hydrotherapy

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #smallworld

Renovation Day 18. I wasn’t much help to Randy today as I had a lot of running around to do. He continued to make the kitchen look more and more like a kitchen and plumber Frank came by to move things across the hall for the washing machine.

I picked Janet up at nine this morning to go to her appointment at the KGH Hand Clinic. Julie met with us as soon as we got there and spent an hour manipulating Janet’s splint so that it is comfortable for her and still doing some therapeutic good. Even though the Botox has worn off, Janet’s hand and wrist are doing fine with no retraction from the fingers at all. We are to keep stretching fingers and wrist as much as possible and hopefully the next round of Botox will have as good an impact as last time.

We made it back to Connect in time for Janet’s lunch and I left her with instructions to get to the gym as well. She did, and when I returned just before dinner time she was getting herself onto the toilet. Nice try, but not quite ready to do that all by herself yet. Since she’d done the Shuttle and Standing frame the bike was the only thing left and Janet had a good pre dinner pedal, going for twenty five minutes and making almost a mile.

There was a full table for dinner including Wes’s wife Roz and the chatter was really good. Janet commented after that Wes and Roz are nice people. They are. Wes can’t get over the fact that Janet eats more than him. She had seconds tonight as did Big Country whom Janet congratulated for doing so.

The evening was quiet again with the highlight being Janet opening a piece of mail from her mom and finding some old fashioned printed photographs taken at a recent family reunion in Ontario. Janet was able to read the enclosed hand written note and identify a lot of the people in the pictures. I was impressed and it was fun to share that with her. My highlight of the day came when a lady responded to my ad for the old washer and dryer. We talked on the phone a couple of times before she came to the house and I kept thinking I knew that voice. I never clued in when she said her name but I sure did when she got out of her car. She pointed at me saying “I know you…”. It was Arlene, one of Janet’s nurses from the 4B days and she was so excited to hear and see from pictures how well Janet is doing that we both had tears in our eyes. Janet of course doesn’t remember her at all but thought it was nice she cared so much. Arlene will be coming back to pick up the washer and dryer tomorrow and I hope it’s late enough in the day so I can have Janet here to meet her.

Praying for continued building of strength and a productive day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #WorldSeries

Renovation Day 17. I bought some lights and Randy got ready to build drawers. The place is looking great!

I was a little surprised to see Janet up when I got to Connect today. Often after swimming she’s pretty wiped but today she was quite cheery and energetic. Last night she was arguing a little about going swimming so I’m really glad she went today. Jess reported that there was some emotion on display at the pool but Janet didn’t relay anything about it to me and said that overall it was good. Just before I arrived she had asked Jess to get her into the Standing Frame so she “could get it over with”. I had her make “our” NFL picks for the week while she stood and we chatted with Jess for most of the rest of the time.

After a little break Janet agreed to get the Shuttle over with as well and she put in a very good performance. Her extension on each push is just over eleven inches now on both legs and her last set was using both legs to push five bands of tension which I think is close to eighty pounds. She’s getting there. Since Janet was in a good mood after the Shuttle I had her try some free standing and putting some weight on her right leg. She had a really good attitude about trying and overcame some of her confidence deficit to try taking a few steps forward. She was hanging on to me for that part of course and managed a couple of attempts without having a death grip on me. Baby steps.

Brian stopped by for a little chat as we left the gym and it was good to catch up with him. He seems pleased with Janet’s progress and will join us at the Botox appointment next week. That brought us to dinner time that started with just Janet and I and ended with Wes, Humberto and the new guy, Curtis. To avoid confusion with staff member Curtis I will refer to resident Curtis as Big Country as he is a twin of Bryant Reeves. I started calling him that as soon as we met and showed him a picture of Reeves in his Vancouver Grizzlies days. He thought it was funny for a few days but yesterday asked me to not call him that. I’m taking literary license and doing it here though and consider it a compliment anyways. The reason I mention all this is because Janet showed something tonight I’ve not seen since she got sick. Big Country has a very soft voice and had to call for assistance a number of times before he was heard. After he got the assistance he needed Janet wasn’t convinced he was OK so instead of leaving the table like we were about to she insisted on asking Big Country if he was OK. She asked him repeatedly in a very motherly tone with a smile on her face that showed genuine caring. It was beautiful.

