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Les Miserables. A night at KGH

I promised to post updates whenever a worthy event occurred but I never said they’d all be positive events.

Last night at around 8:15 after enjoying a nice sushi dinner and half an hour into the movie Les Miserabless, Janet started complaining of pain in her stomach. I immediately thought she had to go to the bathroom as she hadn’t gone since Friday morning. She vehemently refused to go to the bathroom and reluctantly accepted the chance to lay down. With no consistent easing of the pain I decided to take her to KGH in case something serious was going on. We arrived at KGH at 9:45 and began the waiting game.

Janet was called quickly for blood work and an ECG. The ECG surprised me but they wanted to rule out all possibilities and apparently heart pain can be transferred to other parts of the body. Both those tests came back normal and Janet and I waited for the next event, X-rays. After an I V was installed and a pain med given, Toradol, Janet was wheeled to X-ray at 12:20am. As with the last time we went through this I had to help position Janet for two of the pictures to be taken on account of her right arm. One of the techs worked with Janet last time so that made things easier and with me wearing the lead vest we got the shots needed and were out in twenty minutes.

Sleep came easily to Janet after that and she got a good couple hours in before nurse Trevor tried an enema with no results. Janet’s X-rays showed lots of stool build up high in her abdomen again so no surprise the enema didn’t work. Both Trevor and Dr. Paul Cleave were unfamiliar with the Restoran that Janet had been on. He did promise to re order the “urgent” colonoscopy that was ordered May 9th. Hopefully that happens soon. We were offered a bunch of options we’ve already tried without success so we left KGH at 4:15am with a prescription for more Restoran and with Janet rested and reasonably comfortable.

We both got up around 10:30 this morning and Janet has had a good day so far although she’s a little tired. Jen at Connect was able to find a pharmacy that could fill Janet’s prescription today and as soon as we got to Connect Janet had a BM. She reluctantly went for a bike ride and is now in the standing frame before we go home for dinner.

Praying for comfort and resolution to Janet’s toileting challenges.

Record Breaking. Janet sets records daily. #TSJ

It’s been a record breaking week for Janet, setting personal bests in the pool, on the bike and in her sit to stand capabilities as well as her endurance in the standing frame. Health wise she seems very stable with regular BM’s and no obvious side effects from any of her meds. The Restoran ended today, (the magic poo pill) so it will be interesting to see how she does without that. Janet will visit her GP on Monday and part of that visit will be to assess all her meds and see if any further adjustments can be made. Dr. McCann is ordering an increase to Janet’s Baclofen dosage and I’m really interested to see if it has any effect. Janet has been on a very low dose for a long time now with no recognizable effect and if there is no change after the increase I’ll ask that it be discontinued.

A week ago, Jess instituted a program for Janet where she writes the day’s activities on a whiteboard and Janet crosses them off as they are completed. Janet has caught on to this nicely, easily reading what each activity is and drawing a line through it when done. A couple days ago Jess supplied Janet with a digital watch to help her get a sense of the time of day as each activity occurs. Janet was puzzled by the watch, arguing that she has one at home but agreeing it was more a piece of jewelery than a useful piece of equipment. Janet can easily read her Connect watch but needs a lot of work relating to “today” as this morning she woke up thinking it was Christmas. She was still complaining to me when I got in this afternoon that “isn’t it time for grass?” Her code for Christmas.

Janet’s day is centered around her physical activities as the emphasis remains on taking advantage of the Botox. Twice a day she rides the bike in the gym and continues to make steady gains in leg strength as a result. A week ago her personal best was thirty minutes and .83 miles using the arm assist. Today she went for thirty minutes and .62 miles with no arm assist at all! When Janet first started the bike she couldn’t even come close to pedaling without the arm assist. Similar benefits are being seen in the standing frame as Janet can now tolerate close to an hour twice a day. She doesn’t like it much but she tolerates it. As noted the other day Janet is also getting much better with her sit to stand exercises, so much so that she is getting a stripper pole installed in her room. For now it will be used to help her independently get out of bed and into her wheelchair, no dancing yet. As you all know Janet also is excelling in the pool and I expect that to continue improving each time we go.

