her a little but I saw a lot of confidence creeping through tonight. The last walk of the night came as a trip to get her meds and feeding off that increase in confidence I had Janet free walk from her bed to the door of her room. She made it half way in what was her best free walk yet. I’m excited for what tomorrow brings as hopefully Tez will work on the sling with her and hopefully I can be there.

“Exhausted” after all that walking Janet was happy to sit down and reply to some emails. She typed one to her mom with very little help from me then voiced a couple of others as the concentration it took to type wore her out a little. Or maybe a lot as she was asleep before ten as I read to her.

Praying for continued improvement in Janet’s walking abilities and the confidence to keep working hard.

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. May 2. #TSJ

This was a bonus day for Janet in many ways. Home a day earlier than usual, no gym to go to and a beautiful summer type day outside. It was my intention to make sure Janet got time in the sun today and she did. Breakfast and lunch were outside as was most of the afternoon. I did have her working this morning though more mentally than physically. She made her own breakfast, made the bed, put away laundry and dusted in the living room, all while I went grocery shopping. High five!

Janet did her chores from her wheelchair with her iPhone playing music for her and she was singing along when I got home. She was pleased at being able to be helpful and combined with her hard work at Connect yesterday she deserved a day off. We sat outside for a long lunch before Janet had a nap so she’d have energy for our Wine Club gathering tonight.

We had been in summer mode most of the day so were a little behind when people started arriving for the evening but since Janet is able to help all was well. It was our largest crowd yet and Janet enjoyed the conversations and wine but cautioned that five wines was a bit too much for her. She did stay more focussed than the previous two times and responded well when I invited her comments on the wines we were tasting.

To wind down the evening Janet enjoyed some ice cream and a little TV and is looking forward to maybe some shoe shopping and visiting John tomorrow, things she needed no prompting to remember were on our schedule.

Praying for a productive Saturday.

Janet, A Success Story. May 1. #TSJ

What a difference going to the pool in summer weather. So much easier as Janet isn’t wearing fifteen layers of clothes to change out of and into and she’s not already cold before getting near the water. There were even bigger differences in her abilities today as opposed to a few months ago when she last went, such as, walking down the ramp into the kiddie pool with me leading then walking up it on her own using the handrail all the way to seating herself in a wheelchair. Walking down the stairs into the hot tub and up again using the handrail with me supporting at the hips. I used to have to carry her into the hot tub. High five!

Today’s agreement was for kiddie pool and hot tub only and I stuck to that as the whole point was to give Janet a safe environment to walk on her own in. It took a little while to get loosened up and confident but after a few attempts and some coaching from Tez Janet walked on her own for five or six steps at a time. She fell a few times and didn’t seem to mind at all and I think that eased her fear a little. For the most part she did a good job of pushing down with her right leg. The experience was good and in talking afterwards Janet was receptive to trying the sling once to compare.

That opportunity came sooner than Janet expected when she walked from her room to the kitchen after a nap to ask Curtis if he would help her before he left for the day. To Janet’s dismay, Curtis agreed. The difference in Janet’s walking in the water and using the sling is night and day so I had to rescind my offer of her choosing one or the other as the sling is just a million times better for her. She is scared and pouted a lot the first attempt but persevered and turned in an excellent walk around the ten foot square the sling allows her to travel in. Janet stood on her own for over five minutes arguing for us to take the sling off not even realizing she was standing on her own. She thinks that somehow it is holding her up and affecting what she does but its all her and on the last lap I think she started to realize that. She put good combinations of steps together, made really nice turns and corrected her balance well a few times. She lost it a few times too and I think started to understand how the sling prevents her from falling and nothing else. After a lot of sweat and hard work Janet completed what will now be a daily routine at Connect for her and should help her to make significant gains in walking on her own.

