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Janet, A Success Story. June 26. #TSJ Early Weekend

When Janet called me after lunch today I could sense right away where she was steering the conversation to. Yesterday she repeatedly asked if she could come home early for the weekend since its going to be such a busy one. I made her the usual deal of getting all her therapies done by lunchtime then we’d talk. She couldn’t tell me fast enough that she’d done just that then asked again if she could come home. How could I say no and why would I?

Janet agreed to a nap before I picked her up though and she was just getting up when I arrived. We are having some of the Connect staff over for a BBQ tomorrow so there was work to be done as soon as we got home and getting dinner was first up. Pizzas are a good project for Janet to help with and she loves eating them so that was dinner tonight. We are developing a good routine around pizza making. Janet, in her wheelchair, is able to get a lot of the ingredients and turn the oven on and she’s awesome and putting the sauces on before building the actual pizzas. It used to be that half of her toppings would end up anywhere but on her pizza. Not so now, she is creating masterpieces.

For the BBQ Janet was pretty insistent on having a dessert and wanted to make a carrot cake, her favourite. My baking past is not pretty so I was a reluctant participant in our effort tonight but I must say the end result looks pretty good and the icing is awesome. Janet broke eggs and mixed things together for the cake really well then decided to chat with Laurel for a bit while I figured out the icing. After catching up a little on our So You Think You Can Dance watching, Janet iced the carrot cake before going to bed.

Because of all the kitchen work, Janet was in her wheelchair more than I would’ve liked tonight but that is the best way for her to be able to help. She did stand to ice the cake and had to walk up the two steps from the garage when we got home today as I’ve taken away the wheelchair ramp. There is a grab bar on her left side and using that she effortlessly got up both steps. High five! I may not put the ramp back if going down the steps is just as good.

Praying for a night of reenergizing sleep and a fun Friday.

Janet, A Success Story. June 19. #TSJ Girls Day

Spending time doing things like going to a Spa or having her nails done has never been a Janet thing but she willingly went this morning with Heather, Laurel and Courtney for a pedi and a mani. It was not easy for me to let her nails grow as long as they got but it seemed best to give the pro something to work with when the time came. All reports were that Janet did well while out with girls and her nails do look nice. Janet says the lunch they all went for was fun but the nail thing was so so. Had to be done and I’m glad the girls got to spend time on their own.

Girls day went pretty much until nap time for Janet but I did get her out for a walking trip down a nice long hallway in the hotel. She’d been sitting a lot and needed that stretch. Her walking was quite good once she warmed up.

After her nap it was off to the birthday BBQ at Heather and Allan’s. This was our first visit to their new home and a nice one it is. There are a few steps for Janet to negotiate and using her nice strong legs she managed very well. Janet was excited to see so many of the family gathered together, especially Andrew, whom she greeted with a cheery “hi honey”. Something Janet never would have said pre injury. Cute.

Heather and Allan did a great job cooking for and hosting everyone and tonight was a nice warm up for the wedding festivities which start tomorrow. Praying for a night of re energizing sleep and a fun Friday.

Janet, A Success Story. June 9. #TSJ

There’s never a dull day with Janet. Today was supposed to be a little special in that Janet would be home for dinner after going to the doctor this afternoon. She was quite excited about coming home and we both thought the doctor visit would be one of relief as her ears were to be cleaned out. After getting all of her therapy sessions done by lunchtime, Janet had a quick nap which ended soon after I arrived to pick her up then we took off for the ear cleaning.

Since Janet walked so well the last time we were at the doctor and all we were doing was going home after, we left the wheelchair at Connect. Janet stepped nicely up a three inch curb as we walked into the doctor’s office. The flushing out of the right ear went really well, not so with the left. That was the one most plugged and Janet was in considerable pain as the doctor was shooting water in her ear so she stopped and instructed us to put oil in Janet’s ear for another three days to soften the wax then come back for more pressure washing.

At home, all seemed relatively fine as we sat in the sun for a bit then walked across the grass to see the neighbour’s new deck. Yes, we risked stepping down the huge steps out to our patio and Janet did a solid job. She made it back up with some assistance and was quite pleased she was able to negotiate the steps so well. Janet said her ear hurt a little. She helped me make dinner and enjoyed eating it until her ear started to gradually bother her more and more. I put some oil in it hoping that might soothe the pain, nope. Tylenol didn’t help either nor did ice cream believe it or not. By the time we were driving past the airport on our way back to Connect Janet was actually crying with pain. My thoughts then were to grab her meds and take her to KGH but she then told me she was hearing crackling sounds in her ear. I assured her that was a good thing and when we got to Connect Chelsea came to the rescue. Janet’s doctor cautioned us not to use Q-tips as there is a risk of pushing the wax too far back into the ear. Fair enough but with Janet in pain something had to be done and Chelsea was confident she could get some wax out in order to relieve that pain. Armed with Q-tips and a special ear cleaning probe she went to work and fifteen minutes later Janet was pain free and able to hear better too. Well done Chelsea! The oil treatments will continue and Janet will still go for another round of pressure washing but for now at least it seems like the worst is over.

We did have a brief time to read before I left and Janet was tucked in comfortably with a smile on her face confident she’ll be able to sleep well. God continues to bless us with caring and skilled people and I pray that Janet has a pain free night and a productive Tuesday.