Recovery

Sing Sing Sing #TSJ

For the first time in a long while Janet was smiling at me as soon as I entered the house today. Typically when I arrive she doesn’t clue in until I’m a couple steps away from her but this time I saw her smile as soon as I cleared the door. She was holding a picture of her four kids and was proud to show me Andrew and Laurel but she couldn’t get Heather or Cam. Lorne told me he experienced the same thing earlier as he had been using the picture to have a little conversation with Janet. She would often get parts of questions right but not the whole thing. That’s been the more common result with Janet for a long time. We started playing match the Sesame Street characters when I realized it was time to Skype Mary/Gaga.

We got to Janet’s room just in time and Janet was all smiles throughout the conversation blowing her mom many kisses at the end. A call to the birthday girl, Leslie, was next. Janet is always happy when its her younger sister’s birthday as she catches up to her in age. Like Janet, Leslie is not the most technologically adept person so her husband Gavin has to set things up for her prior to each Skype call and we usually get to say hi to him as well. Many of you don’t know Gavin, or do you? I made sure to get his permission to release this photo of him as identified by Janet today.

20130122-223658.jpg Cute isn’t he.

The highlight of the call to Leslie came when Janet sang in loud voice the Happy Birthday song to her sister. It was kind of a karaoke thing as I played the song on my iPhone and Janet sang along. Pretty cool.

With the chit chatting done we went to the gym and I tried putting Janet on the Shuttle to start this time. Fail. All she did was complain how “everything hurts”. Off to the mat we went and had a good stretch. Bob joined us for part of it and reminded me of a couple things Tez wants Janet to do on her own while stretching. Both exercises involve Janet moving her legs individually and I’m really glad Bob got her doing them as she did really well. I’m impressed considering how tight everything seems. After a couple of goes at the stripper pole it was back to the Shuttle and this time Janet worked hard with only a minor breakdown. She managed thirty reps at one band, twelve at two bands and six with her right leg only and one band of tension all done at a nice controlled pace. Good workout.

Janet gobbled up her dinner then played a good game of match the Sesame Street characters. She is improving on naming them and matching. She was reluctant to do any sing along stuff but jumped right in as soon as I started playing the songs. She sang My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, Row Your Boat, You Are My Sunshine, Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Zippadee Do Dah nicely loud and clear and smiling all the time. Really fun to watch. To continue the singing theme we watched a little YouTube before shower time including Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent. Janet really enjoyed it and was very surprised she sounded so good and even said she “remembers her winning”.

We had a little time after her shower before bed and Janet asked to watch something funny on YouTube so I found some clips from the Carol Burnett Show. One of which featured a young Robin Williams that Janet laughed out loud at a couple of times. We ended with Carol’s closing theme song and Janet had a huge smile on her face as she clearly remembered I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together. I’m glad for every minute I get with Janet and today’s were all positive. Praying for a restful night and a day full of recovery and learning tomorrow.

Back to Business #TSJ

According to Garrett, Janet had a great first half of the day eating a good breakfast then going with him to the gym for a workout on her right arm and shoulder. Garrett says that went really well with good range of motion from her arm and shoulder. Carl did some Speech with Janet and he says that went well for about twenty minutes then Janet seemed to get stuck repeating a couple of words and seeming tired. She did tell him she’s married to Larry and has daughters named Heather and Laurel and a son that starts with S. Two out of three ain’t bad. When I arrived this afternoon Janet had just fallen asleep in the living room watching tv with the staff. She woke up five minutes later, smiled and laughed that she was sleeping but agreed to go lay down in bed for a rest. By the time I got her to her room she was denying she agreed to rest and being quite defiant about it. I laid her down anyways and joined her, ten minutes later she was snoring and slept for an hour and a half. I think the busy weekend took a bit of a toll on her.

