gym

Keeping Score. Late night for Janet. #TSJ

Janet was surprised to see me this morning as she had forgotten about swimming. Jess reported that they tried to go to the gym but it was busy so the only activity Janet got this morning was Speech with Mary Lou. Apparently that went well with Janet talking nice and loud and clear as she practiced asking questions instead of answering them like she mostly does.

Our drive to KGH was chattier than usual but in the pool Janet seemed a little tired and had zero command over her right leg. I wish I knew why this happens and how to prevent or correct it as it was tough for Janet to do her standing and walking exercises in our first session. The second half hour was better though and I was able to let go of her as she floated on her back for a couple of seconds. Same thing with standing on her own. It took a long time to get there but she was able to stand for a good five seconds a couple of times. Walking continued to be a challenge as her right leg was largely unresponsive.

While walking back to the car we were stopped by Monica, the transition nurse from 4B. She was very excited to see Janet and amazed by her progress as she had not seen Janet for probably seven months now. Janet had no clue who she was but enjoyed the compliments. Monica mentioned to me how she and her husband had gotten their Power of Attorney done and updated their wills after watching what Janet and I have gone through without a POA in place. She even told the story to a colleague the other day and they are going to get theirs done now too. If any of you married folks reading this don’t have an Enduring Power of Attorney in place and up to date wills, get on it. You never know what’s going to happen and things can get really messy without that paperwork.

We deviated from our intended lunch destination choosing to support a local business that I spotted along the way, Deli City Cafe. Good thing too as while we were ordering we saw our friend Roger who was just finishing his lunch there. It was nice to see his big smile and to know things are going well for Carrie and he. I wanted to get Janet back to Connect in case we could see the wheelchair guy so we ate our lunch once we got back there but no wheelchair guy. That did allow for a late nap for a tired Janet and I got her laying down a little before four. What was planned as a quick siesta turned into a two hour nap as we both fell asleep until six o’clock. Not sure what that was all about for me but I must’ve needed it.

Bob took Janet to the gym after dinner and she actually went without arguing. Bob mentioned Janet’s lack of command of the right leg but said all else was good. Janet seemed pleased and was ready to watch some playoff basketball. It was a good thing she had that nap as the game was really good and she was actually able to stay up to watch it all as it ended around 10:15. For the first time Janet was able to repeatedly tell me the score of the game and she is starting to understand some of the rules again too. I had her lounging in her wheelchair the whole game and was able to get both legs quite straight and she was comfortable the whole time. I noticed when I put her to bed that her right leg was toasty warm just like her left one, often it is quite cold, even icy sometimes. She was able to move it on command quite well to put her PJ’s on too. Maybe the lounging helped?

As I said goodnight I reminded Janet that Laurel will pick her up around lunch time tomorrow and bring her home to see Heather and me. She said, “I hope I remember”. I’m sure she will. Praying for rest and healing and lots of energy for tomorrow and the weekend.

On the Town. Bright day for Janet. #TSJ

After an afternoon of house hunting I arrived at Connect to find Janet in the gym with Garrett and Joel, an OT student. These are always good experiences for Janet as she gets a full workout so the student can learn all her exercises. Joel did a good job with her and Garrett noticed improvement in Janet’s legs and hips. Brian was there too, he says observing Joel but spent the whole time talking to me so I don’t know about that. It is really good to have Brian leading the team as he is always looking for ways to make things better for Janet and is very easy to talk to. We came up with a few more tweaks to the wheelchair and look forward to trying them. Both Brian and I want to make sure everything is right for Janet before we make the move to purchasing one.

When Janet’s workout was over we headed to her room for a Skype session with Leslie and Gavin. Nice to see them sitting on their deck as opposed to shoveling snow. Janet did a good job of conversing with her sister and made some rather intelligent statements and responses to Leslie’s questions and stories.

I decided since we were going to the Lake Country Coffee House for music night tonight we may as well go a little early and have dinner there too. We met Suzanne there and had a very enjoyable evening catching up with her, listening to some music and having a little food. There is a Keek introduced by Janet if your interested. @larrylatour

Janet and I got back to Connect around eight and she was showing signs of fading and even admitted to being tired. We slowly started the bedtime routine as there was lots to talk about that I hadn’t had a chance to talk about yet. During our conversation we ended up on Facebook and I asked Janet if she knew who this was.

