Recovery

Energizer Janet. Party all night long? # TSJ

When I arrived at Connect early this afternoon Janet was working on a bowl of chili for lunch. I had to help her speed up the process a little as we had an appointment downtown and I wanted to stop at the lab first for her Dilantin test. While she was slurping away, Karl’s puppy, Charlie, came to the table for a visit. I picked him up so Janet could pet him and I’ve not seen such a happy face on her for a while. She had a huge smile while Charlie kissed her and ate the bits of spilled chili off of her shirt saver. Apparently they have developed quite a relationship as a couple days ago Janet was sleeping in her comfy living room chair and Charlie was sleeping on her lap. Karl says he’s pretty hyper with everyone but Janet, he loves snuggling with her.

Our afternoon appointments went well and we even had time for a nice walk through City Park before going home. Janet didn’t remember being there before until we got right out to the lake where you can see the bridge. That was familiar to her. It was a beautiful day here and I’m glad we got out to enjoy some of it because when we got home it was nap time.

Janet didn’t resist the nap at all today and would have had a great one if she wasn’t woken up twice by Nash barking stupidly. I wasn’t sure how long she’d last tonight based on the sporadic sleep but it didn’t seem to phase her at all. In fact she set a record for staying up tonight and was very much engaged the whole evening.

Wayne and Brenda had invited us for dinner with Joel and Kiko and Ramona and Felis. I was confident Janet would enjoy the company but had no idea she would do as well as she did. She was smiling pretty much the whole time we were there and laughed loudly a few times and engaged in conversation a couple times too. She ate well and hardly spilled anything, she drank water, wine and coffee and gobbled up a delicious dessert. Brenda had kindly agreed to start the evening early for Janet’s benefit so we were all there by 6:30. I thought Janet would be good till maybe nine or so, it was 10:35 when we got in the car and we’d only done that because I didn’t bring her Dilantin thinking we wouldn’t be out that late. Janet was very chatty during the drive home, was in no hurry to go to sleep once we got there and in fact didn’t start snoring until about 12:30 which is why this post is so late. It was a really fun night with everyone and especially fun watching Janet enjoy herself so much.

Praying for a restful night of healing and a fun day tomorrow.

Green Lights. Janet moving forward. #TSJ

According to Janet I “got here just in time” today. She said it with such a big smile on her face I thought I was in for some big news but it was just her way of saying she was glad I was there. Jess said they’d had a busy day so far. Shower, breakfast, gym, clean room, laundry, label drawers and cupboards, lunch. I know that pace is good for Janet and she was happy to hear all those things listed off and recanted her comment that she was having “a weird day”.

Brian met us in her room and we had Janet transferring from wheelchair to bed and back a number of different ways as well as laying down then getting back up again. Tez even dropped by and offered a few pointers. Janet worked really hard and did a great job with everything. We even tried a transfer disc that she stands on then you spin her to line up with wherever she’s going and plunk her down. She’s not ready to do that routinely but Brian will procure some better discs then have that incorporated into Janet’s gym workouts. The standing transfer I’ve been using is not very good for my back and has no therapeutic value for Janet so I will use it only for toileting. Janet does really well with the sliding board and the focus is on that now as its something she’s close to doing completely on her own.

Nurse Jen stopped by as we finished with the transfers to have a look at Janet’s former peg site and without hesitation gave Janet the green light to go “swimming”! I think I’m more excited about this than Janet is but am confident she’ll enjoy it and it also means she can have a bath instead of the showers she’s complained about.

After a lot of ups and downs and rolling around it was time for a nap. Janet welcomed that opportunity and was snoring within minutes. I used that time to call Jim the KGH pool guy. He was very open to times that Janet could go there and suggested Thursdays at noon as that is a fairly quiet session which is probably good for Janet to start with. He mentioned a routine that made it clear to me he didn’t know any details about Janet’s condition so I filled him in and we agreed that the first session would be just floating and familiarizing with future sessions leading towards leg and arm exercises. Tez agreed and suggested trying to get Janet to float on her back and kick her legs. We’ll see how it goes next Thursday and Tez will try and drop by.

