standing

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #dayoff #house #skype #standing

I promised Janet a day off from physical exercise today and that’s exactly what she got. It truly was a “terrible” sleep for her Friday night, I know because she woke me up at least three times, once to ask “when are we going to look at that house?” at seven AM. We did have an appointment for eleven so I made sure we were into the morning routine by 8:30. After that poor of a sleep I was worried how Janet would function. That worry was laid to rest during a Skype chat with Mary/Gaga. Easily Janet’s best one ever! She was answering questions correctly, remembering things accurately from a few days ago knowing what was coming up in the next few days and saying it all loud and clear and topping it off afterwards stating, “my mom’s fun to talk to…” Maybe I should wake her up a bunch of times each night if that’s how bright she’s going to be. Very impressive.

Janet was very excited about viewing the house we were scheduled to see, probably because its yellow. I wasn’t too hopefully but thought it was worth a look. I won. Janet liked it but couldn’t tell me why and I didn’t like it for a whole bunch of reasons, mainly the fact it was quite squishy and difficult to maneuver around. Oh well. Having a backup plan we drove by a home in the neighborhood we’d most like to live in to see if it was worthy. The home is in a townhouse complex that I have shunned since the beginning due to an age restriction of nineteen or older to live there. I do not agree with a policy like that and also am not keen on a Strata situation however facing the reality of renting made me rethink and as Janet I walked around the complex and looked at the outside of the unit for sale we agreed this was our best option. Thirty minutes later our realtor had arranged a viewing and twenty minutes after that we decided to write an offer! The home is all on one level, easily accessible and priced in a range that will allow us to upgrade to our requirements without breaking the bank. After our offer was presented it was learned that there had been a low ball offer made last night that was still pending. The owner rescinded that one in favor of working with us and at the time of writing we are waiting to hear a response to our counter counter offer. I’m confident we’ll reach a deal sometime tomorrow and soon we can remove our #homeless designation.

We returned home a little dizzy from all that happened so quickly and Janet agreed to a nap during which she actually slept. She was nicely re energized for church and we were thrilled to be part of the Trinity family blessing Carrie and Roger as they plant their church in West Kelowna. It’s called West Mount Church and we know they will do powerful things through it. During most services I’ve always sat with Janet when the house stands up as she can’t and I feel bad standing when she can’t. Tonight that all changed. For the last few weeks I’ve been asking Janet if she wants to stand when the house is asked to and each time she’s said no. Until tonight. Wayne asked everyone to rise to pray near the start of things, I asked Janet if she wanted to and she shocked me by saying yes. She was determined to get up as much on her own as possible and didn’t wait for me to get on the left side of her and help her. She grabbed the pew in front of her and stood up! I balanced her while she was up and completely lost my focus on the service as she probably did as well. A minute later, back down she went, upset she couldn’t last longer. It was a brave first try and we practiced a little afterwards and have a better method for next time.

The rest of our night was quite, sushi dinner, AGT, then bed with the possibility of going to the gym at Connect tomorrow but Janet started to battle against that as soon as I said it. We’ll see. Praying for deep healing sleep tonight and acceptance of our offer to buy that home. Thanking Jesus for Janet’s brave act in standing in church tonight and for the healing that allowed her to try.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #Blizzard #Shopping #Standing

Instead of snoring away, Janet was grinning at me as I snuck into her room this afternoon. She just doesn’t seem to be able to nap anymore even though she sometimes asks for one. It seems as though she is much better able to function through the rest of the day than previous so there’s no need to force a nap but quiet time does have a clear benefit.