Having worked so hard today I gave Janet a pass for good behaviour and brought her home tonight. Along the way we stopped at the mall to do some shoe shopping. The lady that built Janet’s AFO stopped by Connect this afternoon and gave some advice as to the types of shoes Janet can wear with the biggest rule being no heals. For casual shoes, pretty much anything that fits will be fine and for the wedding it’s a lot more complicated. Janet is wanting a dressy shoe for that but is restricted by needing pretty much the whole shoe to open up in order to get it on her AFO. We found some that were close, one pair actually went on but just weren’t stylish enough for her. We may try more tomorrow.

Praying for strengthening of Janet’s right leg and confidence to keep working hard.

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. Walking Video. April 28. #TSJ

My day with Janet was short but busy as I worked late at CedarCreek and showed up at Connect as she was in the gym with Chelsea for her after dinner workout. Janet was in a much better mood than she is with me in the gym and said her day had been pretty good. The one thing I was really counting on for today didn’t happen though. Last week I had arranged for the lady who built Janet’s AFO to stop by and talk to us about shoes Janet could wear in summer clothes and at Heather’s wedding. Janet was all prepared with a list of questions and waited “all afternoon” to no avail. Apparently she’s coming Thursday now. Not impressed.

After a good Shuttle session Janet wheeled back to her room to prepare for a walk to the living room to then use the Tilt Table. Chelsea suggested using the cane but Janet insisted on using me and I agreed as I think she walks better that way. That also gave me the opportunity to try walking side by side with Janet, something we haven’t done in almost two years. Here’s a brief look at it on video (thanks Karl) along with a little free walking that Janet doesn’t seem to want to do with an audience. I asked her last night with Karl watching and she refused and she initially did today as well. Hopefully as she walks more she won’t worry about who’s watching.


The Tilt Table is a real challenge for Janet as she is forced to use her right leg or else collapse. She managed thirty minutes and after a ten minute rest on the couch walked back to her room. Played out, she stretched out on her bed while we checked emails and played some Four Pics One Word, a game she doesn’t like playing too much but is getting better at and I think is good brain exercise. Tonight she was responsible for typing out the answers and she did a good job. Being the tyrant that I am I insisted Janet walk to the med room to get her meds, that of course required walking back as well, so Janet did four lengths of the hallway tonight! High five each time.

That was enough torture for one night and all Janet wanted to do was read the rest of the time. She put in a great effort tonight and I think if she can keep this pace going we’ll be walking side by side regularly soon.

Praying that Janet sleeps well tonight and is fully able and willing to participate in all of tomorrow’s activities.

Janet, A Success Story. April 27. #TSJ

A much better sleep for Janet last night so I’m at a loss as to how to explain her grumpiness that started the day. Every suggestion I made as to what to do was answered with “it doesn’t matter” or “I don’t care”. Not what I want to hear on a bright Sunday morning. It didn’t last long though and we headed out to get some ingredients for tonight’s dinner and some wine for our wine club gathering this Friday. To our dismay, two of the wineries we went to were closed. Oh well, we enjoyed the sunny drive by the lake.

Janet was warned she’d be helping in the kitchen today and she stepped up nicely. We made a lasagne for tonight as Courtney was coming over. Janet did well at chopping, stirring and assembling. She then had two pieces of corn on the cob for lunch. I thought it was weird to just have corn but she loved it. Before the lasagne was completely built Janet was fading so she went for a nap and woke up an hour and a half later in disbelief that she’d been out that long. That’s what happens when you sleep, time flies.

Courtney agreed to be camera operator so we could show you Janet’s new walking style as well as a bit of free walking. It’s hard to get a good angle on her as you never know when she’s going to agree to try but there is a pretty good look in this clip.

Janet remains unsure of the whole thing but very sure she doesn’t “want to be that person that can’t walk”. She is walking and will do so better each week.

We enjoyed visiting with Courtney this evening and the lasagne that Janet helped make turned out pretty good. I think having some company for the evening made the trip back to Connect more bearable as there was lots to talk about and Janet was in a happy mood. I had her walk more in the hallway there but she refused to free walk with Karl watching. Not sure why. Reading didn’t last long as the walk tired her out I think.

Praying Janet has a deep and healing sleep, a positive attitude and willingness to fully participate in whatever she’s asked to do tomorrow.

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.