20130501-221709.jpg
As soon as she saw the picture she burst out into one of the loudest and longest laughs I’ve heard from her. For a little while I thought she was going to cry but she kept laughing and saying something like “uggily”. As soon as I gave her the first syllable she knew it was Gilligan and laughed some more. A fun way to end a good day for Janet. Garrett said her day was good. Her and Jess made chocolate chip cookies, she had a good session in the gym this morning and even agreed to have a nap. She must’ve been dreaming during that nap as when Garrett got her up around three she was very happy and saying it was her birthday. When she finally realized it wasn’t her birthday she started crying. As long as I’ve known Janet she’s never made a big deal out of her birthday, in fact she mostly wanted nothing to do with it at all. Looks like this year will be different.

Praying for lots of rest tonight that provides lots of strength and energy for tomorrow.

Transfer of Power. Janet powers through without a nap. Again. #TSJ

An all too familiar sight greeted me at Connect this afternoon. Janet lounging in the living room with a big grin on her face. This time she very intelligently explained that she didn’t think she needed a nap so she chose to watch TV instead. This was not the usual defiant Janet or the whining tired and stubborn Janet. This was a very calm, articulate and reasonable Janet that I couldn’t get upset with. She understood that she would likely be ready for bed earlier than usual and that proved to be true.

Janet wanted out of lounging mode so after chatting with Jess to see how the day went we headed for Janet’s room but Brian was in the kitchen so we got to talk to him for a while and that took up any possibility of a power nap before our Skype chat with Mary/Gaga. Jess said Janet’s day had been busy starting with a shower then an early visit to the gym at which she was able to get really good stretches on Janet’s legs. Janet reported that singing with John was fun but she didn’t have the same sparkle in her eye about it as I’ve noticed before. Maybe just because she was tired.

While Brian was around I asked if he would watch me do a few car transfers with Janet to see if there’s any better methods than the one I’m using. He smartly invited Tez to observe as well and we spent a good half hour discussing how best to get Janet into the Santa Fe. Getting out is no problem thanks to Janet’s increased strength and her ability to “stand”. The consensus for getting in seemed to be, continue with the lifting for now but we’ll try and have Janet practicing moves that can enable her to do more herself. Long term it may mean a different car for us, one that is a little lower to the ground. Brian mentioned there is a Lexus that kneels like a bus so I checked that out but was extremely unimpressed with their website and couldn’t even find a mention of that feature. Very cool idea though.

Because of the transfer experiments we were a little late for our chat with Mary/Gaga but I think the movement and sunshine gave Janet a bit of a second wind and she was able to have a very nice chat with her mom. That took us to dinner time and Garrett had Janet BBQ a some chicken breasts for everyone. She’s really getting the hang of the BBQ thing and enjoying the challenge of cooking.

I gave her the option of going to the gym with Bob or Garrett and that seemed to prevent her from arguing about going so she wheeled off with Garrett. Janet was pretty tired by this time and was almost ready for bed when she returned at 7:30. That was too early though so we did a little research on something that was mentioned in the book Slow Dance. It’s called The Feldenkrais Method and is based on the theory that your brain can always learn new things and you can teach your body to move as it naturally wants to because over the years it’s learned to move incorrectly. The whole thing seems a little weird, like yoga for people still doing acid, but I think there’s some truth in it as well. If any of you know anything about it or have experience I’d love to hear from you.

Today was a solid day for Janet with good visits to the gym, good standing transfers(even surprising Tez when he “danced” with her), great BBQ’ing and really good communicating. I’ve stopped nagging her about drinking water and today she did quite well on her own. Looking forward to a fun day tomorrow. Praying for a restful and healing night.

