bike

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #joy

Renovation Day 28. Painting has begun! The ceiling in the living room, master bedroom and both bathrooms has been painted. The kitchen and den/second bedroom are scheduled for tomorrow. The wallpaper was removed from the main bathroom and right away it became clear as to why the previous owners installed that wallpaper. The walls underneath are painted pink! That means at one time that room had pink walls and a pink tile floor. Yikes!

I managed to sneak up on Janet this afternoon as she waited for me in the living room. We played a little game of tag circling the fireplace until I let her find me. She was in a great mood and since it was so nice and sunny out I thought it would be good to test her new jacket. Short trips to and from the car don’t really tell us how warm the jacket is keeping her but a long walk would for sure and I figured sunny and eight degrees was a pretty safe try.

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Surprisingly enough Janet complained her arms were cold after about ten minutes. She had a long sleeve sweater on so I am not sure how we can improve that. We’ll try again sometime soon and see if it continues.

Janet set another personal best on the bike today going a mile and a half in twenty five minutes. It’s so much fun watching her ride and enjoy it. Here’s an example.

Feeling good after her ride and with time to wait before dinner we decided to read some Not a Fan. Janet continues to impress me by how much she comprehends, is able to relate to and discuss and also to read. We had an awesome discussion about the chapter we read and each comment and question Janet had was right on point. Fun.

After dinner I asked Janet to practice standing and putting weight onto her right leg. That didn’t go so well tonight as Janet tired very quickly, I think somewhat due to a lack of confidence on this subject. The Botox has totally kicked in on her right arm and I’m seeing some change in her right leg in that she’s not flamingoing anymore. I think we’ll go see Julie to get the splint adjusted again soon.

Before watching The Voice we made our bet as to who we think is going to win. Janet picked a good one who performed tonight, my choice performs tomorrow and after seeing Janet’s pick I’m not so confident.

Today was a fun day with a very cheery Janet who continues to improve before my eyes. Praying for strengthening of her right leg and restoration of the use of her right arm and hand.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Seahawks

Renovation Day 27. A day off for Randy and a few hours of vacuuming drywall dust for me. Painting starts tomorrow! Here’s a few pictures of what things look like today. There will be big changes this week.
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When I got to Connect I just had time to help Janet out of the bathroom then into her jersey to watch the Seahawks game. I made a comment while helping her sit on the couch that this shouldn’t be much of a game but we’ll watch a little anyways. My thoughts were Seattle would win easily, boy was I wrong. Janet continues to improve her football knowledge and despite the shaky performance of our team it was fun watching with her and we were both relieved with the win.

After sitting for most of the game Janet agreed to a bike ride and enjoyed it as much as possible by singing along to a few of the songs on the radio. She admitted to Heather during a Skype chat that she likes the bike and it get her “hair going”. As long as she enjoys it.

The majority of the evening was spent reading Not a Fan which generated some interesting observations from Janet. It was hard to read to her tonight as she sat with her eyes closed most of the time and I had to ask her what I just said often to make sure she was still with me. She was and retained a lot more of the story than I expected. I think that id we can read the chapters to be discussed at SHElife the day before she should be in a good position to contribute.

The Botox is already kicking in on Janet’s right hand and wrist as I was able to stretch her fingers out with virtually no pain and same with the wrist. The effects on the right leg should become apparent in the next couple of days especially if she keeps working hard.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep that provides lots of energy and a positive attitude for tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Roadtrip

Renovation Day 26. I thought today would be the start of clean up time but it turned out to be more mess making. I decided to remove the vanity in the main bathroom so Dave the painter can work easier and Randy continued sanding his drywall work. I’m very glad I never went into that business before. Messy. We also discovered another decision I need Janet’s help with. Backsplashes. I never thought about it until Randy mentioned it today so shopping we go again.

