therapy

Math. Janet smartens up. #TSJ

Jess was just putting Janet to bed when I arrived this afternoon. They had been in the gym with Tez and Janet was nodding off so they called the session short and Janet wasn’t complaining at all. The day had been a full one to that point. That was her third trip to the gym already, having gone with Jess after breakfast for the usual stretching then with Garrett just before lunch for some good Shuttle work then with Tez so he could get her on her tummy to stretch those hamstrings. They also tried the transfer belt but that’s when Janet started nodding off. More work on that next week. Mary Lou spent time with Janet this morning as well, working out of the new Speech workbook. Apparently Janet was a little tired during that session as well but overall had a good first part of the day.

Since she was headed for bed just after two I anticipated a nice long nap in hopes she would recover for a good evening session. I got my wish this time as she slept for a good two hours and was noticeably refreshed afterwards. I really think she’s not sleeping well at night for some reason and hopefully she’ll snap out of it soon as she normally does.

It took Janet the better part of an hour to come fully awake after her nap and she made a good effort at getting up from bed and “stood” really well for me transferring to the toilet. While she waited for dinner I gave her the med book and asked her to get Bob to get her meds for her. She thought about it way too much and by the time Bob came asking if she was ready for her meds she was a little confused and needed quite a bit of coaching to get through the process. Janet really enjoyed the dinner prepared by Chris especially the asparagus in cheese sauce but as expected was more excited about the Tootsie Roll for dessert. Unfortunately there was no Ladies Night tonight as this would have been a good time for Janet to try it out as she was pretty bright still. She was denying she wanted to go but I think would have a good time once there. Maybe next week. Surprisingly she agreed to play the math game on the iPad and she did remarkably well, the best she’s ever done with me at both answering the questions and tapping and swiping her way through the various levels of the game. She still neglects the right side of the screen a little but not as much it seems. It was fun watching her and only having to help occasionally and it was especially nice to see a little confidence showing in her.

Praying for a solid nights sleep that brings healing and lots of positive energy for tomorrow.

Sing Song, Janet and John hit it off. #TSJ

SORRY. WORDPRESS APP GIVING ME A FEW PROBLEMS SO THIS POST DIDN’T PUBLISH YESTERDAY. WEDNESDAY’S UPDATE COMING SOON.

I arrived a little earlier than usual today as I wanted to meet John who is going to spend some time singing with Janet. Lorne was in the process of toileting Janet as I walked into her room and we just had time for our daily debrief before John showed up. The gym was really busy when Janet went down there this morning so Jess did some stretching with her on her bed and said that worked fairly well. Janet remembered that she didn’t go to the gym and that she did some stuff in her room. She told me she had sandwiches for lunch but wasn’t sure what kind. The rest of her report was pretty garbled so I focused on getting her ready for singing with John.

We met John in the Den and Janet had a nice smile for him right away and kept it on the whole half hour they were together. John has a very positive attitude and an energetic personality and I could tell Janet liked him right from the start. I left them alone partly because I don’t sing but mostly because I want Janet to feel that is her time to learn and have fun on her own. I came back after a half hour and Janet was still smiling and gave a nice encore performance of My Grandfather’s Clock and a song about Titanic. John asked if he could come back next Tuesday and Janet said of course. When I asked her what she had done today she couldn’t remember most of it but when she and John started singing songs she hasn’t sung in years, the lyrics were rolling off her tongue like she wrote them. Blows my mind. That, combined with the big smile is more than enough to keep this going.

Janet reluctantly agreed to a rest time after her session with John and slept for almost an hour. Once again she denied sleeping so I think it might be fun to record her snoring away and play it back for her sometime. Because of the nap we were a little late in Skypeing Mary/Gaga and Keith and Janet wasn’t totally back in form but had a nice conversation anyways.

Garrett and I took Janet to the gym for some leg strengthening work on the Shuttle. Janet complained about pain in her right knee a lot, could be from her fall off the toilet, but tried really hard with only one band of tension. I was happy she tried but disappointed with the results and hope that was a one off and not a trend. In the interest of helping reduce the pain and relax her legs Garrett suggested getting Janet onto her tummy so we took her back to her room thinking she’d be more comfy on the bed. That turned out really well and her legs relaxed nicely and I was even able to massage them for a while. I’d like to see that be an every other day type of thing and will talk to Tez about it.

Tonight was Janet’s night to help make dinner and she chopped onions and tomatoes and helped make seasoning for tacos. She was pretty tired after her workout but really wants to do this sort of thing and was determined to it well and she did.

