lunch

Railless, sleeping in a big girl bed #TSJ

Today was the day Janet and I were going out for lunch, she remembered and was waiting for me when I got to Connect. She knew we were going with someone but I had to remind her it was Heidi and Jack. We enjoyed a nice meal and good conversation with janet amazing them both with her chop stick skills. We are very appreciative of the love and support we have had from them over the years and especially since this new journey with Janet began. Thanks guys for a nice break today!

With nothing else planned I opted to take Janet back to Connect after lunch primarily because she told me she hadn’t been to the gym yet today. That of course was incorrect as we found out when we returned but all she did this morning was work on her right arm and hand so that gave us plenty of options. Janet was nodding off a bit during the drive back and before heading to the gym I had her put away her laundry. She was having a tough time with that and started crying so I suggested a nap and an hour and a half later she awoke thanks to a knock on the door from Brian. Thanks man. Kidding, it was time to get up anyways and Janet was noticeably refreshed and agreed at bedtime that the nap had done her good.

After a nice chat before getting up from bed we headed down for dinner. Jess, Bob and Clint had made a chicken curry with pita bread and Janet gobbled hers up nicely giving her energy to go to the gym with Carly and me. Carly doesn’t often work in Janet’s house but I’m glad she was tonight as she has a lot of PT knowledge and skills and gave Janet’s legs a good stretch considering how late in the day it was. I think Janet responded well to Carly and if it wasn’t so late would have done a lot more. I was happy to see that although the spasticity is still very present in Janet’s legs it doesn’t seem noticeably worse as I had suspected. Janet and I had a good talk afterwards about her need to work hard and take advantage of her time at Connect to get as better as possible as that’s why she’s there. She agreed.

By this time it was well after seven, a time when Janet is often starting to fade, not tonight. She was actually willing to read for me but insisted we find something interesting to read, not the silly iPad game. Using the iPad I found an online version of a magazine that Janet used to like and had her read an article from that and she did very very well. It was pretty cool as I was able to expand the page so that the words were quite large with only five or six showing on screen at a time so it was easier for her to follow. High five! She had had enough by eight o’clock though and was ready for bed.

Earlier in the day, Brian had informed me that the falls mats for Janet had arrived, and I was excited to set them up so Janet could sleep tonight with no rails on her bed. She seemed to understand their purpose and thought it was quite funny when I mentioned no houdieno action. She thinks she is past all that now. We will find out soon enough. Staff will keep a close eye on her and if she can avoid falling out of bed for a week or so we can start planning for her to sleep in a real bed. I have a high confidence level for this.

I said goodnight to a smiley, laughing Janet after a really positive day. Praying for a restful night, in bed, and an active day tomorrow.

Blue Sunday #TSJ

I got a really nice surprise when I arrived at Connect this morning. Bridgette from Janet’s 4B days was working in Janet’s house for the day and she and Garrett had Janet up early, fed her breakfast and had her to the gym. All by 9:30. Janet was all smiles as she was heading to the bathroom with Bridgette when I got there and it was apparent that they were getting along despite Janet telling me later she didn’t remember her. Janet was able to present Bridgette with a happy face lollypop on our way out and that may have contributed to Janet’s laundry being done and put away when we got back tonight. Or maybe it was just Bridgette being the good nurse she is.

By the time we got home the Seahawks were down 10-0 so we quickly got our jerseys and as many other blue things we could find on to try and start a comeback. They did indeed come back but couldn’t close it out. I’m excited for next year as this young team learned a lot in those two playoff games. Janet watched quite a bit of the game but she needs a lot of coaching to understand whats going on. She ate a football game sized lunch of soup, grilled cheese, dill pickle, chips and a bowl of fresh fruit. I managed to give her a little leg stretch before we Skyped Leslie. Her legs seemed rather tight today but she still has good movement in both and made a decent attempt at standing from the edge of our bed. During the call with Leslie, Janet was having a little trouble being loud and expressing her own thoughts but it was a decent conversation with Janet calling it off as she was getting tired. Nice to see her recognizing that and doing something about it. Now if she would only agree to an afternoon rest time.

We played match the Sesame Street characters a couple of times with Janet struggling with anything on her right and really struggling with the game in general the second time around. I need to give her a break in between. Spelling Bee Bingo was next and although we tied both games Janet really doesn’t understand this game yet and her vision is an issue as well. Dinner was in the football theme again for Janet. Two bowls of a casserole Suzanne gave us along with a bunch of fresh veggies then banana bread followed closely by hot cinnamon bread freshly baked by our awesome neighbor Barb.

A pretty good day despite the Seahawks loss. Janet seemed content to be home and judging by the amount she ate today must be feeling pretty good. I am noticing a little more difficulty in stringing together proper words to form sentences. She seems to be using a little more Klingon these days or words that have nothing to do with what she’s talking about. When Kiko and Joel dropped by this evening Janet’s response to a question from Kiko was to repeat what Kiko had asked her. She has been like that when she is tired but I think I’m seeing it more often now. Could still be recovering from the seizures or it could be the drugs or it could be me looking for the effects of both those. Time will tell.

Praying for rest and healing and a productive day of recovery tomorrow.