shuttle

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #swimming

From a secret location very close to Janet.

Janet thought she was going to have an easy morning as the only thing planned today was swimming at KGH. Breakfast was done in time for Jess to take her to the gym for a Shuttle session and a little stretching. Janet was happy to get it over with and was for the pool.

Sean, the PT from 4B was in the pool with us for the first few minutes and Janet took great delight in trying to splash him. She wasn’t successful but had fun trying then Sean gave us a few new exercises to do in the water and suggested that weight bearing in that right leg is really important. I put a five pound weight on Janet’s right ankle to see if that would help her keep it on the bottom and it did somewhat but there is so much tone in that leg I think we’d need fifteen pounds to keep it down and Janet wouldn’t be able to move it at all then. Overall the pool sessions were good today with the biggest smiles coming from targeting Sean and swimming on her own and the toughest part being walking and using her right leg.

We had to stop by the Interior Health offices at Capri Mall for some administrative work then went to the food court there for a lunch of some decent Chinese food. We were pleasantly surprised to see our church friend Carol there with her group of senior single ladies out for the afternoon. The drive back to Connect was a quiet one as Janet faded and was actually snoring as we pulled into the parking lot.

It was a fun evening together watching football while in the Standing Frame then watching The Voice with Humberto, Wes and Karl the rest of the night. Janet loves that show and even sang out loud to one of the songs, a good warm up for singing with John tomorrow.

No one has guessed the model of our new car yet, some got the make so here is a more revealing picture.

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Guesses?

Praying for a deep and healing nights rest and lots more strength for that right leg.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Connect #swimming

Our first night of “camping” went quite well and Janet awoke at a decent time feeling like she slept reasonably. She says she never heard any of the thunder last night but I sure did. We eased through the morning reading and planning out the week ahead before getting ready for swimming at KGH.

Janet’s pool sessions today were solid but not outstanding and she continues to show the most enjoyment in just swimming around. Something she’s getting very good at. Her right leg was in a very floaty mood today which caused Janet to hop a lot as opposed to walking. Her willingness to try hasn’t diminished and I can tell she’s getting stronger, I just hope her control of that leg increases a lot and soon.

In a good mood and not showing signs of tiring, Janet had lunch then helped me with some packing. She found the packing to be fun and challenging and sad at the end because she knew we were then heading back to Connect. I think part of her resistance this time was knowing there’s lots going on at home and not wanting to miss out. We also went back to Connect earlier than usual today to try and give Janet more time to settle back in in the hope she’ll sleep better and have lots of energy for Tuesday. After an initial little meltdown and a good effort on the Shuttle Janet had a pretty good evening. We even got in a nice little after dinner walk followed by some really straight Standing Frame work. As I said goodnight to Janet she told me she’d be showering in the morning and having to do her exercises all over again. She wasn’t happy about those things but I’m glad she can see ahead to the fact she’ll be doing them.

Praying for lots of energy tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #realestate #house #strong

Janet was laying in bed looking at her watch as I walked into her room this afternoon. She had agreed to nap for one hour and was very aware that the hour had passed. I doubt she slept and we had things to do so I helped her get up. We had some real estate business to take care of and I’m excited to announce we have removed the subjects on the home we are buying so its full steam ahead for the big move now. Janet is excited its all happening and a little unsure of the transition period knowing she won’t be able to come home for a few weeks depending on how much work we decide to do. That’ll be a big adjustment and I’ll have to think of some fun ways to fill that time.

With time before dinner Janet elected to do the Shuttle and I challenged her today by upping the tension for each of her sets. She was not happy with me but persevered and did very well. Standing on her own was great today as she is gaining confidence and is more willing to try and put weight on her right leg. Her Standing Frame session after dinner was complaint free for once as she enjoyed watching football while “standing”.

No fancy dinner out tonight and lots of boring real estate stuff to do made for a tired Janet a little earlier than normal. She is really looking forward to coming home for the weekend and I’m praying its a good one.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #friend #sunny

I gave Janet a call around lunch time today to see how she was doing and she explained she had done all the usual things already including going to the gym. The way she said it implied she was a very good girl and shouldn’t have to go to the gym again. Nice try. It was fun to talk to her on the phone and I think she was happy to get the call. When I arrived in her room a few hours later she was anxious for the arrival of her friend Annette so didn’t nap at all. I got her up and we went outside to wait. I gave Janet a few options for how the evening could play out, all of course included a trip to the gym. She was not impressed but settled on a walk then dinner with Annette and a session on the Shuttle at eight or so.