My arrival at Connect once again coincided with Janet’s nap time and she was awake when I snuck in. She had been on a big adventure the first past of the day as Jess drove Wes to his house in Armstrong and took Janet along with her. Janet said Wes and Roz have a beautiful home and they had lunch there including a big piece of pie. She thought the whole trip was fun and when I asked her at the end of the night what the best part of the day was, it was the trip to Wes and Roz’s house.

It was quickly back to reality and a bike ride at the Connect gym. Janet set another personal best today and seems to be taking to the bike really well. Since she was on a road trip earlier we’ll have to call this the day off as there was only time for the bike ride before going to church. Janet once again sat in a pew with me and stood a couple different times during this service. We decided to try a local Lake Country restaurant called Routes Grill for dinner tonight and it was pretty good.Janet ate a huge portion continuing her theme for the day as Jess said she ate lots of pancakes for breakfast then had a huge lunch at Wes’s house. She is a growing girl after all.

With an ice cream treat and her meds we sat down and watched a little TV as Janet quickly ran out of steam again. It makes it a lot easier to say good night to her when I know she’s really tired and should fall asleep right away and that’s certainly been the case lately.

Praying for a long night of deep sleep and an increase in strength and control of her right leg.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Botox

Renovation Day 24. A big day of mudding, sanding and preparing for painting. We also had the electrician come by to install LED pot lights in both bathrooms as we were unable to find suitable fixtures that weren’t stupidly expensive. One week from today our new appliances are scheduled for delivery. The end is near.

I met Janet and the gang at the Kelowna Family Y this morning for a swimming session. Donning the wetsuit is getting easier but it’s not getting easier for Janet to warm up in the water. The pool was particularly cold today even though the staff tried telling us it was twenty eight degrees. No way, I was clod so I can imagine Janet, even with the wetsuit. Eventually she warmed up and impressed the others by swimming lengths on her back, switching from back to tummy and kicking her legs pretty well. Walking was a bit of a lost cause today and I’ll blame it on the cold water combined with the increased spasticity in her right leg. The hot tub was welcome relief for the last twenty minutes and allowed for a good stretch.

We cleared the pool, grabbed a quick lunch at our local Wrap Zone and ate it outside at our house so we could let the dog out for a bit. We met our first grumpy neighbour while Nash did his thing on the lawn. An old guy thought I should be taking Nash “out of the compound” to go to the bathroom. Aint going to happen pops.

From there it was over to KGH for some Botox with Dr. McCann. The original plan was to do Janet’s subscapularis this time around but I felt it way more important to hit her finger flexors, wrist flexors and especially her right leg again. In particular, I hoped there was a way to help Janet gain more ability to push her right foot to the floor and Dr. McCann felt there was and treated her that way. Here’s hoping.

Janet was tired by the time we got back to Connect but wanted to get her bike ride over with before having a nap. Her performance was solid but not record breaking as she was visibly tired half way through the ride. Good effort though and no complaints. She slept for a good hour then wolfed down dinner so we could get to Barb and Gary’s to hand out Halloween candy for a while.
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That was a lot of fun but we were all disappointed at the small turn out of maybe forty kids. The neighbourhood usual is in the eighty range. None the less Janet enjoyed seeing all the costumes and did a great job handing out candy and the leftovers certainly won’t go to waste.

We got back to Connect in time to see most of Charlie Brown’s It’s The Great Pumpkin which Janet loved and correctly named all of the characters except Woodstaock.

Praying for an uninterrupted night of deep and healing sleep and lots of energy for an active day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #SHElife

Renovation Day 23. Randy accomplished a lot today mudding and taping the new closets and the area where the washer used to be. I did more prep for painting. It’s coming along.

When I got to Connect this afternoon Jess told me Janet went down for a nap half an hour earlier so I left her be for a while in hopes she would sleep. When I finally went into her room she was laying there with a big smile on her face as she knew it was me trying to sneak in. She said she didn’t sleep at all and wished I was there earlier. I used that as an opportunity to tell her if she knew hoe to use her iPad she could’ve messaged me that she was awake. She saw some value in that but wasn’t ready to start learning just yet.

