Today started off with a shower for Janet. She got a little bit of a sleep in too as she was in the shower when I arrived at nine and had not had breakfast yet. She came back to her room with a smile on her face and ready to go for breakfast. She ate a large serving of fruit lax laced with her meds then tried a little fruit smoothy. That was a no go so Lorne got her a serving of peach yogurt and Janet gobbled that up just fine.

We had time for a little chat and some organizing of her room before Brian the OT came in to start to get to know Janet a little better. He has a student, Rebecca, working with him and Janet likes them both. Janet demonstrated her excellent ability to transfer from wheelchair to bed and vice versa. Brian stressed the goal of making Janet as independent as possible so the staff will be trained in getting her to do as much as possible unlike at KGH where staff didn’t always have time to let her do things at her pace. Brian was impressed by Janet’s abilities and said he saw things this morning that showed her performing better than her chart indicates. That’s the second comment like that since we’ve been here.

I had Janet organize her room a little more before going for lunch.

We are meeting Brian afterward with a new wheelchair to try and then the Speech Therapist, Mary Lou wants to meet with Janet.

Janet and I returned to Connect and made our way down to the kitchen for dinner. Connie came in a few minutes later and it was time for the big eating test. Garret and Bob had told her Janet was cheating on her diet and I made no attempt to hide that fact and gave Janet a Melba toast cracker to start the test off with. Connie was cautious as expected and said she in no way could endorse a diet like what Janet has been eating the past few days but as she watched her eat the cracker and then the Chinese food I brought she was impressed and would like to have Janet do another swallow X-ray. If all is clear in that then she will up the diet. That is the best result we could hope for tonight and the staff of Connect will contact Janet’s Dr. tomorrow to get an order written for the test. For now the official diet is still puréed and if we choose to give Janet anything different its at our own risk.

Janet was weighed this morning and tonight Bob and I weighed her wheelchair and found quite a discrepancy between Janet’s weight last week to today. Too much to be believable so Bob will verify the accuracy of their scale tomorrow and probably do a re-weigh and wait till next week before stating officially if Janet is gaining or losing weight on this diet. I personally feel she’s pretty much stayed the same this past week.

For once, Janet did not argue about going to bed tonight and was sleeping within fifteen minutes of hitting the pillow. Another good day for her.

Praying for a restful night and an exciting day tomorrow.

Heather and Allan went out to spend the morning with Janet at Connect. She had already showered and had breakfast when they arrived but she still ate the fruit salad they snuck in for her. The morning was spent touring around the place and watching a little The Price is Right. Janet also got weighed today in her wheelchair but because this is a different wheelchair than the one she was last weighed in we need to recalculate her weight. Hopefully we can do that tonight.

Heather and Allan brought Janet home for lunch and to spend the afternoon. Lunch was an A&W chicken burger and fries minus the bun and lettuce. Janet ate it all with no difficulties. We all played a game of Scrabble in which Heather and Allan “kicked our butts”. Janet and I are heading back to Connect for dinner to demonstrate to Connie how well she can eat real food.

Thankful for a relaxed day and looking forward to some good discussion about food tonight.

Janet spent some time watching basketball with the kids before lunch today. She used to be an OKC fan but has switched to the Lakers, at least for today. I was writing the previous update at the time and she would often wheel over to me to see what I was up to, she also spent some time snooping around the kitchen. Once I caught her wheeling around with an oven mitt and she laughed when I asked her what she was doing with it. I asked her to put it back and with a little coaching she did. There were a few other things that needed putting away and Janet happily helped with that chore. She kept pestering me and everyone else about lunch seemingly ready to make some herself so we had to get on with it.

Since she is so determined to eat “real food” we let her start with some nachos that Heather made as well as some Melba toast crackers with antipasto as well as hummus. She ate everything she could and did very well swallowing. To get some protein and more substance in her I gave her a good portion of chili which she enjoyed as well. None of these foods are Connie approved but maybe it’s time to challenge that as Janet is doing really well in my opinion.

Later in the afternoon we Skyped Mary/Gaga who was wearing her elf hat and blinky necklace. It was a good conversation with Janet talking nice and loud for a lot of it. We also called Brittney and Ashley and it was nice to hear their voices and nice to hear Janet talking out loud to them.

In what I’m hoping is a new Christmas tradition, we ordered Chinese food for dinner. Janet chose what she wanted which turned out to be a little of everything except the spicy dish. The chow mien was a little challenging for her to eat as the noodles are quite slippery but she really enjoyed eating what “all of my people are eating”. We even allowed her a dessert of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Anxious to hear what Connie says about all this.

