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.
Janet, A Success Story. April 19. #TSJ
faith
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?
Glad we live here!
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
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.
Janet, A Success Story. April 15. #TSJ
A nice bounce back by Janet today. No accidents, good workouts, good reading practice on her SheLife speech and even a little participation in Games Night.
Janet seemed in a good mood when I called her at lunch time. Jess had taken her to the lab for another blood test in preparation for her doctor appointment tomorrow and she had gone for a bike ride and some stretching. When I arrived at Connect I was surprised to find Janet in the living room “supervising” Brian and a wheelchair tech working on Big Country’s new wheelchair. She had napped a little bit and was eager to practice her SheLife speech so that’s what we did first. The more she read it the better she got and as long as she doesn’t over rehearse and has a good nap tomorrow afternoon she should do well.
Chelsea joined us in the gym to learn Janet’s Shuttle routine. I hadn’t seen Janet on the Shuttle for a while and was impressed with her effort. I’d say there is some improvement since last time. After dinner Janet managed a decent walk from her room to the lobby, which is about fifty feet away. I hope to talk to Tez about helping Janet to walk straight ahead instead of angling to the right as she mostly does. She doesn’t quite understand that she’s doing it even after I tried to show her how much shorter she’d have to go if she went straight. Anyways, it took a lot of convincing to get her to practice walking tonight but when she did she did well. I had her take a few steps holding onto me so I could gage how much she’s using the cane and there was hardly any pushing down on my arm leading me to think she could take a step completely free but she’s scared to try. The idea of practicing that in the pool crossed my mind but I didn’t mention it to Janet yet.
It was a struggle again to get Janet to go to Games Night and this time she didn’t participate much except for singing the Barney theme song during a guessing game. There was one more reading of her speech, which was too much that late in the day, then some email replying to do before bed. Praying that Janet is well rested, confident and focussed for all that she’s asked to do tomorrow.
Janet, A Success Story. April 14. #TSJ
Today started off great with Janet waking at a decent hour after a good sleep and easily taking a bath before breakfast. She was bright and alert and seemed ready for a good day. I left her and Heather for a little bit to attend to an appointment I had and when I returned they were sharing the couch watching Ellen. I asked Janet if she needed to go to the bathroom and got what I felt was a confident no. Minutes later it was like the flood in Noah and I was not in the least bit impressed. I got quite angry with Janet and I know she didn’t intentionally do this but she’s been doing so well and this is such a sudden and inconsistent change that I get really mad when it happens and take it out on her. We had a good talk with nurse Jen at Connect this afternoon and have an appointment with Janet’s doctor Wednesday and I think with an understanding of what’s happening I will be better able to handle it. There are two likely scenarios, one physiological and treatable the other neurological and not treatable. Pray it’s the former please.
In spite of my grumpiness the rest of the day was pretty good. Janet really enjoyed her time with Heather and is very grateful for her taking the time to come all this way to visit. Janet is very aware that the next time she sees her will be at her wedding and “that’s a big deal”. After we dropped Heather at the airport we went back to Connect and worked on Janet’s speech for SheLife. It’s been hard for me not to put words in her mouth and Janet has done a great job of constructing what she wants to say. We wrote it up on her iPad and found she was having a lot of trouble reading it as the page was too busy so I transferred it to a presentation app with one or two sentences on each slide that Janet can see clearly, read then tap to see the next slide. Should work.
After an early and quiet dinner Janet agreed to a bike ride. I wasn’t expecting much from her as she had no nap at all today but she put in a very solid performance with no complaining. Her next choice was more mine than hers and that was a walk. Again, I didn’t expect much but started her out at the kitchen table with the goal of making it to her bed and I was willing to let her bail at the Den. No need, as forty five minutes later she plunked herself down on her bed. She was exhausted but somewhat happy with what she’d done, I certainly was.
There wasn’t much to the rest of the evening other than some well deserved chocolate and once in bed, Janet was sleeping ten minutes later. Praying for a complete and immediate resolution to Janet’s incontinence issue, a deep and healing sleep tonight and a great Tuesday.
Janet, A Success Story. April 13. #TSJ
A new day,a more with it Janet and a new dress. Maybe.
After a nice breakfast of Bonnie’s homemade hot cross buns, Janet agreed to try on her new mother of the bride dress again and ended up taking our advice to keep the top part, lose the bottom and order a dress I spotted online for her which I think says Janet way more than this one. When it arrives we’ll have her model it for you and hopefully she will say yes and really mean it.
This was the warmest day of the year so far here and Janet took full advantage of it, spending some good time basking in the sun and enjoying our first outside meal of the year.
First outside meal of 2014. Grilled cheese of course.
Janet managed a couple of good walking sessions today that were highlighted by some nice cornering. Her toileting issues were improved but not resolved and we may need to consult the GP if things continue this way. I’m finding it difficult to deal with as it seems a set back for Janet and I’m not into those. Her energy level was decent today but she still needed a two hour nap this afternoon and came out of that with pretty good energy and motivation enough to go for a walk around our old neighbourhood. Barb blessed us with some of her famous bread as we strolled by their house. Please add Gary to your prayer list as he faces heart surgery in the near future.
Taking time to make a nice dinner, Janet helped prepare a part of it and we enjoyed some laughs with Heather over good food and wine tonight. Overall this was a better day than yesterday but certainly not Janet’s best and I pray for a return to the progress she was making both physically and cognitively.
