hydrotherapy

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #NFL #kickoff #wheelchair

It was an early start to the day for me as someone named Brian scheduled a wheelchair meeting at Connect for 9:00am. This meeting was actually long overdue so I’m glad we could finally have it even if it was on the early side. We went over Janet’s chair part by part so that the rep could put together a quote for the purchase of her very own ride. Hers will be a little more tricked out than the one she’s using now and Janet chose the color from quite a wide selection. I won’t disclose the color until her chair arrives in a few weeks. We also tested and will continue to test this weekend a “porter” wheelchair. This is a lightweight rather simple chair that folds up easily and could be used for shopping trips, dinner outings and church in place of her larger rigid chair. Having one of these would widen our options for a new car but Jared the wheelchair guy also showed us how easily the regular chair breaks down to fit into any car. Nice to have choices.

I had a little time to spare before my dentist appointment and the staff were a little busy so I took Janet to the gym after our meeting. Jess explained the not needing to go to the gym last night mystery saying she’d told Janet if she did the yoga thing she wouldn’t have to do her stretching routine that morning. Makes sense and Janet agreed after hearing it from the source. Janet did a great job on the Shuttle this morning and is definitely slowly gaining strength. I left her in Jess’s capable hands and went off to improve my smile.

On my return Janet was dusting in the living room so I secretly watched her for a few minutes. I love how she was really concentrating on what she was supposed to do and looking for areas that needed cleaning. She probably wouldn’t pass a white glove test but she made a great effort and used good technique. A nap was out of the question as she was busy doing chores and next up was dinner prep. Grating carrots is hard work for me let alone Janet but again, lots of good concentration and effort but not the greatest technique. Chopping potatoes went really well and chopping peppers was much improved over previous attempts. Janet admitted that was hard work and she was tired afterwards.

While dinner was cooking we went for a little walk so I could get some dinner for myself and the fresh air gave Janet a nice energy boost. She enjoyed her dinner and never complained about going to the gym afterwards where she again had a solid session on the Shuttle. We then watched some real football while Janet was in the Standing Frame. The end of summer is always sad but the start of football season sort of makes up for it. Baltimore and Denver were playing and Janet remembered she used to cheer for Baltimore because of Michael Oher from the movie The Blind Side. He got injured and Baltimore lost badly but the parts of the game we watched were fun and a good warm up for watching the only team that matters Sunday morning. Go ‘hawks!

Praying for continued improvement in Janet’s strength, memory and awareness.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #joke #son #yoga

For once when I snuck into Janet’s room she didn’t wake up so I snuck right back out again and let her sleep. She’d had an active day so far starting with a shower which for most of us is a quick simple routine thing but for Janet its about an hour long procedure that does take some energy from her. After breakfast Jess took her to the gym and to a yoga session. Janet wasn’t able to tell me much about the yoga but was trying really hard to tell me about something different she’d done today. I got in too late for a report from Jess so will have to get the details in the morning. Janet’s chart shows that she went and thought it was ok and may go back. She was under the impression that since she’d done this extra thing that she wouldn’t have to go to the gym with me tonight. Wrong but I promised her a chat with Jess to clear that up.

Cam brought his mom some lunch and they had a nice visit before nap time. Janet is quite surprised at how much Cam has matured and laughs out loud when she thinks about how well he did with his summer job and the fact he’s about to start his last year of college. There’s a little sadness in the laugh as she realizes all her kids are grown up but there’s a healthy amount of pride as well.

Janet and I started our time together today with happy hour out on the patio. The sun had reappeared after a couple of good thunder storms and helped clear our heads. Tonight’s dinner was much improved over last night’s and Janet gobbled it up. On her request, we then headed for the gym. It’s still a struggle to get her to believe how much she’s improving and tonight she even was arguing just for the sake of arguing. Once she started on the Shuttle she gave a solid effort and did the same with the Standing Frame.

I used our YouTube time as some bonus Speech Therapy and asked her questions about each clip after we watched it. She impressed me with her comprehension especially one that proved she totally understood a joke. Really nice to know she isn’t just laughing along with a crowd.

