Overdose

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

Renovation Day 48. Not much renovating going on today but Janet and I managed to empty a few boxes and have declared the Den/Second Bedroom completed except for decorating and hiding TV cables. After all the purging at the old house we surprisingly still have excess furniture so will be selling some things soon I guess. Still can’t find our lamps although we didn’t really look today.

Overall, today was a low energy day for Janet. She woke up with a bit of a spark but after breakfast and a Skype chat with Heather she started to fade. She was a big help in arranging furniture and she managed her first two loads of laundry with minimal assistance. I’ve no doubt she’ll master those machines very quickly. She’s pretty much got the ice and water dispenser down and can easily put her dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I’m liking this already!

I suggested a nap before going to the Grey Cup party and got know argument from Janet, in fact when I woke her at the agreed upon time she asked for another half hour. Not sure why she was so tired today but there’s no problem with taking a restful day and the long nap did enable her to enjoy the party. It wasn’t the most lively event we’ve ever been to and we didn’t hardly know anyone there but it was a good place to watch the game and Janet liked the Bingo game that we all played. You filled out your card with random numbers that corresponded to questions you could only answer by talking to other people. Janet had no problem going up to a few different folks and asking them the appropriate questions. She got enough correct answers to earn a line on her Bingo card but no prize. Oh well, it was fun. Not as much fun as watching Janet eat, to my knowledge, her very first chili dog! With no other dinner choices Janet didn’t even hesitate at eating some classic football food. High five!

Upon our return to Connect Janet surprised me again by agreeing to a bike ride and promptly tying her personal best. She kept saying how tired she was but she peddled and peddled the entire thirty minutes. High five!

We closed the day with a few minutes of real football and Tootsie Rolls and with Janet looking forward to Wednesday when she can come home and help set things up some more. Despite her tiredness today there were lots of encouraging signs of improvement like, Janet knowing where her slippers were after not having them on for over an hour, waking up with me telling her it’s two thirty and her saying “we have to go soon”, and the very good “tired” bike ride. It was fun having Janet home again and will be even more so as soon as we are totally unpacked and settled in.

Praying for a night of healing sleep, total control of her right leg and lots of energy for an active tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ

Renovation Day 47. Randy worked from home today and Janet and I emptied a few boxes and arranged a few things in our room and the Den/Second Bedroom. There’s not really that much more we can do until the kitchen is finished. There is lots more I can do of course but that’ll have to wait for Monday when Janet is back at Connect.

The first night in the new house was a good one with Janet waking up refreshed and in bed still. The sun was shining brightly into the house as we had breakfast then called Mary/Gaga for a Skype chat. Janet was pleased with the way the conversation went and thought she did well. She did.

Our day consisted of puttering around the house, unpacking what we could and setting a few things up. We can’t for the life of us find our bedside table lamps so if anyone has them or knows where they are I’d love to hear from you.

It was nice enough for us to take the dog for a spin around the complex after lunch and we used that time to knock on the doors of a couple of our new neighbours so Janet could meet them. Since she’s hardly been here she’s missed out on people dropping in to say hi. We are blessed to have a lot of good neighbours here and Janet noticed that, saying, “we are lucky, because there could be a lot worse people living here”.

Janet thought the service at Trinity tonight was “really good and fun”. It was and she did a great job standing a couple of times during it. Moxies was our dinner choice tonight and Janet found it to be too noisy. Those environments are really bothering her lately so I’ll have to be mindful of that when deciding where to take her.

Today was a total day off from exercise and its hard for me to allow that as I want Janet to keep working her right leg especially. I notice she’s cold a lot these days and that really impedes the use of that right leg never mind the tone and neglect. Hawaii would be a great solution.

The benefits of the new neighbourhood are starting to be realized as I made a less than ten minute round trip run to Save On for ice cream tonight while Janet got ready to watch the X Factor results show. That trip was ten minutes one way from the old house and I was never comfortable leaving her alone and being that far away. This seems much safer although we should figure a way for her to call for help if needed. Ideas?

