WHAT EVER HAPPENED...? "My IEP"

MY IEP

As I stated earlier in my book, I often wrote a special education student’s Individualized Education Plan [IEP] with specific information about that one child. By the end of my career (2007), these once-useful documents outlining goals for the student to reach became “cookie cutter” pieces of paper that I despised. They were computerized and only vaguely personalized.

I never minded writing them in the early part of my career. But, by the end, they were a hideous chore that I could no longer understand or do well. I genuinely missed the “old days” when modern technology didn’t get in my way.

Therefore – I decided for this book, I’ve turned into being both student and teacher and I’ll write my own IEP to help me with my behavior and memory. Of course, I’ll do it the old-fashioned way and write accurate, specific-to-me goals, so I can help myself improve. This should be fun! Let’s see….

The “student” (meaning me) will:

1.    Count to 10 when someone does or says something that upsets her

2.    Repeat the above goal to a higher number than 10 if necessary

3.    Be rewarded for each day that appropriate behavior is noticed [i.e., chocolate]

4.    Be given extra time to complete all tasks since she is unable to be rushed

5.    Be allowed interactions in spaces with minimal distractions

6.    Be respectful of another person’s viewpoint/opinion

7.    Be less reactive when something is said that is personal and hurtful

8.    Be a better listener

9.    Rest when necessary to be able to complete tasks later in the day

10.  Be able to state, “I’ll get back to you” or “no” in a calm voice when asked by someone else to complete a task

11.  Decrease the amount of worrying

12.  Learn how to take better care of self (i.e., eat more fruits and vegetables/exercise more)

13.  Be able to find more positives than negatives in each and every situation and relationship

14.  Use communication when agitated

15.  Be able to state on the telephone, “I have to go” when becoming upset before saying something that she would regret

16.  Be able to be more patient with people who are employees at offices

17.  Be less observational of others’ mistakes

18.  Be less impulsive and think things through thoroughly before taking any sort of action

19.  Be less agitated with other drivers who do not drive carefully

20.  Be able to smile more often

21.  Be more careful with the way money is spent

22.  Develop a long list of coping mechanisms to deal with all aspects of life

23.  Be able to laugh more often

24.  Be able to take “snow days” once in a while to take time off to decompress (as she once did as a teacher)

25.  Talk to God whenever she needs to feel better [or the public school version, “meditate”]

     An ironic thing about this IEP list that I wrote about myself is that I have more behavior goals listed than I used to have to write for my students. That confirms what I already knew: many of my students were better behaved then than I am now.

I (Douglas Winslow Cooper) have been excerpting, weekly, material from this almost-final version of the fine book by Janet Johnson Schliff, M.S. Ed., which she wrote over a three-year period with some coaching and editing help from me, through my business, Write Your Book with Me.

Her memoir is now available in paperback and ebook formats from Outskirts Press  and amazon.com: 

What Ever Happened to My White Picket Fence? My Brain Injury from My Massive Brain Tumor

                                              ###

BOOK TALKS AND SIGNINGS

Janet Johnson Schliff spoke at the Oblong Books Bookstore in Rhinebeck, NY, on Tuesday, February 6 at 6 p.m.

Janet was on WKNY Radio 1490 in Kingston, NY, on Thursday, March 1 at 9:10 a.m. 

Janet spoke at Barnes & Noble in Kingston, NY, on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m. 

Janet spoke at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on March 6 at 7 p.m. 

Janet spoke at the Golden Notebook Bookstore in Woodstock, NY, on March 17 at 2 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Morton Library in Rhinecliff, NY, on March 28 at 6:30 p.m. 

Janet spoke at RCAL in Kingston, NY, on April 3 at 4 p.m. [They gave her an impromptu book-launch party.]

Janet spoke at the Parkinson's Support Group at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on April 4 at 2:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Stone Ridge Library in Stone Ridge, NY, on April 27 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Hurley Library in Hurley, NY, on May 4 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Kingston Library in Kingston, NY, on May 9 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Staatsburg Library in Staatsburg, NY, on May 14 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Clinton Community Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on May 31 at 6:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, NY, on June 9 at noon.

