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

I got a wake up call this morning. I always get nervous when I see Connect on my call display and Janet is not with me. This time is was her, sigh of relief, and she wanted to know if we were going to see her Dad for his birthday today. Hmmm. Dad lives in Ontario and his birthday is in June. Not sure why Janet thought that was happening but she was so certain of it the Jess let her call me. She never did figure out why but wasn’t really bothered by it either. Janet did mention she did not sleep well and she rang her pendant to get up at 5:45. By noon she was asking to have a nap. No kidding.

When I got to Connect this afternoon Janet was still sleeping, she woke briefly and wanted to get up but something told me to let her sleep a little more. I told her ten minutes and she slept for twenty then had good energy the rest of the day. Her gym session this morning went well and I got to take her on the Shuttle for the first time in a while before dinner. She showed a little more control of her right leg and without knowing it, pushed her heaviest weight with two legs yet. Speaking of heavy, Janet excitedly announced that she gained weight again last month and now thinks she’s really getting to be too big. No chance.

After a quiet dinner Janet did some of her Speech Therapy worksheets while I watched. She completed three pages of grouping things in categories and only got two questions wrong. High five! Her Skype conversation with Andrew was animated and happy. It had been a while since they’ve connected and even though Janet had trouble thinking of what to talk about a couple times, the conversation flowed well and Janet really enjoyed it.

While waiting to use the Standing Frame we finished reading Open. Janet and I both got a little emotional was we read the final pages and consider it to be one of the best biographies we’ve ever read. We were even able to watch a YouTube clip of Andre Agassi’s speech after his last match so Janet could see and hear the emotion from him and the crowd lucky enough to be there. A very fun reading experience. Next up is Nelson Mandela’s A Long Walk to Freedom.

Janet tolerated a good session with the Standing Frame while watching some Olympics then called her own bedtime. Praying for a long night of uninterrupted deep and healing sleep and a productive tomorrow.

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

Sleep in Sunday! And did we ever sleep in. By the time Janet was eating her toast and drinking her coffee it was time to Skype Mary/Gaga which routinely happens around 11am. Janet handled that conversation fairly well and was polite enough to not eat and talk at the same time. Heather was up right after that and I think Janet had trouble thinking of things to say to Heather because she had just said a lot to her mom.

Janet volunteered to keep going on digitizing her photo collection and we made good progress again before getting sidetracked by the Olympics. We agreed before the games started that there were only a few events we really wanted to watch and none of them were scheduled today but Janet asked to see if there was figuring skating on and sure enough there was and that pretty much put an end to any productivity. I did manage to give Janet a bath as she didn’t want to have one at Connect tomorrow and we are getting better at that for sure. She stayed pretty warm the whole time and was energized for the rest of the day which didn’t require much energy but it was fun relaxing and hanging out with her. Every chance I got I had Janet stand and take a few steps and once she even got up from the couch without me looking as I went for her wheelchair. She couldn’t maintain a standing position without me but I was impressed she made it up so fast.

It was another sombre trip back to Connect tonight and I really have to keep reminding myself she’s doing good things there that she can’t do living at home. Janet really wanted me to read to her in bed and I could see how tired she was so I made a bet with her. She said she could last through an hours worth of reading, I said no way and won easily. Her first snores were heard twenty minutes in then she woke up and denied she was sleeping. Three minutes after I started reading again she was snoring louder than ever and I called it a night up another Blizzard.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep, lots of energy and a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard at getting stronger.

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

A bright sunny morning helped Janet and I get up and at em today albeit with no set agenda. After breakfast while watching Canada win gold and silver in Women’s Moguls we cleaned up from our wine club gathering last night with Janet able to empty the dishwasher full of wine glasses and also help me shrink the dining table back to every day size. We scanned a whole bunch more old photos into the computer with Janet manning the scanner again and doing what I believe has been a good job of identifying people and approximate dates of photos. We had some laughs and got a lot done before nap time that was spent more in reading than napping.