Our weekend at home was an enjoyable one with Saturday being a day off from physio therapy type stuff. I was reluctant to give Janet the whole day off but that’s the way it turned out and I think it worked out well as she slept in, pulled weeds in the sunshine with me, went for a walk around the neighborhood and made a really good sandwich for herself at lunchtime. We went to church Saturday night for a change and really enjoyed the music and Tim’s message. Janet was fully engaged and we had a good discussion about it all afterwards. Janet continued to be quite talkative well into the night and loved the sushi dinner we had as well as the movie The Guilt Trip. Sunday was a change from the usual as well. Tez was at Connect for a few hours and offered to work with Janet if I took her out there. They had a really good session of sit to stand work teaching Tiffany and Julie how to work with Janet should they need. Everyone learned a lot and Janet performed very well. I wanted Tez to see Janet on the bike to make sure all was well with her positioning etc. It was and liking what he saw he challenged Janet to pedal with no arm assist. She of course did it and is now going thirty minutes that way. After a nap at home while I cut the lawn we made dinner then went for a hot tub. By the time we got outside it was pouring rain but Janet laughed through it and had a good time soaking in the warm water as the rain passed through. She was exhausted after a long and busy day and was asleep before I finished our goodnight prayer. The weekend was capped off with a nice lunch with Kiko and Joel after swimming on Monday before the trek back to Connect.

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Janet seems to be getting more comfortable and confident at Connect but is also more aware that it is not home. Her interactions with the other residents are improving as she gains confidence in herself and gets involved in more things around the house. Instead of an interview this week I decided to have Janet give you a brief tour of her home away from home. Crank up your volume and enjoy.

A Steady Climb. Janet continues to move in the right direction. #TSJ

It feels a little strange to be writing again after almost a week away from blogging. Thanks and welcome to all of you who have joined me on Twitter. That’s where you can now keep up to date with Janet on a daily basis.

This past week has seen Janet steadily moving ahead in a lot of areas, with Friday marking the beginning of the end of her BM challenges I hope. We finally got the medication started that Dr. Agnew said would work, and boy did it! Janet felt relieved afterwards and I still don’t understand how she never felt any pain or discomfort during the long period of time where she wasn’t going. That may be part of why she wasn’t going and hopefully while at her colonoscopy appointment, Dr. Nash will be able to explain what’s happening. As of today all is well in that department.

When I first met Janet she was challenging herself to become more assertive. As the years went by she learned to make sure her voice was heard very well. I’m starting to see a return of that strong personality now as she voices her opinion on things and has taken a few verbal shots at me. The funniest one being last night while watching basketball. I had been nagging Janet all afternoon about drinking water but hadn’t said anything for a while. Since it was nearing bedtime I casually suggested she needed to drink more water. She very quickly and sharply (smiling though) said “why don’t you drink more water”. Bob and I both laughed out loud along with Janet who promptly had a few big sips of water. I like what I’m seeing from her this way and although she still lacks confidence in her physical abilities she is clearly gaining a better understanding of her situation and the moment she is living in.

Speaking of physical abilities, Janet continues to impress not only me but her therapists as well. I’m praying she soon recognizes herself how well she is doing. Friday’s sessions at the KGH pool were strong with Janet doing some good balancing and “walking”. In our pool on Monday Janet “swam” on her back for ten seconds on two separate occasions. I’m calling it swimming because she continued kicking her legs and moving her left arm to keep her face out of the water. There was some propulsion but hard to measure in such a short period of time and I was so excited I kept thinking how I could get video of it all. No luck with that yet. Janet was pleased I was excited but doubtful she had done anything that exciting. The hot tub continues to work its magic on Janet’s stretchability and she looks forward to those relaxing sessions now. If we could get her that interested in the Connect gym we’d be set. Janet is performing well there but still argues against going each time. The staff and I keep emphasizing the benefits she is seeing from all her hard work and I think we’re gaining ground there. Should be easy to do as Janet is getting measurably better on the bike, the standing frame and the parallel bars almost daily. On Monday she set a personal best riding the bike for thirty minutes and traveling .82 miles. Janet is tolerating the standing frame for forty minutes to an hour now and it’s so weird having her standing tall I can’t sit beside her when she’s in the frame as I’m not used to looking up at her.