I gave Janet a choice of shopping or gym to start our time together and she chose gym. No real shock there as lately she’s been quite determined to get the “bad things over with” rather than face doing them later. I like the attitude and with Curtis watching Janet did a good job on the Shuttle today. She seemed a little stronger than the last two days with me and also had a good little standing on her own session before “walking” over to the table mat for some stretching. As Janet finished her standing session I sensed she wanted to walk a bit and she didn’t hesitate when I asked her. The first few steps were very small and slow with me holding her up. Curtis then started assisting with her right leg and that allowed for a fairly steady pace with Janet feeling more confident. There isn’t much communication to her right leg and we noticed the majority of the effort to move it is coming from her hips. Its awesome she wants to try and walk and she even acknowledged the need to get stronger. Confidence and a lack thereof is a big part of her challenge now along with command of the right leg. Time will tell.

We had time to do forty five minutes in the Standing Frame before dinner and Janet got nice and straight without pain again and never complained about doing it at all. The more she is in charge of her exercises the better I think. We joined in on the communal dinner tonight and enjoyed some lively conversation. Kieran is a noisy and fun addition to the house.

Pants weather has arrived for Janet and that’s why the option to go shopping today. I also needed something to do with her anticipating an early gym visit leaving us with too cold an evening to walk. I wanted her to have some nicer pants to wear rather than her old stretchy things all the time and I needed some storage bins for the house. Felt like a good reason to check out the new Target store. We were both underwhelmed but Janet found a pair of pants so all was not lost. She did much better at the Gap scoring three pair and we ended the night with a Smores Blizzard. Good but nothing beats Skor.

Today was a lot of fun with Janet and I look forward to more of the same tomorrow. Praying for an increase in strength and command of her right leg.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #LaurelandRaj #lunch #standing

As expected, Janet got up fairly early this morning knowing she could visit Laurel and Raj. Her night was somewhat restless with a good start and a not so good middle. The morning with Laurel and Raj was good though and Janet seemed quite bright and happy the whole time. Laurel went through some of the memorabilia we had found and shared a lot of it with Janet and that produced a lot of laughs. Laurel and Raj treated us to a nice lunch at Joey’s before they started their drive to the coast. Janet got quiet at the restaurant as the lack of sleep caught up with her. It was still a nice time and Janet ate well saying “that’s way better than what I get at school”. Connect has been referred to as school a lot lately and I guess that’s ok.

Once back at Connect a very tired Janet hung in there for our meeting with wheelchair guy. I think we’ve finally started the final bit of test driving and should have something to buy in the next few weeks after one more modification. Sounds like Janet has selected the color of the chair already, pink. She very willingly headed to bed for a nap right after the meeting and slept for a short while then was awake more than sleeping for the next hour. That gave her enough energy to say “let’s get done what I have to get done”. Meaning, lets go to the gym. With a much better attitude and me not distracted by my phone, Janet had a great Shuttle workout, followed by a good little standing session and some good stretching with Garrett. After dinner she said she wanted to do the Standing Frame so she could be done and she handled almost an hour in it nicely. That left us a little time for a walk and some YouTube before the tiredness crept back up on Janet.

Another solid day with signs of improvement. Praying for an active and productive tomorrow.

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.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out! #TSJ #realestategames #house4sale #standup

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Within twenty hours of the For Sale sign going up on our front lawn we got word of an offer being readied. I gave Connect a heads up that I’d be taking Janet home for the evening and when I arrived she was waiting in the living room all smiles and ready. No one had told Janet why she was going home today and when I asked her she very smartly and correctly said “the lady that looked at the house wants it”. Brilliant!

Janet’s day had been a full one and she pointed out that she’d already done an hour in the Standing Frame, meaning she wasn’t doing any more. We had time to stop at the grocery store on the way home and Janet was a good helper again especially in loading stuff onto the conveyor for checkout. We got home in time for a Fresca before Les arrived with the offer. Janet enjoyed the discussion around the subjects and dollar amounts and I’m really glad she could be a part of it all. She did another great job signing her name and initials. We went back and forth a few times on the dollars and as of this writing we don’t have a deal. There are two showings scheduled for tomorrow, so here’s hoping.