Janet executed a very nice transfer from her wheelchair to her seat in church tonight especially the side stepping part. She was very confident and well balanced, in fact all of her transfers were like that today with her only challenge remaining control of her right leg. I sense a little more muscle activity there but that doesn’t seem to be equating to an increase in control yet.

It has been a while since we brought home sushi for dinner and watched a movie and Janet was happy to do so tonight. We watched Captain Phillips and although it is not a Janet movie she enjoyed it and didn’t find it to be too scary or violent. A little wound up afterwards it was good the Olympics were on and we stayed up too late watching the Men’s Downhill partly so Janet could “forget” the movie.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep and for a productive day tomorrow.

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

Garrett took Janet, Wes and Umberto to Vernon this morning in hopes of seeing the hot air balloon launch for the Winter Carnival. We haven’t had much winter here this year except for today of course so the balloon launch was cancelled. Janet said she really enjoyed the outing “with the guys” and they stopped at a local coffee shop to make the trip worth while.

The down side of an outing like that means no gym for Janet today but she was in such a good mood I wasn’t about to risk ruining it. Once we got home she agreed to a nap in order to be rested for the inaugural meeting of our wine club tonight. Janet was very excited about this gathering and therefore only slept for twenty minutes or so as she kept thinking people were coming over any minute. She was a big help in making dinner and getting ready for the wine club. By the time people arrived I think Janet started to feel a little overwhelmed as she was kind of quiet most of the time. She did speak up a few times though and told me afterward that she really enjoyed the evening and thought it went well.

Praying for a night of uninterrupted sleep and lots of energy for tomorrow.

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

For quite some time now Janet has been getting increasingly resistant to the idea of going swimming each Thursday morning. She “hates” being cold and also doesn’t like all the preparation needed to get ready followed by the big production when finished. She was one of three residents that went to the pool this morning and only one of those went near the water so Garrett could spend the whole session with us. He got to see first hand how good of a swimmer Janet is and how quickly she gets cold, even with the wet suit. More importantly he saw how the cold affects Janet’s ability to control her legs. He agreed that other than “the outing” there isn’t much therapeutic value to the swimming if Janet isn’t really enjoying it. We asked Janet to suggest an alternative to swimming rather than just complaining about it and she wisely said she could do exercises in the gym. This is what she’s chosen to do Tuesdays instead of attending the group therapy session and I fully support that choice. That gave me justification to talk to Brian later today to suggest Janet no longer go to the pool as long as there is staff available to take her to the gym. He agreed, I told Tez and he’s onboard so Janet has been released from that “terrible” thing. The countless visits to various pools truly helped Janet’s recovery and we are blessed to have had the opportunity to work in the water as much as we did. Janet loves to swim and I’m confident she’ll be back in the water as soon as its warm enough.

After lunch and a nap Janet responded to some emails, this time electing to type them herself and she did really well, even hitting the space bar at the appropriate time a few times. She gave up a little quickly on her reading today and I had to really push her to follow through to the end. Her confidence level seemed quite low this afternoon and evening. Perhaps because of that she was very resistant to doing any exercise and we had a long and somewhat heated discussion about her situation. There hasn’t been a meltdown of this magnitude for a long time and I’m not sure what triggered this one other than lack of confidence. Janet has a hard time accepting that she’s doing well and making progress because it isn’t happening fast enough for her. At the end of our discussion she did her best one legged bike ride ever and got a great stretch in the Standing Frame.

Bedtime each night involves us praying together and we share lines of the Lord’s Prayer followed by a heart prayer that has always been at least 99% me talking. I often encourage Janet to start that prayer and up until tonight she’s only managed a few words before giving up in frustration at not being able to get the words she wants out. Tonight she said the sweetest most “honest”(her word) prayer yet, most of which centred around our earlier discussion. It was very moving and I pray she is now able to express herself that way not only to God but to me and everyone else who loves her too.

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

My time with Janet was short today as I completed bottling at CedarCreek until next week and when I got to Connect it was time to take off for dinner and SheLife. Janet was in good spirits waiting for me in the living room and feeling proud of herself for spending “over and hour” in the gym this morning. Sounds like she’s making a real effort to get her exercises done in the AM which is when Janet says she does better. For the most part that’s true and I’m encouraged by her willingness to them at all.