Praying for a night of healing sleep.

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

Renovation Day 46. Finally, the electricians showed up today! We now have laundry, dishwasher, cooktop and oven along with some countertop plugs and under cabinet lights. There is a problem with the plugs on the island and one set of counter top plugs so they likely will need to return to fix those unless Randy and I can figure it out tomorrow. Randy worked hard to get everything ready for the electricians and can now finish the last two closets before focusing on the kitchen drawers and cupboards.

Surprisingly, Janet was asleep when I got to Connect. I thought she’d be raring to go knowing she was going home for the weekend. She woke up when I went into her room but clearly needed more sleep so she did for about an hour. That paid off nicely as she had good energy for the trip home and was a big help in putting away more of her stuff and helping to arrange furniture in the living area. That is very much a work in progress but at least things are in the general area so we can see exactly how it all fits instead of imagining it.

We could have cooked something for dinner and that would have been nice but there really wasn’t time so we ordered out pizza. LJFirstLanfrancouse
Kind of lame for the first sit down meal in a new house but thats the way it goes. Next weekend we’ll cook for sure.

Janet was comfortable sitting on the couch tonight watching X Factor. I could see the contentment in her eyes. There is still a lot of work to be done here but it was awesome to take an evening and spend it with Janet in our house, something we haven’t done in fifty five days.

Praying for complete healing and a finished home that we can soon for God’s intended purpose.

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

Renovation Day 45 was more of an unpacking day for me. Randy continues the renovation side of things, finishing Janet’s closet and the one in the Den/Second Bedroom. He also did a great job installing our new dryer which required adapting the exhaust vent to run out of the bottom of the machine. Still no sign of the electrician but rumour has it he’s coming tomorrow and if so we will then be able to do laundry. Yeah!

I met Janet at the pool this morning along with Courtney. It was great having Courtney there as we were able to take Janet into the deep pool where the water is warmer. Janet swam well there but that’s all you can do so we did a little time in the lap pool as well so she could practice balancing and walking. She had virtually no push down in her right leg at all but was able to move it forward well. Janet enjoyed having Courtney in the pool with her and went the entire session without whining, pretty much a first.

After lunch with Courtney at The Asian Pear we went home and Janet was able to load some of her closet. She admitted it was a little overwhelming trying to put all of her stuff away so I stopped her after an hour and a half and got her into our new bed for a nap. I had hoped to give Janet the side of the bed closest to the bathroom so that’s what we tried today. The transfer into bed was OK and will be much better using a stripper pole when we get that installed. Janet found it a little hard to manoeuvre on the bed, feeling its a little soft. She slept well and really liked the bed once snuggled up in it. Getting out proved more challenging as she has to use her weak side more being on the opposite side of the bed from Connect. I think we’ll try it for the weekend and see if she can adapt, otherwise a switch may be in order.

We don’t yet have any means of cooking at the new house so out for dinner we went. This time to Original Joe’s. We hadn’t been there since early in the summer but Janet remembered the room once we were in it. The food was good but the place was very noisy so I think we’ll leave it as a lunch option as it should be quieter then.

Janet had enough energy in her to put in a decent bike ride when we got back to Connect and closed a busy day with some TV and Tootsie Rolls. Praying for a night of uninterrupted sleep, lots of exercise in the morning and complete control of her right leg.

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

Renovation Day 44. I spent the day moving stuff around and getting the TVs up and running. Randy continued building closets and we now have two that are ready to be filled up. Yeah!

Connect called me this morning to say that Janet had fallen out of bed. She is fine, has a few small marks on her face and was able to tell me this afternoon that she remembered falling but not why. Only that she was rolling over in bed. It is very unlike Janet to toss and turn a lot in bed so I’m really not sure how this happened other than she does tend to sleep really close to the left side of the bed and that could have been part of it. Jess suggested to Janet that she just take it easy today and Janet was all over that. When I arrived in the afternoon she was in good spirits and showing to real signs of damage other than a bruised left cheek. We were going to leave right away to work at the house but I convinced her to try and have a nap first and she did so for about an hour.