With her exercises complete Janet chose to watch the World Series knowing we have to cheer for both teams so we were guaranteed a win. She made an excellent 180 degree transfer from her wheelchair to the couch barely hanging onto me and repeated it when the game was over. She also drank her entire bottle of water during the two hours we watched the game without me nagging her once. I found an easy to see Tic Tac Toe app for the iPad and Janet played that without assistance for a little while. She chose to get ready for bed then have me read to her. This time she stayed awake while I read and was able to dissect what she heard reasonably well.

Praying for a big sleep tonight and a day of learning and progress tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #shopping

Renovation Day 16. Randy continued work on the fireplace area cabinets and started some finishing touches on the kitchen island. We made decisions on location and size of drawers, cut out vents for the wine cabinet, prepared for the new floors and arranged for some plumbing work to be done. I also decided to not sand any more ceilings. Dirty job and too expensive to have someone else do it.

I managed to sneak up on Janet while she watched TV in the living room at Connect this afternoon. She’d had a busy day in the gym and around the house so was ready to go “look at something” with me. The something was a dining room light fixture and some glass for cabinets at the new house. I’ve never shopped for glass before and was expecting it to be complicated but it went very smoothly and we were out of the store in fifteen minutes after making a good choice. Light fixtures are always difficult but we got some good help and Janet narrowed the field really well and we went to the new house armed with a couple possibilities, one of which, I think we’ll buy. Janet was quite surprised by what she saw at the house. There’s been a lot of progress since she was last there and she’s quite excited. Not excited enough to give you a video tour yet but I’m working on her.

Before we left Connect I listed the things we were going to do and Janet was most excited about going out for dinner, so, with the shopping complete and the house inspected, off we went. We decided to go to Cactus Club as we hadn’t been there in a long time and wanted to use the gift card Joel and Kiko got us a long time ago. Thanks guys! I love taking Janet out even more now as she sits in regular chairs, doesn’t need a shirt saver and tries really hard to order her own food. I asked Janet which she liked best, the appy, the entrée, the wine or dessert. She quickly said dessert. No real surprise.

By the time we got back to Connect the wine had hit Janet and she was quite tired. I would’ve liked to have gotten her on the bike but there was no way that was happening and I think the outing and conversation we had was good therapy anyways. Praying for lots of rest tonight and a fun day tomorrow especially swimming.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #tictactoe

Renovation Day 15. Randy is fighting a cold and working hard while I spend money. Bathroom sinks and faucets, washer and dryer, deposit on the flooring. I did recoup a little by selling two over the toilet cabinets. Yippee!

Nash and I arrived at Connect to find Janet just waking up from her nap. He’s starting to get a little too comfortable there as he wanders around without us now and tonight I had to shoo him off the bed so we could go home. He would’ve been quite happy to spend the night. In fairness, his days at home aren’t very fun with all the banging and crashing and dust flying. It’s tough being a dog.

Janet was very chatty this afternoon and we hung out on the bed talking for a good half hour. She’s getting pretty good at recapping her day to me, I still try and confirm with the staff but the instances of Janet being way off base are far less now. Today, according to her, she did the Shuttle, stretching, and Standing Frame before lunch in addition to going to the lab for some routine blood work. No wonder she napped.

I like it when Janet agrees to go to the gym before dinner like she did today. Her bike ride was, in her words, “easier than yesterday”. The stats were about the same so I’m glad she felt better about it and she now knows the time will be increased until she’s riding for thirty minutes comfortably before we make it harder to pedal. Her Standing Fame session this morning was quite long and there was too big a mess in the kitchen for her to do dishes so she got the evening off from physical things. That left the door open for some brain exercise. Curtis played tic tac toe and hangman with Janet the other day and was impressed with her skills claiming she beat him twice at tic tac toe. It didn’t take her long to beat me tonight and I love the enthusiasm with which she plays. Hangman was a little harder but still fun and combined with some reading made for a productive night.