Annette was running late so we went for a walk to check out a resort in the area that I thought might be ok to stay at while I’m homeless but it turned out to be pretty sketchy so I’ll keep looking. Janet was very excited when Annette arrived and we enjoyed a good conversation over a mediocre dinner at the local Greek restaurant. Janet and Annette have known each other for over thirty years now and have lots to talk about. Janet was bright and talkative the whole evening and is looking forward to visiting more tomorrow and hopefully having a better dinner.

There was no real protest from Janet when gym time rolled around and her Shuttle performance was solid. As it was getting a little late, I shortened her Standing Fame session and she was in bed and very sleepy by 10:15. That was a busy day for Janet with no real rest and she was pretty amped up to see Annette so the fast crash tonight was no surprise. Praying for a night of deep sleep and a productive day tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #NFL #kickoff #wheelchair

It was an early start to the day for me as someone named Brian scheduled a wheelchair meeting at Connect for 9:00am. This meeting was actually long overdue so I’m glad we could finally have it even if it was on the early side. We went over Janet’s chair part by part so that the rep could put together a quote for the purchase of her very own ride. Hers will be a little more tricked out than the one she’s using now and Janet chose the color from quite a wide selection. I won’t disclose the color until her chair arrives in a few weeks. We also tested and will continue to test this weekend a “porter” wheelchair. This is a lightweight rather simple chair that folds up easily and could be used for shopping trips, dinner outings and church in place of her larger rigid chair. Having one of these would widen our options for a new car but Jared the wheelchair guy also showed us how easily the regular chair breaks down to fit into any car. Nice to have choices.

I had a little time to spare before my dentist appointment and the staff were a little busy so I took Janet to the gym after our meeting. Jess explained the not needing to go to the gym last night mystery saying she’d told Janet if she did the yoga thing she wouldn’t have to do her stretching routine that morning. Makes sense and Janet agreed after hearing it from the source. Janet did a great job on the Shuttle this morning and is definitely slowly gaining strength. I left her in Jess’s capable hands and went off to improve my smile.

On my return Janet was dusting in the living room so I secretly watched her for a few minutes. I love how she was really concentrating on what she was supposed to do and looking for areas that needed cleaning. She probably wouldn’t pass a white glove test but she made a great effort and used good technique. A nap was out of the question as she was busy doing chores and next up was dinner prep. Grating carrots is hard work for me let alone Janet but again, lots of good concentration and effort but not the greatest technique. Chopping potatoes went really well and chopping peppers was much improved over previous attempts. Janet admitted that was hard work and she was tired afterwards.

While dinner was cooking we went for a little walk so I could get some dinner for myself and the fresh air gave Janet a nice energy boost. She enjoyed her dinner and never complained about going to the gym afterwards where she again had a solid session on the Shuttle. We then watched some real football while Janet was in the Standing Frame. The end of summer is always sad but the start of football season sort of makes up for it. Baltimore and Denver were playing and Janet remembered she used to cheer for Baltimore because of Michael Oher from the movie The Blind Side. He got injured and Baltimore lost badly but the parts of the game we watched were fun and a good warm up for watching the only team that matters Sunday morning. Go ‘hawks!

Praying for continued improvement in Janet’s strength, memory and awareness.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Workout #Homeless #Strength

Today started out great for Janet according to Jess who said she was laughing a lot, working hard in the gym and just generally really bright. Of course when I got there she was in bed but not sleeping and the first thing she did was ask me “what the lady said about her house”. It’s amazing to me how Janet can lock in on an event or topic and remember it for a few days yet not always remember my name or what she did a few hours earlier. I was thrilled she did remember about the house and Jess told me Janet is worried about me as I have no where to live. Unfortunately that remains the case as the lady who owns the house we had our eye on is apparently in no hurry to sell. Looks like we will be renting something until we find a place worth buying.

