JKR Updates

Our remodel is finally 100% finished!  Thanks to DeVol Design, Build, and Remodel for taking such good care of us.  They were true professionals--courteous and sensitive to our situation, and everything looks beautiful!  I'm still marveling at the hardwood floors; in several areas they had to take up flooring, either to widen a doorway or because they removed walls.  They were able to save spare flooring from the old bathroom and replace the hardwood so that you can't even tell the flooring was touched! New cabinetry and mirror in the bathroom: *** Here are the new "barn doors" leading into the spare room adjacent to the bathroom.  You can't see it in the picture, but a pocket door was added between these two rooms so that the bathroom can be accessed either from that room or the hallway.   We're still struggling with what to call the spare room.  It used to be the "piano room," but nothing fits in there now but the couch and I d...

A quick apology to those of you who have attempted to comment on this blog, only to have your words disappear into cyberspace.  Apparently the comments were set by default to only allow comments from people with Google accounts.  Oops, sorry!  I have changed it, so it should work for everyone now.

First of all, thanks to my brother-in-law Todd for selling our car!  We are enjoying having the cash sitting in our bank account so much more than the car sitting in our driveway!  😀 In other news, this week Kevin and I were able to visit the Perlman Center at Cincinnati Children's so that Kevin could try out some eye-gaze technology.  As muscles in his fingers deteriorate, typing has become hunt-and-peck, or texting with thumbs.  In addition, it is difficult for him to hold his arms up to the keyboard. Essentially, the eye-gaze camera sits at the bottom of the computer monitor and tracks where he is looking at the screen.  Then Kevin can "select" (or click) on something simply by "dwelling" there (looking longer) or through the use of some kind of a button, which come in different sizes and shapes so that people can use them in whatever way is most helpful--even with a foot or by moving a leg.  Kevin liked a smaller button that he could cup under his pa...

A great big THANKS to Kevin's sister Jen who arranged for us to have some professional photos taken recently, as a way to celebrate our family and always remember this time together!  (And thanks to Jackie, the talented photographer who was willing to mask-up and venture our way, despite the windy days and rainy days and other obstacles Mother Nature sent our way.) A number of family members and close friends also recently send short videos to be compiled into a "virtual hug" for Kevin's birthday.  Thank you to all the contributors!  It was a bit of an emotional day to be sure, but it was so great to see the faces and hear the voices of so many people we love. Another series of thank-you's to the anonymous givers who sent the kids calligraphy paper and pens.  Lia in particular has been spending a lot of time learning such skills as how to add "bounce" and "flourish," and the results are amazing. Other fun crafts that have been...

Our remodel of the bathroom is almost complete!  We are now able to use all the "important" features, just waiting on the cabinetry to come in, and the barn doors for the adjoining room.  In the meantime, no workers in our house for a while means that Kaleb can have his morning Zoom meeting with his classmates without the sounds of hammering and drilling in the background. Thanks to Kyle, Steve, and Terry for building our ramp out the garage door this morning!  It is exactly what we needed and looks fantastic!

We are in need of 2-3 nearby men to help unload the hospital bed from Tim's truck into our garage on Thursday afternoon (April 9), around 4 or 4:30.  Let me know if you can help by calling me at home: 755-0625.  Thanks in advance! -Jane

The remodel of our bathroom continues.  Destruction is over and drywall went up last week.  This week the walls were painted and they have begun the tilework.  We will all be "relieved" (ahem) to have a toilet on the main level again. Yesterday we were able to have a telephone conference with Dr. Neel about some new issues and symptoms that Kevin is experiencing.  Even though we never did get the video portion of the call to work, it was comforting just to be able to relay our concerns and get his feedback.  He is prescribing an additional medicine, one that will hopefully slow down the degeneration of Kevin's swallowing ability and also help alleviate pseudobulbar affect (increased laughter/crying), which is common with ALS patients.  Kevin has made the decision to discontinue the voice banking; he has a significant number of phrases already with which to "build a voice" and the task is becoming more effortful. Earlier this week we were very blessed to...