Janet spoke at the Gardiner Library in Gardiner, NY, on June 11 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Marbletown Community Center in Stone Ridge, NY, on June 20 at 6 p.m.

Janet was interviewed on radio station WTBQ-FM (93.5) on June 29 at 12 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Esopus Library in Port Ewen, NY, on July 13 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Pine Plains Library in Pine Plains, NY, on July 20 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Ulster Library in Kingston, NY, on July 23 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Northern Dutchess Bible Church in Red Hook, NY, on August 11 at 1 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New Paltz, NY, on September 6 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie, NY, on September 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Janet was interviewed on radio station WRIP-FM (97.9) on September 21 at 8 a.m.

Janet again spoke at the Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, NY, on September 22 at noon.

Janet spoke at the Enchanted Cafe in Red Hook, NY, on September 28 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Hyde Park Library in Hyde Park, NY, on October 4 at 7 p.m.

Janet participated in an Author Weekend at the Barnes & Noble in Poughkeepsie, NY, on October 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Tivoli Library in Tivoli, NY, on October 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet’s interview for the TV program Wake Up with Marci on the You Too America Channel aired on Monday, November 5, and Friday, November 9. It can now be found on the Internet.

Janet spoke at the Germantown Library in Germantown, NY, on November 7 at 6:00 p.m.

Janet participated in the Red Hook Middle School's College and Career Cafe in Red Hook, NY,  on December 19 at 10:30 a.m.

More signings will be coming up. A fine feature about Janet by John DeSantos [845 LIFE] appeared in the Middletown Times Herald-Record on Monday, March 12, as part of Brain Injury Awareness Month. An article about her book was just published in the May 2018 Living Rhinebeck Magazine. An article about her book appeared in the May 14 Daily Freeman of Kingston, NY. and another in the Family Life section of the Poughkeepsie Journal on June 8th. The Millerton News published an article on Thursday, August 2, about her talk at the Pine Plains Library. 

MANAGE NURSING CARE AT HOME, How? Part 3, Infection, Contamination, HIPAA

INFECTION CONTROL

        Homes, as well as hospitals, have got to maintain strict practices if infection of the patient or the caregivers is to be avoided. This brief presentation cannot cover all important aspects of infection control, but it should help you understand the major issues.

       

        The basic elements of infection are viruses, bacteria, and fungi (yeast, etc.).  Viruses are not quite alive, but they capture the mechanisms of a cell to enable themselves to be replicated, often damaging the host; flu and HIV viruses are familiar. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that can replicate on their own but use the host to enhance their growth; gastro-intestinal ailments and skin wound infections are typically due to bacteria. Fungi are single-celled or multi-celled organisms that, like bacteria, feed off the host; they spread by producing spores; “yeast” infections are due to fungi.

      

        A systematic approach to infection control looks at the following items:

Sources: Infected people are the major hazard. Post notices that people with colds should not come in the house or the room. That includes nurses, unless they are wearing respiratory equipment, not just masks, but equipment that completely filters what they exhale (e.g., through a HEPA filter, a High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter, an “absolute filter” 99.9+% efficient). Face masks allow leakage around the edges in contact with the skin and are usually made of low-efficiency filter material. They do prevent spit from speaking or coughing from becoming airborne. Unfortunately, the patient may come home from the hospital with an infection (“nosocomial” or “iatrogenic”), perhaps “colonized,” quite possibly a danger to the staff and family.

Transmission: Coughing, talking, sneezing, as well as shedding from exposed skin, make the organisms airborne, allowing them to travel to the patient, unless the patient is breathing air which is filtered by an absolute filter.  Direct surface contact occurs when the patient is touched by someone who is contaminated. Indirect surface contact occurs when a contaminated person touches a surface that is subsequently touched by the patient or by someone who touches the patient. Instruments brought into contact with the patient can carry infectious agents (“germs”), which are particularly dangerous when the skin is broken, or the probe goes inside the body. Food and drink and medicines can bring dangerous biological agents, as well, although the stomach is not sterile, and its acidity generally handles the destruction of most organisms without allowing illness.

