Heather

Janet, A Success Story. April 14. #TSJ

Today started off great with Janet waking at a decent hour after a good sleep and easily taking a bath before breakfast. She was bright and alert and seemed ready for a good day. I left her and Heather for a little bit to attend to an appointment I had and when I returned they were sharing the couch watching Ellen. I asked Janet if she needed to go to the bathroom and got what I felt was a confident no. Minutes later it was like the flood in Noah and I was not in the least bit impressed. I got quite angry with Janet and I know she didn’t intentionally do this but she’s been doing so well and this is such a sudden and inconsistent change that I get really mad when it happens and take it out on her. We had a good talk with nurse Jen at Connect this afternoon and have an appointment with Janet’s doctor Wednesday and I think with an understanding of what’s happening I will be better able to handle it. There are two likely scenarios, one physiological and treatable the other neurological and not treatable. Pray it’s the former please.

In spite of my grumpiness the rest of the day was pretty good. Janet really enjoyed her time with Heather and is very grateful for her taking the time to come all this way to visit. Janet is very aware that the next time she sees her will be at her wedding and “that’s a big deal”. After we dropped Heather at the airport we went back to Connect and worked on Janet’s speech for SheLife. It’s been hard for me not to put words in her mouth and Janet has done a great job of constructing what she wants to say. We wrote it up on her iPad and found she was having a lot of trouble reading it as the page was too busy so I transferred it to a presentation app with one or two sentences on each slide that Janet can see clearly, read then tap to see the next slide. Should work.

After an early and quiet dinner Janet agreed to a bike ride. I wasn’t expecting much from her as she had no nap at all today but she put in a very solid performance with no complaining. Her next choice was more mine than hers and that was a walk. Again, I didn’t expect much but started her out at the kitchen table with the goal of making it to her bed and I was willing to let her bail at the Den. No need, as forty five minutes later she plunked herself down on her bed. She was exhausted but somewhat happy with what she’d done, I certainly was.

There wasn’t much to the rest of the evening other than some well deserved chocolate and once in bed, Janet was sleeping ten minutes later. Praying for a complete and immediate resolution to Janet’s incontinence issue, a deep and healing sleep tonight and a great Tuesday.

Janet, A Success Story. April 11. #TSJ

Friday was a pretty quiet day for Janet, only a stretching routine in the gym this morning, then home with me after lunch with a stop to pick up her new glasses along the way. The anticipation of Heather visiting had Janet pretty wound up the last couple of days and knowing today was the day seemed to overwhelm her a little. Janet had a couple hours of quiet time this afternoon and wasn’t ready to get up when it was time to go get Heather because I think very little of that time involved sleep. Janet was standing while we waited for Heather to deplane and was able to greet her with a nice hug. I was surprised at Janet not seeing Heather until she was twenty feet directly in front of us but I guess the angle she was standing at put Heather on her right more than I thought.

One of Heather’s goals for this visit is to find her mom a dress for the wedding. In a very un woman like way, Janet is almost complaining about going shopping. I’m hopeful that will change once she’s out in the field.

Janet managed a short walk from the dining table to the couch to watch The Voice after dinner. She complained that she was “out of it” on account of the three sips of wine she had. More like the lack of sleep which she is now catching up on.

Praying for a fun Saturday.

Stupendous Sunday #TSJ

Sensing she was hungry, Janet woke up at 7:30 this morning and asked for pancakes for breakfast. After the getting up routine was complete I found my recipe and Heather made us some nice fluffy pancakes which Janet devoured with a compliment of chocolate chips scattered on them. Because she was up so early she had plenty of time to enjoy her breakfast and coffee this sunny Sunday morning.

We left for church in plenty of time and sat across the aisle from a former KGH Rehab patient who is now living at his home and waiting to go back as an outpatient. Nice to see him and the progress he’s made.

I had arranged with our realtor to look at three houses this afternoon so we could see if they fit our needs at all and the first appointment was for one o’clock which meant lunch on the run. A couple slices of pizza and a can of pop from the church and off we went. The first place was a total no go which gave us plenty of time to picnic in the car with the sunroof open as we drove to the next place. That one was better but not by much. Third time lucky maybe? Not quite, but there is potential for this type of place. It was in a gated community designed for adults only, 45+. Janet and I have never liked the idea of age restricted complexes but the style of homes there may be what we have to go for. They are built with some accessibility issues in mind and the one we saw would work fine with just some minor improvements. We didn’t like its location or the fact it has a basement as we would never use that. Other than that, in the right location and for the right price I think we would have to seriously consider that type of home but for now the search continues. We invited our realtor to have a look at our house so he can give us an idea of what it might sell for and after touring him around for a bit we decided to enjoy more sunshine and go for a little walk around the neighborhood. This was the first day we’ve been able to do this since early November with Janet and it felt good to be out getting some natural vitamin D. Janet had been going hard since 7:30 and was clearly fading after our walk so Heather and I managed to convince her to have a rest after our walk. She was sleeping three minutes after hitting the pillow and knowing the Grammys were about to start woke up forty five minutes later. I had just snuck out of the room to start dinner five minutes prior and when I went back and found her awake she was actually a little mad that I wasn’t there when she woke up.

The Grammys show is pretty good entertainment for Janet. There were no sing along songs but enough good music to hold her attention and enough of a fashion show in between songs to keep her interested as well. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing evening that ended too early for Heather and I but a little too late for Janet. It was approaching ten o’clock by the time I turned her lights off at Connect and she was very tired.

Today was a good day for Janet. She ate well, talked well, enjoyed some sunshine and was busy all day long but always at a nice pace. Heather’s visit was way too short but I’m glad she got to hang out with her mom to see first hand how much she’s improved. Janet enjoyed talking wedding with Heather and looks forward to going dress shopping during her next visit.

Praying for a restful night that brings lots more healing and an active day of learning tomorrow.