After the initial offer presentation it was time to make dinner. Janet did a great job cutting up some green beans for us and wiping and setting the table outside so we could enjoy the nice warm evening. We had agreed to stay around the house as long as we could in order to play the real estate game as long as possible so we watched SYTYCD before driving back to Connect arriving at 9:45. I thought maybe Janet would be too tired for a trip to the gym but she agreed to go as she acknowledged she was only ready for bed if meant not going on the Shuttle. Once again she did a great job but blew me away with her standing afterwards. This time I watched the clock and for two minutes twenty seconds Janet stood without assistance. She even managed to sway a little from one side to the other to try and get more weight on her right leg. I had to talk to her the entire time and remind her she wasn’t going to fall and this time she did the best corrections she’s done with the fewest attempts at grabbing me. Very exciting.

Her efforts in the gym were enough to make her agree it was bedtime and just before eleven I said goodnight Janet and she said goodnight George. Oh well. I’m thankful for the time we got to spend at home tonight and for the incredible progress Janet has made. Praying for rest, healing and a day of more firsts tomorrow.

The Team Save Janet Report is Out. #tsj #memory #standup #recovery

Janet greeted me in the living room of Connect this afternoon as she was half sleeping and half watching The View. She told me of her busy morning in the gym and how “terrible” it was then informed me that my haircut looked good. I often need to prompt her to notice things like that or even to ask me what I had done before coming out to see her so it was really nice to have her notice the hair. Brian joined us for a chat to catch up on things as he’d been away on a fishing trip. It was nice to hear his stories and see the picture of him with a large salmon he “caught”.

Our chatting session went through nap time so Janet and I went for a hot sunny walk around the neighborhood. She stayed very chatty throughout and I noticed was seeing things better too. We then had a few minutes before dinner to answer some emails. Janet typed one completely on her own to her mom and did a great job reading another back to me. I had her follow a pen that I pointed at each word and she got at least eighty percent of them. Of course she felt she did poorly but that’s not the case.

After dinner Janet and I had an hour long discussion on the importance of keeping on working hard while she’s at Connect. It started with her not wanting to go to the gym for the second time in a day. We covered every angle imaginable as to why it was important to do so and as we were talking about her time in the hospital the fog lifted a little. Janet started describing to me one of the rooms she was in at the hospital. She couldn’t tell me which hospital it was or what ward it was on or anything but from what she said I think it was her first room in Rehab at KGH. As she described it I could see her envisioning it and am confident she wasn’t making it up. The place she described had a hall with rooms that had four people in them but she was in a room with two people, her and another lady. I asked questions that wouldn’t put words in her mouth so am really confident she actually remembers that place and I plan on taking her to that room on Monday to see if she remembers it more. When her flashback was over she was no longer angry or upset about going to the gym and gave an outstanding effort on the Shuttle. Knowing she didn’t want to do the Standing Frame I had her stand on her own after getting off the Shuttle and with Garrett and Bob watching she stood for well over two minutes without grabbing me once. I’m not sure if the extra eyes made her try harder or if her confidence level has grown that much but it was very exciting and a huge improvement.

Because her morning had been so busy Janet never got to shower during the day so off she went for a bedtime shower. She wasn’t too happy about it at first, thinking she’d be cold but she was smiley and warm upon her return and enjoyed watching YouTube clips of Fat Albert before bed. That show came up in our dinner conversation some how so we had to check it out. We were both impressed at the many voices Bill Cosby did for that show.

I’m impressed with Janet today and am praying that she recognizes how well she’s doing and can resolve to keep working hard.

The Team Save Janet Report is out! #colonoscopy #standing #swimming #shopping

Each time I come to writing this blog update I think I’m going to shorten it or use a lot of video to simplify the process but Janet keeps amazing me and others with new things she can do almost on a daily basis. Therefore, I think I’m going to publish future updates randomly as events warrant and certainly more than once a week. Twitter is still your best channel for being the first to know and you can follow me at @larrylatour .