Barriers: For airborne transmission, one can try to direct clean air toward the patient and against the flow of contaminated air; pharmaceutical and microelectronics manufacturing cleanrooms are kept at higher pressures than their environments, and the pressure in a ventilator mask can be set so as not to become a slight vacuum when the patient inhales, so that it is always at a “positive pressure” with respect to the air in the room. Contact transmission from caregivers and others is reduced using disposable gloves, which themselves must be kept clean or replaced frequently. Sometimes, a second pair is worn over the first, so that a change can be made readily when the outer pair become contaminated. Caregivers and visitors should wash their hands thoroughly before and after coming in contact with the patient, preferably with an antibacterial soap. Ideally, objects brought into contact with the patient would be clean and sterile, but in practice those objects making external contact are cleaned and disinfected (e.g., with alcohol/water or vinegar/water solutions), rather than sterilized (e.g., with bleach or iodine solutions or submersion in boiling water), which is appropriate for internal contact or contact with broken skin.  Wounds and sores are protected with antibiotic ointments or petroleum jelly and with impermeable coverings such as bandages, except where exposure to the air through a gauze dressing is prescribed instead.

Removal: Although little can be done to remove airborne agents once inhaled, those that settle on the skin can be removed with washing and disinfecting or even using sterilizing solutions. Where cuts are involved, the value of sterility may be offset by the possible chemical harshness of a sterilizing agent, leading to the use instead of various “antibacterial” solutions that include soap and anti-microbial chemicals, or simply soap, or an alcohol/water solution and rubbing with the fabric containing it. Harmful chemicals that are ingested are sometimes removed by encouraging vomiting, using an emetic liquid, but one rarely knows that a liquid with dangerous germs has recently been ingested.

Hardening the target: To make the patient less susceptible to infection is a major goal of the maintenance of general good health, including optimal nutrition and adequate sleep. Viral infections must be defeated by the patient; vaccinations help prepare the immune system for this battle. For the elderly, however, flu shots are often only 50% efficient, and for younger people only somewhat better. We require our nurses to get vaccinated against the flu, as do the patients and the family.

Remedy: If the patient becomes ill, the causal organism is determined, and medicine prescribed, if available. As noted, little can be done about most viruses once they are active, except to maintain the patient’s general health. For a urinary tract infection, a common ailment in chronic illness situations, a urine sample is taken and tested against available drugs, a “culture and sensitivity” test, which will indicate to which antibiotics the organism is “sensitive,” meaning susceptible. Secretions from the lung, sputum, can be analyzed similarly for the same purpose. An infected wound will be treated by a broad-spectrum antibiotic cream or ointment, often after receiving wiping with a disinfectant or a sterilizing agent in a pad. These infections can lead to more general, systemic, infections which must be caught immediately (by noting elevated temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate) and treated with antibiotics, administered orally, by gastric tube, intravenously, or by intra-muscular injections, as ordered by the doctor.

CONTAMINATION CONTROL

         The considerations for contamination control are like those for infection control, except that it would be unusual for a contaminating chemical to reach the patient in a dose large enough to cause illness. Sources need to be identified and eliminated or minimized. Transmission through the air is prevented using clean air flowing toward the source rather than from it or using filters, filtered air supply, and facemasks for the patient and caregivers. Face masks generally will reduce the inhaled concentration of airborne solids and liquids (aerosols) but not eliminate them and rarely are they effective on toxic gases, should any be present.

    

        Spills of liquids and powders need to be cleaned up carefully and thoroughly. A spill should be absorbed in a wiper that is then discarded; next, the area is rinsed with clean water, and that water absorbed, and that wiper discarded, too. Wipe from the cleanest toward the dirtiest, from the driest toward the wettest. Gloves should be used. Using a damp wipe on the patient’s skin will transfer some skin oils and salts from caregiver to patient, unless the wipe is held in a glove. Liquids or powders spilled onto the floor represent a hazard from reduced traction for the staff, leading to slips and falls. Even a dry cloth or paper on the floor can represent a hazard; we lost a nurse for three months after she slipped on a dryer anti-static sheet in our laundry room. [She should not have dropped it, should have picked it up, should have not stepped on it, but “should” doesn’t mean “didn’t.”]