Almost. Janet just about makes it without a nap. #TSJ

Garrett and Lorne had Janet in the gym when I arrived at Connect this morning. Garrett was stretching her legs and asking her the name that family member questions. Janet was mostly laughing and calling everyone Allison. Apparently she had done well earlier with those questions and had a really good workout. She was pretty tired as we headed off to the pool at KGH and I was a little concerned as to how much energy she’d have for swimming. Once in the water she was fine. Each time we go is very different and today Janet really excelled at floating on her back. There were a couple of moments where I was balancing her right side with just one finger and letting go briefly and she would float. Trouble is as soon as she realized I wasn’t holding her she’d panic a little and sink. She was much more aware of her body in the water today and took some strong steps when we tried walking. Janet didn’t have the stamina to go the full length of the pool today but managed more than half a couple times. Her right leg was swinging pretty freely today and she didn’t seem as able to control it as last time. During our second half hour, where we had the pool to ourselves, I put a weight on her right ankle and that seemed to help a little when walking but made no difference in any of the standing exercises. For the most part I focused on trying to let Janet get more comfortable in the water and figure out for herself what she needs to do to stay afloat. I think we made some progress.

On our way out of Rehab we had a nice chat with Cathryn, Janet’s former ABI Coordinator. I also got a quick question in with Dr. McCann who happened by. I asked if the reappearance of the occasional incident of clonus in Janet’s right leg was a good sign or a bad one. He said it’s not likely anything to worry about but keep and eye on it. So far it is occasional and Janet laughs when it happens and says it doesn’t hurt.

We got home for lunch and Janet helped make herself a wrap then asked to look at pictures of “our” trip to California in 2001. We had talked about Disneyland the other day and she remembered me telling her she’d been there with me, my parents and my kids before we got married. She couldn’t remember the trip at all but remembered to ask to see the pictures. High five! There are no digital photos that I could find of the trip but we do have a DVD that has a few shots of Cam and a glimpse of Janet’s head and Laurel as well. I’ll have to dig around to find some prints to show her as she didn’t remember anything from the video as it’s ninety nine percent my kids. Little did I know then.

Janet was pretty tired as we drove to the doctor’s office as there wasn’t enough time for a nap today. We had a good chat with her doctor who promised to find out what the deal is with getting in to see the neurologist. Janet’s Dilantin levels are a little higher than last time but nicely in the therapeutic range and I believe these numbers are more accurate than previous as Janet is taking the capsules now instead of the liquid, a much more accurate dose. I told the doctor that it’s still a battle getting Janet to drink water and she advised not to make it a big issue. As long as Janet is peeing frequently and the volume seems fine leave it at that. There are more important things to get Janet doing. Good advice.

Dinner was ready when we got to Connect and Janet was hanging in there pretty well after a few minutes of shut eye in the car. We went to Music Night after dinner to listen to Brian and Kevin play guitar and sing. Janet really enjoyed singing along to some of the songs and said “it was more fun than I thought it would be”. There’s a video on Keek. @larrylatour . She asked to read for a little before bed then did a really good job with her nighttime routine. I thought we’d go out on our usual happy note but Janet got all upset about not having had a BM for a while and getting some help with that in the morning. No matter what I said she just got super upset and she was really over tired by this time. I ended up laying in bed with her for a good half an hour before she calmed down and went to sleep. Some of the things she said during this meltdown were old Janet things for sure and I haven’t seen them since this started. Not sure if it’s good or bad but gives me another reason to chat with the neuro psych team soon.

Praying for a peaceful sleep tonight and a bright day tomorrow.

Flipping Out. Janet BBQ’s and gets mad about the gym. #TSJ

Even Janet was upset this afternoon as I arrived to find her sitting in the living room saying “I’m trying to have a nap”. She knew she was supposed to be napping before I said anything and that’s a really good sign. Why she wasn’t, I don’t know as all the staff were in a meeting and I never saw the day shift folks at all. We need to develop a strategy that gets Janet some afternoon rest without me being there to put her to bed. We especially need to at least put her in lounging mode if she’s going to be sitting in the living room. She was not again today and because I was unable to see the daytime crew I have no idea how her morning went.