I took her back to Connect after dinner and this time there was no crying until she was in bed and trying to answer my question about which food she liked best today. She couldn’t come up with the name and got frustrated by that. I explained to her that I couldn’t even remember everything she ate today and that seemed to help. Her brother Mike called soon after that and brought smiles and a burst of energy to Janet. She was quite excited to talk to him and used her loud voice a lot. Good timing Mike. Janet let me give her a good leg stretch then lay beside her for a while till she fell “asleep”. A good ending to a really special Christmas Day.

Praying for a restful night, complete healing and a positive morning at Connect.

Yesterday was quite emotional starting with the goodbyes at Rehab. Moira was first and I could see her fighting hard not to cry. Her and Janet got along so well and the work Moira did resulted in some significant gains, namely being able to transfer from wheelchair to bed. Moira will consult with the PT at Connect to ensure he knows as much about Janet as possible. Connie was next and she surprised me by totally losing it as she wished Janet well. Connie will continue to work with Janet on her swallowing and will visit her at Connect for dinner on Boxing Day. We then said goodbye to Jessica who was working with Barb at the time. Barb started crying then so did everyone else. Janet handed out happy face lollipops to everyone that was there to say goodbye to including all her table mates. She held it together really well, better than the rest of us and was ready to go to Connect by the time we were done. There could not have been a more fitting end to Janet’s stay at KGH than to have Emma as one of her nurses. She was there to help us through day one in Rehab and she got Janet up in the morning of her last day there. She told me she was so impressed with Janet’s ability to communicate and smile and is amazed at how Janet is progressing.

We pulled into the parking lot at Connect much later than expected and Janet started crying like she didn’t want to be there. She was fine once we got to her room and she saw where Laurel had put her clothes and things. Garrett, a staff member, came in to introduce himself and offer his assistance. He seems like a real nice guy and Janet will get along with him just fine. He got Janet some lunch and sat with us as she ate so he could see how good she is at swallowing. Shannon, the house coordinator, joined us as well and has already started making notes as to what Janet likes to eat and what she doesn’t like. Our visit was brief but gave Janet a good feel for the place before we rushed off home for Christmas Eve.

At home Janet had time to visit with Laurel, Raju, Heather, Allan and Cam before we all headed off to Trinity for the Christmas Eve service. Everyone was warned of the impending tear fest when it came time to sing Silent Night but that didn’t make things any drier. Janet enjoyed the service, singing along to some of the carols, watching the drama and listening intently to Wayne’s message. The tears started flowing even before Wayne was finished instructing everyone on how to use that moment to express love for those you came to the service with. Janet is so aware now that she was clearly comprehending what Wayne was saying as she started crying in anticipation of what was about to happen. The whole family surrounded Janet in the aisle and had a good happy cry. Thanks to the team at Trinity for delivering a service that allowed for a moment like that to happen.

Back at home it was time for our traditional “Nibbly Night”. We treated Janet to a variety of foods that Connie would not approve of yet but with close supervision Janet did just fine. I think she is capable of eating more real food, she just needs to be reminded to swallow and not put too much in her mouth at once. The opening of the Christmas pj’s was next, always a highlight, and Janet was very happy with hers. We Skyped Andrew in for the big event and even got to “meet” his girlfriend Rachel.

We got back to Connect at 8:30, well past Janet’s usual bedtime but she was resisting all the way, pretending she wasn’t tired. She started to cry again as we hit the parking lot but once she was busy putting things away in her room she was fine and by the time she was lying in her very comfy bed she started to move towards sleepy time. I laid down with her and she was sleeping within three minutes of me doing so. Bob, the evening staff member, came in it make sure all was well. He said someone would check on Janet every hour as this was her first night. I’m glad Janet was content enough to fall asleep before I left.

Raju and Laurel went out to Connect to get Janet this morning giving me a much appreciated chance to sleep in a little. When they arrived at the house Janet was all smiles wearing her Christmas pj’s. She gobbled up more illicit food at breakfast enjoying some scrambled eggs and fruit salad, not puréed, along with half a cup of coffee. She was quite determined to be independent in her eating often rolling her eyes at my instructions or cheekily showing me her empty mouth. We opened our $30 in 30 minutes presents and then the ones from Mary/Gaga. Always good for a laugh.

More tears flowed as Laurel and Raju said goodbye on their way to Edmonton. Janet has had a fun and emotional Christmas so far and it has been a real blessing having her so involved. Hard to believe she is able to participate so well. Looking forward to more fun this afternoon.

A brief note to say the move to Connect went fine. The goodbyes at KGH were very emotional. We had lunch at Connect and Janet will settle in just fine. She even said “I think it’s ok” as we drove home to get ready for church.

