Connect

Eating #TSJ

Our steak fajita dinner went well with Janet eating two fajitas in a surprisingly neat fashion. She didn’t hurry through the meal at all and with the exception of trying to dip her tater tot into the bowl of shredded cheese she displayed some very nice table etiquette. Overall she seemed very bright and with it tonight, asking really good questions, helping to get ready for dinner and to clean up as well as keeping our annoying dog entertained and out of my way. Janet chose ice cream for dessert and when I asked her why she keeps choosing pralines and cream all the time she said ” I like the flavor and it tastes good and I like the name”. Solid answer.

There really wasn’t much time for anything other than dinner so once it was cleaned up we made our way back to Connect. Connie was there and congratulated Janet on the success of her swallow X- ray. She wanted to explain to Janet what had happened and what it all means but Janet kinda wasn’t tuned in as she had heard it all from me already and it was approaching nine o’clock which is past her usual bedtime. Once tucked in I could tell she was very much ready for sleep so I said goodnight with the promise of seeing her in the morning with Laurel. That brought a smile to her face as she closed her eyes.

Today was a milestone day for sure. We are grateful to Connie for pushing things along so well at KGH. The next target is the peg tube and I’ve set a goal of two weeks to get rid of that thing. Praying that Janet has a restful night that brings a day of learning, recovery and fun.

Planning #TSJ

Janet was happily eating a bowl of what looked like soup to me when I arrived at Connect this afternoon. Turns out it was actually chicken pot pie, or at least it used to be. Hopefully we are nearing the end of the pureed diet. Mary Lou dropped by the table and gave a very positive report on Janet’s Speech session for the day. They have been working towards getting Janet to turn up the volume and part of that process is being able to string at least five words together on one breath. Janet is now doing that and Mary Lou is quite happy with her progress. Mary Lou was standing and talking to us on Janet’s right and I noticed a couple of times that Janet turned her head way to the right to look at Mary Lou. I have noticed Janet more aware of things on the right side lately but have not seen that extreme of a turn before and asked Mary Lou if she is noticing more right side awareness and she said yes. Good news. Janet seems to be responding well to Mary Lou and I think she’s got a good program in place for her. Once Janet was finished her “soup” I took her for a bathroom break before our meeting with Brian and team. The bathroom breaks have been going well lately, Lorne even took her for a successful one this morning.

Brian led us through the first of what will hopefully be a bimonthly team meeting. Janet’s ABI Coordinator, Terri was there along with Lorne and Jen, the house manager. It was a good chance to get to know each other a little, especially for Terri as we had only spoken on the phone previously. She won’t be as directly involved as Cathryn was during Janet’s stay at KGH but once we get closer to Janet moving home then Terri will become the key player. One priority for this meeting was to come up with a rough schedule for Janet’s day. That schedule will be built around meal times and a quiet time in the afternoon. We know that Janet likely will not sleep and will not want to go to bed during that time so Jen came up with a good idea of putting a lazy boy type chair in the living room and having Janet chill in it from two ish to three ish each day. Worth a try. We also agreed to let Janet try and sleep at night with no rails on her bed. Connect will procure a couple of fall mats and once in place the experiment will begin. I’m confident HouDieno will exit the bed at least once but I believe she is more aware of her surroundings now and will learn from any such fall. Janet says she doesn’t remember any of her previous escapes but accepts her nickname for what it’s worth. I can understand Connect being nervous about doing this but I really don’t see how else Janet will progress if we don’t give her the chance. There are a few things to discuss with Tez before finalizing Janet’s schedule and hopefully we can do that before the weekend. Brian says he has feelers out for a music therapist for Janet and has a couple nibbles. I’m really hopeful we can get something going that way as I believe Janet will respond very well to it. Today’s meeting was a good foundation builder and I am confident Janet has a good team looking after her.

After another successful bathroom break I took Janet to the gym for a good leg stretch and some work on the Shuttle. She set a personal best today going for thirty two reps at two bands of tension, then six reps with three bands and thirteen reps with one band using her right leg only. High five! She required a fair bit of encouragement during the routine as she keeps saying things like “it doesn’t matter” and “so what” when given the reason for doing something. I’m confident these responses are coming from a lack of confidence place rather than an unwillingness to get better place. She managed a big smile after doing the thirty two reps as I reminded her she only did sixteen the last time.

Dinner was fun tonight as Janet reluctantly chowed down on pureed Spaghetti and all the guys were BBQ’ing steaks and Leanne was making baked potatoes for them. The chatter was good and that helped Janet plow through her mush. We played a game of Chutes and Ladders before bed and Janet won easily. She had a lot of trouble spinning for her turn no matter where I placed the spinner. She said she could see it fine but couldn’t make her hand do it. I noticed a few times today that she was trying to get her right hand involved in things and she did try and lift it to spin a couple times. I want to think this is a sign of something coming back to her right arm but won’t go there yet. She asked if I would read some Slow Dance to her in bed and four pages into it she was snoring. It really is an interesting book, she was just played out from a busy day.