We had a lot happening starting with a visit from Courtney so I gave Janet a choice of trying to power through or have a power nap before things got started, she said it’s probably best to have a nap. I laid her down and left her for forty five minutes and when I returned she was awake but I think she slept a little. We made our way down to the living room and Courtney arrived to a big smile from Janet. Just before our scheduled Skype chat with Leslie a little while later, Connie stopped by wanting to observe Janet taking her meds with only water to see if she can do it. Of course she can and Janet also demonstrated her prowess at drinking with a straw. Those accomplishments mean Janet no longer has restrictions on her diet other than to not be alone when eating and to watch the amount of food she puts in her mouth. Connie spent over half an hour with Janet catching up on things then Brian came by to chat about the new wheelchair. I’m pretty happy with it and Janet seems to be as well. We will try a few minor adjustments over the next week or so then probably buy one. I think we get a choice of colors! At one point during this impromptu meeting we had Connie, Brian, Garrett, Courtney and Chris all visiting Janet at the same time. What a celeb. Chris was more visiting Courtney as he swims at the rec centre pool that Courtney guards at and has been hoping to meet her for a long time. Unfortunately because of all that we missed the chat with Leslie but at least there will be more to talk about when we do connect. Once all the commotion ended we were able to have a more private chat with Courtney and she gave us the official word that she and Mike are getting married this summer. When Courtney told me she was coming out to talk to us I asked Janet what she thought she wanted and she said “she’s getting married”. Such a mom. We are excited about this news and if we still have our house in August look forward to hosting a small ceremony there.

The dinner menu tonight included BBQ steak and Garrett coached Janet through putting some spices and BBQ sauce on hers. He then took her out to the BBQ and had her grill her own steak. She did amazingly well and the steak turned out perfect. There’s a video of Janet flipping at the grill on Keek if you interested. @larrylatour

The flipping didn’t end after the steak as Janet totally flipped out about going to the gym. She was tired from not napping but I didn’t think she was that tired. I tried every motivational tact I could without success and finally just turned her over to Garrett and said see you in a bit. Other than being tired I can’t explain the tantrum Janet had tonight. She never gives any constructive reason for not wanting to go to the gym and gets herself so worked up it just drains her. By the time Garrett took her she had calmed down and ended up doing a good full workout and sneaking up on me all happy upon her return. One common thread in our discussions is she doesn’t give herself much credit for achieving anything and thinks the stuff she can do is “no big deal”. I think it’s time for a chat with the neuropsych team.

I read some of Slow Dance to Janet before bed and even through her yawns she managed a laugh and some acknowledgements of similarities to her situation. She even was still coming up with well thought out comments and statements in between her bouts of Klingon which started to appear as she grew more tired. She was quite confused during teeth brushing time and was virtually asleep before I could turn the lights out. Tomorrow may be a repeat of today as there will not be time for an afternoon nap between swimming and a doctor appointment. It is music night at Connect tomorrow so if Janet does well in the pool and is tired like tonight I may let her skip the gym. Don’t tell her that.

Praying for lots of rest tonight and lots of energy tomorrow.

This Girl is on Fire! A quote from Garrett, nothing to do with Alicia Keys. #TSJ

To my disappointment, Janet was waiting for me in the living room when I arrived at Connect a little before three today. I had told her last night I would be in AFTER her nap and that I wanted her to have her nap before I came to see her so we can do more together. She seemed to get that last night but had no concept of it today. Lorne said she flat out refused the nap even after nodding off in her wheelchair. I was a also a little disappointed she was not using the lounging function of her wheelchair so as to stretch her legs. Lorne did say he got Janet to the gym this morning along with a new volunteer, Joel, and they went through Janet’s complete workout. He said she was a little stiff which I found surprising but she had just had a shower and gets quite cold afterwards so probably tensed up because of that.

Janet didn’t argue with me about taking a nap and she slept right to five o’clock when we went out into the sun for happy hour. Dinner was late tonight so Bob offered to take Janet to the gym beforehand and she agreed based on being able to play poker after dinner. Unfortunately the gym was in full use when they got there so Janet had to wait till after dinner. Garrett took Janet for the second attempt at the gym and had a great workout with her bringing her back saying “this girl’s on fire tonight”. He sure had Janet laughing and had run her through all the family questions and was very impressed with her answers tonight. It’s not just me noticing the cognitive gains recently as sing along John mentioned an improvement in Janet’s memory today as well. I peaked in on a little of Garrett’s workout with Janet and he had her on her tummy laying flatter than I’ve seen in a long time and she was quite comfortable. Her left leg still wants to pop up when in that position so Garrett put a small weight on it to hold it down. Seemed to work. Back in the room the questioning continued with Janet answering quickly and correctly ninety percent of the time. She was even able to describe a little of her workout. I demonstrated to Garrett how much better Janet is standing these days and I was able to get her up to a point where I was barely hanging onto her and she stood for a good thirty seconds. That’s a long time for Janet and a huge improvement. She was even happy with it.