Janet’s day up until that point seems to have been one of refusal as she refused lunch and refused a shower but she agreed to a bike ride before leaving for dinner and SHElife. Once again she beat her personal best easily, even after saying “I don’t think I’m going to do well this time” as she started. She looked very confident and has good technique on the bike and I dare say looks as though she’s enjoying herself.

Having not eaten very much for lunch I made sure we ordered lots of sushi tonight for Janet and she certainly didn’t refuse any of that. All fuelled up I dropped her off at SHElife with a few ideas of what to talk about if given the chance. Two hours later she was still engaged in conversation with Heidi and smiling. Janet says she enjoyed the evening and managed to contribute although not all of what we talked about ahead of time. I’m very glad Janet has the opportunity to attend this program and connect with other ladies. Good stuff.

It was nine thirty by the time we rolled into Connect so Janet got right onto her meds then got ready for bed. Praying for a night of deep sleep and healing that provides tons of energy for a busy and fun day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Pumpkin

Renovation Day 22. Closets framed in both bedrooms, countertops installed and preparation for painting is underway.

I arrived at Connect just after three to be told Janet had just gone down for a nap. Jess had taken her to KGH this morning where I met them for our regular meeting with Dr. Miller. Janet was bright and cheery and Dr. Miller continues to be “amazed” with her progress. She was praised for her ability to enunciate, stay on topic, recall from short term memory and for her sense of humour. The meeting was very positive and Janet finds Dr. Miller easy to talk to. Swimming with the group at the Y, attending SHElife and Singing With John were noted as very positive things to be doing and Janet actually admitted to liking the bike riding she’s been doing lately. Dr. Miller emphasized the usefulness of the iPad and encouraged Janet to become more proficient with it as a means to gaining more independence. He suggested taking notes on it to help her remember things and liked my suggestion of Janet learning to use the communication tools available, even the camera. I of course am all over Janet stepping up her iPad use but she is balking right now as she thinks she can’t do it. Baby steps.

After a good chat with Brian I went into Janet’s room and she was awake so we had our post nap chat in which she told me that singing with John was fun but she was unable to tell me any of the songs they sang. She knew of the plan to carve pumpkins after dinner and agreed to a bike ride beforehand. It was another record setting performance and this time Janet was actually a little winded afterwards. High Five!

We were late for dinner due to the late nap then bike ride so it was pretty much just us and Big Country at the start then Danielle got Wes carving his pumpkin which was quite entertaining. Here’s the resulting masterpiece. WesDaniellePumpkin

Janet cleaned hers out and I traced the image we decided to try and create. It turned out pretty good with some serious help from Danielle. SeahawksPumpkin

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With SHElife coming up tomorrow I wanted to read some Not a Fan with Janet so she had it fresh in her head to discuss. The result was an awesome discussion on do we know about Jesus or do we know Jesus. Makes me kind of want to be at their table tomorrow night, Janet was really into it. I asked her to make notes on the iPad so she’d remember for tomorrow but she chose the old fashioned pen and paper routine. She wrote down four sentences then realized she couldn’t read her writing and stopped. Instead of switching to the iPad she insisted on watching The Voice so that was that. Half an hour into our TV time Janet was starting to fade and sat there for quite a while with a mouth full of water. She was out of it enough to have an almost scary choking episode. Since it was only water she was able to clear it but it took some effort and I cautioned her seriously to stop holding water so long in her mouth before swallowing. She didn’t seem phased by it at all and thinks I’m silly for being so concerned.

Paying for a great night of sleep and an active day of learning tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Bright

Renovation Day 21. Things are really taking shape now as Randy has begun work on the countertops and almost completed the crown moulding. I put in a couple of vents for the wine cabinet and cut out some drywall where the washer used to be and removed the supply lines etc. Three weeks from today our stuff gets moved in!