Andrew was up next for a Skype chat and for a while Janet had Andrew on the brain, referencing him repeatedly when trying to talk about Cam even though she was looking at Andrew. Janet read a little bit for me afterwards then it was time for bed. We are still watching her former peg site closely. It is healing well but still oozing slightly and based on that we are delaying her start at the KGH Rehab pool. Don’t want her getting infected or causing anyone else too.

Praying for a healing night and a productive and fun day tomorrow.

The Hangover. Janet recovering from the weekend? #TSJ

As usual Janet was hanging out in the living room when I got to Connect this afternoon. She was lounging in her comfy chair, legs up, pillows in place, all she needed was a nice cocktail and she’d be set. She agreed it was pretty comfy and that’d she’d even closed her eyes a bit. Jess was there to help with the report of the day so far. Janet had trouble getting started in telling me what happened and couldn’t remember what she had for breakfast. Pancakes. She remembered going to the gym but not what she did there. Garrett told me it was a tough session with lots of tears. Janet refused the Shuttle and said her legs were sore and Garrett found the range of motion on her right shoulder to be less than previous. I found her legs to be quite stiff today and am hoping its just from her overall state of being as she seemed quite tired all day. That’s as much of a report as I got as Janet surprised me by agreeing to lay down for a while. She did so for about an hour but didn’t sleep much.

With a little more energy than before her rest time Janet got up and we went to see nurse Jen about her former peg site. On my way out to Connect today I got a surprise call from the KGH Rehab Pool saying Janet has been accepted into a program there for the month of March. Since I was on the road I couldn’t get details and I was really excited and shocked at the news. I figured there would be a lengthy wait list to get in there and when Dr. McCann’s office called this morning to say they had sent in the referral I thought it would be a few weeks before anything happened. What do I know. The down side is I’m not sure Janet has healed enough from the peg tube removal to go “swimming” and Jen isn’t sure either. We agreed to have another good look at it tomorrow. Janet is a little blasé about using the pool but I think she’ll like it once she starts. Dr. McCann’s office also said he is very supportive of more Botox for Janet’s legs but officially can’t get her in until July. His lovely assistant Pam will try and get Janet in before then. I have confidence in Pam.

Janet was able to set the table for dinner but needed quite a bit of help as she was tiring again. She gobbled up her dinner though and that gave her energy to Skype with Laurel afterwards for almost a half hour. Her voice was reasonably loud and she mostly responded appropriately to Laurel’s questions and comments but had trouble telling her own stories with a lot of them referencing Jews. The only association I can make for this is from the Academy Awards show when Mark Whalberg and “Ted” were telling Jewish jokes. I didn’t even think Janet was that awake during that part of the show but I have no other idea as to how she got onto that tangent. She was petty funny though. Funnier than “Ted”.

We watched a little YouTube and that was about it for the night. Praying for rest and healing and a hard working productive day tomorrow.

Sparkling. A bright day with Janet. #TSJ

Janet awoke rested and ready for a good day today. The morning routine went well especially since we weren’t rushing off anywhere. We lingered over breakfast looking at the real estate paper just for fun. Nothing terribly interesting to be found but it was fun looking.

Wanting to be productive Janet elected to start purging her dresser drawers. I have been in her sock drawer before and knew it was full but never realized what full meant until we emptied it onto the floor. I had no idea she was such a sock hoarder. I gave her the task of matching all the singles we found, and there were a lot. Working with the socks spread out on the bed so she could reach Janet did an outstanding job of matching then deciding which ones were worth keeping and which could go. She still has a pretty full drawer but at least now they are all useful socks in there.

The next drawer down was bras and underwear. Not quite as crazy as the sock drawer so I left this one totally up to her. She made a pile of each item on the floor then I held each one up for her to decide if it was a keeper or not. Most things were kept.

What seems like a mundane chore was actually really good therapy for Janet. There was matching and grouping involved along with some hand eye work and decision making. It took us well over an hour or sort those two drawers and Janet was pleased with the results. We enjoyed a relaxing lunch together then I insisted on a rest time as we had guests coming over at four. Janet was not happy about rest time but slept for half an hour or so after saying “I love you too just not when you do things like this”.

Janet was a big help in prepping for Barb and Gary’s visit. She got the crackers out of the cupboard, the pâté and sausage out of the fridge and made a nice display of the crackers while I sliced things up. We are blessed to have high quality neighbors like Barb and Gary and it was very nice to sit and chat and enjoy a glass of Grey Monk Sparkling Rosè with them. We are two for two in wine selection from Discover Wines, thanks again Kris!