Following her little rest time Janet had the choice of helping with dinner or going to the gym, she chose gym and ended up having time for both. She delivered a very strong performance on the Shuttle this afternoon, an improvement from yesterday and a dramatic improvement from earlier in the week. I can see she’s making gains and I think we’ll come out to Connect on Sunday and hit the gym so she doesn’t lose much of what she’s gained. Janet isn’t too happy with that idea but I think that almost three days off is too much and gaining strength is too important. A good example of her improved strength is her ability to transfer from the wheelchair to the Shuttle unassisted except for a little lift of the right leg at the end. When Janet first started using the Shuttle I had to literally carry her onto it. Her pole transfers at the bed and in the bathroom continue to get better as well and tonight she made a couple of good steps with her right leg while transferring from the toilet back to her wheelchair. Nice move!

In order to give Janet time to help prep dinner we postponed the stretching routine and made our way to the kitchen. Janet was able to work with Curtis in making a salad to go with the smokies and perogies on tonight’s menu. I could see Janet cringe when she heard what was being served and I give her a lot of credit for eating what she was given. That’s a pretty lame meal and if it wasn’t for the salad I’m not sure what nutrition anyone would have gotten. Janet did a decent job of chopping things but still moves from one thing to another before completing the first thing and ends up with a mess of half cut stuff on her cutting board. Curtis taught Janet to use some nails embedded in the cutting board to hold whatever she was cutting still and that seemed to help. Janet was very determined to complete her task despite the challenges.

The sun surprised us after dinner so I insisted we go for a walk. Janet wanted to get the Standing Frame over with but I felt the fresh air and sunshine ought to be taken advantage of and we ended up enjoying a nice warm walk. We spent the hour with Janet in the Standing Frame looking online for rental properties and have a couple options to check on tomorrow. The rest of the night was pretty quiet and Janet was asleep minutes after I got her tucked in just before ten.

Praying for a place to live and for Janet to continue gaining strength and awareness.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Connect #sleepy #walk

Jess reports Janet was quite sleepy most of the day today and that she asked to lay down after her singing with John session. Sure enough, Janet was sort of sleeping when I snuck into her room. She looked super cozy all wrapped up in her blankets and true to form as soon as I let go of the door handle she opened her eyes. We chatted for a while and it was clear she wasn’t going to sleep so up she got so we could sit in the sun and talk some more. I had lots of news to tell her, most important was that I finally made contact with the owner of a house we’ve had our eye on. She is going to sell but was waiting until Spring. I’m praying that the good conversation we had this morning will encourage her to sell sooner, like now. She kindly gave me a tour of her house and I liked what I saw, especially how wheelchair friendly it is. Her husband was in a chair for five years there so most of the house is easily accessible for Janet who was very excited to hear my report.

Understanding that she needs to make two trips to the gym each day Janet elected to do the Shuttle and Standing Frame before dinner. Again today, not her best ever performance but decent. I’m very happy with her Standing Frame tolerance though. Nice and straight for forty five minutes and no complaints until she let herself down and that’s just the pressure coming off of her knees. By the time she was done all that the other residents had finished dinner so we had the table mostly to ourselves. I’ll have to watch the timing a little better in the future as I like Janet to be a part of the community table.

We went for a nice long walk after dinner and noticed the cooler temperature and lack of daylight. Janet agreed that it will be difficult when it’s dark at five o’clock to find something interesting to do. We’ve enjoyed a lot of time outside this summer and are kind of dreading the end. It will be a big adjustment.

That was pretty much it for Janet as with not sleeping well last night then not really napping this afternoon she was ready to call it before nine o’clock. She’s doing a great job with her pole transfers even when tired and her bedtime routine is quickly becoming more independent as well. She told me tonight she “needs to walk” and knows she has to work hard to get there. Tonight was a good effort and hopefully that continues.

Praying for rest, healing, strength and a positive attitude. Thanking Jesus for all we are blessed with.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #standup #realestate #nash #vision

Another day of real estate games saw me having to bring Nash to Connect with me so people could look at the house in safety. He actually was a very good boy the whole evening and made a good friend in Humberto, one of the residents in Janet’s house.