Janet was very strong with her transfers tonight and overall was quite bright and fun to be around. Praying for lots of rest tonight and for a productive day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #improving #cauliflower

Jess brought Janet into KGH this morning for the monthly chat with Dr. Miller. I met them there and after a few of the Rehab nurses said their hellos to my rock star wife we sat down with the doc. Janet continues to impress with her improved speech, memory and overall brightness. She very happily told him about our house purchase and was able to answer a lot of questions pertaining to recent history that seemed to impress Dr. Miller the most. He seemed surprised at some of the responses he got. Dr. Miller isn’t focused on Janet’s physical rehab but when Jess got Janet standing by herself for a couple minutes his face lit up and he really laid out all the positive things Janet has accomplished, hopefully boosting her confidence. It was a pleasurable meeting that even Janet agreed was worth while.

Janet returned to Connect with Jess in time for a quick lunch then singing with John. She was later able to describe the lunch she had and tell me that singing was fun. I’m not sure how much of a nap she had as she was wide awake and eager to get up when I walked in. Cam arrived a few minutes later and Janet really enjoyed him hanging out with her for a couple hours. We went for a nice walk and Janet gave Cam a little tour of Connect. Janet at one point had a had time remembering Cam’s name and called him Richard, Ricardo, Rick, Mike, Andrew and then very laughingly, Cauliflower. Brilliant. Dinner was a disappointment tonight but Janet made up for it with some fresh vegetables and an apple and she still had lots of strength for the Shuttle. Despite her dislike of “the whole thing” she is getting stronger on a weekly basis. Curtis did some sit to stand exercises with her and was able to adjust Janet’s grip on the pole to where she is forced to use her legs almost exclusively to stand up. You could see the difference immediately as Janet favored her left leg but with some coaching got some weight through the right one as well. She stood nice and tall in the Standing Frame tonight giving a really good stretch to those hamstrings.

Another good day for Janet with obvious signs of improvement. She is starting to complain about her splint occasionally and I’m not sure if the Botox is wearing off or what but we’ll check it out with Julie soon. Praying for lots of energy for tomorrow’s activities.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #nolongerhomeless #Connect #purging

Another good night of sleep for Janet and a decent start to the day eating breakfast in the sun. The day was made even brighter when we received a text from our realtor that the sellers had finally accepted our offer! Janet was relieved and excited and the news definitely gave her a lift as it did me. If you are curious about where we may be moving to (not a done deal until we have the keys) here’s a link to the MLS listing. Possession day is October 6 which means I need a place to live for at least five days, maybe more, depending on how much work we decide to do on the new place before moving in. If any Kelowna types have suggestions as to where is a good place for me and a little dog, let me know.

Before starting the purge of Cam’s room Janet had a brief Skype chat with Laurel. That one went better than yesterday’s but still not nearly as good as Saturday with Mary/Gaga. Wish we could capture that energy and keep it in her. We got a really good start on Cam’s room today and Janet helped a lot with the bagging of stuff once it was identified. She got lots of good laughs looking at the clothes that used to fit Cam eighty pounds ago.

There was no arguing about nap time after lunch today and Janet slept well for an hour and a half. For only the second time in my memory Janet asked to sit inside after we’d been out on our deck for a while. Too hot she said. Surprising, but it was warm today. That made for a nice time on the patio at Joey Kelowna for dinner with Cam. A little thunder shower rolled through during our meal and for a minute or so Janet got dripped on. She had the presence of mind to hold a napkin over her head until our server came over with a tray to cover her while another server closed the awning. Pretty funny.

Janet was resigned to doing the Shuttle and Standing Frame once we got back to Connect tonight and she did very well with both. Usually in the Standing Fame we have to watch something really lame on TV but tonight there was a James Bond movie on, Die Another Day, and Janet surprisingly liked it. I think she enjoyed the fast pace, really fake fighting scenes and Halle Berry Ok that last part might have been me.

Praying for lots of energy for a busy day tomorrow and thanking Jesus for the great weekend together.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #homeless #moving #yard

After what I believe was a great night of sleep for Janet I expected our morning and the day to be stellar. The day probably was but I think Janet might have overslept as she took a while to kick it into gear. She didn’t have much to say to Heather during a Skype chat with her which was a huge contrast to yesterday with her mom. Janet spent a lot of time on the toilet this morning which may explain some of the lack of energy. Yesterday was the day off so today was back to work and the first task was vacuuming. The last experience at this was very good and Janet improved on it today although she still said its really hard. That little workout seemed to wake her up a bit and she accepted an invite to work outside. Janet was a big help in pruning some rose bushes and pulling dead stuff out of some of the garden areas. Saved my back a lot by having her gather and put stuff in the bin plus it was great to be out in the sun which is where we had lunch while Janet got even more tanned.