In a further conversation with nurse Jen I told her Janet’s Dilantin levels still seem high and her next blood test isn’t until Wednesday. She looked at the requisition for that test and noted there is no date on it so I’m taking Janet tomorrow. Hopefully her doctor will have the results Monday and we can chat about the situation. I will also ask for a referral to the neurologist as there are too many unknowns out there for me to keep going like this. Janet has lost learning opportunities because of the overdose and its time to get this straight.

Janet’s across the hall neighbor, Clint, is moving out tomorrow so I had Janet present him with a happy face lollipop. She started giving it to Karl first then clued in and said some nice words to Clint. Good to see her talking to others. Curtis took a brave Janet to the gym after dinner and had a good workout with her after I assured her it would not be a big one as she’d already worked hard today. She came back pleased with herself and seemingly realizing some benefits to all this. We sat on the couch in the living room watching TV while she munched on an apple before bed.

The afternoon nap was Janet’s last sleep in a hospital bed, he writes with confidence. Brian found a regular bed and frame for Janet and with some modifications from Ray she is sleeping tonight in a real bed which she says is very comfy. It is also the perfect height for transferring her to and from her wheelchair. Another step forward.

Today was a good one and I think Janet gained some confidence through all the activity. Praying for a good rest in her new bed and a fun day tomorrow.

Permission to Sleep Through a Meeting. Janet does what most of us want to. # TSJ

Janet is really catching onto this napping idea. I encouraged her and the staff yesterday to have her nap right after lunch today so she would be awake for the two o’clock team meeting. I arrived at 1:30, Janet was sleeping after Jess put her down a little before one. I quietly went into her room at 1:55 and she was very deeply asleep. So much so that she didn’t wake up until I came back in after the meeting at 3:20. I can remember many meetings in the past I would have loved to sleep through, not this one though but I’m glad she did. With over two hours of nap time I was expecting a very bright Janet. That’s not exactly what I got but there were some bright moments.

Heather requested a Skype chat and I thought Janet would be raring to go like she said she was. We connected with Heather about twenty minutes after Janet woke up and I think she could’ve used another twenty as she was very quiet and not focused in the conversation at all. She kept playing with the game boxes and other things on her desk and just wasn’t participating so we ended the call sooner than anticipated.

We made our way down to the kitchen to see if Janet could help with dinner. Her laundry was there for some reason so we took that back to her room and she very diligently put it all away. Strange how she enjoys that task so much.

Chris made a nice BBQ chicken dinner for everyone and we had an enjoyable time at the table. Janet wasn’t talkative at all but I could sense she was enjoying the chatter and she certainly ate well including ice cream for dessert.

Janet accepted Garrett’ s offer to go to the gym tonight and I made sure to praise her for that decision. She came back with a little more energy than when she left and Garrett was pleased with how things went, more so than Janet was. She chose to use her energy to watch some YouTube before bed and really enjoyed that and had some good comments about what we watched.

The team meeting today was a good sharing of information and planning for the next couple of months. Overall the team feels Janet is progressing as expected, slowly but surely. We talked in depth about the Dilantin overdose and all agreed they saw signs of its affect on Janet. I still think her levels are high but we won’t know until her next blood test which is next week. There is still concern about the spasticity in her legs and Tez is motivated to throw every available treatment at her to try and gain some improvement. I expect Janet to be cleared for the pool tomorrow and hopefully start some hydrotherapy next week. There may be a way to bump up her Botox appointment but I need some cooperation from CPP and the good folks at Pharmacare first. It was mentioned that Janet is transferring using the sliding board quite well and Garrett reiterated that tonight saying she did her best one from wheelchair to table mat yet. Jess agreed that Janet loves to be involved in household activities and will try and get her doing more. The other big issue of course is the afternoon nap and all agree that Janet needs one and I think finally Janet is acknowledging that as well. Brian will start to transition Janet out of the hospital bed and that might help Janet feel better about napping if its in a real bed. I’m very pleased with the people that are caring for Janet and I think she is too. Yes, she’s progressing slowly but she’s come a long way her three months at Connect.