The week got off to a challenging start for Janet as Tez had her on the parallel bars Thursday afternoon for what was supposed to be a short test of her capabilities. Twenty minutes later a very tired Janet was allowed to sit in her wheelchair after balancing and walking up and down the bars while hooked up to a sling. She did better than expected and if she can get her right leg stronger will be on her way. Her strength definitely has improved as that night she was able to do a set on The Shuttle with five bands of tension. A first. To round out the day Janet responded to some emails by spelling out the words she wanted to use while I guided her finger to the appropriate letter. I’m impressed by her ability to spell.

When I arrived Friday to pick her up a little before our agreed upon time she greeted me with “I’ve been dying for you to get here”. Karl had put her through her morning gym routine nicely but she was focused on going home for the weekend. We made a few stops along the way for some new pajamas and then some groceries. I figured with the air temperature being thirty eight there was no way she’d think the pool water would be cold but this is Janet we’re talking about. She got used to it after a few minutes and had a good swim. Then helped make a grilled chicken Caesar salad, something she never would’ve eaten before but really enjoyed this time, possibly because she helped make it. As we sat down at the end of the night to watch AGT and enjoy our Blizzards saved from last week, Janet was extremely disappointed that hers was so small. Not sure how that happened but I ended up having to give her some of her regular ice cream to make up the difference. Janet loves her ice cream.

I’m sure it wasn’t the ice cream that kept Janet awake most of the night and it wasn’t being all hyped up about a daughter getting married the next day either, I was just glad I didn’t have to take her for a walk at 3am. I let her sleep until she said she was ready to get up around 9:30 and a good Saturday began then. Janet phoned her mom to see if she wanted to Skype with her and of course she did then it was out into the yard to pull weeds, cut some things back and transplant the wedding plants into a permanent location. We had a great time working together on things Janet could easily reach. I think Janet really enjoyed the different tasks and she seemed genuinely interested in re learning names of plants and trees. After a nice swim where Janet got some push from her right leg we experienced an awesome service at Trinity. Janet was singing and clapping along to the songs and loved Wayne’s message entitled There Is Always Hope. Watch it There is Always Hope if you like. By the end of the night Janet was nice and relaxed and set up for a good nights sleep compared to Friday night. Part of our regular bedtime routine is to have Janet stand for a while prior to getting into bed. Usually she’s tired and a little weak and she will tolerate ten seconds with me holding her up. Saturday night however felt strangely different to me and I decided to let her go briefly to see what would happen. She actually didn’t fall over right away and I was confident she could actually stand. Sure enough after a couple of tries she stood all by herself for a few seconds. I was so excited I had to try and get some on video. This is the result as posted that night,

and this is a little better footage shot today in the gym.

Janet is standing on her own now for close to thirty seconds at a time and correcting her balance more and more. She still needs to gain confidence and trust in her self but its coming. Very cool!

Sunday arrived and I was a little nervous about it as Janet was scheduled for a colonoscopy Monday which meant Sunday was prep day. In case you’ve never been through this, as we hadn’t, prep means not eating anything, drinking four liters of a fluid designed to “flush” your body out and drinking clear fluids as much as possible. The part that made me nervous was Janet’s history of not wanting to drink much of anything and certainly nothing fast. She took five hours to drink the first two liters instead of the prescribed two hours but at least she got it in her. Before the flushing started we got in a nice long walk a short swim and a leisurely hot tub. The evening was very quiet with a “few” trips to the bathroom.

Janet was very cooperative throughout the colonoscopy adventure and I’m very proud of her for hanging in there as well as she did. The actual procedure went very well and Dr. Agnew reports a normal scope with no blockages or polyps found and no evidence of any mechanical reason for Janet’s constipation. He recommends Janet continue on a high fibre diet along with the Resotran and Peg 3350 if needed. He said normal bowel movements are considered to be anywhere between one to three times a day and two times a week so if we can keep Janet closer to the high end of that scale she’s doing fine. As a reward for getting through a difficult couple of days I treated Janet to a really nice dinner at Joey Kelowna,

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a place we’ve been to a few times and always enjoyed but for some reason don’t think about that often. It’s high on our list now. Yummy.