After a good nap Janet and I played real estate dealers again. Our counter counter offer was countered so we countered again and are still waiting for a response. Turns out the lady who owns and lives in the home we are after has an out of town daughter that is controlling the real estate transaction and she, in the words of her realtor, is being “a hard nose”. That’s being polite. I’m trying not to let my anger rule the situation but may walk away if her response is negative. God is trying to teach me something through this and I thought maybe it was to love my enemies so our last offer showed a lot of love. We’ll see if that was the intended lesson.

Even though the sun is setting too early these days it made for a beautiful dinner tonight before we drove out to pick up Cam at the airport. He’s here for the week before heading back to school in Calgary and Janet and I are excited to have him home. The house will not be lacking in energy this week. I had intended on taking Janet to Connect for a workout prior to picking up Cam but there would not have been room in the car for her wheelchair and Cam’s bags. Janet escaped that one much to her pleasure.

To close out the night we did some star gazing from the hot tub, this time with glasses on. “It makes a huge difference”, said a smiling Janet. I gave her the prerequisite stretch then it was into the leg extenders for ice cream while watching a podcast from Elevation Church. This morning Janet’s right leg was doing its own thing a lot and she was having trouble keeping her foot on the footrest. After standing on her own for a few minutes her foot stayed there easily and for a long time. We had a good long talk about the benefits of exercise and I hope she’s starting to get it. At bedtime her standing was great and she was able to more confidently put a little weight on that right leg. I think the hot tub and leg extenders help a lot.

Praying that janet gets a deep and healing sleep that provides lots of energy for a productive day tomorrow. Also praying for resolution to our real estate situation.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #dayoff #house #skype #standing

I promised Janet a day off from physical exercise today and that’s exactly what she got. It truly was a “terrible” sleep for her Friday night, I know because she woke me up at least three times, once to ask “when are we going to look at that house?” at seven AM. We did have an appointment for eleven so I made sure we were into the morning routine by 8:30. After that poor of a sleep I was worried how Janet would function. That worry was laid to rest during a Skype chat with Mary/Gaga. Easily Janet’s best one ever! She was answering questions correctly, remembering things accurately from a few days ago knowing what was coming up in the next few days and saying it all loud and clear and topping it off afterwards stating, “my mom’s fun to talk to…” Maybe I should wake her up a bunch of times each night if that’s how bright she’s going to be. Very impressive.

Janet was very excited about viewing the house we were scheduled to see, probably because its yellow. I wasn’t too hopefully but thought it was worth a look. I won. Janet liked it but couldn’t tell me why and I didn’t like it for a whole bunch of reasons, mainly the fact it was quite squishy and difficult to maneuver around. Oh well. Having a backup plan we drove by a home in the neighborhood we’d most like to live in to see if it was worthy. The home is in a townhouse complex that I have shunned since the beginning due to an age restriction of nineteen or older to live there. I do not agree with a policy like that and also am not keen on a Strata situation however facing the reality of renting made me rethink and as Janet I walked around the complex and looked at the outside of the unit for sale we agreed this was our best option. Thirty minutes later our realtor had arranged a viewing and twenty minutes after that we decided to write an offer! The home is all on one level, easily accessible and priced in a range that will allow us to upgrade to our requirements without breaking the bank. After our offer was presented it was learned that there had been a low ball offer made last night that was still pending. The owner rescinded that one in favor of working with us and at the time of writing we are waiting to hear a response to our counter counter offer. I’m confident we’ll reach a deal sometime tomorrow and soon we can remove our #homeless designation.

We returned home a little dizzy from all that happened so quickly and Janet agreed to a nap during which she actually slept. She was nicely re energized for church and we were thrilled to be part of the Trinity family blessing Carrie and Roger as they plant their church in West Kelowna. It’s called West Mount Church and we know they will do powerful things through it. During most services I’ve always sat with Janet when the house stands up as she can’t and I feel bad standing when she can’t. Tonight that all changed. For the last few weeks I’ve been asking Janet if she wants to stand when the house is asked to and each time she’s said no. Until tonight. Wayne asked everyone to rise to pray near the start of things, I asked Janet if she wanted to and she shocked me by saying yes. She was determined to get up as much on her own as possible and didn’t wait for me to get on the left side of her and help her. She grabbed the pew in front of her and stood up! I balanced her while she was up and completely lost my focus on the service as she probably did as well. A minute later, back down she went, upset she couldn’t last longer. It was a brave first try and we practiced a little afterwards and have a better method for next time.

