Recovery

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Seahawks #SEAvsCAR #chef #AGT

Today was a sunny and bright day outside as well as for Janet inside.

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With her nails painted and jersey on we hunkered down to watch the first real football game of the season right after breakfast and Janet was genuinely excited or at least interested in it. She paid close attention most of the first half and commented appropriately a few times when big plays were made or big mistakes were made. She also noted the Seahawks didn’t look too good in that first half. To her disappointment halftime meant exercise time and I asked her to do some standing in front if the mirror in our room. My goal with the standing right now is to get her putting as much weight through her right leg as possible and she did a good job today. I noticed when I instructed her to lean or come over to the right she would use primarily her upper body to do so. That wasn’t getting us the results I wanted so I placed my hands on her hips and told her to do the hula a little bit. That worked! You could see and feel weight being transferred to her right leg and the more she did it the closer to the floor her heal got. Being in front of the mirror enabled her to see herself and adjust her posture accordingly. We used the whole fifteen minutes of halftime then returned to the game. Cam joined us towards the end and good thing he did as that was when our offense got going and we won the game. Janet laughed at Cam and I as we reacted to the game and overall enjoyed the whole thing.

Football and fattening foods go together naturally but there isn’t much football food Janet will eat but she did agree to pancakes for lunch. That worked out great as she helped make the mix and even broke an egg by herself into a mug. Talented!

Janet had a little rest time this afternoon then we sat out on our balcony for happy hour and enjoyed the warm sun that we’ve missed dearly the last couple of days. Being all warm and relaxed I saw an opportunity for more standing and this time was even better than the first. Janet was more confident this time too. She played prep cook for dinner and did a great job chopping vegetables and feeding the dog. I love it when we have time to prepare a meal at her pace. She loves to contribute.

I was able to stretch Janet well in the hot tub after dinner and with her legs nice and straight in the leg extenders for her wheelchair we watched AGT before calling it a night. Like during the football game Janet had some insightful comments about some of the acts we saw. This was a solid day for Janet as she got a little exercise, a little sun, watched the Seahawks win and ate ice cream. What could be better? Praying that the snoring she is doing now continues through the night and she has a strong session in the pool tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #trinitykelowna #skype #oloffs #kaltire

Janet awoke refreshed and ready for the day this morning. She seemed to really enjoy breakfast with Cam and Gina and had a good Skype chat with Mary/Gaga right after that. Her answers to questions were not always correct but she was enthusiastic during the entire call.

I thought about doing some moving related chores with Janet before lunch until I noticed a tire looking pretty flat on our car. Thankfully it wasn’t raining like it did yesterday so we were able to go out, pump a little air into it and drive over to Kal Tire and have it fixed. For FREE, and in half an hour! While we waited we walked over to Rona to check out paint samples for the new house. That was a good test of the porter wheelchair and I’ve determined that I like the idea of having two chairs but this one is not ideal for Janet. It’s too high and the foot rests are too far apart.

After a quick lunch and a look at Cam’s new car it was nap time which resulted in about an hours rest time but no sleeping. It was enough rest to give Janet a big enough boost to enjoy the rest of the day which started with the service at Trinity. Janet got really excited about a book Wayne referenced in his message called Not a Fan, by Kyle Idleman and we are going to start reading it right away. We haven’t been reading anything lately except emails and such so it will be nice to get into a book again. From church we went straight to Sandi and Henrik’s for a nice meal and good conversation. We hadn’t seen them in a while and it was really nice to reconnect. Janet managed to sit in a real chair the whole time we were there and her porter chair proved inadequate in wet gravel and for bringing into the house after getting wet. You don’t know until you try.

It was pretty late when we got home but Janet still had energy, so over a cup of tea I got her nails painted for the first real football game of the season. Seattle vs Carolina. We’ll be watching over breakfast with jerseys on. Go ‘hawks!

Thanking Jesus for everything we’ve been blessed with, especially family and friends. Praying for complete healing.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #floor #sytycd

Garett and Karl report that Janet’s morning was very busy as she did the full routine in the gym plus the Standing Frame along with some Speech and a shower. She was ready to go when I arrived and remembered we were stopping along the way but couldn’t remember what for. It was to check out flooring options for our new house and gave us our first test of the porter wheelchair. I try never to judge anything after only one attempt so let’s just say I’ve yet to be impressed. There will be more opportunities tomorrow. Our visit to Nufloors was a success with our salesman scheduled to meet us at the new house Tuesday morning to get accurate measurements. He will bring the sample of the flooring Janet chose so we can see it in real light. Janet surprised me with what she decided on and showed some real thoughtfulness in her decision making. Her descriptions of all the samples we saw were accurate and insightful. I was very impressed and like the new wheelchair you’ll have to wait to learn what she chose.

Once we got settled at home we decided to start packing while we waited for Cam and Gina to return from wine touring. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Gina this morning and Janet was eagerly awaiting her chance. Two boxes later they arrived and the sizing up began. Just kidding. We’d heard so much about Gina we felt like we knew her already and she’s quickly fit right in. Pizzas were on the menu and Janet did her best job yet at chopping peppers and tomatoes. She was a little quiet during dinner but when asked said, “they are being loud enough”. In other words she was enjoying listening.

After a good stretch in the hot tub the evening concluded with SYTYCD and ice cream. A long and active day with Janet and she handled it very well for not having had a nap. The cognitive gains continue, please pray for her right leg to join the party.

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.