It didn’t take long for Janet to bounce back after that tough weekend and she even surpassed her previous status. Proof came when Jess found her in the bathroom, standing up ready to sit on the toilet Tuesday morning. The Team’s goal for Janet is to be doing supervised transfers by early October. Here she was trying to do an independent transfer and almost making it. The pace with which she is gaining balance is very impressive to me. I hardly have to touch her during pole transfers now and today she was starting some transfers without the pole, only grabbing it once she was up. On her last transfer from the toilet tonight I saw a move with her left foot that was a lot like a step forward and it made me very excited about the possibility of Janet walking again. Last night she also demonstrated her smartness again by typing an email pretty much completely on her own. No help with content or spelling from me, just a little guiding to a few letters, otherwise, all her.

The trend continued today with the aforementioned awesome standing capped off by her wanting to go to outdoor movie night where she laughed and smiled all the way through Dodgeball. Janet couldn’t tell me what she found so funny about the movie but at the same time she could hardly stop laughing even as I turned out her lights at 11:05. Great day. Great week.

It’s late and I can’t think of a title. Hope you’ll read anyways. #TSJ

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Even though Janet will complain sometimes of having to do the same things over and over again there are a lot of new things in her repertoire and this past week was full of them.

On the cognitive side Janet continues to become more aware of the moment she’s in as well as her overall situation. This past Monday while on our way back to Connect Janet took a big step by saying “I want to be a regular person”. The day had been very successful for her and included Janet doing a lot of “regular person” things and when I pointed all those out to her she seemed to accept that. I discussed this with Brian and he said that Janet accepting her situation is a big step towards continuing the recovery process. It’s only after someone acknowledges where they are at that they can really start to do something about it. Janet has done well so far so I see this as a positive sign of her maybe being able to work even harder as in not complaining about the gym or drinking water. That of course remains to be seen but maybe with everyone trying to get her living in the moment and pointing out her accomplishments she’ll start to believe in herself more. Her confidence is growing in her singing for sure and this week was her loudest by far. John called me into the room just five minutes after starting with Janet on Tuesday and she wowed me with a very loud rendition of Do a Deer. I asked Leslie and Gavin to come in after that and Janet sang loudly for them too. A couple of times this week Janet started singing along to performances on The Voice, most notably The Swon Brothers rendition of Danny’s Song. She sang it again for us with John and was very confident in doing so. Her Skype conversations this week were solid but she’s getting bored with the whole thing and often feels she has nothing to say. I can help her with that part but am going to stop scheduling calls so they are more spontaneous and less of a chore. One night I worked with Janet from her Speech Therapy booklet and was impressed at how well she did naming opposites and matching categories. She continues to express her opinion more and more, unfortunately its more when she’s angry about something that she’s at her most demonstrative. Still, I see more and more of the former Janet coming out.

Physically Janet is really impressing me and some of the staff at Connect as well. The Botox really should be worn off now but we continue to get good flexibility from both legs and tonight Janet stood in the Standing Frame for one hour at ninety degrees and complained very little. The lack of complaining can only mean it didn’t hurt that much and that is cool. Garrett worked with Janet in the gym tonight for the first time since he got back from his vacation and he had all great things to say about Janet’s performance especially with the extension she was getting on The Shuttle. That’s a key one as the more she can extend the more strength she can build. She’s very confident in her pole transfers now and has no problem standing and holding onto the pole for a minute or two and can shuffle her left leg around pretty well. There’s still not a lot of control on that right leg but I still have hope for the future. On Monday Janet reached another swimming milestone by making her first unassisted 180 degree turn while swimming on her back. She smiled the entire time and of all the physical activities Janet does, swimming is by far her favorite. As much as she likes it though, Friday afternoons aren’t working well for her as she’s too tired so for now I’m canceling those sessions. We will use our pool at home on the weekends to compensate and continue with Mondays at KGH. As we were leaving KGH one day we snuck up on Rob the PT and I asked Janet to kick him. She happily obliged but did so with her right leg. First time I’ve seen her try that move. It was all from the hip but a very deliberate attempt to use that right leg. High five. Tez had Janet try walking in the sling at the parallel bars and said that went well enough to continue doing it. Janet found it very hard and I think until she gets more control of her right leg it will be a very difficult exercise for her.