Janet was pretty quiet during dinner and told me she did have a rest but it was early and she didn’t think she slept at all. That was a bad sign heading into SheLife as the topic this time is a little deep and Janet is finding it a challenge to understand. She came away from tonight’s session a little upset that she doesn’t get it and was hinting at not going back but I offered to help her with the materiel this weekend and she accepted, remembering how it helped to read about the last sessions topic the night before each meeting. Worth a try.

As always on SheLife night it’s bedtime by the time we get back to Connect. I read to Janet who was in and out of sleep but quite awake as I finished and wanted me to read more. I had to say no as, if I stay too late at Connect I get locked in to the place. Not a bad thing to have happen and if it wasn’t for our dog at home I would let it happen once in a while. Not tonight though.

Praying for full and complete healing and for a productive day tomorrow.

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

A smiling Janet greeted me as I arrived at Connect late this afternoon. She had just gotten up from a nap where she actually slept and I could tell. She was very bright and spoke well as she excitedly told me she had done a big workout in the gym this morning. There was no arguing with me when I suggested she was only telling me that so I wouldn’t make her do more tonight. Janet truly did have a good session with Curtis and Garrett this morning doing everything except the Standing Frame. Curtis worked on free standing with Janet in an area no where near a transfer pole and Janet did very well. A couple of times lately I’ve noticed her free standing while pulling her pants up or down but I haven’t said anything to her as I don’t want her to be thinking about it. I love that she’s doing it and I feel she’s getting closer to taking an unassisted step. It may be using an undesirable technique but I sense it coming.

After a lively dinner Janet wanted to get the Standing Frame over with and stood for an hour quite comfortably. The rest of the night was hers and after checking her emails which gave her some reading practice she counted out some pennies to be rolled. Her math skills are excellent and as long as she takes her time she can count accurately as well. For each roll she laid out stacks of two pennies in a five by five grid confidently answering that there were fifty pennies there. She has rolled eleven rolls of pennies so far and quickly calculated that is $5.50. Sounds like enough for that Blizzard she owes me.

Last night as we were reading Janet complained that the light in her room was too bright for her while she’s laying there listening to me so I asked her to remind me next time and I’ll turn it off, to my surprise, tonight she did. She also knew right away that SheLife is tomorrow and there were a number of other intelligent comments and strong displays of short term memory tonight too. Fun times.

Praying for full and complete healing and a positive day tomorrow.

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

I’m spending the first few days of this week bottling wine at CedarCreek Estate Winery so my time with Janet will start later in the day than usual. Today I got to Connect just as everyone was sitting down to dinner. Janet was excited to see me but I could tell wasn’t really missing me either, nor did I expect her to. I missed her though.

According to Janet she was in the gym “for a long time this morning”. As we talked it became apparent she had done the Shuttle and her mat exercises with Karl so that left the bike and standing frame for tonight. Something she was not pleased to hear. I was more concerned with what Janet had done in the afternoon and she exceeded my expectations greatly. I’ve often suggested to her that instead of watching daytime television she could work on her speech exercises or something like that. After lunch today she wheeled up to her desk and answered the questions on six or seven pages of work that Mary Lou had left in a binder for her to do as she pleased. I marked them for her, reading each question out loud and having her confirm her answer and found she scored as high as 100% and only as low as 80%. Nice work! She even did some very accurate underlining and some decent printing too.

Janet agreed to some one legged bike riding and I found her to be ineffective in trying to pull up using her right leg. Partly attitude and partly a result of the weekend maybe. Still good that she did it though. After a good session in the Standing Frame it was time to get ready for bed and to read Open which had Janet laughing out loud and listening intently for a good forty five minutes tonight. Fun.