Janet commented on seeing the house that “it really looks like a home”. As it should after all this time. We didn’t have much time to spend there before SHElife so we made some decisions on what will go where in the kitchen so Randy knows how to build the shelves in the cupboards then we went for a quick dinner before SHElife. Janet chose Urban Fare and had the same curried mango chicken wrap and enjoyed it just as much as the first time.

A very bubbly Janet met me in the church lobby after her session with the ladies and she had that really bright look in her eyes again. She was pleased she “got to say stuff” and answer questions and was prayed for. An excellent evening for Janet.

After asking Curtis for her drugs, Janet wound down by watching a little TV then hit the bed promising not to fall out. I had her get as far into the middle of the bed as she could to start the night in hopes that helps keep her in. Falling out was funny when she was doing her Houdieno act but not now. Praying for a safe and sleep filled night and complete and rapid healing.

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

Renovation Day 43. Plumbing is done. Painting is done. Still waiting for the electrician. Randy installed drawer glides in the kitchen and built one closet in the master bedroom. That means Janet can come home tomorrow afternoon to help put things away and more importantly to help figure out where things will go in the kitchen. With a decision made there, Randy can install shelves that will be adjustable but not have a hundred holes up the sides of the cabinet.

Janet had been napping for a while when I got to Connect so I went right into her room and we had a good talk about her day so far. I need to find out more but a couple of times now, Janet has attended a group meeting with a guy named Ed Mitchell. She says they talk about what happened to them and how they are dealing with it. When I asked Janet what happened to her she said, “I just woke up and was like this”. When asked for clarification on “like this”, she said, “not a good walker or anything”. I gave her a chance to talk more about but she didn’t want to so I got her up and down to the gym for a bike ride. She’s doing so well at this slightly more difficult level that I’m going to increase it more next time.

Brian sent out his semi annual progress report on Janet today and it confirmed how well Janet is doing especially cognitively. A number of times since this all started Janet has been tested using the Western Aphasia Battery, a standardized Speech Therapy test. Her score out of one hundred back in her hospital days was less than 3, her score in December 2012 was 43.7 and her score from a few days ago was 85.9. Even Janet was impressed and believed the scores as I read the report to her. “Normal” is considered to be a score of 93.8 so Janet is almost there. High five!

I took Janet for a Shuttle session after dinner for the first time in a while and was impressed. The distance she is able to extend her legs has increased noticeably and her right leg is stronger as this time I could really feel her pushing using her quadricep. Thank you bike riding. Curtis was there for part of the session and noted Janet’s feet were in the lowest possible position and she was pushing farther than ever. A sure sign of increased strength.

We finished reading Not a Fan tonight as tomorrow’s SHElife session is the last one discussing the book. Overall it’s been an interesting read and discussion with Janet and it’s resulted in her thinking about and figuring out herself quite a bit. I think we will choose something lighter for the next book and it will be on the iPad so Janet can read easier.

Janet asked if I would re paint her finger nails before we went to the living room to watch The Voice. Once again, both of our contestants made it through to the next round. Janet is looking forward to next week’s show as we will be able to PVR it and watch it without commercials when we want to. That will be nice.

Praying for a restful and healing night that provides lots of energy for a busy day tomorrow.

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

Renovation Day 42. Move in day! Sort of.

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Our stuff was delivered this morning with the unloading beginning just before nine thirty with the last box going into the house at eleven. Pretty impressive. That gave me plenty of time to make sure things were in the right general area and also to put things in the crawl space that aren’t going to be used for a long time. Thankfully there isn’t much of that sort of thing anymore. I was shocked at how many bins of Christmas stuff we have and can’t wait to see how much of it we use.