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

Surprise Ending. Janet finishes strong. #TSJ

By the time I was half way through my visit with Janet today I was prepared to write about another day where she took a step back. Our visit started off with her eating pieces of cantaloupe while watching TV in the living room. Lorne told me she didn’t want any lunch today hence the fruit snack. Janet told me she didn’t have time for a nap yet and reluctantly went to her room with me to try. No dice, as there was a lot of noise outside her room with Derrick moving in and Clint getting ready to move out. Every time I felt like Janet was nodding off she would open her eyes and smile at me like she was playing a game. Her day had been busy but not too busy for a nap. Jess had her in the gym and said it wasn’t Janet’s best effort ever. The singing session with John was cancelled again as he is still sick so actually Janet had lots of time to nap. It was very obvious the rest of the day that she felt the effects.

I got her up and ready for the scheduled Skype chat with her mom. Janet was talking much better than a couple weeks ago but not as good as yesterday with Cam. She still demonstrated an increased ability to recall short term memory stuff and relate to the topic of the conversation. We called Laurel right afterwards, Janet’s volume was turned down a notch and she wasn’t quite as engaged but still came up with good answers to questions and enjoyed the chat.

Tuesday is Janet’s day to help prep dinner for everyone. Tonight’s menu was salmon, quinoa and asparagus. Garrett coached Janet through opening the packages of salmon and placing them on baking sheets. Janet poured and spread teriyaki sauce on them then chopped some peppers and cucumber to add to the quinoa she had measured into a pot. Despite being visibly tired Janet did a good job with everything needing help with the peppers but not the cucumber. She thought it was fun to chop and measure things. She ate a relatively small portion for dinner and I attribute that to her tiredness.

The plan after dinner was for Janet to go to the gym with Curtis once he’d had his dinner. While we waited we looked at Nancy’s pictures from Africa on Facebook and Janet put away her laundry. Another task Janet strangely gets pleasure from. She got more and more tired as time passed saying she’d rather just go to bed early tonight. Curtis came in and I asked Janet one more time if she wanted to try the gym for half an hour. To my shock and awe she said yes and off she went. I’ve been speaking to Janet a lot about the need to keep working at getting better and so have others and I think it’s starting to sink in a little. There is no other explanation for her decision to go to the gym tonight. It would have been so easy to give into the tiredness and go to bed. I was really happy with her choice and we had a good talk about it when she got back forty five minutes later. She didn’t have the big smile on her face like last night but was able to understand she had done some good for herself.

So ended a decent day for Janet, not a full step back from yesterday, just a notch down and with a good strong finish. Praying for a good night of rest that provides lots of energy for tomorrow.

New Janet? Big change from yesterday. #TSJ

Apparently all the sleep Janet has been getting lately is paying off. Hopefully the reduction in Dilantin is helping too. I say this because the Janet I hung out with this afternoon is much improved from the one I saw over the last week or so. Jess told me Janet was laying down when I got to Connect and she had chosen to nap before I came to visit as she wanted to hang out with me. She had been down for an hour so I left her for another hour then went in to wake her so we could Skype Cam. Janet immediately started laughing about how she wasn’t sleeping and was expecting me. I could tell right away that she was way brighter than yesterday. Her voice was loud and the words she was using were real words that I could understand. It sometimes took her a few tries to get the right words but there was no Klingon present.

Our Skype conversation with Cam went really well as he was able to tell Janet about his sports successes and discuss his school plans for the next few months. Janet was tuned in and engaged the whole time needing very little help from me. It was very nice to witness.

Keeping the momentum going I asked Janet if she wanted to go to the gym before dinner or after. She of course said neither but with only a little reasoning she agreed to go before. Rikki took her and Janet returned smiling and saying she had a good workout. Rikki hadn’t worked with Janet for a while and was excited about the improvement she sees. She gave a glowing report which was really encouraging for me to hear and I’m sure Janet benefited from hearing the positive news as well.

Dinner was ready, so down to the kitchen we went and Janet obediently drank her cup of water before eating. Who is this person? With a little prompting she even talked to Fred, especially after he guessed I was fifty and Janet was forty. New best friend.

Our evening Skype call to Andrew was not quite to level of the one with Cam but still pretty good. I can tell Janet is processing information better now, maybe not retaining it any more but in the moment she seems to understand things better. She was wearing out after talking with Andrew and wanted to watch a little TV before bed. She actually told me at eight o’clock that she wanted to stop the TV and go to bed. Very responsible.