Jess reports that Janet had a very busy morning and Janet confirmed that during our post nap time chat. She was very bright and chatty and once I got her tuned into the start of the day she was off and running. Breakfast, she was very proud that she had coffee, the gym, no comment, helping Jess bake cookies, fun and they look really yummy but they are for Halloween, grocery shopping with Jess and one of the other residents, lunch, she helped Big Country to eat his, once a mom, always a mom. Janet was asked to use the Standing Frame while helping with the cookies but refused so I told her she was doing that with me like it or not. Willie apparently came to the lunch table with his shirt saver on backwards and Janet found that to be very funny, still laughing about it as she told me.

After that great chat it was time for a bike ride and Janet did her best ever, making a mile in twenty five minutes. She actually smiled at the end and when I reminded her of that at bedtime she smiled again and said “I know”. There was no argument about doing the Standing Frame after the bike and part way through she pointed out to me that she was putting weight through her right leg. She was and again she smiled about it. Who is this woman?

The dinner table tonight was very lively as Kieran was talking up a storm about this that and everything. The rest of the table was playing along for the most part but clearly getting tired of it when Big Country in his very soft calm voice said “Kieran, shut up”. I’ve never heard such loud laughter from everyone and it lasted a long time, in fact Janet and I laughed about it again at bedtime. That shot earned Big Country a happy face lollypop.

Janet and I spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching “the worst football game” we’ve ever seen. Thankfully Seattle won but it was so ugly we switched to The Voice at eight o’clock and just checked the game from time to time. Janet clearly likes The Voice better than football and sang along to a couple of the songs. Kieran and Wes joined us for a bit and that was fun.

Praying for a night of deep and healing sleep and for today’s brightness to continue forever.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #smallworld

Renovation Day 18. I wasn’t much help to Randy today as I had a lot of running around to do. He continued to make the kitchen look more and more like a kitchen and plumber Frank came by to move things across the hall for the washing machine.

I picked Janet up at nine this morning to go to her appointment at the KGH Hand Clinic. Julie met with us as soon as we got there and spent an hour manipulating Janet’s splint so that it is comfortable for her and still doing some therapeutic good. Even though the Botox has worn off, Janet’s hand and wrist are doing fine with no retraction from the fingers at all. We are to keep stretching fingers and wrist as much as possible and hopefully the next round of Botox will have as good an impact as last time.

We made it back to Connect in time for Janet’s lunch and I left her with instructions to get to the gym as well. She did, and when I returned just before dinner time she was getting herself onto the toilet. Nice try, but not quite ready to do that all by herself yet. Since she’d done the Shuttle and Standing frame the bike was the only thing left and Janet had a good pre dinner pedal, going for twenty five minutes and making almost a mile.

There was a full table for dinner including Wes’s wife Roz and the chatter was really good. Janet commented after that Wes and Roz are nice people. They are. Wes can’t get over the fact that Janet eats more than him. She had seconds tonight as did Big Country whom Janet congratulated for doing so.

The evening was quiet again with the highlight being Janet opening a piece of mail from her mom and finding some old fashioned printed photographs taken at a recent family reunion in Ontario. Janet was able to read the enclosed hand written note and identify a lot of the people in the pictures. I was impressed and it was fun to share that with her. My highlight of the day came when a lady responded to my ad for the old washer and dryer. We talked on the phone a couple of times before she came to the house and I kept thinking I knew that voice. I never clued in when she said her name but I sure did when she got out of her car. She pointed at me saying “I know you…”. It was Arlene, one of Janet’s nurses from the 4B days and she was so excited to hear and see from pictures how well Janet is doing that we both had tears in our eyes. Janet of course doesn’t remember her at all but thought it was nice she cared so much. Arlene will be coming back to pick up the washer and dryer tomorrow and I hope it’s late enough in the day so I can have Janet here to meet her.

Praying for continued building of strength and a productive day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #tictactoe

Renovation Day 15. Randy is fighting a cold and working hard while I spend money. Bathroom sinks and faucets, washer and dryer, deposit on the flooring. I did recoup a little by selling two over the toilet cabinets. Yippee!