Praying for rest and healing tonight, a good workout in the morning and a bright and ready to swallow strong Janet for the afternoon.

Looking Up

Houdieno was at it again last night. This time she got out through the gap in the rails on the right side of the bed around 10:30. Bob found her and Janet thought the whole thing was pretty funny. When I asked about it today she tried telling me why she did it but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Brian and I chatted about it and agreed that blockading her in even more is not the answer. We need to find out why she wants to get out and help her from there.

Lorne gave me a run down on Janet’s morning saying they let her sleep in till nine as she didn’t sleep very well last night. After breakfast Garret took her to the gym for some stretching and Lorne did some speech with her before Mary Lou happened by for another session with Janet.

It was a pretty busy first half of the day and that trend continued after I arrived. Damian was with Janet when I got to her room. He works with Dr. Miller and will be monitoring Janet’s cognitive and psychological improvements. I was able to have a good talk with him to give him a clear understanding of where Janet is now. We then headed off to the gym with Tez and Bob for a video recording session. The stretches Tez wants the staff to do with Janet are all recorded into a folder on the gym computer so each staff member can watch before working with Janet so they are all doing the same thing.

Tez really worked Janet’s right arm and shoulder and found significant improvement since her seizures and said sometimes seizures can actually change things for the better. Janet cried a couple of times but hung in there really well. When Tez was done his part he coached Bob through each stretch and I recorded the video. We moved on to Janet’s legs after that and found them to be unchanged so Tez decided to try and get Janet onto her tummy so he could stretch her hamstring better. With Janet doing most of the work, we got her onto her tummy surprisingly easily and she tolerated being there for a good fifteen minutes undergoing some really good hamstring work. Janet was doing so well that Tez decided to go for a big finish. From her tummy and with Bob holding the back of her knees, Tez and I lifted her to a kneeling position supported only by her left hand on my shoulder. We all were so impressed with her and I think she was too as when I asked her to look up at me she did so and started crying. She said she wasn’t hurting or anything and I think they were tears of joy. After a few minutes on her knees it was an easy flip and she was sitting on the side of the bed and feeling pretty good after a tough workout.

Deserving of a rest Janet chose to hang out in the living room watching TLC for an hour then having a late dinner. We stayed in the living room to eat while watching some basketball. Janet really was watching the tv I noticed and answered a lot of my questions correctly as to what was happening both in the TLC programs and the game. At one point I was in the kitchen talking to Bob when Clint motioned for me to come back to the living room. I saw Janet 80% out of her wheelchair and 20% onto the couch. I stood her up as straight as I could and she “took a step” towards to couch. I was holding most of her weight but she moved her left leg in a definite walking move and dragged her right one behind heading for the couch. It made me feel really confident she will walk one day and I told her so. Bob agrees and said we are still really early in all of this and Janet will improve a lot. She was so into the basketball game that she didn’t want to go for her shower until it was over. Nicole was working for the first time with Janet tonight so I helped get Janet ready for the shower which allowed me to see just how well she tolerates that task. The room is nice and warm and the shower chair is very comfy. No wonder she comes away smiling unlike at KGH.

Janet agreed it was a really good day for her and promised to get a good nights sleep in bed, not on the floor and she even told me she could push the button for help if needed. Good signs. Praying for rest and healing and thanking Jesus for the great day and all the great help from the Connect crew.

Coming Back #TSJ

Janet woke up just after six tonight and slowly started to brighten up. I got a few verbal responses from her but her voice was very quiet and the words she was saying were mostly Klingon. I did get a whispered “yes” and some facial expressions to a few questions. After ten minutes of her eyes being open I sat her up on the side of the bed to see if she could tolerate that and she did well considering how groggy she was still. Janet didn’t outright say so but I got a strong indication she wanted to go back to Connect so I asked the nurses to change her and we got her dressed. Janet put up with the tossing and turning required for all that to happen and before you knew it her I V was unhooked and I lifted her into a wheelchair. The nurses kept an eye on her while I retrieved the car then wheeled Janet out to it. She helped me get into and out of the wheelchair by putting her left arm over my shoulder. That’s a good sign to me.

The car ride back to Connect was slow and steady as the roads were a little slippery but not as bad as yesterday. Janet was visibly happy to be back and gave the gang a little smile when we walked in on their poker night. I wheeled her straight to her room and Dani got a tube feed going for her. Hopefully that’s just for tonight. With Janet tucked in, I laid beside her for an hour till she fell asleep and I expect a good nights rest and a strong day of recovery tomorrow.

I’m very appreciative of the staff at KGH and Connect as their response and action today could not have been better. Janet’s nurse most of the day was a young guy named Chris who was working his first day in the hospital. After a bit of a nervous start he did a great job. Thanks again to Kiko! So nice to come home to a fed dog and a shoveled driveway. You are amazing!

Praying for rest and healing tonight and strong recovery tomorrow. Thanking Jesus for continuing to place the right people into our lives at the right time.