Nash and I went into Janet’s room at the end of her nap time and she was surprised to see him and relieved to see me. Nash made himself at home on her bed while Janet and I chatted about the day so far. She of course had done the usual gym routine but wasn’t able to tell me about anything else. We decided to go for a walk with Nash and that was fun for all and not quite as hot as it has been so Nash handled it better. Janet did a good job of controlling him crossing streets and meeting other dogs. Nash even had a chance to meet a cat but could not have cared less. Good boy. We stopped at the beach for a bit and Janet impressed me by pointing out a duck swimming in the water about fifty meters away. She saw three others further to her right and I can’t remember her ever initiating a sighting of anything like that before. It was always someone asking her if she could see this or that. I have noticed an improvement in her vision and this confirms she is processing things better.

Given the choice, Janet elected to do the Shuttle before dinner and had another solid session. Her right leg to me is definitely stronger these last few days. That could be part of why she’s standing on her own so well. Three minutes thirty five seconds tonight without grabbing onto me once. She wanted to quit at two minutes but I convinced her she was still looking strong and she carried on. I’m loving this.

Knowing she had to do the Standing Frame Janet begrudgingly did so after dinner and to help her get through it Nash paid her a visit.

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She liked it for a few minutes then asked me to get him down even though he was quite comfortable.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet as Janet was tired after not sleeping well the night before and not much during nap time this afternoon. We looked for somewhere to rent close to Connect but are finding that as challenging as somewhere to buy for the long term. Patience.

Praying for a good nights rest for Janet and continued strength building.

Water Baby. If only Janet would drink like she swims. #TSJ

This has been a relatively quiet week with Janet holding her own in most areas with some more signs of increasing assertiveness. Swimming and hot tubing remain her favorite activities with the Standing Frame taking over from the Shuttle as her least favorite thing to do.

Thursday was an interesting day for me as I found Janet curled up on her bed, awake and upset, saying she’d been “yelling for help to get out of here”. Her pendant alarm was right beside her and when I asked why she didn’t push it for help she all of a sudden seemed to feel silly that she hadn’t thought of that. There was no reason to want out other than she couldn’t sleep so from that point on it was a fun day. We went for a long walk to the eastern shore of Wood Lake and saw a large deer feeding on the side of the road. Or at least I did. Despite the thing being only twenty meters in front of us then moving towards us on the road before hopping into the bushes only ten meters away, Janet never saw it. We had lots of time and it was on her left side so I thought for sure she’d pick it out but even with me pointing and turning her head, she saw nothing. As we continued our walk Janet was able to see and tell me about things like boats on the lake, large trees and other landmarks and enjoyed watching a train roll by. I had commented on how close to the tracks a number of homes in that area are and how annoying it must be when a train goes by. We agreed it probably doesn’t happen often. Of course, less than five minutes later we heard the whistle of an approaching train. It was fun watching it and Janet saw it no problem. To wind down the day I assisted Janet in typing an email to her mom. I had to guide her to most of the letters but she did a great job in thinking of what to say and spelling the words as we typed. If y’all wish to correspond with Janet via email her address is jedieno@gmail.com , just remember I’ll be reading them to her and helping with any response.

Janet was ready to go home for the weekend when I arrived at Connect Friday afternoon. It had been a quiet morning and even though we had no big plans she was anxious to go. We stopped at Save On along the way and used Janet’s VIP parking pass for the first time. I must admit its pretty sweet to be able to park pretty much at the front door in a nice wide spot and not have to worry about someone parking too close to us. Janet was a big help shopping and enjoyed choosing things on her own. Her help continued as we made a Quinoa salad for dinner with Janet doing lots of chopping and tossing. We had dinner outside with Janet reestablishing her authority as the corn on the cob expert saying “this is the best corn of the year”.

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After a good stretch in the hot tub we watched So You Think You Can Dance with Janet’s legs in the extenders. She loved the show and at one point asked for a paper and pen as she waned to “tell someone I want Amy and Fik-Shun to win”. Not sure who she was going to tell or why but I love the spontaneity of that thought. As bright a moment as that was a short time later she didn’t know my name or that I’m her husband. I’ll let it go as being really tired and that seems to be the pattern with Janet knowing me. She’s good in the morning then by dinner time I can be any name under the sun including ones she makes up herself.

