busy

Janet, A Success Story. September 14. #TSJ

As promised, this was a busy weekend and Janet handled it all very well. There was limited time for napping but lately it seems as long as she gets some sort of chance to rest a little she can recharge and function fine for the remainder of the day.

My mom arrived for a weekend visit Friday afternoon having hitched a ride from Nanaimo with her good friends Mo and Betty Ann. It was fun having them here for dinner and Janet really enjoyed the conversation.

Betty Ann, Mo, Janet, my mom.

Betty Ann, Mo, Janet, my mom.


It proved a good set up for our wine club gathering that immediately followed. Janet continues to show a minimum of interest in learning about wine but really enjoys the house full of people and the energy that brings. Saturday we took my mom to the Farmer’s Market and enjoyed roaming around in the sunshine for an hour before bumping into nurse Arlene from Janet’s KGH days seconds after doing the same with Kiko. Arlene reminded us as Dr. Miller has, how meaningful it is for them to see the progress their former patients make. It’s a real motivator for them and hearing positive things from folks like Arlene impacts Janet differently than hearing it from those of us around her every day.

Brian came to the house Saturday afternoon to assess Janet’s abilities with some key activities there and to provide suggestions on how to improve her situation around the house. Our new deck is pretty much finished so there is now just one step from the living area to the deck and Janet is able to negotiate it with a minimum of help. Brian recommends a railing to aid Janet on the way out and some sort of grab bar for the way in. Our handyman will do the railing soon and I’ll scope out a grab bar. Being able to come and go from the deck all by herself will be huge for Janet, providing her with more independence. Coming into and out of the garage is going pretty well right now and only needs one additional grab bar plus some minor adjustments to Janet’s positioning which we practiced with success today. I mentioned Saturday that the goal of loading and unloading the dishwasher has been achieved and operating the cooktop could happen next weekend. The washer and dryer will take a little more practice and maybe something to sit on while Janet transfers clothes from one to the other. Not her wheelchair.

The only long walk Janet got in on Saturday was at church and that went well. I have to remember she’s walking way faster than before so we don’t need to leave the house so early as we end up waiting too long for the service to start. Good problem to have. The evening was rounded out with dinner at home with my mom and Courtney. Janet for some reason got all upset about the idea of going to Menchie’s after, saying she doesn’t like it anymore. Not sure where all the negativity came from and it reminded me of her episode with Tez last week. As soon as she was half way finished her bowl of froyo, the smiles were back.

We drove my mom to Peachland this morning to meet up with her ride back to Nanaimo and enjoyed a nice chat with the ladies in the sun at Bliss Bakery before getting back to the house for the Seahawks game. It was way too nice to sit inside and watch football so we rigged things so we could sit on the deck and watch the game through the windows. Worked fine and also allowed Janet to sit outside to Skype with a bunch of family gathered at Leslie and Gavin’s today. It was cool for her to be able to connect with them all in one shot like that.

There was finally time for a 400 meter walk today and it came when Janet would’ve been better off napping. She pushed through like a pro and went for a nap right after. The rest of the evening seemed rather sombre as Janet knew she was headed back to Connect again. By the time I said goodnight she was virtually asleep and accepting of being there and thankful the week ahead has a routine schedule. Praying for a solid night of sleep that provides lots of energy for Monday.

Endurance. Janet gets through a busy day. #TSJ

Jess had Janet all set to go this morning and Janet seemed quite enthusiastic about the day ahead. We arrived at the KGH pool in plenty of time, in fact while we were waiting after getting changed Janet complained that we were “doing nothing”. She agreed it was better to be early than scrambling around at the last minute and I reminded her the pool won’t wait for us. Right on time, Jim arrived and into the water we went.

The sensation of floating still brings a smile to Janet’s face and a calm feeling to her in general. She’s happy to try all the exercises I’ve been given for her although I think she’d be OK with just floating around in the warm water for as long as she wanted. We started on her back trying to get the legs kicking with me supporting her instead of the inner tube. Janet started slow but got it going alright after a few minutes. With the inner tube she really got her left leg going crazy. The most range and fastest movement I’ve seen from it ever. Unfortunately the right leg was nowhere close to keeping up but I could see and feel her trying. We tried a couple variations of standing exercises and Janet did well intermittently with both. I need more coaching on those for sure. For something new, I had Janet try floating on her tummy. She didn’t mind being in that position but I found it hard to keep her face out of the water while keeping her legs in a place where she could try kicking or straightening them. Again, more coaching needed or at least a pool noodle. Overall today’s session was better than last week but the thirty minutes seemed like five. Very glad we are going twice a week starting Monday.

On our way out of KGH we did our now usual lap through rehab saying hi to a couple of familiar nurses and having a nice chat with Connie. Janet is trying really hard to have meaningful conversations with people but still echoes and has trouble remembering short term things. The effort to converse is way better though and that played well into being ready for Music Therapy with Stephani. Conveniently she lives only a few blocks from the hospital so we arrived there in plenty of time as well and Janet and her got started right away. I sat out of the room they were working in but I could hear everything and could tell Janet was enjoying it. There is a little more purpose to Stephani’s session than with John and I think today was a good first go at it. I was concerned Janet would be tired or hungry but she was just fine and sounded pretty good at times.

First day music therapy

First day music therapy


Next up was a much needed haircut with Chelsea after a quick stop at the dentist to make an appointment for Janet. She had not been to that office since the day of her aneurysm and thankfully does not remember the place at all. She was warmly welcomed by Collette and Colin, both of whom make it as much fun as possible to go to the dentist. By the time we arrived at the salon Chelsea was ready for Janet who gave her a nice big smile after I carried her into the shop. Apparently Janet has a history of falling asleep during haircuts and today was no exception. About ten minutes in with Chelsea working on the back of Janet’s head, I noticed her eyes closed, only for a minute or so until the blow drier came out, but she was nodding off. Janet powered through and allowed Chelsea to set her up for a pretty nice look in the future as her hair grows in just a little more. Janet was pleased with the results and we headed home for a late lunch.

It was well past nap time and we were just eating lunch but Janet was doing fine. She even had a reasonable Skype chat with her mom afterwards, talking fairly loud at times. Before we knew it it was time to get back to Connect and when we arrived Janet elected to put away laundry and make her bed instead of eat like everyone else was. She did a good job helping make the bed but needed a fair amount of cuing to find the right drawers for her clothes. I’ll put that down to the long day without a nap. She managed a good dinner and a little chat with Bob and Dwight then at 7:30 said she was ready for bed. Her nighttime routine went better than this morning as she knew not to brush her hair with the toothbrush and got the toothpaste open herself and did a really good job rinsing her mouth and taking her meds.

Lights out came early after a busy but fun day. Janet seemed pleased with her day, questioning how well she did but acknowledging she did a lot. Praying for a good rest tonight and a strong workout in the gym tomorrow and fun at Fred’s going away party.