Meal prep and household type chores are something Janet strangely enjoys. She eagerly puts her laundry away and helps me make her bed. I still have to prompt her to look at the labels on her drawers to see where something goes and she needs a lot of guidance with kitchen duties but her willingness to try is cool and she really does concentrate fully when given a task.

Janet and I went for a nice long walk Monday evening to explore the neighborhood. We saw a nice development with some single level homes for sale but decided we don’t want to live in Lake Country. I tested Janet’s vision while we were out by asking her to read signs and find certain objects. She can see things for sure, her challenge is in sorting out what she’s looking at and zeroing in on the key thing. It was a fun walk and Janet seemed to enjoy the challenge of finding things to look at, kind of like eye spy.

The following is the first in what could be a weekly feature of the blog. This interview was shot this afternoon and its purpose is to allow you all to see and hear Janet for yourselves instead of just reading my words. We hope you enjoy.

Praying for continued improvement and acceptance by Janet in how well she’s doing.

Water Baby. Lots of pool time for Janet. #TSJ

Janet must’ve known it was Monday as she was in no hurry to get up this morning which normally would be OK but we had an appointment before swimming today so up she had to get. Her right leg on the other hand stayed asleep most of the day. In the pool it was doing its own thing most of the time despite a real effort from Janet. She did manage some good balancing and floating and over all both pool sessions were worth the trip. Even more worth the trip was a reunion with nurse R J as we passed by the Rehab nurses station. He was very excited to see Janet and could not believe she was talking to him. He was as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning and Janet thought the whole thing quite funny.

Unsure of what to do for lunch and with Janet announcing she had to go to the bathroom once we were in the car, I decided to take her home for the bathroom break and a quick lunch. I really need to stop referring to meals as quick with Janet as they never are. It was three o’clock by the time we were done and Janet was clearly getting quite tired. She would have nothing to do with the idea of a nap either at Connect or home but I offered to lay down with her and she accepted that. Asleep within five minutes and still sleeping at 4:30 I called Connect to say we’d be back after dinner. When she woke up after five Janet was refreshed and totally up for a hot tub. That warm water worked its magic on Janet again as I was able to get excellent stretches on both legs and some good work on her right arm and shoulder. With the cooler air temperature and the fact we weren’t in the overheated pool before going to the hot tub we were both able to stay in longer than yesterday and Janet was very relaxed when we got out. Her right leg seemed a little more responsive towards the end of the session and while doing some squats I could feel that leg working a little. Janet later executed some really strong standing transfers that I think even she was happy with.

No longer rushing to get back to Connect we had a good Skype chat with Andrew then a decent dinner before making the half hour drive to Lake Country. Bob had a good basketball game on when we got there so we stayed up too late and watched that but Janet wasn’t really that tired until the end. Regulation time ended at around 9:15 or so and I tried to fool her saying the game was over but she knew it was going into overtime and so she got to watch the whole thing.

Lots of time in the water today, a fun reunion with R J, a nice chat with Andrew and an extended stay at home made for a fun day for Janet. Praying for a good night of sleep and healing and a productive day tomorrow.