Saturday was a sleep in day with breakfast happening outside closer to lunchtime than breakfast. We had a good Skype chat with Mary/Gaga then got Janet’s nails cut and cleaned in readiness for the arrival of family next week for Laurel and Raj’s wedding 2.0. After a nice walk and a good lunch we took off to do some shopping before church as Janet needed shirts and I needed some shorts. It was fun shopping with Janet and she was a big help to me in choosing colors. As we were settling in for church Janet asked to have her right arm up on the armrest of her wheelchair. That’s a first and a really encouraging sign as it wasn’t long ago that it hurt her to have her arm in that position. After church, Janet asked for a burger for dinner and was excited to sit outside at Red Robin and devour a Mediterranean Chicken Burger. I had promised her we’d watch a movie that night and she didn’t let me forget even thou it was nine o’clock by the time we started it. We watched Safe Haven which is actually pretty bad but we enjoyed it. Janet was quite restless going to bed and five minutes after lights out I found her on her tummy laughing. She wanted to lay on her left side but turned the wrong way and couldn’t get back. With a little help she got there and fell asleep quickly.

The Sunday breakfast tradition seems to be watching Pick a Puppy, a show that follows a family as they choose their pet. It’s very cheesy but Janet loves it and in the true spirit of our TV viewing habits, we’ve made it into a competition. Janet is now three for three in choosing which puppy the family ends up picking. In trying on her new shirts we’ve determined she is no longer a size XS and has graduated to size S. That means more shopping come Fall. Yea. There are enough weeds and plants that need pruning in the front yard that we were able to spend over an hour out there with Janet doing a lot of pulling and clipping. Hard for her to squeeze the clippers sometimes but she enjoyed the challenge and being in the sun. Her reward was a nice swim in a ridiculously warm pool where she did some great lower leg kicking. This is the first time in a while I’ve worked on this with her and once she thought about it she did well with her left and managed a little movement a couple times with the right. She closed her water session with a relaxing hot tub where she got so relaxed that I actually let go of her as she floated on her back. As soon as she realized I’d let go she started to sink but it was pretty cool she could float like that. I tucked her in at 9:45 and twenty minutes later heard a little bang from the bedroom. I was startled to see Janet sitting on the edge of the bed where she had been rummaging through her bedside table. In her hand was an old pair of glasses and she said to me “I’m trying to find the ones that work”. She only cried a little bit then asked to sleep on her left side and as soon as I helped her there she was heading off to la la land. Or maybe that’s where she was when she was sitting up, I don’t know, but it was cool she could get herself up and sitting. A little flash of houdieno.

Monday we were back in the Rehab Pool at KGH. It had been over a week and I was anxious to see how Janet would do. Kiko graciously came along to be a cheerleader but I put her to work as videographer and her is the result.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Marmalade Cafe with Kiko afterwards. Nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. Thanks Kiko!

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On the way home we stopped at Save On so Janet could pick out the fruit she wanted to take to Connect for the coming week. The team agrees that Janet needs to eat lots of fruit as she doesn’t drink enough water and since she loves it that’s a pretty easy thing to do. From now on, like home, her breakfast will be a large bowl of fruit and yogurt, a piece of toast and peanut butter and a little coffee if she wants. Coupling this with as much fluids as possible should get Janet more regular on the toilet. I can report today that it seems to be working.

Tuesday morning was busy for Janet as she got back into the Connect routine. I took her out of that for the afternoon so she could get her haircut.

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Chelsea always does a good job with Janet and the whole experience was fun with Janet being much more talkative than last time. For her evening workout, Janet was good about going on the Shuttle but put a big pout on during her Standing Frame session. So much so that I thought she was quite rude to one of the other residents who tried giving her some encouraging advice. Janet was having nine of it and gave that person the silent treatment until they complimented her on her hair. That brought a big smile and a thank you.

In the Standing Frame tonight, Janet was in a much better mood and surprised me by accurately predicting when the session was over. I had set nine o’clock as the end time and using her watch she guessed at 8:43 that she had twenty minutes left and at 8:55 she knew there were only five minutes left. The funniest bit was when she stared at her watch for the last thirty seconds and when it reached 9:00 she proudly held it up to me and said “I’m done”. Indeed.