When Janet finally woke up we went to the gym and had a strong leg workout. Her tone in some ways seemed less today so maybe the day off yesterday helped? I spent a lot of time stretching and am using all standing transfers now so I didn’t have her stand at the stripper pole today. I did get her on the Shuttle and she did her best yet. Sixteen reps at two bands, five reps at three and ten reps with one band using her right leg only. She still got all upset at the end but seemed to quickly realize the good that machine is doing once I explained it to her.

We were late for dinner on account of the workout and had the table to ourselves. Janet ate well and was happy to head back to her room afterward to play the Sesame Street matching game. I put the cars on the easel Brian had brought for her and that seemed to improve Janet’s ability to see them. She did very well, getting through about two thirds of the deck before tiring out. We then listened to a Stuart McLean story which brought us to bedtime.

A solid day for Janet and good for her to get back to a little routine around Connect. Praying for an active day of learning tomorrow and restful and healing night tonight.

Sleep? #TSJ

I spent the first part of today watching Janet sleep as I had done most of the night and despite the ticking clock I had no intention of waking her. I was surprised how well she slept last night. She only woke up briefly a few times, once trying to grab the bedrail but of course she was grabbing me. I was awake a ton of times as I was in “mother mode” concerned all night that she was OK. I helped her turn onto her side a couple of times and other than that she had a peaceful nights sleep.

I was all set to make her eggs for breakfast, it would be a first as Janet didn’t like eggs before so I was kind of looking forward to it, but she chose fruit and yogurt instead and very excitedly accepted an offer to have her first toast and peanut butter. She even drank a glass of orange juice, something she never liked before. We got the warm clothes on and raced off to church. A nice surprise in today’s service was a brief wedding ceremony. A young couple with a story of overcoming addictions and bouncing around foster homes were married during the service as they had no means of getting married themselves and no family support and no real friends to witness the marriage. All 1,200 congregants acted as witnesses as the church rallied to support them in their new lives. Janet loved seeing the bride walk right past her at the start and then walk by again with her husband at the end. She even had a little tear in her eye when Wayne announced them as husband and wife. It was a nice moment and a solid demonstration of our faith community coming alongside people needing love, guidance and support. No mention from Janet that things were too long today. I think she enjoyed the whole thing.

Lunch was a bit of a rush as we had a two o’clock appointment to view a condo in a very interesting building. Joel and Kiko joined us as they live nearby and have been curious to see inside the place too. We all really liked it and I will investigate further to see if we should put in an offer. Janet liked it so much that when we were chatting with the realtor in the suite, she nodded off. I asked her if she felt so much at home she could sleep and she said yes. The place is called Invue and if any of you know anyone that owns a place there I’d love to talk to them.

We had a nice Skype chat with Andrew before dinner with Janet talking fairly well but still getting her words mixed up a little. She was surprised it was dinner time already but still ate it all including ice cream and the last Christmas brownie in the house. I carried a very full Janet out to the car for the drive back to Connect and once there got her settled in to bed where I’m sure she will sleep well without me. I gave Bob the weekend food report and was able to see that Janet’s vitals have been tracking really well the last while. I miss seeing those taken everyday but her numbers are in a good range so there is no need for that anymore.

Praying for rest and healing and thanking Jesus for the community we get to be a part of.

Sleepover #TSJ

My day with Janet began with a good workout in the gym. At least the first part was good with lots of good stretching. When it came time to pole dance Janet started getting all emotional and lacking confidence again. I talked her into trying to stand three times and each time she gave a good effort and by the end of the third try I think there was a glimmer of belief in her eyes. I got her over to the Shuttle after that and she strongly did thirty reps with one band of tension. No emotion. Yet. She managed four reps at two bands then broke down completely. The loudest cries I’ve heard from her. All based I believe on a lack of confidence. One band is really quite easy for her and two requires some effort but not what should be an overwhelming amount. Next time we’ll try fewer reps with one band and see if that helps and maybe we’ll start on the Shuttle so she’s not as tired.