The rest of our night was quite, sushi dinner, AGT, then bed with the possibility of going to the gym at Connect tomorrow but Janet started to battle against that as soon as I said it. We’ll see. Praying for deep healing sleep tonight and acceptance of our offer to buy that home. Thanking Jesus for Janet’s brave act in standing in church tonight and for the healing that allowed her to try.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #home #sytycd #homeless

Another good first part of the day for Janet today. Garrett reports lots of smiles, laughs and a good attitude towards all she was asked to do. Janet is still laughing about the tan lines on her feet from her sandals. Not sure why its so funny now as she’s had them for a couple of months. It doesn’t matter though as laughs are always good. When I arrived Janet was “napping” with her eyes open and a smile on her face. I was surprised she was in bed as she’s usually waiting for me on going home day but Garrett said she asked for a nap around one so I’m sure she got a bit of a rest.

On our way home we drove through several neighborhoods looking for possible places to live and have arranged with our realtor to look at a little house in the morning. Of course after driving all over the place the one most appealing to us is quite close to where we live now. The rental game is proving quite difficult to play so we are looking to buy something that would suffice while Janet is at Connect and we can keep an eye on our preferred neighborhoods in the meantime. Then when she’s done and if we aren’t totally groovin on where we live we can move again. Sounds like fun right? Janet did well with all the driving around and seemed to enjoy looking at the different areas and houses. This is proving to be an important issue for her and she’s been able to give me some very insightful feedback on some places. “Feels like an old persons place”. “Not very fun looking”. “Too dark and dreary”, are just a few of her comments. The place we are going to see tomorrow got a “what’s wrong with this place?” As in “why not” look at it. Why not indeed.

I guess her nap at Connect wasn’t very long because as soon as we got home Janet asked for some nap time and was out minutes after hitting the pillow. She woke up an hour later and did a great job building pizzas for dinner and commented afterwards that “that was a good dinner”. I think last night’s meal at Connect is still haunting her. We did a little online house hunting then enjoyed a nice hot tub under a clear sky that was dark enough to do some star gazing. That’s one good thing about it getting dark so early now. Janet had trouble seeing some of the things I was pointing out to her so next time she can leave her glasses on and that should help. We watched a very enjoyable So You Think You Can Dance before bed and even with the late hour Janet was fully engaged the whole time. She even initiated comment on a few of the routines instead of waiting for me to ask her about it. Fun times.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep tonight, lots of energy for tomorrow and a clear message as to where we are supposed to live next.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Workout #Homeless #Strength

Today started out great for Janet according to Jess who said she was laughing a lot, working hard in the gym and just generally really bright. Of course when I got there she was in bed but not sleeping and the first thing she did was ask me “what the lady said about her house”. It’s amazing to me how Janet can lock in on an event or topic and remember it for a few days yet not always remember my name or what she did a few hours earlier. I was thrilled she did remember about the house and Jess told me Janet is worried about me as I have no where to live. Unfortunately that remains the case as the lady who owns the house we had our eye on is apparently in no hurry to sell. Looks like we will be renting something until we find a place worth buying.

Following her little rest time Janet had the choice of helping with dinner or going to the gym, she chose gym and ended up having time for both. She delivered a very strong performance on the Shuttle this afternoon, an improvement from yesterday and a dramatic improvement from earlier in the week. I can see she’s making gains and I think we’ll come out to Connect on Sunday and hit the gym so she doesn’t lose much of what she’s gained. Janet isn’t too happy with that idea but I think that almost three days off is too much and gaining strength is too important. A good example of her improved strength is her ability to transfer from the wheelchair to the Shuttle unassisted except for a little lift of the right leg at the end. When Janet first started using the Shuttle I had to literally carry her onto it. Her pole transfers at the bed and in the bathroom continue to get better as well and tonight she made a couple of good steps with her right leg while transferring from the toilet back to her wheelchair. Nice move!

In order to give Janet time to help prep dinner we postponed the stretching routine and made our way to the kitchen. Janet was able to work with Curtis in making a salad to go with the smokies and perogies on tonight’s menu. I could see Janet cringe when she heard what was being served and I give her a lot of credit for eating what she was given. That’s a pretty lame meal and if it wasn’t for the salad I’m not sure what nutrition anyone would have gotten. Janet did a decent job of chopping things but still moves from one thing to another before completing the first thing and ends up with a mess of half cut stuff on her cutting board. Curtis taught Janet to use some nails embedded in the cutting board to hold whatever she was cutting still and that seemed to help. Janet was very determined to complete her task despite the challenges.