Missing poker because of the gym didn’t seem to phase Janet at all. There were so many positives coming out of the workout that she couldn’t help but be pleased and when offered the choice of watching the last of the poker, reading, watching TV or playing a game on the iPad, she chose the iPad. I guess she knew she was on a roll and wanted to keep it going. The first game involved reading sentences which were displayed on two lines of about six or seven words each. She did very well reading them as I pointed to each word and she followed. We moved onto the game where she has to identify the object pictured. There are a series of clues that can be given and tonight Janet got three or four pictures right with no clues at all and a lot correct with one clue that is spoken in a complete this sentence format and I was very impressed by how many she got that way. By far her best performance on that app. She asked to stop after twenty minutes or so and was ready for bed after quite a busy time this evening.

Praying for lots of rest that brings lots of energy for an active day tomorrow and for Janet to cooperate at nap time.

Chiming In. Janet talks a good story. #TSJ

Janet had been to the gym and was pretty much ready to go to the pool as I arrived at Connect this morning. I asked her what we were about to do and she couldn’t come up with the answer on her own but Jess said she got it during her morning routine. As we drove to KGH I sensed Janet’s energy level being a little low but she said she was fine.

The pool session went well with some good kicking and good standing. The “walking” was not as good this time and I really think one reason it was so good on Monday was Janet was in the water for an hour so was nice and warm and loose. Pool man Jim is away on vacation so I asked his relief, Jess (yes another one) if there were any people doing one hour sessions and could Janet join them. Turns out there is one person going for an hour at noon on Monday’s with the second half being just him in the water. Janet will join in starting Monday and we’ll go back to back sessions on Thursdays at noon as well. I’m excited about this as I think the pool is helping Janet a lot. I just hope pool lady Jess is on the ball and we can actually do this.

The City finally opened up the parking at Strathcona Beach to the public after holding it exclusively for Interior Health employees all winter. We parked there today so we could walk from swimming to singing. Stephani had Janet doing some cool things today including playing a hand chime which I thought had an amazing tone. Very pure and fun to make. Janet seemed to really enjoy that and I saw the concentration on her face as she tried chiming in on beat. You can see a little video of her playing by following me on Keek or Twitter, @larrylatour. She also played a shaker for one song. Her singing wasn’t the loudest ever but you could tell she was enjoying it all. Because of the change in the swimming schedule we’ll have to find another time for Stephani to do her thing but will try and fit it in somewhere as I think there is some benefit for Janet with more to come over time.

We decided to go home for a quick lunch which never turns out to be that quick. You’d think soup and a hot dog would be fast to make and eat and I guess a little over an hour from start to finish isn’t bad but it was 3:30 by the time Janet was done. That meant no nap as I wanted her back at Connect for a stretch before dinner. When she caught on to that idea she protested loudly and vigorously to the point of crying and being quite negative about it all. She thought she was spinning a good story in her favour but all she came up with was “I don’t like any of it”. I put the outburst down to her being tired and she slept a little as we drove back to Connect. To help her settle in I had her put away her laundry and help make the bed then Curtis came in with her dinner time meds. We had a good chat and Janet seemed to start to catch her second wind. Garrett joined us for a few minutes and got Janet laughing. When they left I asked her if she wanted to do dinner then gym or gym then dinner. She said dinner first so off we went. Janet made a sharp left out of her room and I reminded her the kitchen is right. She asked why I mentioned the kitchen so I told her she said she wanted to do dinner first. She sternly told me “no, I’m going to the gym now” and off she wheeled. I went down and told Curtis and he caught up to her and put her through a good workout.

Janet returned all smiley and bright and hungry, finishing off dinner with an orange in the living room with Chris and me followed by some jelly beans that were happily shared around. I was very impressed with how long Janet lasted today without a nap or her noontime dose of Ritalin. Today was the first day without that and she tolerated it with no problems that I saw but one day, especially today, is not a fair test. I’m not going to promote the lack of a nap either but it’s nice to know she can push through if needed. Bedtime came at a more reasonable 8:45 with no complaints from Janet at all.