Mother’s Day. An emotional day for Janet. #TSJ

Mother’s Day. Janet and I don’t usually make much of Hallmark holidays but I sensed this one would be special for Janet and it was. As we were finishing breakfast I read, or at least attempted to read a poem written by Laurel and emailed to Janet this morning. Laurel really should know how difficult it is for me to read sappy things like that and when Janet started crying five words in, that was the end of me too. It seriously took me twenty minutes to read fourteen verses to her in between the watery eyes and running noses. I tried to laugh through it to get Janet to laugh but no. Tears tears and more tears. And that was just the start of our day.

The service at Trinity was of course designed to honor moms and following a very entertaining take on Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the message was delivered via a table discussion with four next gen members of our church. They told stories of what it was like growing up in their homes and some of the comments resonated deeply with Janet and brought more tears. The comments that really hit her were about values and practices that Janet always fought hard for as a mom and to hear them validated by a group of young people was very powerful. She was still in tears long after the service ended and it took a visit from Kiko and Joel to cheer her up.

At home the Skype marathon began with Cam who we have not been able to connect with for a while. Janet was surprised that he remembered it was Mother’s Day. Heather was next followed by a voice call to my mom. Determined to avoid a nap Janet agreed to go for a swim and a hot tub. Knowing the Rehab pool is 36C I brought ours up to 32C hoping Janet would be comfortable. I think there’s something wrong with my thermometer because that 32C felt more like 52C but Janet of course loved it. I quickly learned that I need some different exercises for our pool as its only three feet deep in the shallow end and slopes dramatically to the deep end so there’s not enough water to work with in one end and too much in the other. Janet did manage to float on her back all by herself for five seconds today even recovering twice in that time when her face dipped below the surface. Next time the water will be cooler and I’ll have a better routine for her.

The hot tub’s 38.7C felt cooler to me than the pool I think because its supposed to be hot where I’ve always liked the pool to be refreshing. Once again I got a really good stretch on both Janet’s legs in the hot tub and set her up nice for a long lounging session this evening in her wheelchair. That came after a Skype chat with Laurel who apologized for the tears this morning then a voice call to a surprised Mary/Gaga.

Dinner was take out from our go to sushi place where Brian and his family were having dinner when we got there to pick ours up. Brian went out to see Janet and she identified him as Gary. When I got back to the car she told me Jimmy came to say hi to her. Oh well.

Janet was determined to watch The Voice with me tonight and I could see her fighting to stay awake for it all. She managed barely and was asleep before I finished our goodnight prayer. Today was an emotional day for Janet. It was also one of those days where you look back and think it was really busy but it seems like you didn’t do much. What we did do was great though. We are proud of our family, blessed by our friends and our church and grateful for the progress Janet is making. Praying for a healing and restful night providing lots of strength for tomorrow.

Spring Fling. A fun in and out of the sun day. #TSJ

Today was Spring Fling day at Connect, the brain child of staff member Jess, and what a great idea it was. Technically it is Spring but we continue to enjoy summer like weather here, so much so I’ve had to resurrect Janet’s sun hat from last year. She still looks cute in it. She was also cute with her shirt saver on and a flipper in her hand as she helped Jess make pancakes for brunch this morning. For some reason she didn’t think I was coming to see her today and I’m not sure that she was upset about that at all. She seemed to be having lots of fun without me. Jess does a great job with Janet, always making sure she’s busy.

The staff set tables up in the parking lot and hired a guy to play guitar and sing while everyone enjoyed the sun and food. It was really nice to have all the residents and staff together with friends and family in a really positive environment. The highlights for Janet besides making pancakes were meeting Brian’s baby daughter Olivia and playing ladderball with me. There’s a Keek of her excellent throwing abilities. @larrylatour

By the time the Fling was over it was after one which meant either a nap then shopping and stuff or shopping and stuff then a nap. Janet of course chose the latter hoping to avoid the nap all together. She actually nodded off a little in the car on the way to the mall. Yes, the mall again. I realized we should have bought her a few more shorts when the girls were here as she doesn’t have any at home and I also wanted her to have a pair of sandals. After quick and successful stops at The Gap and Urban Trail we were headed home for a quick nap. I would have been happy with Janet resting for an hour or so then getting up for Church and a sushi dinner. She exceeded expectations and slept for over two hours which meant no Church and no sushi. We BBQ’d salmon instead, enjoying it outside then I got Janet into lounging mode while we watched Silver Linings Playbook which we both really enjoyed.