The sun surprised us after dinner so I insisted we go for a walk. Janet wanted to get the Standing Frame over with but I felt the fresh air and sunshine ought to be taken advantage of and we ended up enjoying a nice warm walk. We spent the hour with Janet in the Standing Frame looking online for rental properties and have a couple options to check on tomorrow. The rest of the night was pretty quiet and Janet was asleep minutes after I got her tucked in just before ten.

Praying for a place to live and for Janet to continue gaining strength and awareness.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Blizzard #Shopping #Standing

Instead of snoring away, Janet was grinning at me as I snuck into her room this afternoon. She just doesn’t seem to be able to nap anymore even though she sometimes asks for one. It seems as though she is much better able to function through the rest of the day than previous so there’s no need to force a nap but quiet time does have a clear benefit.

I gave Janet a choice of shopping or gym to start our time together and she chose gym. No real shock there as lately she’s been quite determined to get the “bad things over with” rather than face doing them later. I like the attitude and with Curtis watching Janet did a good job on the Shuttle today. She seemed a little stronger than the last two days with me and also had a good little standing on her own session before “walking” over to the table mat for some stretching. As Janet finished her standing session I sensed she wanted to walk a bit and she didn’t hesitate when I asked her. The first few steps were very small and slow with me holding her up. Curtis then started assisting with her right leg and that allowed for a fairly steady pace with Janet feeling more confident. There isn’t much communication to her right leg and we noticed the majority of the effort to move it is coming from her hips. Its awesome she wants to try and walk and she even acknowledged the need to get stronger. Confidence and a lack thereof is a big part of her challenge now along with command of the right leg. Time will tell.

We had time to do forty five minutes in the Standing Frame before dinner and Janet got nice and straight without pain again and never complained about doing it at all. The more she is in charge of her exercises the better I think. We joined in on the communal dinner tonight and enjoyed some lively conversation. Kieran is a noisy and fun addition to the house.

Pants weather has arrived for Janet and that’s why the option to go shopping today. I also needed something to do with her anticipating an early gym visit leaving us with too cold an evening to walk. I wanted her to have some nicer pants to wear rather than her old stretchy things all the time and I needed some storage bins for the house. Felt like a good reason to check out the new Target store. We were both underwhelmed but Janet found a pair of pants so all was not lost. She did much better at the Gap scoring three pair and we ended the night with a Smores Blizzard. Good but nothing beats Skor.

Today was a lot of fun with Janet and I look forward to more of the same tomorrow. Praying for an increase in strength and command of her right leg.

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

Jess reports Janet was quite sleepy most of the day today and that she asked to lay down after her singing with John session. Sure enough, Janet was sort of sleeping when I snuck into her room. She looked super cozy all wrapped up in her blankets and true to form as soon as I let go of the door handle she opened her eyes. We chatted for a while and it was clear she wasn’t going to sleep so up she got so we could sit in the sun and talk some more. I had lots of news to tell her, most important was that I finally made contact with the owner of a house we’ve had our eye on. She is going to sell but was waiting until Spring. I’m praying that the good conversation we had this morning will encourage her to sell sooner, like now. She kindly gave me a tour of her house and I liked what I saw, especially how wheelchair friendly it is. Her husband was in a chair for five years there so most of the house is easily accessible for Janet who was very excited to hear my report.

Understanding that she needs to make two trips to the gym each day Janet elected to do the Shuttle and Standing Frame before dinner. Again today, not her best ever performance but decent. I’m very happy with her Standing Frame tolerance though. Nice and straight for forty five minutes and no complaints until she let herself down and that’s just the pressure coming off of her knees. By the time she was done all that the other residents had finished dinner so we had the table mostly to ourselves. I’ll have to watch the timing a little better in the future as I like Janet to be a part of the community table.

We went for a nice long walk after dinner and noticed the cooler temperature and lack of daylight. Janet agreed that it will be difficult when it’s dark at five o’clock to find something interesting to do. We’ve enjoyed a lot of time outside this summer and are kind of dreading the end. It will be a big adjustment.

That was pretty much it for Janet as with not sleeping well last night then not really napping this afternoon she was ready to call it before nine o’clock. She’s doing a great job with her pole transfers even when tired and her bedtime routine is quickly becoming more independent as well. She told me tonight she “needs to walk” and knows she has to work hard to get there. Tonight was a good effort and hopefully that continues.

Praying for rest, healing, strength and a positive attitude. Thanking Jesus for all we are blessed with.