The Voice concluded the battle rounds part of the show tonight and while watching we decided to make bets on who might win once the final teams are chosen. At stake is a DQ Blizzard so if anyone wants in on the action let me know. Praying for a night of uninterrupted sleep and lots of energy tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #dishes

Renovation Day 14. Lots of progress today, wiring for audio, building cabinetry near the fireplace, sanding texture off ceilings and removing a small wall to make room for the washer. We’ve decided to put the washer on one side of a small hallway and the dryer on the other so Janet can easily access both machines. All this because the manufacturers of laundry machines won’t make a front load washer with a right hand hinge. Thanks.

Janet was actually sleeping when I got to Connect this afternoon. Curtis reports she was in the gym this morning with him but nodding off a bit by lunch time so off for a nap she went. Nash and I went into her room about 3:30 and she was still sleeping. After she woke she even believed she had been sleeping and was feeling much better. Janet felt even better as we sat in the sun for happy hour with no jacket on. I guess she felt really good as she agreed to go to the gym before dinner without much of a debate.

I gave Janet the choice between Shuttle and bike as it was unclear which she had done with Curtis this morning. In hopes of keeping this as enjoyable as possible I gave her very loose targets for this ride and set the time for twenty minutes which is about how long a simple Shuttle workout takes. She surpassed the goal of 15rpm average easily by doing 18rpm without complaint and only an observation afterwards that “it was tiring”.

After dinner Garrett and Tiffany suggested Janet do the dishes while in the Standing Frame. I thought that was a great idea but of course Janet didn’t. Reluctantly and under protest Janet got into the Standing Frame and without the knee brace washed a sink full of dishes. There was lots of complaining about leg pain and “I can’t do anymore” but each complaint was followed by another plate washed rinsed and placed into the clean sink. For a first attempt Janet did very well. It may be hard to get her to do it again but hopefully she will as this forces her to put weight through both legs. The balance of her Standing Frame time was spent in the usual position and she tolerated that very well.

Janet complained a lot about her splint today and says her fingers hurt when straightened. I made an appointment for her to see Julie at the hand clinic Friday where I suspect she’ll adjust Janet’s splint to fit better.

With her exercises complete the rest of the night was Janet’s. She chose for me to read some Not a Fan to her first and I had her read some too. She continues to improve her reading skills nicely. We just got through a chapter and it was time to watch The Voice. Although we can’t focus as intently on the show like we would watching it at home I think its great that others join us for parts of it and Janet seems to enjoy the conversations that take place in and around the living room. She is getting to be more outgoing in engaging with other residents, visitors and staff.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep that brings lots of energy and confidence to tomorrow’s activities.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #walk

Renovation Day 13 was a quiet one. I ripped up a little more of the former pink tile floor leaving the last of it until just before the new floor goes in. Tomorrow I get to sand the last of the texture off the second bedroom ceiling. I can hardly wait.

Janet had just finished lunch and was waiting for me when I got to Connect. It was a beautiful sunny day here so I suggested a walk and Janet agreed saying that others were going for a walk too. We ended up going for a nice long walk with Willie and his wife Val. Towards the end, Janet was complaining of being cold even though it was fourteen degrees and she had her winter coat on. I guess we need to shop for a warmer coat.

We got back inside for a Skype chat with Mary/Gaga that went well then Janet had a brief nap. I know it was brief because I laid down with her just to remind myself what a bed feels like. Once up, we sat in the kitchen and chatted with Jess and Sydney. Janet was a little quiet but enjoyed the time and drank her Fresca surprisingly quickly.

The rest of the evening was very quiet as I gave Janet the day off from the gym. We watched football while visiting with various people that came in and out of the living room and I had Janet read a little on the iPad. She is getting so much better at that its very exciting. When Janet started to fade around 8:30 we headed off to get ready for bed. Each night for a while now I’ve been trying to get Janet to lift her left leg while standing so I can slip off her socks and or pants. She has tried unsuccessfully saying “it won’t work”. Tonight, seconds after saying those exact words, she did it! She was hanging onto the stripper pole for dear life and only held her leg up for one second but that is the first time with me she’s been able to do that. True to form she played it all down but I could see in her eyes she was pleased with herself.