Praying for a good night of rest with lots of energy for tomorrow and a continued building of Janet’s strength.

Pimped Up. Janet gets a new wheelchair. #TSJ

Now that Janet’s had her legs Botoxed her visits to the gym are even more important than before and are more frequent too. Tez coached the Connect staff through Janet’s routine for the next month and it amounts to almost constant hamstring stretching. Ideally four visits a day to the gym, a couple of which will just be twenty minute leg stretches but still a trip to the gym. Today, Janet put up the usual verbal argument against going but went calmly each time and performed well. I think the increased activity is showing results already as her standing transfers were two hundred percent better today than they were on the weekend. She seems physically stronger and mentally more confident as well.

Brian walked me and the staff through the features of Janet’s new wheelchair this afternoon with the most notable improvement other than the color being the “lounging” function. As you can see here,

20130417-225525.jpg
Janet can sit with her legs up in this chair which allows for a hamstring stretch while she’s chilling watching TV or something. When I first put her in that mode tonight she said it felt “stupid”. She accepted it soon enough and spent over an hour that way before going to the gym with Garrett and Kari before bed. That workout ended up being more thorough than I expected but Janet wasn’t complaining at all. She couldn’t really complain to me at first anyways as I hid on her when I heard her coming back. Garrett was asking her family type questions and Janet was responding nice and loud and clear. I stood behind her as Garrett ran her through a lot of who’s who type questions and Janet did her best to find the right answers. She for sure knows everyone but has a hard time pulling the names out without some cues. When given the family picture she did very well at pointing to and naming most everyone in it and knew that Ashley is the one missing from the photo. That made me feel a little better about her vision but not as much as her next move. I stayed hidden behind her until Garrett and Kari left then Janet started looking for me and when she turned her head way to the left she “saw you out of the corner of my eye”. Nice to hear she can do that.

I had a lot to do today and didn’t get to Connect until three. Janet was resting when I got there and I started getting her up just before four. She had two gym sessions between then and bedtime, which is getting later and later it seems, but my time with her was still limited today. I can say that it was a good day for her with lots of activity, definite physical improvements, a funky new wheelchair and lots of laughs. Tomorrow is very busy so I am praying for a restful night that renews her strength and energy.

Botox. Janet puts up with the pain. #TSJ

Brian was kind enough to drive Janet in from Connect for her appointment with Dr. McCann at KGH today. I met them there and we had time for a walk in the sunshine before seeing the doctor. Janet said some things looked familiar to her but not the beach that we spent so much time at last year. She was still happy to be there today though and agreed it was a beautiful day.

Our visit with Dr. McCann was really good, Brian sat in with us and Dr. McCann allowed me to ask a lot of questions while he was preparing to stab Janet. He was surprised to learn that he had prescribed a low dose of Baclofen for Janet way back in the 4B days but doesn’t want to change it now so we can accurately monitor the effect of the Botox. Makes sense. He feels it’s a good time to try and wean Janet off the Ritalin and ordered her noontime dose discontinued for the next month and we’ll see how Janet manages. I think she’ll be fine. My concerns about the Dilantin were supported with the caveat that until Janet has gone seizure free for six months you shouldn’t take her off the drug. He said someone may do it after three months but I think that’s too risky and will keep hoping we can see the neurologist soon for his opinion. Dr. McCann concurred with my concern about the side effects and agreed Dr. Adams would know more.

Janet was understandably tense as she lay waiting for the “little pokes” from the Botox needles and she squeezed my hand as tight as ever as Dr. McCann used four needles on each leg. She recovered quickly and was laughing with us on the way out as Dr. McCann suggested she would soon be able to kick him as payback for what he’d done. We should start seeing results in a couple of weeks with the peak effect occurring in about a month. Dr. McCann will see Janet then to assess the situation.

I gave Janet the option of going out for lunch or going home, she chose home as she was just too drained to do anything else. Once there she had a good little play time with Nash then helped make thin crust pizzas for lunch. She spread the sauce on both and put all the toppings on including slicing the grape tomatoes with the most precision yet. She’s still a little weak on the cheese grating part so I’ll have to do some research on how to help her with that. Janet continues to gain confidence in the kitchen.