      

        Removal of contaminants from the patient is normally done with soap and water or alcohol and water, again with a gloved hand holding a clean, damp wipe. Removal is completed when the surface is wiped dry.

HIPAA CONTROL

        This section alerts you to the risk of running afoul of the Federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, HIPAA. Basically, you want to keep medical information confidential. Grant (2014) describes the mechanisms necessary to achieve and maintain compliance. He represents a company that offers services of this kind: The Compliancy Group, LLC. “LLC” for “Limited Liability Corporation” means they have taken steps to incorporate and limit their liability, just in case. In case of what? In case someone takes their advice, gets in trouble with the Feds, and tries to blame Grant and Group. They offer The Guard, to control the audit process: “regulatory review, risk analysis, risk management, document management, and incident management.” You can contact them at info@compliancygroup.com.

        A homeowner is not likely to need the Group’s services but is well advised to keep the medical information of the patient restricted to those with what the government calls “need to know.” The doctors treating the patient will likely want the protection of signed acknowledgment of their HIPAA policies, restrictions, and practices designed to safeguard patient information.

        The seriousness of these HIPAA issues is reflected in the costs of the ebooks on the topic at Amazon. The first 15 in terms of relevance ranged from $1 to $430, with half costing $25 or more.

        The manager of nursing care at home should assure that sensitive information is not stored on computers connected to the Internet and that paper copies be carefully handled to prevent theft or loss.

    ###

Contact information:

Diane R. Beggin, RN

40 Sycamore Drive

Montgomery, NY 12549

DianeBegginRN@gmail.com

http://ManageNursingCareAtHome.com

Our book is available from amazon.com, bn.com, and OutskirtsPress.com: How to Manage Nursing Care at Home

MANAGE NURSING CARE AT HOME, How? Part 2, "Hospitalizations"

HOSPITALIZATIONS

During the seven years since Tina’s crisis, we have had an additional few hospitalizations, generally for a week each, and generally associated with an infection of some kind. Respiratory infections are the most dangerous, but urinary tract infections can also become systemic and life-threatening.

If the infective agent is a virus, not much can be done to fight it except to support the patient as her immune system battles to save her life. Combating secondary bacterial infection is often required, too. A bacterial pathogen is likely to be susceptible to antibiotic treatment. A mild broad-spectrum antibiotic might suffice, though often one needs a stronger drug tailored to the specific type of organism, Gram-negative or Gram-positive, staphylococcus or pseudomonas, etc. Medicine that can be given orally (by gastric tube, in Tina’s case) is more easily administered than medicine that needs to be given intravenously. In Tina’s case, several such IV treatments have left her arm and foot veins too fragile.  That’s why a chest-level port will be needed.

When she is hospitalized, we have our own nurses accompany her, doing as little or as much as the hospital staff is comfortable with. This is expensive, as our insurance does not cover this second layer of nurses; but it assures that her special needs are understood and receive attention. It provides continuity of care for her and continuity of employment for the nurses.

                        

FIGHTING FOR YOUR PATIENT

You will want to get as familiar with your patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis as you can. While the patient is in the hospital or at home, you will need to keep alert and to ask questions. During the 100 days my [DWC’s] wife was in the Critical Care Unit of our Orange County [NY] Regional Medical Center, I did just this, as described in our book, Ting and I, in the Foreword written by our principal doctor on the case, Richard F. Walker, MD:

Intensive care specialists learn to cope with the possibility of bad outcomes, in part, by de-personalizing the patient into a series of physiologic challenges, much as the combat soldier might resist making very close friends when the chance of death is ever-present. The battle for life, then, consists of attempts by the medical staff to raise blood oxygen, combat infection, preserve nutrition and urinary output and avoid hospital-acquired infection.

　

The physician thus runs the risk of partially replacing the patient as the object of care by worrying about the frequency of reportable iatrogenic complications, medico-legal risks and reimbursement considerations.