Cognitive gains like that continue and are very encouraging. Even her negative outbursts are good I guess as she is expressing her opinion and feelings much better. She still lacks confidence in a lot of things, using a stock answer of “I don’t believe it”, when someone tells her something good about herself or tries to explain the benefits of doing something she doesn’t like doing. The only way I see of battling this is to identify every moment she does something well and explain why it’s good and where it can lead her. Pill swallowing is getting much better for Janet as well with most doses going down on the first attempt now with hardly any coughing. I notice she coughs a lot less drinking apple juice and drinks it a lot faster too. Not sure why. Janet still has a hard time with my name and knows it better earlier in the day as opposed to late at night. The family names usually come to her pretty quick but she needs prompting for the staff members names usually. We’ve stared reading at night again and Janet seems to be understanding what I read a little better now too.

This coming Tuesday we meet with Dr. McCann for another round of Botox. I think the timing is perfect as although there is still good flexibility in both of Janet’s legs the left one is tightening up and the right one is pulling into the left a lot. That hasn’t stopped Janet from doing well on the Shuttle and her pole transfers a very good with a noticeable improvement in balance. This past weekend was the first one driving the Vibe and the first one that hasn’t left me with a very sore shoulder as I no longer have to lift Janet into the car. Nice.

Looking forward to more progress this week and the arrival of family ahead of Raj and Laurel 2.0.

Freedom 55. Janet gets hungover before her party. #TSJ

Another roller coaster week for Janet that started out really strong then took a huge dip in the middle with a nice bounce back to finish it off.

Last Thursday was a stellar day for Janet with strong workouts in the gym, good results from her Speech Therapy and a display of heightened awareness that had me excited about the progress she’s making. Curtis had her in the gym late in the morning and he generally puts Janet through a very thorough routine so when he says she did well, it means something. I saw proof of how well Janet was doing that night when she allowed me to take her onto The Shuttle. That dreaded machine from the past that used to produce nothing but tears and anger. This time Janet was totally focused on doing the best she could and her performance was record breaking for me and a really good demonstration as to how much stronger she’s gotten. Instead of blowing off my compliments she seemed to somewhat accept them this time. Janet followed up her Shuttle performance with a nice hour long session in the Standing Frame. One reason she was able to hang in there so long I believe was, she was totally engaged in a TV show called Criminal Minds. There was something about it that drew her in even to the point of knowing “they are trying to catch the Anthrax guys”. Brilliant. Another example of Janet’s increased awareness was demonstrated during a first time Skype chat with her friend from years ago, Dianne and her daughter Whitney. I could see the memory lights flashing in Janet’s eyes as the conversation progressed and there were lots of smiles and laughter on both sides of the screen.

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So ended a real “up” part of the roller coaster ride as Friday started a big “down” turn. After weeks of chasing faxes around from office to office it was finally arranged to increase the dosage of Baclofen for Janet in hopes of alleviating some of the spasticity in her legs. There was to be a gradual increase to triple what she’s been on for about nine months now starting with a doubling of the dose Friday morning. Janet’s day started out quiet with some sit to stand exercises and a little Speech with Alana. I picked Janet up and took her swimming at KGH and her own evaluation of the sessions was “ok, but not as good as last time”. Pretty accurate as she seemed tired. We stopped for a few groceries on the way home and Janet was a big help in the store, enjoying picking out vegetables etc. By the time we got home it seemed too late for a nap so I agreed to let her try and push through thinking we could have an early night. As we started making pizzas it became quite clear she wasn’t going to make it. She couldn’t figure out for the life of her how to chop a mushroom, something she’s done routinely in the past. Off to bed she went and we tried again an hour later. The nap refreshed her enough to enjoy building her pizza and eating it outside in the sun. We watched The Voice afterwards and Janet spontaneously started singing to The Swon Brothers rendition of Danny’s Song. Cam called and had a nice chat with his mom then the roller coaster started downhill real fast. Seemingly out of nowhere Janet lost all that awareness that was so prevelant the last couple of days. The only way for me to describe it is she got stupid. There were lots of tears of frustration, lots of unrecognizable speech and it was very difficult for me to maintain any level of patience. Janet insisted on a hot tub before bed and I was happy to oblige her that and it relaxed her enough she could settle into bed and fall asleep just before ten. She woke up on her own around 9:30 Saturday and seemed ok. She managed a good breakfast but instead of the usual morning fog lifting as she ate, it seemed to grow thicker. Her speech deteriorated, her ability to drink from her glass dissappeared to where she couldn’t even suck water through a straw. It was too late to call off a scheduled visit from her friend Janet F. and when she arrived Janet perked up a little and enjoyed the visit but was very quiet. I took her out for a walk afterwards hoping the sun would energize her. We watched a little soccer at the neighbourhood school but Janet couldn’t “see” the teams we were watching despite their bright yellow and blue jerseys. Home we went and I was starting to get a little concerned. Janet ate a sandwich and happily went for a nap which ended up lasting six hours. During that time I read about every possible cause for her rapid decline and settled on an intolerance for Baclofen. That’s the only thing that changed recently so that had to be it. When Janet woke and only wanted a piece of toast for dinner I started wondering if there was anything else going on but since she had been eating well up until then and was toileting fine I decided to let her try and sleep it off some more. Sunday morning started comparatively well as Janet seemed more coherent and ate a good breakfast. Her speech was better but there was still a lot of gibberish there. She made it until 12:30 before crashing until four when I made her get up to have some water and hopefully some dinner. Her drinking ability had improved and she ate well at dinner. Overall I was less concerned even though she was nowhere near regular Janet. She was following commands well and eating and drinking and not showing any signs of serious illness. Janet was in bed by 8:30 and sleeping before I finished our goodnight prayer. Monday morning I phoned nurse Jen at Connect and she agreed to let me hold Janet’s morning dose of Baclofen. I also talked to Dr. McCann’s office and he later agreed to drop her prescription back to the level it had been at prior to the weekend. The roller coaster started an uphill climb almost immediately.