Thanks to those of you that played the Where’s Janet game in her class photo yesterday. The consensus is third from the right, second row, but Janet still thinks she’s first on the left, front row. She is wavering a bit on that now and loved that people actually bothered to guess.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep that gives Janet lots of energy and a positive attitude and willingness to fully participate in whatever she’s asked to do tomorrow.

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

Today ended up being Janet’s sleep in day and good thing. She never would have made it through the Superbowl without a nap otherwise. She managed to make her coffee and toast by herself before having a good Skype chat with Leslie. I noticed Janet correcting herself a little more now, saying no in answer to a question by default then switching to the correct answer seconds later. Good to see.

We continued our scrapbooking type work and finished off the one with all the greeting cards in it. The big project now is photographs and to start we are going to digitize them all and Janet was quite happy to sit by the scanner and place photos on it while I operated things on the computer end. The photos we did today were of school age Janet and it was fun trying to figure out how old she was in each picture as most are not dated. I think she guessed fairly accurately. One photo puzzled us more than others. Can you find her in this one? We have different opinions.Janet Pre School Class

Our strata had an information meeting in regards to a large landscaping project facing us and I wanted to go but Janet didn’t so I risked leaving her alone for forty five minutes and she was quite happy to do so. When I got back she was watching the Superbowl Pre-game show and had really enjoyed the interview with Denver head coach John Fox. She said he seems like a nice guy. I’m glad she was that tuned in while I was gone not just staring blankly. Apparently she even went to the bathroom on her own. I know she is capable of that so I believe she did. High five!

After a quick chat with the Calgary gang (plus Ottawa and Costa Mesa) it was time for some football. Janet had never been upset we weren’t going to a party or having anyone over to watch the game so she was ready but neither of us was ready for what we witnessed. Janet stayed interested throughout and made lots of intelligent comments along the way. It was nice to watch quietly with her.
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The return to Connect keeps getting more and more difficult, for both of us I think. Janet was a little crabby and just wanted to get ready for bed and read even though it was only 8:30. I didn’t expect going to the gym or anything but thought she could at least help set her calendar for the week. Nope, bed it was, and ten minutes into the read she was sleeping. It’s like she willed her way through the football game then crashed. It was a good day all around and I think she’ll have a solid week. Praying for full and complete healing and thanking Jesus for every minute I get to spend with my beautiful wife.
Janet School Gr12

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

Most Saturdays at home with Janet start late as she takes a well deserved sleep in, not today. Awake at her normal Connect get up time, 7:45, our day started. Turned out to be a good thing as we got a lot done. Janet made herself toast and coffee and we mapped out our day before the weekly Skype chat with Mary/Gaga. Janet carried this chat really well and seemed quite on the ball.

Today was finally time to put Janet’s memorabilia into scrapbook type things and we both enjoyed looking through some of the stuff and remembering things from early on in our relationship. It was a little emotional at times and a good exercise for Janet to go through. It also validated my policy of getting all this stuff into a useful medium as opposed to stuffed in a box in a place no one goes. I don’t want Janet or anyone living in the past but boy there are some powerful things to be learned there like what an awesome mother she is, what a talented drawer and story teller she was. Hopefully some confidence was built today.

We worked steadily until well past lunchtime when I helped Janet make her grilled cheese sandwich. I need to have her practice operating the cooktop more as when she gains that skill she’ll be able to make lunch completely on her own.

There was no arguing about nap time today as it was a busy first part of the day for Janet that even included some free standing. Janet awoke in time for us to meet Suzanne at church and enjoy an excellent worship experience. Janet propelled herself, transferred, stood and sang well tonight. The only thing she didn’t really do well at was using her chopsticks while out for sushi dinner. Maybe it was the sake she finally agreed to try, I don’t know but this was a messy one. Still a very enjoyable evening, thanks for making it so, Suzanne.

Janet and I enjoyed fresh baked cookies from our neighbour, Betty, when we got home and were able to read a lot of Open before Janet went to bed. I’m glad we chose to read while Janet was awake enough to understand what I was reading as it was pretty deep and interesting stuff tonight. Fun to read and discuss with her.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep and lots of energy for a fun tomorrow. Go ‘hawks!