　

Dr. Jerome Groopman in his excellent book How Doctors Think describes the biases and decision-making consequences of such distractions, as well as the dangers of projecting one’s own concept of meaningful existence onto others. He specifically singles out the important role of the patient or patient-advocate in refocusing the physician on what is objectively possible and beneficial.

　

Such a bias crept into my own thinking as my mounting feelings of hopelessness at returning Tina to a level of function worthy of the effort were rejected by Doug. His exhortations for better care were often viewed by me as selfishly motivated and without sufficient regard for the burden and suffering the illness was creating for Tina. My attempts to gauge her feelings during Doug’s infrequent absences from her bedside revealed that her goals mirrored his. I attributed her attitude to a desire not to hurt or disappoint him, or to stereotypical Asian stoicism.

　

Doug tirelessly directed the attention of the health care team to seemingly trivial aspects of her care, asking detailed questions and demanding satisfactory answers, even occasionally suggesting changes in her care plan. My periodic annoyance, hopefully not always apparent, served to refocus my attention away from the pathophysiology and back to Tina. What I did not initially realize was that Doug’s persistence was improving his wife’s care.

Being human, doctors and nurses respond to encouragement and criticism, and your attitude will affect theirs. Up to a point, the more interest you show, the more involved they will be. Any virtue can be overdone, however, and one must gauge whether you are risking raising hostility rather than improving care.

YOUR NURSES, YOUR DOCTOR, THEIR HOSPITAL

Recently (February 2016), our 71-year-old quadriplegic patient became ill, running a fever (rectal, body core temperature of 104°F), and she was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room of the regional medical center, a new facility built a few years ago, located some 20 miles from our home. 

Much had changed since she was at the same hospital three years ago: there are no longer restrictions on visiting hours. Patients and their visitors are allowed to use cell phones now. In general, an effort was made to make it convenient for patients and their families.

As is our practice, we had our nurses accompany her while going to and from and while staying at the hospital, even though our insurance does not cover doing that.

Having our own nurses there has the advantage that errors made by the hospital staff are likely to be picked up and corrected. In one case, a hospital nurse inadvertently and unobtrusively left a tourniquet on our patient’s foot after drawing a blood sample. A while afterward, our own nurse noticed that one foot was different in color from the other, and when our nurse investigated further, she found that indeed the tourniquet had been left on. She removed it. The first two nights, our patient did not sleep well. On the third day, our nurse noted that the hospital staff had not given our patient her nighttime Ativan anti-anxiety medication. When this was done on the third night, after the omission was brought to the attention of the hospital staff, our patient slept much better.

In some instances, our nurses were able to accelerate some aspects of the care, either by helping or by calling her needs to the attention of the hospital staff.

Generally, it seems likely that having one’s own nurses to help and observe improves the care the patient receives, especially where the patient has problems communicating or understanding, as was true here.

We tell our nurses to do as much or as little as the hospital is comfortable having them do. We found that the hospital staff was very cooperative with our nurses, something we greatly appreciated.

It can be a bit boring for our nurses to have less to do while on hospital duty with our patient, but perhaps the change of scene and the fact that they’re getting paid without having direct responsibility offsets the disadvantage of possible boredom.

Communicating to our staff the whereabouts of the patient in this situation is a little complicated, but cell phone calls and texting allowed us to coordinate the nurses’ attendance, first at the hospital and then back home right after our patient returned.

In talking with the doctors to try to get an unambiguous diagnosis, I found there was a lot of ambiguity. The chest x-rays which could indicate whether or not there was pneumonia were complicated by the presence of a bit of post-mastectomy prosthesis material placed two decades earlier in the area in front of the lower right lobe of the lung, and initially a haziness seen there was interpreted as pneumonia, but later this region was ignored after the issue of a prosthesis was raised. Of course, ignoring that region would miss signs of pneumonia that happened to be there.

Using two antibiotics intravenously, the hospital rapidly returned our patient’s vital signs to her normal levels, essentially overnight. The next few days, these vital signs remained relatively normal, and we waited for results from the analyses of urine and blood samples taken the first day.