There was no argument at all about nap time today. I just wish it could have happened sooner as it wasn’t until after 2:30 that she could lay down and she had to be up just after four for a Skype chat with her mom then get back to Connect for dinner. The sleep did her well and the Skype chat went well with Janet giving surprisingly good answers to a few questions. We were impressed to learn that Keith has bought an iPad and look forward to an improved Skype experience and other cool things in the near future.

Curtis had Janet’s dinner waiting for her when we got to Connect and she devoured it then very obediently went to the gym with him after digesting for a little while. Curtis spent over an hour with her and ran her through every routine possible including standing at the stripper pole. On the second attempt he let go of Janet completely to show her she was doing it all on her own. She smiled. Hopefully this is the start of an improved attitude towards the gym and I made sure to point out that her standing transfers to the toilet were not good at home today but quite good after her workout in the gym. For once she didn’t roll her eyes or snicker. Starting to believe maybe?

After enjoying the last of her Easter chocolate we tried making a little video using an app I learned about today called Keek. It let’s you shoot thirtyfive second videos on your phone and Tweet them instantly from the app. I will be using this to do any breaking news stories on Janet and or a fun highlight of the day type of thing. I couldn’t get Janet to say all her lines for tonight’s installment so I posted it with her laughing for about fifteen seconds as that’s what she did everytime it was her turn to talk. It was a great way to end a very positive day. If you want to see the video and all the future ones please follow me on Twitter @larrylatour. You’ll also need the Keek app which you can get here.

Thanking Jesus for a productive and positive day and for the good people that are on Janet’s team. Praying for lots of rest tonight and maximum effect from the Botox.

Madness Monday. Nice comeback by Janet. #TSJ

For the first time in a while we had to use an alarm to wake up this morning. I wanted to make sure we had lots of time to get to the KGH pool and wasn’t sure how Janet would be feeling today. I showered and got dressed then woke her up. She was not totally pleased with me but gathered herself and got on with it. I didn’t even have to nag her about drinking her water as she was sipping regularly as soon as I served it. Janet took her morning meds well and we were out the door on time.

In the nice warm water, Janet loosened up quickly and after a while got some decent leg kicking action going while I held her afloat. Her best skill in the pool today was standing by far. She was able to go up and down, using her left leg mostly, the farthest I’ve seen yet. I’m still not convinced we are doing things right but we make the best of it. Janet also excelled at floating on her back today. She’s either gaining more confidence in the water or more trust in me and allowing herself to relax more. At one point her head was back almost covering her ears with water and her eyes were closed and I barely had to support her. Not sure if there’s any physical therapy to be gained there but it was nice to see her so relaxed. She didn’t list to the right as much as last time either. No idea why.

Music Therapy with Stephani was next and Janet seemed pleased to see her and didn’t hesitate to get started. The best task I’ve seen so far from Stephani is when she has Janet play some sort of instrument. There are drums and shakers etc. and Janet really enjoys all of those and keeps a pretty strong beat going.

I took Janet home for lunch since we were so close and decided to let her nap there as well. She gave the usual mad battle against the nap with the usual two hour sleep to follow. I actually had to wake her so we could get to Connect in time for dinner. Janet seemed perfectly happy to be back there and was warmly greeted by everyone. Dinner was timed really well as Janet finished just as the basketball game was about to tip. What a great game it was! Janet missed halftime and the first twelve minutes of the second half as Curtis took her to the gym. We talked about going during the first half of the game and Janet laughed sometimes and got mad about it sometimes. Then when it came time to go she completely gave in and “happily” went. I suggested only a fifteen minute stretch but Curtis put her through a full workout and Janet never complained about it. She did say afterwards that it was “terrible” but she said it with a smile.

We watched the end of the game with Janet asking to stay and watch the trophy presentations afterwards so bedtime was later than usual. Her nightime routine went well until minutes after taking her Dilantin she once again tearfully complained of a sore tongue/throat. The pain subsided ten minutes later and she was relaxed and sleepy as I said goodnight. I will talk to nurse Jen and Janet’s doctor about this tomorrow as I have no idea what’s causing the discomfort.

Praying for a night of rest and healing, to know why Janet’s throat was sore and for an energetic day tomorrow.