After an almost three hour nap mid day Monday we headed off to see Janet’s GP who was pretty confident Janet’s “down” weekend was the result of the Baclofen increase. We aren’t calling this an overdose like the Dilantin episode as this time the drug doesn’t seem to agree with Janet as opposed to Janet having too much of it in her. By Monday evening Janet knew my name again and was starting to argue about going to the gym so I knew things were OK. She ate a little dinner, tolerated thirty minutes in the Standing Frame and knew when the TV show we were watching ended that it was time for her to get down. She was smiley and giggly as I put her to bed and I was very relieved.

For the first time since this all started I made a phone call to Janet. Tuesday was her birthday so I called when I knew she’d be eating breakfast to wish her happy birthday and also to assure myself she was alright. Her laughter and strong voice were all I needed to know this was going to be a good day. I arrived at Connect in time to observe some of Janet’s singing with John session and noticed there was more laughter than singing going on but that is very theraputic itself.


Janet agreed to have a nap after John left so she could be ready for all the birthday Skype sessions coming her way later in the day. We probably did a few too many back to back but it was funny to hear Janet wish everyone else a happy birthday as they said that to her. Janet and I enjoyed a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant including a glass of wine and we gave her the night off from any gym related activities.

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She was happy to watch a very entertaining basketball game before going to bed.

Today Janet was back to her regular self if not a little more than that. I gave her time to nap and when I finally went into her room she put on a huge smile and we chatted on her bed for half an hour with her talking really well and laughing lots too. As she was getting up, Brian stopped by to see some of her pole transfers and mentioned how impressed he was by her standing abilities. Janet has made a lot of progress in the last few weeks. From there she helped Curtis prep dinner and when it was ready devoured her portion along with an apple and a generous slice of a very delicious cheesecake Jess made for her birthday. Even after that large meal Janet managed a good session on The Shuttle and elected to use the Standing Frame rather than do some stretching. We used a different frame tonight which proved to be not as good as the usual one but it was worth a try. Janet has an appointment with Dr. Miller (neuropsychologist) early in the morning so I tried to encourage her to go to bed around 8:30 but she waved me off “saying” she’s watching the hockey game. I gave her a few more minutes and thankfully Chicago scored to end the game and off we went.

I know the roller coaster is not likely to end but I hope for Janet’s sake we don’t go on a ride like this past week again. I’d much prefer a steady climb upwards. I asked Janet to finish off the video tour of Connect but she wasn’t interested and instead wanted to say thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. After a great many takes this is the best we could get and I think it shows pretty clearly how hard Janet is trying. I’m praying that strong effort continues and that she is rewarded with ever increasing abilities.