Janet was scheduled to go sailing this morning with the Disabled Sailing Association but the weather was kind of iffy so the outing was cancelled. Janet isn’t really excited about it but I think it would be good for her to try so maybe next week. In lieu of sailing Jess took Janet to a pottery class today and reported that Janet enjoyed it and has started making a bowl. Janet says she didn’t like it and it was boring so we’ll have to see who wins out next week. I hope she continues to go as these activities will help get her mind off of the trips to the gym she dislikes so much.

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We spent Sunday afternoon at City Park in the sunshine cheering on those getting baptized in the lake. Janet really enjoyed the outing and was fascinated by all the support each person getting baptized had. Sunday also marked the first conversation Janet’s had with her dad in a couple of years and thanks to Skype it went quite well. Not a lot was said as neither have great conversational skills right now but it was great to make that connection again. The weekend ahead promises more adventure as Leslie and Gavin are here until Sunday meaning we get to do fun things we wouldn’t get to do otherwise like winery touring, and the weather is supposed to be Okanagan hot finally.

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Praying for Janet to continue getting stronger, louder and more confident.

Stop and Go. A back and forth week for Janet. #TSJ

Early on in this journey I referred to what Janet and the rest of us were going through as a roller coaster. That analogy still applies but thankfully the peaks and valleys aren’t quite as dramatic or long lasting as they used to be and Janet’s rate of ascent is steady.

Her most obvious gains continue to be seen in the gym and during physical activities in general. Janet’s reluctance to go to the gym continues but her resistance to it is less dramatic and I’m hoping she’s starting to notice the positive results herself. I’m with Janet mostly for her bike riding sessions and can report that each day she sets a personal best for distance travelled. Today she made it .71 miles. Her rides are thirty minutes long with the focus on building speed in the hope of being able to add more resistance at some point as that would mean a significant increase in her leg strength. Janet’s tolerance for the standing frame isn’t improving much from what I’ve seen with those sessions maxing out at forty five minutes to an hour.

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There is tremendous value to it though and we saw a great example of that over the last couple of days. Monday night I was unable to get the frame set up optimally for Janet so she had a very short session. When I got her into bed and stretched her legs out as I always do they were very stiff. Tuesday night with Curtis’s help we got things set up nicely and Janet had a good long session standing nice and straight. Her goodnight leg stretch was a hundred percent better and I made sure she knew it. Since the installation of the stripper pole in her room Jess has been working with Janet on transferring from bed to wheelchair and vice versa using the pole.

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As Janet gains strength she’s getting better and better at the transfers. I still do a pivot transfer with her but no longer have to carry her weight as much as I used to and she can let herself down into her chair using the arm rest. My arms and back are liking this improvement. The team continues to work with Janet on sit to stands at the parallel bars and I’m noticing nice improvements in her ability to get up out of her wheelchair because of that work. All this exercise is paying off for sure and to prove it, Janet for the first time I know of rolled all the way over from one side of her bed to the other today! This may not sound like much but when you consider all the muscles you need to use to accomplish a move like that its very impressive for Janet. It wasn’t long ago that laying on her tummy would start her crying and she pulled off today’s maneuver with relative ease. High five!