Nash and I arrived at Connect to find Janet just waking up from her nap. He’s starting to get a little too comfortable there as he wanders around without us now and tonight I had to shoo him off the bed so we could go home. He would’ve been quite happy to spend the night. In fairness, his days at home aren’t very fun with all the banging and crashing and dust flying. It’s tough being a dog.

Janet was very chatty this afternoon and we hung out on the bed talking for a good half hour. She’s getting pretty good at recapping her day to me, I still try and confirm with the staff but the instances of Janet being way off base are far less now. Today, according to her, she did the Shuttle, stretching, and Standing Frame before lunch in addition to going to the lab for some routine blood work. No wonder she napped.

I like it when Janet agrees to go to the gym before dinner like she did today. Her bike ride was, in her words, “easier than yesterday”. The stats were about the same so I’m glad she felt better about it and she now knows the time will be increased until she’s riding for thirty minutes comfortably before we make it harder to pedal. Her Standing Fame session this morning was quite long and there was too big a mess in the kitchen for her to do dishes so she got the evening off from physical things. That left the door open for some brain exercise. Curtis played tic tac toe and hangman with Janet the other day and was impressed with her skills claiming she beat him twice at tic tac toe. It didn’t take her long to beat me tonight and I love the enthusiasm with which she plays. Hangman was a little harder but still fun and combined with some reading made for a productive night.

The Voice concluded the battle rounds part of the show tonight and while watching we decided to make bets on who might win once the final teams are chosen. At stake is a DQ Blizzard so if anyone wants in on the action let me know. Praying for a night of uninterrupted sleep and lots of energy tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #dishes

Renovation Day 14. Lots of progress today, wiring for audio, building cabinetry near the fireplace, sanding texture off ceilings and removing a small wall to make room for the washer. We’ve decided to put the washer on one side of a small hallway and the dryer on the other so Janet can easily access both machines. All this because the manufacturers of laundry machines won’t make a front load washer with a right hand hinge. Thanks.

Janet was actually sleeping when I got to Connect this afternoon. Curtis reports she was in the gym this morning with him but nodding off a bit by lunch time so off for a nap she went. Nash and I went into her room about 3:30 and she was still sleeping. After she woke she even believed she had been sleeping and was feeling much better. Janet felt even better as we sat in the sun for happy hour with no jacket on. I guess she felt really good as she agreed to go to the gym before dinner without much of a debate.

I gave Janet the choice between Shuttle and bike as it was unclear which she had done with Curtis this morning. In hopes of keeping this as enjoyable as possible I gave her very loose targets for this ride and set the time for twenty minutes which is about how long a simple Shuttle workout takes. She surpassed the goal of 15rpm average easily by doing 18rpm without complaint and only an observation afterwards that “it was tiring”.

After dinner Garrett and Tiffany suggested Janet do the dishes while in the Standing Frame. I thought that was a great idea but of course Janet didn’t. Reluctantly and under protest Janet got into the Standing Frame and without the knee brace washed a sink full of dishes. There was lots of complaining about leg pain and “I can’t do anymore” but each complaint was followed by another plate washed rinsed and placed into the clean sink. For a first attempt Janet did very well. It may be hard to get her to do it again but hopefully she will as this forces her to put weight through both legs. The balance of her Standing Frame time was spent in the usual position and she tolerated that very well.

Janet complained a lot about her splint today and says her fingers hurt when straightened. I made an appointment for her to see Julie at the hand clinic Friday where I suspect she’ll adjust Janet’s splint to fit better.

With her exercises complete the rest of the night was Janet’s. She chose for me to read some Not a Fan to her first and I had her read some too. She continues to improve her reading skills nicely. We just got through a chapter and it was time to watch The Voice. Although we can’t focus as intently on the show like we would watching it at home I think its great that others join us for parts of it and Janet seems to enjoy the conversations that take place in and around the living room. She is getting to be more outgoing in engaging with other residents, visitors and staff.

Praying for a deep and healing sleep that brings lots of energy and confidence to tomorrow’s activities.