Our patient entered the hospital Sunday evening, and she was cleared by the infectious disease specialist MD to leave the hospital Wednesday evening, which we did. It never became clear what the cause of her fever was, but the infectious disease specialist indicated it was probably pneumonia, which, if viral, was cured by the patient’s immune system, and if bacterial, was eradicated by vancomycin and Zosyn antibiotics. Interestingly, hospital personnel advised us to get our patient discharged as soon as it was safe to do so, as hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections were common.

Our patient came home with a revised list of prescriptions, including prescriptions for yet a third and fourth antibiotic, Levaquin and Macrodantin. Two days later, we reviewed the revised prescriptions with our own family doctor, who concurred in the antibiotic additions, but who mostly decided to retain the doses and timing that we originally had for her other medications, rather than adopt the somewhat different recommendations of the hospitalist.

Hospitals prefer to use their doctors rather than yours. When our patient was admitted to the hospital, we requested that her pulmonologist be involved in consulting about her care. Although it was decided that she would be admitted to the hospital by the authority of the hospitalist, we were given to understand that her pulmonologist would be consulted.

He did not come the following day, Monday, so on Tuesday morning, I [DWC] drove to his office a mile or so away from the hospital, and I talked with his secretary, as he was out of town. She indicated that he was aware that we wanted him involved, but the hospital had raised a bureaucratic objection to this. I immediately returned to the hospital, talked with the patients’ advocate department, who were very accommodating, and it was quickly arranged that our pulmonologist be invited to consult, which he did that evening and the next day. So, while the hospital initially made it difficult for our private doctor to be involved, their appeal process worked quite well.

By the time our pulmonologist arrived, the patient’s vital signs were nearly normal, as were her lung sounds, and there had been no clear indication of pneumonia on the chest x-rays, so he hypothesized other causes, none of which explained the 104-degree rectal thermometer reading Sunday night, nor its rapid reduction after the administration of IV antibiotics.

While at the hospital, we met the pulmonologist who had been involved with our patient’s care 12 years previously, and she seemed to be readily available there, so the next time we may use her rather that our private pulmonologist. That plan suggests that we establish a continuing relationship with the hospital’s MD, having our patient see her perhaps twice a year, as we were doing with the other pulmonologist who had difficulty getting to the hospital when we needed him.

In general, we were quite satisfied with the care provided by the hospital, and their cooperativeness and their willingness to have our patient leave after a short stay, to help reduce the risk of her picking up germs from other patients.

   

    Another plus for the hospital’s practices is that they made the results of all the tests done available, at a website that we could access once we set up a user identification name and a password. We were able to print out the results and bring a subset of these to our family doctor two days later when we wanted to discuss the wisdom of changing the prescriptions.

    ###

Contact information:

Diane R. Beggin, RN

40 Sycamore Drive

Montgomery, NY 12549

DianeBegginRN@gmail.com

http://ManageNursingCareAtHome.com

Our book is available from amazon.com, bn.com, and OutskirtsPress.com: How to Manage Nursing Care at Home

WHAT EVER HAPPENED...? "Tribute from Friend Marla"

          Janet asked me to write a piece for her book. She didn’t give me too many specifics regarding content, so I have had difficulty getting started. Janet told me to feel free to say whatever I want to say. Of course, if there were negatives, I would not include them, but there are no negatives in Janet’s story that she would not hesitate to tell you herself. Janet is a very interesting person who is in love with Mickey Mouse. A smile comes across my face as I type.

I first met Janet when she took over teaching my special education class for the summer session. This was not an easy summer job. There were only six students in the class, but they all had severe behavior problems and serious learning disabilities. As my replacement, Janet had the lucky opportunity to work with my dedicated teacher assistant, Beverly K. Following the summer session, Janet was hired full-time by our school district and became my colleague.