Personal bests are also being reached in the pool with Janet now able to swim one length on her tummy. We haven’t yet figured out how to get her to breath so she can swim longer but its pretty exciting she can go that long holding her breath and propelling herself that far. Her right leg continues to mostly do its own thing in the pool and is impeding her progress for sure. I’m looking at ways to help her regain control of it but don’t see anything obvious. Janet’s attitude towards the swimming sessions remains positive but she is much more excited about hot tubbing, even asking a couple of times this past weekend if we could go. I feel truly blessed to have the ability to provide that for Janet as it is so therapeutic in so many ways. I’ve noticed and increase in the range of motion for her right shoulder and arm as well as her wrist and attribute that to the hot tub. Walking in the pool remains a challenge due to the uncooperative right leg but we practice each session and Janet is still willing to work hard at it. This past Monday after a good walking session I wanted her to swim on her back a little but she couldn’t. Seems she totally forgot how and it wasn’t till the next session that she figured it out again. Weird.

So far I’ve told you lots of positive things so let’s do some negatives now. Janet’s chronic constipation got to her again this past weekend and we ended up with a nice long visit to the ER because if it. The doctor was unable to get anything to move that night so put Janet back on the Resotran that had just run out a couple days prior. It works great and Janet is for now going regularly but the problem is not solved and we continue to wait for this illusive “urgent colonoscopy”. Restoran is not a drug you want to be on long term as your body can become dependent on it and you may not regain control yourself ever and that would not be cool. Pray for the colonoscopy and a visit to the GI unit soon. KGH treated us well that night although slow and I found it a little surprising to be driving home in the daylight at 4:15am. This past Tuesday we finally had our meeting with Dr. Adams the neurologist. He ordered an EEG for Janet just prior to our appointment with him and it was really cool to see how that is done. Janet had twenty nine electrodes on her head as they measured the various electrical discharges from her brain. Dr. Adams confirmed there are some epileptic discharges occurring so he is keeping her on the Dilantin probably forever. That’s not the news I was hoping for but at least now we know and we also know there is no other drug out there obviously better than Dilantin. My concerns have diminished as Janet is making cognitive gains and the side effects have diminished since she got into a therapeutic range with that drug. Dr. Adams described Janet as high risk for another seizure but is confident the Dilantin is working as she’s been seizure free for five months now. He does not see a need for Janet to visit or have an EEG on a regular basis but made himself available on an as needed basis. I liked him and was impressed he remembered us from five months ago.

Back to the fun stuff. On Friday we enjoyed a nice lunch visit with Jim and Nancy Church, long time friends from North Vancouver, always good for a laugh and intelligent conversation.

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We also had a voice call with my youngest daughter Brittney who lives in Edmonton and I was impressed with Janet’s conversational skills during that call. She was loud and articulate and seemed genuinely pleased to hear from Brittney. On Saturday we realized that only two of the dresses in Janet’s closet fit her and neither is wedding appropriate so Laurel has agreed to shop around for something Janet can wear to her and Raj’s “wedding” here in July. Janet is excited to finally be a part of her daughter’s nuptials.

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Sunday started late after spending the night at KGH then we had to try and get some Resotran for Janet and Jen from Connect was a huge help with that. While we were out there I put Janet through her paces on the bike and standing frame and she did very well at both considering how tired she was. Back at home she really wanted to finish watching Les Miserables after it was interrupted to go to the ER, so we did and Janet was surprisingly tuned in to it. She even caught a line that I missed. Impressive. We both were in tears by the end of course but thoroughly enjoyed it. Monday was a great outside day. We had lunch outside after swimming then went for a really nice walk that evening at Connect. Janet was able to play I Spy much better than the last time we tried and really enjoyed the warm evening. She went to bed very giggly in her new bed that night. Tuesday was Skype day with calls to Mary Gaga, Andrew and a special one to Heather on her birthday. Janet impressed me by explaining to Heather how sorry she was for not getting her a present yet and that she is getting one soon. She did that all on her own and with great conviction. Nice.

The week ahead is setting up to be fun and busy. I’ve switched Janet’s swimming from Friday to Thursday so we can go to Nanaimo for the weekend, then there is the usual Monday swimming followed by a trip to the dentist. I think I’ll have a very tired Janet on my hands by Monday evening. Praying for continued physical healing and cognitive gains and thanking Jesus for all we’ve been blessed with.