Janet, A Success Story. April 12. #TSJ
Shopping day was finally here. Janet remained lukewarm this morning to the idea of shopping for a dress to wear to Heather and Allan’s wedding in June but promised to give it a good go. I wasn’t that confident, as Janet seemed low on energy and certainly not her brightest. I went to the first store with her and Heather and thought it was cool the owner came right over and offered to help. Janet was quiet about everything and a little disinterested and it seemed like this was going to be a long day. To take some pressure off, I dropped the ladies off at the mall and went to visit John for a bit. He’s in a temporary care home now and starting to settle in there a little. Please keep him in your prayers as he has to adjust to some big changes in his life. Upon my return to the mall Janet happily informed me they had found something. Turned out she wasn’t a hundred percent sure on it so the hunt continued. A little while later I got another report of success and the mission was being declared a success. Janet had steadily declined in energy level and to me didn’t seem to be having any fun at all. She was really neglecting her right side, frequently crashing into things. Thinking some food might help, we grabbed mall food and Janet only ate half of hers so we headed home for what I thought would be a good long nap.
An hour’s worth of rest helped Janet a little and happy hour on our patio helped more. This was the first time we’ve sat outside in the sun at our new house and it felt really good. Janet didn’t want it to end but a cloud covered the sun just as it was time to get ready for church so with her seeming more like herself, off we went. Tonight’s service “was a good one” says Janet and she was able to follow along with Tim’s message. By the time we were most of the way through our sushi dinner after church, Janet was fading again. She didn’t eat as much as she usually does and wasn’t really initiating any conversation. Back at home it was time to try on the dress and the other clothes Janet got today. She was pleased with her dress but Heather and I are so so with it. What do you think?
Potential mother of the bride dress.
Heather and I like the top.
By this time Janet was quite out of it and should have gone to bed but she wanted ice cream so she quietly enjoyed that before getting ready. There was a return of her toileting challenges from last week this evening and put me in a foul mood. I don’t understand how she can be so bright and with it most of the time then have lapses like this. I pray that tomorrow, Janet is refreshed, rejuvenated, positive and energetic.
Janet, A Success Story. April 10. #TSJ
I’m not sure how to start this post as Janet and I along with a few other Connect folks saw the movie Noah tonight and I’m still rather consumed by it. I didn’t meet up with Janet today until she and the others got to the movie theatre but I did call her at lunch time and she was quite excited to be outside at Beasley Park having a picnic with a bunch of Connect people. She also was excited to tell me she had done some walking from the breakfast table to somewhere she couldn’t name, I’m thinking the Den but it may have been further. Point is, she was excited to have done it.
Janet expressed all emotions except laughter during Noah and overall thought it was a good movie with a lot of parts she didn’t understand. I would concur and Janet and I had a good talk about it in the car and right up until bedtime and would love to hear from any of you as to what you thought of it. It was exciting to be able to take Janet to a movie and for her to sit through a long one like that. Her sitting was made more comfortable in that she was able to sit in a theatre seat after a difficult transfer that included negotiating a three inch step down to get to her seat. Popcorn and pop helped too of course.
Praying for a restful night of sleep tonight and for an energetic Janet tomorrow and also for Heather to arrive safely and on time.
Janet, A Success Story. April 9. #TSJ
I was a little concerned as I arrived at Connect this afternoon and saw a tired looking Janet sitting in the Standing Frame. We had planned on leaving early for SheLife so we could run an errand and not be rushed through dinner. Turns out Janet was just getting out of the Standing Frame, not into it, and she had tried to nap but just couldn’t do it so off we went and my concern was all for not as Janet had an excellent evening.
The first part of her day was pretty routine from what I could gather as she had done all the requisite exercises and worked on Speech with Mary Lou. When I asked about walking, Janet was quick to say she had not done any yet but was going to at SheLife. I was pleasantly surprised she remembered that and that she still wanted to do it. We arrived at the church a half hour early so Janet could have a bathroom break before attempting to walk to her table for the evening’s session. She thought I was going to make her walk from the bathroom but that’s probably in the 150 foot range and even I am not that mean to have her try that yet. Janet happily suggested starting from a set of doors about 80 feet from her table. It was still early so no one was around as she started out which gave her time to really get going without the distraction of people watching. Twenty minutes later Janet sat down at her table to loud applause and cheering from the whole room and Janet was visibly happy with herself. Along the way, she took some really good steps, corrected her direction well with lots of coaching from me, and only once let people distract her from what she was doing. It was an excellent public walking debut and Janet is truly excited about having done it as she even reported it to Chelsea upon our return to Connect. I think I’m more excited about Janet feeling great about accomplishing such a thing than I am about the feat itself. Exciting times.
Praying that Janet sleeps well tonight and has a productive Thursday.
Janet, A Success Story. April 8. #TSJ
I arrived at Connect this afternoon to a very tired looking Janet hanging out in the living room. She said she slept but it sure didn’t look like it. That didn’t stop her from making a nice salad and setting the dinner table at Chelsea’s request. You think she knew I was lining up some exercise for her?
At my suggestion earlier in the day Janet did some walking in addition to her regular gym stuff and after dinner tonight I was able to get her to walk farther than I anticipated. She made it from her room to the Den very nicely and didn’t complain once the whole way. Despite a lot of resistance we went to Games Night following the walk. Janet feared not knowing any of the answers to the “stupid” games played and said she would only go to watch. On the very first question, Janet piped up quickly with the correct answer and did so a number of times during the evening. According to her, even with that success, “it was not fun”.
The last few days have been great for Janet both physically and cognitively. Her walking, in my opinion is improving, her short term memory is getting better too and she almost always can tell me the day, date, month and year, a skill Dr. Miller was encouraging a few months ago and I think we can now say has been achieved. Janet had another blood test today checking her Dilantin levels and they came back fine. All these positives are helping to grow Janet’s confidence to the point where she says she’s going to try and walk the last part of the way to her table at SheLife tomorrow. Can’t wait.
Praying for a solid night of sleep and a positive Wednesday.
Janet, a Success Story 