In chatting with Christa on the way out of the gym I told her I was taking Janet home for the rest of the day. She asked why not overnight. I didn’t think we were allowed to do that yet but Lorne confirmed we are so as I write this at 11:08 pm, Janet is sleeping in our bed right beside me. First time in over eight months!

We arrived home to an overexcited Nash then had a nice Skype chat with Heather and Allan. An unauthorized lunch followed as we watched a little tv before Skypeing Leslie. Janet was showing signs of tiring so with no pressure to do anything or be anywhere she agreed to lay down for a bit. That helped a lot as she had a nice burst of energy for the evening and ate two servings of a delicious manicotti that Kiko made for us. Instead of desert Janet elected to have chips and pop while we watched some Aussie Open tennis. I saw a lot of old Janet tonight as she very stubbornly stayed up until just after ten. She helped me in the kitchen before we went to bed and I saw some signs of confusion as she tried putting some things away. I can’t blame it on the drugs though as I think she was like this before and I’m just hoping for more improvement.

Janet is very happy to be home tonight and actually found it a little surprising that we were going to sleep in the same bed. Looking forward to waking up with her in the morning and praying for rest and healing. Thanking Jesus for my beautiful wife. Even as she snores.

Yes and No #TSJ

So now my name is Roger according to Janet. Not sure how I got that one but the only Roger I know I like so that’s cool. Christa mentioned to me that Janet refused lunch so after our little what’s my name chat I asked her if she wanted something to eat. She proceeded to eat a whole can of beans! I’m sure she’ll be able to eat more exciting things this time next week as her swallow X-ray has been booked for Thursday. Thanks again Connie! I met with Janet’s eye doctor this morning and he agreed to do an exam with Janet on the 29th. The value of the exam will be to give her therapists an accurate account of Janet’s field of vision. It is unlikely that whatever deficiencies she has can be corrected or healed but she may gain functionality through rehab once her exact condition is known.

After her late lunch I took Janet up to get weighed. She lost a little bit this week and we had a good talk with the staff and agreed to up her meal portions a little and offer her snacks in between meals as well. One contributing factor to her loss could be the increased activity in the gym and in general. Standing takes a lot of energy and her workouts have been rather intense so I think she’s likely burning more calories now than before.

Janet struggled a little with putting away her laundry today but did a great job of helping me make the bed. Before heading to the gym Janet took a pee break and for the first time did a standing transfer from the wheelchair to the toilet. She had to stand for quite a while as I haven’t perfected my technique for a one handed pant removal or replacement. She was very strong and worked hard to stay up long enough for me. We took Christa and Suzanne to the gym with us as they had not been trained on Janet’s routine yet. Janet was very patient and cooperative as the three of us stretched her out. Janet did very well at the stripper pole today, needing only a slight boost to get started then getting up pretty good herself after that. She still gets very emotional doing this but today she did not pee, hopefully because she went before going to the gym. Janet managed one set of thirty on the Shuttle with one band of tension and when I suggested thirty more with two bands like she did yesterday she very sternly told me no way. She had been through a lot by that then with no nap time so I relented and said we’d do more in the morning.

Dinner was more of Suzanne’s stew and we only shared the table with Chris tonight. I don’t ask the other residents what their deal is and some have offered little bits of their story but this was the first time Chris said anything other than he was in an accident. Turns out it was a motocross accident almost nine years ago. He was in a coma for seven months and has not walked until just a couple of weeks ago. The smile on his face as he told us that was really something to see and I’m glad Janet heard it first hand as that is a true story of hope. It made an impact on Janet as I included Chris in our goodnight prayer she asked me about his story again. I gave her a recap and she seemed genuinely touched and impressed.

When I asked Janet if this was a good day she said “yes and no”. She couldn’t defend her no response at all and agreed to all my yes suggestions so the final answer was a big smiley yes. Praying for rest and healing tonight and recovery and learning tomorrow.