Today’s Janet really brightened my day and restored my hope that she can deal with this Dilantin crap. This Janet is the one that can work hard at getting better and make progress and I pray she is here to stay. Praying also for a restful and healing night with lots of energy for tomorrow’s tasks and learning opportunities.

Road trip. Disaster Averted. #TSJ

Friday night I got Janet into bed a little late because of the nail painting but not too late, about 9:40 and she fell asleep almost instantly so you would think she’d wake up at her usual eight or eight thirty at the latest. Right? Wrong. I had to wake her at 9:30 so we could start getting ready for our road trip. She actually sprung into action quite quickly and I was glad for that because I felt bad about having to wake her and the only reason I had to get her going was we had an appointment to drop off the dog before we could hit the road. We had plenty of time to get to Vancouver otherwise. We thought we were empty nesters. Hah.

It was a glorious day for a drive, bright and sunny the whole way, sparkly lake, snow on the mountains. Stunning. Janet did well, sleeping for a couple of short bursts on the first leg which was a little over two hours. That got us to Hope for our scheduled lunch and gas stop. Janet shocked me by ordering a Beef Philly Dip Sandwich, something she would never have done prior to getting sick and she ate all but one tiny piece. She surprised me even more by turning down a chocolate milkshake for the road. She regretted that decision after tasting mine but I was nice and shared.

I guess that pit stop took a little longer than anticipated as we didn’t get into our hotel room until five. Fortunately we were late enough to have avoided the Second Narrows Bridge being closed due to a police incident. They opened it over an hour before we got there so most of the mess had been cleared up. That left forty minutes or so for Janet to have a nap before dinner. That was enough though and we met Jim and Nancy at our favorite sushi place, Genji Sushi, and enjoyed a really nice meal and visit with them. Janet carried on her trend of eating completely different things than she used to by enjoying some tempura to start the meal. Never would have gone near that before. The sushi was very good and remains one of the few things we miss about the coast.

I got Janet into bed after nagging her some more about drinking water. If anyone has suggestions as to how to get her to drink more without being nagged I’m listening. Also if anyone is campaigning against daylight savings time, I’m in. It’s a ridiculous and outdated practice, especially as I write this at eleven o’clock knowing its actually midnight. Goodnight.

Thanking God for all His creation and praying for a restful night that brings energy and brightness tomorrow.

Memory Lane. Janet visits the old job site. #TSJ

Today was a more typical Janet day than the last few. I mean that in mostly a good way. She was waiting for me in the living room at Connect with a big smile and a laugh. Her first words through all that were “I haven’t really done much today”. I wonder if she was rehearsing that knowing I always ask her what she’s been doing. Hope so.

Wanting her awake for later in the day I decided it was nap time before we did anything else. Janet didn’t argue about it but didn’t really sleep much either. Lorne got her meds ready for me and we were off for the weekend. First stop was Sandrine’s. It had been too long since the two of them had seen each other and Janet felt good in the store saying she remembered some things about it. Sandrine let us try her new vanilla macaron and it is incredible.

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Seeing the smile on Janet’s face and the obvious familiarity of the place I will make a point of stopping by more often for her.

At home Janet had a long play time with Nash while I got most of dinner ready. She then helped make the salad and set the table. Well done considering the lack of a nap and the fact she is still coming down from the Dilantin OD. After dinner it was time to change finger nail color to St. Patrick’s Day green. That color was not cooperating with me tonight and the process took way longer than it should have, right past bedtime. Janet fell asleep in a hurry even while I was packing for our road trip to the coast tomorrow. We are really hoping we reach our destination this time and are looking forward to a good sushi dinner with Jim and Nancy tomorrow and a yummy birthday lunch with my mom Sunday. All in North Vancouver so it will be interesting to see if any memories are triggered there.

Praying that the peaceful sleep Janet is in now continues all night and we have a safe and enjoyable trip to North Van. tomorrow.

Coming Down. Janet’s overdose wearing off. #TSJ

To my surprise, Janet was asleep in her bed when I arrived at Connect this afternoon. Garrett had put her down for a nap around two saying she was starting to fade and didn’t protest the idea for once. I was more than happy to snuggle up beside her after having enjoyed an awesome first half of the day skiing. Of course she woke up as I approached but only enough to show me that beautiful smile, have a little chat then go back to sleep.