Praying for restoration of the use of her right arm and hand and continued building of strength.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #TrinityKelowna

Renovation Day 12. I had so much fun breaking up the lovely pink tile in the bathrooms yesterday I decided to rip up the floor that the tiles we glued to today. More fun for me. Randy continues to make good progress in the kitchen and I think we are almost ready for a video tour update. Stay tuned.

The whole time I was with Janet yesterday I teased her about going to sledge hockey today in hopes that if I said it enough she might actually go. Lo and behold, she did go! Just to watch though, which is fine as she still got out with a group of people and that’s good. She created some excitement on the way out of the arena as she was propelling herself and got going too fast and tumbled out of her wheelchair. The only thing hurt was her pride and she actually told me the story almost word for word as Garrett did when I arrived at Connect. The staff were very attentive to her and I didn’t notice any ill effects at all.

That outing prevented Janet from getting to the gym this morning so she agreed to do The Shuttle before church. Her performance was satisfactory. To me, her right leg seems to not have gained any strength since I last worked with her over a week ago but she is getting significantly more extension from her pushes so that’s good. Janet had a decent Skype chat with Heather and a good phone conversation with Cam and Gina. I think it’s soon time for her to learn to initiate or answer phone and Skype calls herself as the prearranged ones or requests that come through me seem to annoy her most of the time. Spontaneous or self initiated would be better.

For as long as we’ve been attending Trinity Janet has nine times out of ten just wanted to leave right after the service. The last few weeks she has agreed to exit via the front row so we can say hi to people and tonight she was the one that asked if we could do that. She was able to talk to a number of people, some of whom she said she didn’t really know but it was nice talking to them anyways. I’m really glad Janet is starting to seek people out and hope it continues.

Back at Connect Janet went into the Standing Frame while our pizza cooked. In honour of Gina’s family we watched a little of the baseball game and cheered for Boston. Janet said she had a good lunch then proceeded to eat four slices of pizza for dinner! All she could do after that was watch a little more TV on the couch with me then fall asleep with her head on my shoulder. I let her sleep like that for a little while before attempting to get her back in her wheelchair and when I finally woke her up she came to pretty well and got herself ready for bed as usual.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep tonight and lots of energy for tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Transfer

Renovation Day 12. Lots of progress today, construction, demolition and decision making. Randy made good progress on the kitchen cabinets as well as the area around the fireplace. I managed to break up most of the lovely pink tile in both bathrooms and with Randy’s help Janet and I decided on a counter top, handles for the cabinets, moulding for the fireplace area and floor for the bathrooms. Good day.

Just after lunch Janet was hanging out in the dining area with Kieran, Wes, Willie and Humberto, laughing at the verbal jabs being thrown by Kieran and Wes. I hid from her for a bit to watch how she interacted with it all and she was seeming quite entertained. She was ready to go when I made my appearance knowing we were looking at something for the house. I dragged her around to a number of places where we met Randy with the goal of deciding on a number of key items for the new house. Janet was a real trooper, admitting she was tired but pushing through and helping make some really good choices. I was pretty confident we’d get the counter top quickly and we did. I thought the handles would be more challenging than it was. Janet did very well in saying what she liked and didn’t like and the choice was made a lot sooner than I thought. Neither of us had too strong an opinion on the mouldings so that was easy but the bathroom floor was another story. Janet was quite tired by this time and the process was made more difficult as soon as we realized I had brought home the wrong floor sample the other day. What me and the salesman that day thought was the right one wasn’t so when our actual salesman came out with the real one this afternoon I freaked a little. Luckily after we inspected it, all of what we’ve chosen so far works well with the floor so no need to freak. It still took a long time to narrow the choices and make a decision on the bathroom floors and Janet was getting a little frustrated but hung in there really well and contributed right to the end.