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Frank the plumber was here for quite a while and is almost finished his work. Randy worked from home today knowing there would be a lot of clutter here for most of it and as soon as the closets and kitchen drawers are installed the move in can continue.
I did manage a little bit of decorating though.

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#gohawks !

Janet was watching Ellen with Wes when I got to Connect this afternoon and right away asked, “how’d it go with all our stuff?” I thought that was very good of her to remember that’s what was happening today and a sign of just how excited she is about getting the new house livable. She very demonstrably told me about her day, using a lot of hand gestures as she was having a little trouble naming some of things she wanted to tell me about. We then headed off for a bike ride and under protest she allowed me to check her out on some more difficult pedaling settings. We settled on level 1.5 for twenty five minutes and Janet almost made two miles keeping a steady pace right around thirty rpm. I think she can handle level two and will try that tomorrow. Wanting to get her “work” done, Janet agreed to the Standing Frame knowing she’d be late for dinner. To me, this was a really good session with a fair bit of weight going through her right leg and a really good stretch on both.

The rest of the evening was quiet and relaxed as we read, visited with some of the other residents and staff, watched the last quarter of an exciting football game and closed the night with a little of The Voice. Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep that provides lots of energy for tomorrow’s activities, especially Singing With John.

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

Renovation Day 41. Today was get ready for tomorrow day, cleaning up as much as possible and moving appliances to their permanent locations so they are out of the way for all the other stuff arriving tomorrow. Randy and his wife Claudette continued work on the baseboards and did a final clean so that when I got home tonight I could take one last look at the “empty” house.

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Janet and Suzanne were visiting at the kitchen table when I got to Connect and I had to shoo them into the living room so we could watch the football game. Janet’s morning was fairly quiet as Curtis said they gave her a chance to sleep in and make sure her tummy was ok after last night. Janet said all is well and she had a good sleep. It was an enjoyable visit with Suzanne made more so by the Seahawks domination of Minnesota and that made it easy to break from the game to Skype Mary/Gaga. Janet said after the chat that she always has good conversations with her mom and that is mostly true. I feel Janet continues to improve her recall and general conversation abilities. I intentionally said very little and tried not to coach her to see how she’d manage and she did just fine. Now to get her more confident in using the iPad so she can be more independent.

The bike is Janet’s favorite exercise activity and she said so herself three times today so there was no argument about riding before dinner. No records broken today but a strong effort from Janet who ate very well at dinner then had a good Skype chat with Andrew. Janet was not interested in the Standing Frame tonight and I didn’t force the issue but did want her to do something. She finally agreed to do some free standing in her room. She still heavily favors her left leg but made improvements in her ability to lift her left foot completely off the ground. Walking is still done by holding onto me for dear life but there is a visible desire to do it so I think she’ll get there.

Our discussion of what we read in Not a Fan tonight was excellent as Janet continues to get smarter. I was so impressed with her I asked who the president of the United States is and at first she said “Ford” which would be correct forty years ago so I gave her Barack and she quickly added the Obama as she did with Stephen Harper. I didn’t expect her to know anything about that stuff but she does. At bedtime she confirmed with me that “we’re getting our stuff tomorrow right?” She’s very excited to complete the renovations so she can spend a weekend at home. Me too.

Praying for a good sleep tonight and the ability and willingness to work hard tomorrow.

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

Renovation Day 40. Another busy and productive day, lots of baseboards on, painting almost finished, closets designed and the place cleaned up a little in preparation for our stuff arriving Monday. #excited.