It was definitely late when I got Janet to bed but after her late nap today she did just fine and should have a good sleep. She continues to show improvement cognitively, saying some really intelligent and unsolicited things today. On the physical side, I’m not liking her left leg right now but will at least get her in the hot tub for a stretch tomorrow and see if that improves things. Janet drank all her Peg-Lyte today with no results yet. Sunday was her day last week so here’s hoping. Praying for a good sleep tonight and continued healing.

Waiting Game. A bit of a long day again for Janet. #TSJ

All reports this morning had Janet feeling good and not bleeding. She showered and ate breakfast and seemed ready for action. Apparently Connect has a policy whereby they cannot administer anything to a resident without a doctor’s prescription or order. The Peg-Lyte I was given at KGH yesterday did not come with any paperwork so the staff were unable to get Janet started on it this morning. Lorne volunteered to take Janet to the nearby walk in clinic to get a doctor’s note and over two hours later they returned. Successful but only after waiting a ridiculous amount of time for something as silly as that. In the last two days Janet has spent over seven hours waiting and it clearly affected her. She was hungry when she got back to Connect and devoured an apple as it was too close to dinner for anything else. Happy hour consisted of her first 480ml glass of Peg-Lyte and I have to praise her for drinking it as fast as she did. There were lots of funny faces but she was persistent and had an empty glass a half hour after starting. High five!

There was no immediate effect from the Peg-Lyte except for a boost in hydration. I don’t think Janet’s ever drank that much of anything that fast. It may have affected her head as well because she agreed to go to the gym and ride the bike before dinner. When we got there she was surprised that she was getting on “that bike”, she said her bike “is out there somewhere”, pointing outside. I got her set up and she ended up doing about twenty two minutes with a few stops along the way. Considering the day she was having I thought she did very well.

It’s Derek’s birthday today and he requested a roast beef dinner complete with Yorkshire Pudding for dinner tonight. The Yorkshire Pudding was a challenge for the staff but they pulled together and got it done. Janet enjoyed it as much as Derek did but the highlight was the cake Jess made. Yummy. I’ve been asking Janet if she wanted to try standing at the parallel bars for a while now, always getting a no. Tonight she agreed as long as I did it with her so up to the second floor we went. I demonstrated what I wanted her to do, which is pull up perpendicular to the bars, plant her feet, scoot forward in her chair and use her left arm to pull herself up to a standing position. She needed a couple of attempts and a kick start from me but on the third try she was able to stand pretty tall and with me barely touching her to keep her from falling backwards. I could really sense the effort in her legs that time and for once she didn’t cry when she accomplished something. I’m going to try and do this everyday with her now.

After all that it was time for lounging to watch some basketball. Janet’s right leg remains nice and loose but I sense an increase in the tightness of her left leg. Could just be the lack of activity the last few days so hopefully we can hot tub at home and hit the pool on Monday to get her going strong again. All the talk around Connect is about the Spring Fling tomorrow but Janet is still not sure about the whole thing. Jess promised to put her to work helping with pancakes in the morning and I know Janet will like that. Praying for a good sleep tonight and lots of energy tomorrow.

She’s a Real Stand Up Kind of Girl. A day of successes for Janet. #TSJ

Today was one of those days where everything seemed to go right for Janet. It started this morning in the gym with Tez, Joel and Lorne.

