20th of February

7.27pm Wednesday evening. Today Jaana had her first rehab sessions down here. She was very tired in the end after a morning session and then an afternoon one. In the middle of all this I promised her to take her for lunch. We went to a nice fish restaurant by the sea where we have eaten many times before. She recognized the place and the owner with whom we chit-chated a bit. Her spirit is still very fragile and she is crying a lot (sometimes of sadness and sometimes from being happy). The occupational therapist will proceed rather gently and the physiotherapist moved straight in and commenced a thorough evaluation. She will have OT/PT every day and ST 4 times a week. In addition, there will be things we do at home, when going for lunch (I have promised to take her out 2-3 times a week) and when ever there is time and will.
The kids are happy to have mom back, specially Camille. She draws pictures and jumps up in her bed all the time and wants to be close to her. All three of them are now enjoying school which pleases me the out most.

18th of February

5.08pm Monday afternoon. Last night Jaana slept like a log. With the time difference and the trip to get over, she fell asleep around 5pm and woke up after 6am. I left to get the kids to school around 7am and when I got back she was wide awake and had already showered. I have a nurse assistant to help out during the day with various things. Around noon I told Jaana that I was going to the closest town to buy some quiche for her. She got very sad and wanted to say something. We have made up this way that I go through the alphabet and she raises the finger when to stop. This way she told me in Swedish: "I want to come along". We were both so happy to communicate and she immediately started crying when she realized that she will be able to make me understand more and more what she wants (even though I am sure there are plenty of misunderstandings). Anyway, we went down to Holetown and grabbed a table at her favorite brasserie. She had Blackened Dolphin fish (no, it is not flipper) which is a fantastic fish in Cajun spices pan fried to blacken. With some gazpacho, water, diet coke and beer with the fish, she was well content. Then back to the house, I left to pick up the kids. She did not want to let go of my hand and got a bit sad. She had a fantastic day and I think she is enjoying her life more and more. She knows it is only getting better, and with more work, it will do so faster.

16th of February

1.21pm Saturday afternoon. JAANA IS HOME! Yesterday after a few delays we arrived in Barbados safe and sound. She was a bit nervous of how the kids were going to react to seeing her and was scared to "disappoint" them. However though, as you all know, the kids and myself did not expect to look for any miracles, rather to get Jaana home. Everyone is very pleased to have her here. She is a bit tired, but not too bad. After a few days rest, she will recommence her rehabilitation program on Wednesday, with physio, occupational and speech therapy. On Monday, we will have a nurse assistant starting to help out with showering and toilet visits etc. In addition, I will replace the previous house keeper so Parmi will get some better help with everything around the house. Parmi was very please to see Jaana again and Jaana felt the same. They really get along very well together and Parmi is a trooper.

A quick reminder since it seems like many of you are requesting contact info. It can all be found on a posting around the 1st of November 2007.

12th of February

7.28am Tuesday morning. I spoke for a short time to Jaana just now and she was very tired. Seemed like she has a small cold, but that is nothing which some warm dry Barbados weather can take care of. The house is more or less prepared for her even though we are still waiting for the container from Singapore. She will be discharged from the center on Wednesday lunch time, but Jaana and I will not leave until Friday morning.
I am flying this late afternoon to Stockholm via London, and will not bring my computer. Therefore, the next blogg posting will be with the whole family reunited at home. We can not wait...

7th of February

7.02am Thursday morning. I just came off the phone with Jaana. She was a bit sad again and is ready to come home now. I have now booked myself to leave Barbados Thuesday evening and be up in Stockholm Wednesday afternoon. I will then watch Jaana during her rehab for a day and we will leave Friday morning at 9.30m. During this time I will meet with the therapist and get a better understanding what they have done and are currently focusing on. Everything is line up here so I think her transition should be a smooth one.
The kids are doing fine. Now Camille and Totte seem to have found all the friends and Ludwig still has hiw Danish/Norwegian buddy he plays with. Unfortunately they are not in the same class, but it works out anyway.
A few days ago there was a meeting with all Swedes in Barbados. There are 65 down here, which is a lot more than I thought. Many with kids and they are now planing on getting on with extra Swedish education for the children! Fantastic, bonus I think.

3rd of February

5.05pm Sunday afternoon. Jaana has had some vacation this weekend, being at her mothers. Eventhough she might be a bit more tired monday morning, I am confident that she enjoyed not being at Humlegarden over the weekend. When there is no therapy and nothing special going on, it must feel quite long. Anyway, she is back now and will commence the last two weeks. It might depending on flights that the last week will be cut a bit short.
Kids went swimming today. Ludde had his friend over and Camille is crying since he did not let her play with them...

2nd of February

9.07pm Saturday evening. Jaana has made steady progress lately, with focus being made on occupational and speech therapy. Her hand skills have gotten a lot better and she is now working with a machine called the LightWriter. With this she can write and then the machine will spell out the text. It is true that a normal laptop could do the same, but this is rather smaller and specialized. To be able to do this, she has been working a lot with hand exercises.
The therapist in Sweden has suggested that it would be good if she could stay for another week. Naturally, she is very keen on coming home, but has agreed to extend her stay until 14th of February. So we will need to wait a bit longer, but she is fighting for everyone!
Down here preparation is on its way. The physio table/bed is getting ready, a huge mirror should be installed next week, a drive way for wheelchair has been created and various equipment will join her from Sweden. There are still some small issues with bathroom/shower which is being worked on. I have assembled a great team of therapist and contacted two neurologists here in Barbados. Furthermore, introduction was made before with a neurosurgeon, just to have the contact.
I have ordered more frequent fogging of the premises to avoid mosquito bites. This is common practice (and learned in Singapore) to keep them at bay. As we found some rats as well (close to the cane fields) poison and traps has been established.
The kids are doing fine. Tomorrow we should try to head out to do some buggie boarding which the boys love. Camille is not as eager to swim as her brothers, and is still on Singapore shopping detox. Shopping here is far and few between, so I guess I will fill up a couple of bags very quickly during my 12 hour stay in Sweden in a couple of weeks.