More details later.

After an enjoyable day of skiing with Allan I headed down to see Janet just before her dinner time. It was super nice to see her smile and wave at me from her window as I walked by. She was very chatty describing her day so far. The main theme of her comments was “I didn’t really do much” but it took her fifteen minutes to tell me all the things she “didn’t” do. She complained quite vociferously that it was too early for dinner but of course she pretty much ate all of it without any assistance from me. She even drank one syringe worth of water from a cup all by herself with some really good swallowing times.

Back in her now rather stark room she agreed to let me do her nails special for Christmas. I chose an effect that was a little more challenging than I thought but it turned out well. I was very pleased with the stretch I got on her legs tonight and happy I didn’t have to work too hard on her with this being her last night at KGH. With that in mind I gave her choices of what to do for the rest of the evening. She was pretty tired and getting a little confused with her speech reduced to a whisper of sporadic Klingon. I decided to just lay in bed with her and try and prepare her for the big day tomorrow. Overall I think she is ok with the move to Connect but when I listed off tomorrow’s itinerary it seemed a little overwhelming to her. The change the subject trick worked and we were able to have a nice goodnight chat. Jason came in to check on Janet as she was brushing her teeth and I made sure she gave him a happy face lollipop. He was thrilled and gave Janet a big hug and a kiss and she had a huge smile on her face. Jason is definitely a star.

Praying Janet gets a good sleep tonight in preparation for a busy day tomorrow.

A quick update from Laurel:

I arrived before 8 this morning surprised to find Mom already dressed and ready for her day. She was still lying in bed and not much was going on in the unit, so we stayed in her room for a nice little chat before heading out to breakfast. We talked about her move tomorrow to Connect, and at one point she became sad as she was worried that Larry would not visit her there anymore. I assured her that that would not happen. Overall, she seems nervous about her move, but could name many things that would be “better” about connect: the set-up, not being shuffled “from here to here to here,” having fewer patients, etc. After our chat, we joined a few others at the breakfast table, with Mom saying “hi” to those who greeted her. Mom ate all of her apricots and yogurt, and seemed to be alert to everyone around her.

Back in the room, we had a long wait for the nurses to get ready to help Mom in the washroom, and Mom noted that she thinks the nurses “forget about her” sometimes. We later had a good stretch and some more visiting before I left Mom to go pick up Heather who was going to join Mom for lunch and an afternoon visit. Now off to join them again!

Janet and Leslie had a long but enjoyable conversation on Skype this afternoon. Lots of grins and giggles. Janet seemed content afterward to explore the house a little while we all visited and snacked. I gave her one of her favorite crackers with some of Maureen’s antipasto on it and Janet loved it. She’s not really supposed to have things like that but what the heck, it’s Christmas. Just before heading back to KGH for dinner we had time for a quick photo op with mom after Janet very loudly and sincerely presented her with her Christmas present. My mom got some nice loud voice from Janet this visit and that was especially moving for me to hear.

Laurel and Heather hung out with Janet for the evening at rehab while I went to the Christmas Eve service at Trinity with my mom, Courtney and Mike. They report that dinner went well with Janet feeding herself all of her entre. They watched a movie and chilled in Janet’s room before stretching her and getting her ready for bed.

Today was a good day for Janet. The pace was fast to begin with but settled into a mode where lots was happening but Janet was able to keep up with it all. She ate well and talked well and swallowed well most of the day. I’m blessed with support from a great family and a great faith community. So proud of everyone at Trinity for the inspiring and entertaining Christmas services, Endless Light. Looking forward to experiencing it with Janet on Monday.

Today started the way Janet would love to start everyday, with a trip to the salon. Chelsea graciously agreed to cut Janet’s hair this morning and it turned out really nice with Janet enjoying the whole experience, smiling most of the time and sitting all nice and straight and pretty. Chelsea is a true blessing and we are blessed to have her in our lives.

We picked up my mom on the way home so she could do some Christmas baking for us and hang out with everyone. On the way, while mom was at the bank beside Sandrine’s, her and her staff came out to wish Janet merry Christmas. Janet was very pleased to see them and we look forward to seeing more of Sandrine after the Christmas madness is over. While she was baking the rest of us headed off to the mall for our “Mall Blitz” shopping adventure. We drew names and had thirty minutes to get a thirty dollar gift for one person. That was definitely enough shopping for but Janet had a big grin on her face the whole time and probably scored the best deal of the day. Back home and after lunch it was time to wrap presents with Laurel and Heather.

Janet had a little rest time while I gave her a stretch and then we Skyped Leslie. Seems that Janet is really happy to be home with everyone and I am glad she is able to do that.