It was later than I wanted by the time I got to Connect today and Janet was in bed again, awake and chatty. It was time to leave for church though so the chatting with me would have to wait. That didn’t stop Janet from chatting with Kieran who ended up coming to church with us. Not sure if Janet invited him or if he invited himself, but I figured it was cool if he came along and it was. Kieran had never been to a church before and was a little nervous going in but when I asked afterwards how it was, he said he felt at peace and thought it was interesting and he liked the music. It was not what he expected. Scott delivered a strong message tonight highlighting the #citylightkelowna initiative where our church hopes to have everyone doing random acts of kindness throughout the community. Kieran was in the spirit of that yesterday as he had everyone sign a card for the injured and off work Karl. Janet enjoyed having him there and everyone we met made Kieran feel welcome. Janet stood for the first couple of songs again then once more during the service. She wasn’t quite as strong today and she was doing the flamingo a lot. We gave Kieran the choice of dinner type and he chose Chinese which meant we got to try a new to us place called Asian Pear Buffet. It’s an all you can eat buffet and we did and it was surprisingly good. Their dessert selection was poor though and since it was snowing a little outside we all figured it was a good night for a Blizzard so we bravely ventured off into Rutland to the closest DQ.

Dessert may have been the tipping point for Janet, I’m not sure, but twenty minutes after arriving back at Connect she started complaining of a sore tummy. She said the pain was on her lower left side and was sharp. This has happened before and I almost took Janet to the hospital, but that time she hadn’t gone to the bathroom for a while so I was concerned about that. She is much closer to regular now so I figured we could ride this one out longer as she wasn’t feverish or responsive to pain stimuli. Almost an hour later she was still saying it hurt so I told her we were going to KGH. That got her really upset and may have motivated her to stretch out on her bed which I believe started her recovery. She was soon asleep for twenty minutes and when she woke she was feeling ok, tired but ok. I helped her get her PJ’s on then into bed where she finally seemed comfortable. It was late enough that I had to ring the night staff to let me out of the building but that was good as I was able to give Chelsea an update from what Tiffany told her and suggest she check on Janet in a couple hours. I’m confident that whatever it was is over and Janet will have a good night of rest. Praying for complete healing and thanking Jesus for the ability to experience his grace, love and mercy.

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

Renovation Day 39. I’m writing this from our new bed, or at least the unpacked mattress. I’m very excited as this is the first time I’ve slept on a bed in forty one days.

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This was a crazy busy day as expected. The blinds are installed, the appliances are all here and Randy and plumber Frank worked hard all day to keep things on schedule. I tried getting things ready for them as they moved through the various areas and all was going well until I moved the fridge into place and discovered we used an incorrect measurement for the height of it. Disappointing, but nothing a sledge hammer can’t fix. That was the easy part, now Randy has to rebuild the bottom of that cupboard. Oops.

To my surprise Janet was in bed when I finally got to Connect at five o’clock. She was awake of course and Brent informed me she’d been nodding off around three so he got her to lay down. She had done the sling walking and Shuttle and stretching so no surprise she was tired. Janet took a little ribbing at the dinner table tonight as she fussed about being served a tuna melt at lunchtime. Sydney capitulated and made Janet a grilled cheese instead, something that typically isn’t supposed to happen so the words princess and queen were being thrown around tonight in jest. There were lots of laughs.

I convinced Janet to go to the basketball game at UBCO after dinner and I’m really glad we went. The last time I took Janet to a game was February and compared to tonight she didn’t have a clue what was going on then. Tonight she followed the play well, reacted to things happening appropriately and could tell me the score each time I asked her. Not only that but she stood up and sang along to O Canada before the men’s game started. A few times during the action she made comments about certain players. and noticed that the UVIC team all had the same “yucky” blue shoes. Janet couldn’t stop talking about the between game chat with Simon, a family friend and the Simon that worked with Janet at Connect during a practicum this summer. He is now a licensed kinesiologist and is moving to Vancouver soon to start two new jobs there. Simon has been around our family for ten years now and his politeness and kindness has always garnered praise from Janet and he topped that tonight in giving her a hug that is really what she couldn’t stop talking about.

Our time together today was short but fun and a real indicator of how much progress Janet has made. Praying for a solid night’s sleep and a productive day tomorrow.