After all the late afternoon snacking we kept dinner simple and and watched Cam’s Futsal game webcast while getting it ready then eating it. This was the gold medal game of the league championship and Cam’s team won with him getting a shut out and player of the game honors. Very exciting. Janet seemed eager to watch another movie tonight hoping for a comedy but we didn’t notice anything that peaked our interest so I got my choice of Skyfall. Janet was OK for a while but an hour in said she was tired, couldn’t understand the movie and wanted to go to bed. I got her all tucked in and told her I was going to finish the movie before coming to bed myself. She was fine with that and rolled onto her right side as she often does when first going to sleep. Five minutes later I heard her making some sort of noise so I ran down to the bedroom to find her crying and laying on her tummy. I rolled her onto her back and calmed her down. She told me she couldn’t get back over and that’s why she was crying. Scared herself. I told her I thought that was very cool that she could get herself onto her tummy. I’m pretty sure that’s a first and she said it didn’t hurt, she was just scared. Thinking she was back to sleep I got up to go finish the movie but of course her eyes popped open immediately but I went anyways. I came back a few minutes later to check on her and she was still awake. I snuggled up with her for a longer time this time but got the same result so decided to watch the movie tomorrow and join her in bed. She has been sleeping lightly while I’ve been writing this post occasionally opening her eyes to check on me. Could be a long night.

Praying for rest, healing and happy thoughts tonight and for a fun day tomorrow.

Independence Day. Janet gaining responsibility #TSJ

I was not surprised to hear that Janet made it through last night without falling out of or escaping from her bed. She continues to chuckle at the thought so I think if she ever does wind up on the floor it truly would be an accident. I also sense a little pride coming from her for being able to sleep with no rails.

Lorne reported that Janet’s first half of the day was quite busy. They had a good session in the gym and he very happily told me Janet asked to go to the bathroom twice for him and was successful both times. That continued with me for the rest of the day as Janet continues to improve in that category. Mary Lou saw Janet for Speech this morning as well and with her nodding off while waiting for me in the living room when I arrived it was clear she had been busy.

We went down to her room to debrief and wait for our meeting with Brian when nurse Jen stopped by. She surprised me by announcing that Janet is going onto the self administered medication program. I would not have thought Janet was ready for something like this but as it was explained I can see where it is a good time to start training Janet to be independent with her meds. She was given a booklet that describes the program, her medications, has a schedule for when each is to be taken and a log that Janet can sign off on each time she takes them. I expect her to pick up on the timing pretty fast as most of her meds are associated with meal times with the last one being at bedtime. The challenge will be in learning the names of each and what they are for. The staff will continue to help her and score her each day on how well she’s doing and look for ways to help her with what she’s not doing well. Janet seemed receptive to the idea and remembered at dinner time that the booklet was for her meds but that was it. Baby steps. Jen had a look at Janet’s former peg site and agreed it is healing very well, suggesting that after Janet’s shower in the morning we leave the dressing off and see if all stays nice and dry. If so, no more poly and no more dressings. Yay!

Mary Lou tracked us down in the kitchen a few moments later to say she had spoken with John, a gentleman I talked to last week about coming in to sing with Janet. Turns out they know each other from church and Mary Lou is totally supportive of John working with Janet. He is not an accredited music therapist but is an accomplished singer and conductor and based on my initial conversation with him, quite a positive, high energy older guy that loves life. Mary Lou doesn’t see a need to meet with him before hand so I will arrange for him to visit Janet next week for some sing along fun.

While I was talking to Mary Lou, Janet wondered off for a few minutes and came back with Brian in tow. Better late than never. We had a good chat about shower/bathtub aids for the house and I will try and figure out which option will work best for us this weekend. I’m thinking a bench for the bathtub but we’ll see. We also talked strategy for getting Janet in for some outpatient hydro therapy at KGH Rehab. I think Janet and I will try and pay a visit there on our way home Friday.

With the meetings finally done Janet was in clear need of a nap and more than willingly lay down on her bed falling asleep within minutes. When she woke up I lovingly told her she was snoring for over an hour and she tried telling me that she wasn’t even sleeping. Cute.

The nap was probably not long enough as Janet’s energy level was not near what it was last night. She ate a good dinner, impressively peeling a mini mandarin orange all be herself as part of dessert but faded quickly after that. She went upstairs with me, Garrett and Humberto to listen to some live music that never happened but I’m not sure how much she would have been into it anyways. We did have a nice little chat before bed though and she was pretty much asleep before our prayer ended.

Praying for a healing and restful night and thanking Jesus for the progress made so far and all the good people looking after Janet.

Railless, sleeping in a big girl bed #TSJ

Today was the day Janet and I were going out for lunch, she remembered and was waiting for me when I got to Connect. She knew we were going with someone but I had to remind her it was Heidi and Jack. We enjoyed a nice meal and good conversation with janet amazing them both with her chop stick skills. We are very appreciative of the love and support we have had from them over the years and especially since this new journey with Janet began. Thanks guys for a nice break today!