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That’s Lorne with Janet as she stands in the standing frame for the first time at Connect. Tez was pleasantly surprised at how well Janet can stand and weight bear through her legs. She is really improving in that area thanks to her hard work in the gym and the Botox. Tez even had Janet standing on her own, balancing herself with her butt up against the edge of the table mat. I’m really impressed by that one and will credit the work in the pool with helping her to figure out how to do that. Lorne took Janet for a walk outside in the standing frame so she wouldn’t get bored as Tez wanted her in there for twenty minutes or so. I remember seeing Fred and Chris use this apparatus and hoping Janet would get a chance one day. I didn’t expect it to be this soon.

I had a good chat with Lorne, Jess, Tez, Brian and Joel when I arrived this afternoon and everyone seemed excited for Janet’s achievements with Tez wanting her to use the bike this evening as he believes she’s ready for that. He recommends keeping the pool sessions going and trying to get Janet into our hot tub as much as possible. They are two different types of therapy and Janet will benefit from both. To simplify our schedule I will see if we can change the Thursdays to Fridays so we can just go home from the pool. Jess said she put Janet to bed amidst much protest over an hour earlier so I quietly entered her room to see how she was and this is how I found her.

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Not exactly Houdieno but if she starts believing she can walk, watch out!

Janet was in a very good mood as she gave me her account of the day. She still downplays her achievements but not to the degree she has in the past. Tez stopped by to show me how well she can stand using a slightly different technique than I was using. It gives more responsiblity to Janet and Tez suggests doing it as an exercise a few times a day.

We made it outside for happy hour and a Skype chat with Mary Gaga. Garrett then suggested Janet go to the gym to try the bike before dinner and Janet accepted with no argument at all. There is a Keek of her first pedals, @larrylatour, and as you can see in this pic she was quite comfortable on the bike and had a really good first go at it.

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Ideally she’d be able to pedal without the arm assist but for this session and probably the next while she will need it. I reminded her it’s not that different from the elliptical machine she used to use but she says she doesn’t remember that. As well as she did on the bike Janet didn’t seem all that impressed with herself but hopefully her attitude will improve with some more successes.

After her bike ride Janet BBQ’d herself a couple pieces of steak for dinner and gobbled them up along with her first corn on the cob in over a year. She loved it of course. We then had a little Skype chat with Andrew before reading some Slow Dance while Janet lounged in her wheelchair. I turned the lights out on a very content Janet tonight and pray she has a good night’s sleep and is ready for an active day tomorrow.

Another hole in the head. Janet goes to the dentist. #TSJ

I let Janet sleep in today knowing she wouldn’t likely have time for a nap this afternoon. She was quite happy to snooze a little longer in the sun from when she woke up just after eight. Breakfast was nice and relaxed but we somehow ended up being a little rushed to get to KGH for swimming. The pool sessions were good today with Janet having more control of her right leg than on Thursday. That allowed her to do some decent “walking”, making it about one and a half lengths of the pool with assistance. Her floating wasn’t quite as good today but she allowed me to get her face underwater briefly a couple times and she didn’t panic at all. The confidence is growing. I noticed a big difference in her flexibility compared to the hot tub even though there’s only two degrees difference in temperature. Janet felt pretty good about her pool sessions today but says she liked the hot tub better because it’s warmer.

Before we left the house this morning we made sandwiches for lunch as we only had a half hour between swimming and the dentist. We sat in the car near the beach and enjoyed those then made our way to Creekside Dental. Janet was a little apprehensive about this appointment and was starting to fade a little but Collette, Tannis and Colin treated her like royalty and she stayed awake and cooperated very well the whole hour she was in the chair. The cavities she had before getting sick are still there unfortunately so she has to go back a couple more times over the next month or so to have those filled in. Colin assured me he didn’t see anything going on in Janet’s mouth that would indicate side effects from Dilantin and I was happy to hear that. With her new toothbrush and floss in hand we drove off to Connect.