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Record Breaking. Janet sets records daily. #TSJ

It’s been a record breaking week for Janet, setting personal bests in the pool, on the bike and in her sit to stand capabilities as well as her endurance in the standing frame. Health wise she seems very stable with regular BM’s and no obvious side effects from any of her meds. The Restoran ended today, (the magic poo pill) so it will be interesting to see how she does without that. Janet will visit her GP on Monday and part of that visit will be to assess all her meds and see if any further adjustments can be made. Dr. McCann is ordering an increase to Janet’s Baclofen dosage and I’m really interested to see if it has any effect. Janet has been on a very low dose for a long time now with no recognizable effect and if there is no change after the increase I’ll ask that it be discontinued.

A week ago, Jess instituted a program for Janet where she writes the day’s activities on a whiteboard and Janet crosses them off as they are completed. Janet has caught on to this nicely, easily reading what each activity is and drawing a line through it when done. A couple days ago Jess supplied Janet with a digital watch to help her get a sense of the time of day as each activity occurs. Janet was puzzled by the watch, arguing that she has one at home but agreeing it was more a piece of jewelery than a useful piece of equipment. Janet can easily read her Connect watch but needs a lot of work relating to “today” as this morning she woke up thinking it was Christmas. She was still complaining to me when I got in this afternoon that “isn’t it time for grass?” Her code for Christmas.

Janet’s day is centered around her physical activities as the emphasis remains on taking advantage of the Botox. Twice a day she rides the bike in the gym and continues to make steady gains in leg strength as a result. A week ago her personal best was thirty minutes and .83 miles using the arm assist. Today she went for thirty minutes and .62 miles with no arm assist at all! When Janet first started the bike she couldn’t even come close to pedaling without the arm assist. Similar benefits are being seen in the standing frame as Janet can now tolerate close to an hour twice a day. She doesn’t like it much but she tolerates it. As noted the other day Janet is also getting much better with her sit to stand exercises, so much so that she is getting a stripper pole installed in her room. For now it will be used to help her independently get out of bed and into her wheelchair, no dancing yet. As you all know Janet also is excelling in the pool and I expect that to continue improving each time we go.

Our weekend at home was an enjoyable one with Saturday being a day off from physio therapy type stuff. I was reluctant to give Janet the whole day off but that’s the way it turned out and I think it worked out well as she slept in, pulled weeds in the sunshine with me, went for a walk around the neighborhood and made a really good sandwich for herself at lunchtime. We went to church Saturday night for a change and really enjoyed the music and Tim’s message. Janet was fully engaged and we had a good discussion about it all afterwards. Janet continued to be quite talkative well into the night and loved the sushi dinner we had as well as the movie The Guilt Trip. Sunday was a change from the usual as well. Tez was at Connect for a few hours and offered to work with Janet if I took her out there. They had a really good session of sit to stand work teaching Tiffany and Julie how to work with Janet should they need. Everyone learned a lot and Janet performed very well. I wanted Tez to see Janet on the bike to make sure all was well with her positioning etc. It was and liking what he saw he challenged Janet to pedal with no arm assist. She of course did it and is now going thirty minutes that way. After a nap at home while I cut the lawn we made dinner then went for a hot tub. By the time we got outside it was pouring rain but Janet laughed through it and had a good time soaking in the warm water as the rain passed through. She was exhausted after a long and busy day and was asleep before I finished our goodnight prayer. The weekend was capped off with a nice lunch with Kiko and Joel after swimming on Monday before the trek back to Connect.

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Janet seems to be getting more comfortable and confident at Connect but is also more aware that it is not home. Her interactions with the other residents are improving as she gains confidence in herself and gets involved in more things around the house. Instead of an interview this week I decided to have Janet give you a brief tour of her home away from home. Crank up your volume and enjoy.