Being comparatively bright afterwards Janet agreed to Skype Heather. The conversation generated a few giggles, lots of smiles and some of the loudest talking Janet has done since her OD. She tired quickly though and agreed to end the talk for today and try again next week.

We made our way down to the kitchen where Rebecca and Humberto were prepping dinner. Janet set the table with a little help from me and proceeded to eat everything in sight including the house’s first attempt at quinoa. She loved it as did most everyone else.

Tonight was ladies night upstairs and I think Janet would have gone had there been something going on other than sit and have a cup of tea. Maybe next week. She opted to play a game on the iPad and did very well naming pictures of places, some of which I had to think about. First time I’ve noticed a weakness in that app as some of the clues and pictures were really obscure.

Bedtime came a little early as Janet has not yet fully “come down” from her OD although she is noticeably improved today. Garrett and Tez had her in the gym for an hour this morning saying she worked hard and did well. Tez tried pushing her to do some standing work with him but she’d had enough by that time. I’m glad he’s considering it at least.

Praying for a good night of rest and healing, a productive morning and some fun in the afternoon.

Suspicions Confirmed. A path to improvement. #TSJ

Janet was waiting in the Connect living room for me with a smile on her face. She knew we were going somewhere but wasn’t sure where. Jess told me they let Janet sleep in until after nine as the night staff reported Janet was awake at 2:30 and again just after five. Janet told me she ate a good breakfast and was ready to go.

Her doctor and I were both shocked at the high level of Dilantin in her system and the doctor is very confident that all the symptoms I brought to her attention are from the excess of Dilantin. Good news I guess. My suspicion is that there was a mix up in the conversion from liquid to pills and instead of the moderate increase the doctor ordered last time Janet actually got a fifty percent increase. Not sure if the error was with the pharmacy or in the doctor’s orders but something went wrong somewhere. To be safe, I agreed to have Janet go back on the liquid form until we get the right dosage then we can talk carefully about what that looks like in pill form.

Janet was quite drowsy today, even nodding off in the doctor’s office. After that appointment we had a quick lunch next door then met our realtor to look at a couple condos in the same building as the doctor’s office. Neither were to our liking but it was good to have a look.

I offered Janet the choice of a nap at Connect or home, she chose home and went down for a two hour snooze as soon as we got there. All that sleeping meant we only had time for a quick dinner then it was back to Connect for bedtime.

Everyone I’ve spoken to today is confident Janet will snap out of this pretty quick now that we know she was overdosed on the Dilantin. I expect a much improved Janet after a good nights sleep tonight and am praying for such.

Getting Better. Janet improves tonight. #TSJ

When I called Connect this morning Lorne was in the process of getting Janet up. Jess told me they decided to let Janet sleep in till nine and that she seemed fine, having slept through the night. When I arrived to take her to the lab she was having a late lunch and seemed pretty chipper. She wasn’t doing too well with feeding herself but she managed and after a pee break we went to the lab. No crying this time as I guess she’s finally getting used to being stabbed.

Upon our return to Connect Janet seemed relatively bright still and agreed to play a game on the iPad. She chose math and did surprisingly well lasting about fifteen minutes with that game then I switched her to a naming game that she succeeded at as well. I took a chance at asking her if she wanted to lay down for a rest after half an hour and she quickly agreed. Two hours later and a little past her dinner time she was recharged and ready to go. It was her night to help with dinner but rest is far more important right now so Humberto took her spot and everything was dished out and ready when Janet got to the table. She was clearly doing much better than yesterday, smiling at the conversation and eating well.

Curtis took Janet to the gym for a late night stretch which I thought would be short considering the time but Janet came back grinning and feeling proud of herself after eight o’clock and had enough energy to watch some of the hockey game with Chris and Humberto before going to bed.

I’m very impressed by the improvement in Janet today and especially with her interactions with others. For the last while she’s not shown any interest in the other residents but that flipped around completely today. She’s still not conversing with them but she really enjoyed listening to the chatter and reacted with smiles when appropriate. Janet’s talking to me was much clearer today with no major occurrences of Klingon but her volume level was really low. Her toileting routine was very good and I’m feeling a little like nurse Jen may be right about Janet adjusting to the Dilantin. Anxiously awaiting the test results and answers to my many questions.

Praying for another good night of rest and healing and a day of learning and progress tomorrow.