By the time we arrived at Connect it was happy hour so we sat out in the sun while Janet ate an apple and drank some water. I think I was pretty good about not nagging her to drink today and pointed out the benefit of having the fluoride treatment at the dentist where you aren’t allowed to drink for half an hour afterwards. She was please I couldn’t nag her then. Janet ate her apple quickly giving us time to walk down the street to a little beach on Wood Lake. That walk and beach are not nearly as nice as around KGH but it’s what we have this summer and I am glad we have something. All those trips to the beach last summer were nice but I was never sure how much Janet was getting out of them. Today her face lit right up when we got to the beach and she constantly was looking around at all there was to see. She even followed and smiled at a couple of noisy Canada geese that flew by maybe twenty meters away from us. We watched a couple of boats that were playing on the lake and she agreed it looked like fun. Time to see if I can get her in and out of one so we can give it a try!

With dinner done the next event was the usual argument about going to the gym. Janet capitulated eventually on the condition that I go too. Bob joined us and worked Janet’s legs while I did her right shoulder and arm. We both noticed nice improvements and Janet didn’t mind the workout at all. She wanted me to read some Slow Dance with her before bed and we had a good discussion about what we’d read afterwards with Janet remembering one of the topics we had read about. Considering the lack of a nap and the busyness of the day Janet did very well to stay up until nine but was happy to say goodnight. Praying for lots of rest and healing and a good day with a more regular routine tomorrow.

Gap Girl. Janet goes shopping. #TSJ

Another gorgeous day got off to a nice relaxing start as everyone pitched in to make a pancake breakfast. It wasn’t difficult to get Janet to eat seconds then thirds even after her fruit and yogurt starter. She seems to be more accepting of the cranberry juice we’ve been trying to give her and as long as she is reasonably awake she is drinking more water. With the nice weather comes the need to drink even more water unfortunately and that is proving to be a challenge so far. I think I just have to learn to stop pressuring her and make sure she always has some available to her and she’ll manage just fine.

With breakfast cleared all the girls gathered around the computer for an online shopping adventure. Not surprisingly Janet tired of it within a half hour and combined with the uncertainty of her size it was decided we’d hit the mall before Heather and Laurel started their journeys home. Turned out to be a pretty good idea as we got some good help at The Gap and Janet got some colorful shorts, pants and shirts, all in about twenty minutes. My kind of shopping. That left us enough time for lunch outside at Red Robin where we enjoyed some last minute visiting with Heather and Laurel who took off for the airport and the highway as soon as we were done. Their visit was way too short but we are thankful they are able to make the trip to visit as regularly as they do. We are blessed.

After trying on a few of the new clothes at home Janet took a nice long nap which seemed like a waste of good weather but she really needed to catch up on some sleep. I think with both girls here and the heightened state of activity she was overwhelmed at times and always seemed to be trying to process something rather than relaxing and enjoying. I think that increase in chatter and activity is good for her but she does need the down time too. After her long nap we enjoyed a nice dinner out on our balcony as the sun started to set then Janet agreed to have a hot tub so I could stretch her as we hadn’t done any of that today yet. Once again I got very good results in a short period of time with the left leg maybe being a little tighter than Friday. I straightened her right arm amazingly well and even opened her right hand easily in the thirty eight degree water. Janet’s attempts at doing some squats were nowhere near as strong as her right leg seemed to be doing it’s own thing again. Entering and exiting the tub went better than Friday as I refine my technique and I look forward to more frequent spa experiences with Janet.

To wind down the evening we watched The Voice and ended up staying up way too late for Janet, eleven o’clock by the time I turned her lights out. She lasted through all but the last ten minutes of the show and was asleep within seconds of the lights going out. I don’t like keeping her up that late but she was determined to watch the show and as long as she was engaged I let her stay.

So ends a very active weekend with good times spent with Laurel and Heather, a nice visit with Courtney, some fun in the sun, shopping, church, dinner out and dinner outside. Not to mention the hot tub. Praying for a restful night that restores Janet’s energy for a productive day tomorrow.