I’d been wanting to have Brian coach me on car transfers soon as I feel I’m doing more than I should and probably not using the best technique for Janet’s right foot. While we were out today and making so many stops I thought it was a good idea to try some different moves. First up was having Janet wheeled up to and facing the open car door. I asked her to hold the top of it and stand up. She did, pivoted around easily and sat in her seat. Just like that. All I did was hold the wheelchair and move it out of her way. I was very impressed. The first attempt at getting out of the car was that same move in reverse. Janet nailed it and again, all I did was hold the wheelchair and be ready to catch if need be. No need. As much as I praised her accomplishment she still didn’t think it was that big of a deal but by the end of the night she was starting to believe and agreed we don’t need Brian’s help. Kidding.

After all our running around we picked up Nash and some dinner and headed back to Connect. Janet reluctantly agreed to a gym session after dinner and was not having a good time on the Shuttle as she was cold and tired. Garrett told me the bike was now in Janet condition again so I got her on it for a little test ride and I think it will be a nice addition to her routine. She looked good on it and peddled more than twice as fast as she was the last time she was on it. Janet won’t admit it but I think she thought it was OK.

The lack of an afternoon nap made for a relatively early night and after a nice sleep time chat I said goodnight. Praying for continued building of strength, improved flexibility and greater command of her right leg.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Seahawks

Renovation Day 11. Lots of construction going on as Randy continues to make the kitchen look like a kitchen.
KitchenDay11
I managed to find a few more things to destroy and had the pleasure of sanding texture off of the second bedroom ceiling. Fun times.

There was too much going on this morning for me to join Janet at the pool. She said swimming was fine and Carly mentioned they did a lot of walking as well as swimming. Janet said it still took her a while to warm up but she did get comfortable but still wanted more time in the hot tub.

We had a nice chat out in the sunshine once I got to Connect and Janet was quite talkative and cheery. Dinner was a miss tonight especially after so many good meals out lately. Curtis kindly tried to find something Janet would like instead but it seems that once the bad taste is there its hard to correct. The food woes were diminished by being able to watch the Seahawks victory and having a phone conversation with Laurel. Janet spoke really well and made lots of good comments totally relevant to the topic. I am more and more impressed with her that way each day.

Janet showed no interest in going to the gym tonight at all using the swimming session as an excuse. I gave her a pass more due to the football game and the fact she was really engaged and communicative not just staring blankly at the TV. She is starting to recognize good plays without me prompting her and she genuinely cheers when Seattle scores. Go ‘Hawks!

Recognizing she was tired around nine, Janet called bedtime and in an all too familiar fashion was asleep two pages into my reading of Not a Fan. We are going to have to schedule reading time earlier in the day so she can actually retain some of what she’s hearing.

Praying for a restful and healing sleep and an active day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #SheLife

Renovation Day 10. Construction continues in the kitchen and we made a decision regarding the bathroom. No major changes. I feel we can make it work for Janet and the changes that could be made just aren’t worth it.

Nancy met Janet at Connect and took her out for lunch. They ventured to a little cafe just down the road called The Wooden Nickel.JanetNancyWoodenNickel
Turned out to be pretty good with Janet impressing Nancy with her conversational abilities. Janet said she really enjoyed the visit and knows “what a special friend Nancy is”.

Janet is having quite the social life these days and it continued this evening as we went for a sushi dinner before her SHElife meeting. This was by far the cleanest sushi meal Janet has ever eaten and her chop stick skills are improving too. I didn’t have her as prepared for SHElife as last week and at the end of the evening Janet was a little disappointed she didn’t really talk much tonight. She agreed that we should read the corresponding chapters of the book no sooner than the night before so it is fresher in her mind.

Upon our return to Connect Janet asked to watch a little TV to wind down then it was off to bed where she was falling asleep as we prayed. She did manage a goodnight and when I explained I’d see her before the football game started tomorrow she said “yay them”, meaning Seahawks of course. I pray Janet has a night of uninterrupted and healing sleep that provides lots of energy for tomorrow.