With nothing else planned I opted to take Janet back to Connect after lunch primarily because she told me she hadn’t been to the gym yet today. That of course was incorrect as we found out when we returned but all she did this morning was work on her right arm and hand so that gave us plenty of options. Janet was nodding off a bit during the drive back and before heading to the gym I had her put away her laundry. She was having a tough time with that and started crying so I suggested a nap and an hour and a half later she awoke thanks to a knock on the door from Brian. Thanks man. Kidding, it was time to get up anyways and Janet was noticeably refreshed and agreed at bedtime that the nap had done her good.

After a nice chat before getting up from bed we headed down for dinner. Jess, Bob and Clint had made a chicken curry with pita bread and Janet gobbled hers up nicely giving her energy to go to the gym with Carly and me. Carly doesn’t often work in Janet’s house but I’m glad she was tonight as she has a lot of PT knowledge and skills and gave Janet’s legs a good stretch considering how late in the day it was. I think Janet responded well to Carly and if it wasn’t so late would have done a lot more. I was happy to see that although the spasticity is still very present in Janet’s legs it doesn’t seem noticeably worse as I had suspected. Janet and I had a good talk afterwards about her need to work hard and take advantage of her time at Connect to get as better as possible as that’s why she’s there. She agreed.

By this time it was well after seven, a time when Janet is often starting to fade, not tonight. She was actually willing to read for me but insisted we find something interesting to read, not the silly iPad game. Using the iPad I found an online version of a magazine that Janet used to like and had her read an article from that and she did very very well. It was pretty cool as I was able to expand the page so that the words were quite large with only five or six showing on screen at a time so it was easier for her to follow. High five! She had had enough by eight o’clock though and was ready for bed.

Earlier in the day, Brian had informed me that the falls mats for Janet had arrived, and I was excited to set them up so Janet could sleep tonight with no rails on her bed. She seemed to understand their purpose and thought it was quite funny when I mentioned no houdieno action. She thinks she is past all that now. We will find out soon enough. Staff will keep a close eye on her and if she can avoid falling out of bed for a week or so we can start planning for her to sleep in a real bed. I have a high confidence level for this.

I said goodnight to a smiley, laughing Janet after a really positive day. Praying for a restful night, in bed, and an active day tomorrow.

Purging #TSJ

I got the sense that Janet had a bit of a restless night last night as she seemed to be tossing and turning quite a bit. Not that she can toss and turn very well but I did notice her moving a fair bit and on a good night she barely moves once. When she opened her eyes she was ready to go though and wasted no time in getting up. The only plan for the day was to go to church for eleven so when Janet was dressed by nine I thought we had tons of time and offered her pancakes for breakfast. She of course jumped on that idea and when all was said and done we were in the car at 10:40 and in jeopardy of not getting the only seat in the house that allows Janet a good view of the stage even when people are standing. Thankfully we got that seat and enjoyed the message by Tony Campolo who had some intriguing things to say. Janet had a tough time staying awake despite Tony’s solid message, further testament to my theory of a restless night.

Back at home and after lunch Janet was eager to help me purge some of the kitchen cupboards. Really I think she would have done anything to avoid nap time. I didn’t pressure her on that as I really wanted her help with this project as there was a lot she could do that would be good therapy. We made it around the kitchen cupboard by cupboard and drawer by drawer with Janet spreading things out on the counter and table so we could see it all and make the decision whether to toss, donate, sell or keep. We filled a garbage bag of junk and have a lot to dispose of in other ways.

Two huge benefits came from our purging efforts. One was finding a box of straws. Janet failed the straw drinking test a while back so I was curious to see if she could do it now in hopes that it might get more liquids into her more rapidly. I gave her a straw in her glass of Fresca and she caught on right away and seemed to think it was fun enough to keep drinking that way the rest of the day, expect for her glass of wine later, that would be a no no. The other cool thing we found was a rocker knife. As soon as I saw it I remembered Janet using it from time to time but had totally forgotten about it. I think Mary/Gaga and Keith gave it to us when the cruised to Alaska or it could have been my mom after a similar trip?

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After our weekly Skype chat with Leslie I had Janet use it to chop some peppers and broccoli for dinner and she did very well with it. High five!

The late night last night, restless sleep and napless day today caught up with Janet as she started fading during dinner. By the time we got to Connect she was beyond tired and getting a little confused. She argued with me about going to bed so early, 8:30, who I was, Elfie, just some guy, not her husband and there is no way we’ve been married ten years. I’m convinced this all came from being over tired, not the little bit of wine or Dilatin side effects and by the time I turned the lights out she was smiling that peaceful about to sleep smile.

Praying for lots of rest tonight that brings more healing and prepares Janet for all her activities tomorrow. Thanking Jesus for the great weekend together.