I was awed by Janet. She was extremely capable, hard-working, dedicated, energetic, and seemed to master the job with ease. Janet loved all her students and did her best for every single one of them. She was creative in her teaching. One of my memories from way back then was a weekly assembly program Janet and her class was responsible for. Janet had her girls dressed as a current rock-and-roll group. She taught them to lip-sync and do accompanying choreography. Janet turned this activity into a reading lesson using the “whole language approach.” [Ed.: The whole language approach favors having children recognize whole words as such rather than using the “phonics” approach, which has the students break down the words, analyzing them phonetically.] Janet gave every child in her class a world-class Disney-themed birthday party. She went out of her way to make each child feel special and loved. (Most of our students came from troubled families. Many of them had never experienced a birthday party given in their honor.)

          Way back when, probably in the very late 1980s or early 1990s, Janet was a very fast talker. To this day, she continues to be able to squeeze more information and words into thirty seconds than almost anyone I know. I love to teasingly ask her to “please repeat that a little faster.” Along with her ability to be a faster-than-fast talker, Janet lacked a filter. There were many times back then when I was stunned at the things Janet would say to authority figures (the school principal, site supervisor, or even the superintendent of schools). Janet said exactly what was on her mind and never seemed to suffer any negative consequences. My mouth would hang open listening to Janet, while feelings of jealousy grew inside me. Janet would say things I wanted to, but I would not dare. I was amazed at how she got away with it.

          Janet was a dynamo of a teacher. She was the school district whole language expert and taught many workshops in which she trained other teachers to use the whole language method of teaching reading. Janet made reading fun for kids.

I remember Janet’s classroom being overloaded with beautiful books of all shapes and sizes. “Big books” were a large part of the whole language approach. Janet purchased the majority of them with her own funds, usually spending up to $6000 per school year on books and classroom supplies. (The government only allows teachers a $250 per year tax deduction for classroom expenses.) To supplement the student desks, Janet equipped her room with a comfy couch, bean-bag chairs, and rugs.

Some people may have described Janet’s classroom as cluttered. The walls were covered with colorful posters, and the shelves were full of manipulative learning materials as well as books and supplies. Educators often have different opinions on what the best learning environment should look like. Some people might say that Janet’s room was too stimulating for hyperactive, attention-deficit students. Other teachers might view it as a highly stimulating environment that makes children want to learn and tweaks their curiosity. Janet would have special activity days devoted entirely to reading for pleasure. (I doubt any teacher would dare to attempt such a thing in today’s classrooms.)

As far as I know, Janet started having a fear of germs after she changed school districts. I didn’t realize how serious and debilitating that fear was for her. I remember meeting Janet for lunch at a diner one day after school. Janet pulled out her bottle of [hand sanitizer] and wiped down the salt and pepper shakers, as well as the utensils. She told me she was seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist. I knew life was rough for Janet, but I don’t think I fully understood how much she was suffering. I suppose her fear of germs greatly interfered with her ability to do her job. At that point, I knew Janet had a very serious problem.

My memory fails me, but I’m sure Janet has explained all the details of exactly what her experience had been. In time, Janet told me that she found out she had a brain tumor. I think it was July when she had her surgery at NYU Medical Center. I hopped on the bus to New York City to visit her.

When I walked into Janet’s hospital room, I was shocked. She looked terrible. Her face was swollen; her mouth was not in the position it belonged; her head was bandaged up, but she was smiling and happy. Her two sisters, Joyce and Jayne, stood at the foot of her bed. They had just returned from going to a cupcake bakery and handed Janet a huge chocolate cupcake. Janet had tears oozing out of the corners of her eyes. She stated something like, “I don’t have to wash my hands! I’m cured! I can’t believe that I’m not afraid of germs!” Janet wasn’t able to eat more than a few bites at that moment. She then proceeded to tell me that the doctor had removed from her brain a tumor that was the size of an orange. Her instant cure from germ-phobia was a miracle.

Janet has had problems getting along with her family throughout the time I have known her. I suppose that the tumor blocked out the “filter” most of us possess when relating to other people. The day I visited Janet in the hospital, she was enjoying a loving, supportive relationship with her sisters. I was told that her parents also journeyed to New York from their Florida home to help and support Janet during her recovery. Months, or perhaps a year or two, after her surgery, Janet again suffered some estrangement from her family. Looking back now, I suppose that the tumor blocked Janet’s social filter, and the tumor and her operation have left some residual damage.

The Janet I know today can still talk faster than anyone I know. She works hard at taking good care of herself and managing her life as a brain-injured person, due to the trauma caused by the tumor and the operation. Janet continues to be a dynamo of energy. Janet, Beverly, and I meet once every six months to catch up with one another. It is a time we all look forward to. Janet is an Energizer Bunny. Like the Timex watch claim, she takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’!

I love Janet and admire her bravery and perseverance.

I (Douglas Winslow Cooper) have been excerpting, weekly, material from this almost-final version of the fine book by Janet Johnson Schliff, M.S. Ed., which she wrote over a three-year period with some coaching and editing help from me, through my business, Write Your Book with Me.

Her memoir is now available in paperback and ebook formats from Outskirts Press  and amazon.com: 

What Ever Happened to My White Picket Fence? My Brain Injury from My Massive Brain Tumor

                                              ###

BOOK TALKS AND SIGNINGS

Janet Johnson Schliff spoke at the Oblong Books Bookstore in Rhinebeck, NY, on Tuesday, February 6 at 6 p.m.

Janet was on WKNY Radio 1490 in Kingston, NY, on Thursday, March 1 at 9:10 a.m. 

Janet spoke at Barnes & Noble in Kingston, NY, on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m. 

Janet spoke at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on March 6 at 7 p.m. 

Janet spoke at the Golden Notebook Bookstore in Woodstock, NY, on March 17 at 2 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Morton Library in Rhinecliff, NY, on March 28 at 6:30 p.m. 

Janet spoke at RCAL in Kingston, NY, on April 3 at 4 p.m. [They gave her an impromptu book-launch party.]

Janet spoke at the Parkinson's Support Group at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on April 4 at 2:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Stone Ridge Library in Stone Ridge, NY, on April 27 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Hurley Library in Hurley, NY, on May 4 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Kingston Library in Kingston, NY, on May 9 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Staatsburg Library in Staatsburg, NY, on May 14 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Clinton Community Library in Rhinebeck, NY, on May 31 at 6:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, NY, on June 9 at noon.

Janet spoke at the Gardiner Library in Gardiner, NY, on June 11 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Marbletown Community Center in Stone Ridge, NY, on June 20 at 6 p.m.

Janet was interviewed on radio station WTBQ-FM (93.5) on June 29 at 12 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Esopus Library in Port Ewen, NY, on July 13 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Pine Plains Library in Pine Plains, NY, on July 20 at 6 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Ulster Library in Kingston, NY, on July 23 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Northern Dutchess Bible Church in Red Hook, NY, on August 11 at 1 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New Paltz, NY, on September 6 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie, NY, on September 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Janet was interviewed on radio station WRIP-FM (97.9) on September 21 at 8 a.m.

Janet again spoke at the Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, NY, on September 22 at noon.

Janet spoke at the Enchanted Cafe in Red Hook, NY, on September 28 at 7 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Hyde Park Library in Hyde Park, NY, on October 4 at 7 p.m.

Janet participated in an Author Weekend at the Barnes & Noble in Poughkeepsie, NY, on October 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Janet spoke at the Tivoli Library in Tivoli, NY, on October 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Janet’s interview for the TV program Wake Up with Marci on the You Too America Channel aired on Monday, November 5, and Friday, November 9. It can now be found on the Internet.

Janet spoke at the Germantown Library in Germantown, NY, on November 7 at 6:00 p.m.

Janet participated in the Red Hook Middle School's College and Career Cafe in Red Hook, NY,  on December 19 at 10:30 a.m.

More signings will be coming up. A fine feature about Janet by John DeSantos [845 LIFE] appeared in the Middletown Times Herald-Record on Monday, March 12, as part of Brain Injury Awareness Month. An article about her book was just published in the May 2018 Living Rhinebeck Magazine. An article about her book appeared in the May 14 Daily Freeman of Kingston, NY. and another in the Family Life section of the Poughkeepsie Journal on June 8th. The Millerton News published an article on Thursday, August 2, about her talk at the Pine Plains Library.