Don't know about anyone else, but I can't believe it's September! Where did August go? Hmm...
Today we had a patient code on us right as we were going in to see him in the ICU. What does "code" mean? Simply put, his heart stopped working and he wasn't breathing. When this happens they page a "Code Blue" over the intercom and the nurses and doctors jump into action while we PT's try to stay out of the way. Think of all the TV and movie scenes with lots of people crammed around the patient and the horrible sound of a flatline (beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep), paddles out, yelling "CLEAR!". This is then followed by the pause where everyone holds their breath and hopes for the little blip on the screen that is a heartbeat. Fortunately, this man made it through, but now is in even worse condition than before. He has been in the hospital for well over the month and I have been working with him since the beginning of my rotation.
While all this was going on my heart was racing and I almost started crying because it seemed so surreal to be seeing this in live action instead of on the big screen. All I know is that someone was looking out for us, because the only reason we hadn't started treatment yet was because we were waiting to hear back from his nurse. Then we would have been blamed and possibly held accountable for what took place. Needless to say, we won't be treating him for a while.
This labor day weekend was spent at home, being a lazy bum and resting up. This rotation is hard work! I went shopping with my mom on Saturday and helped her spend her gift cards. I could get used to this! Thanks Mom! My dad and I saw "Julie & Julia" on Sunday, which was very cute and made me wish my blog was a little more interesting like the one in the movie. Sorry I don't have any pictures to put on here right now to spice things up. If you want cute pictures, you can pick from the many links on the left of this page (cute kids can be found on Jocelyn's, Melissa's, Betty's, and the Krills' blogs). I also caught up on laundry, finished my midterm review paperwork, and spent a lot of time researching for my inservice that I'll have to give in 3 weeks. Not a whole lot of excitement, but I think it's what I needed.
I've started getting brave and taking the 101-134-5 route to work (*gasp*). This all started when I had to leave extra early and via a different route due to multiple road closures surrounding the hospital for Michael Jackson's burial last week. A whole big to-do that inconvenienced a whole lot of people. Anyway, after encountering ZERO traffic that morning, I decided to give it another try, and again...no traffic. So this is my new route, which of course got jinxed this morning and I hit terrible traffic because of the water line breaking and resulting sink holes and road closures. I'll keep giving it a shot unless it gets worse.
Hope you all had a fun 3-day weekend and everyone is in good health. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as exciting as today...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Onto week 4...
I didn't realize how long it had been since I had written on here...my apologies! Although, strangely I find that I have less to talk about now that I'm not in class. Weird. Maybe it's the whole patient confidentiality thing.
Things have been going relatively well during my rotation thus far. I think I am starting to adjust to the fast pace of the hospital and getting more comfortable with working hands-on with patients. There have definitely been ups and downs, and every day is completely different. My CI and I have slight personality conflicts that I'm trying to work out. Things are getting better, but there are still some issues that have yet to be resolved. Thank goodness for the perma-grin! I've been most amazed by the fact that I am a minority at this hospital. 75-80% of the patients I see do not speak English. The majority speak Armenian, followed by Spanish. Yes, I am learning Armenian. I'm also quickly refreshing my Spanish from high school. The patients seem to find it funny that I'm even attempting to speak their language and laugh at me, but somehow I have to get through to them...no matter how terrible I sound!
Most memorable moments thus far (good and bad):
-Projectile neon green vomit (think exorcism)
-Wiping patients' butts because nursing is too busy (it's no fun for either party involved)
-Getting peed on
-VIP patient...sorry, I can't tell you who it was!
-Having lunch with the CEO of the hospital
Things I like:
-There's never a dull moment
-Every day is different
-I see a wide variety of patients...ortho, neuro, cardiac, you name it!
-Some of the other PT's there are awesome and have taken me under their wing
-Getting gifts from patients (baked goods, lotions, etc.)
-Being out of the classroom and putting my hard-earned (and expensive) knowledge to good use
-FREE TIME! I actually get to come home and do nothing, and I couldn't be happier. Plus, I have a weekend now that is actually a weekend and not non-stop studying. This means shopping, movie-going, wedding planning, baking...things that make me happy! :)
Things I'm not so fond of:
-The commute! I can think of a lot of things I would rather do with those 2 hours each day I spend in the car
-I only see patients for a few days and then they're gone
-The stress of having every thing I do being graded
-The constant feeling of being behind and having to play catch-up all day
-Being on my feet, climbing up and down flights of stairs, lifting 300+ pound patients...I am exhausted by the end of the week!
-Bodily fluids...enough said.
So other than working like the rest of the normal population, I've been enjoying my free time. It's been bloody hot and smoky from all the fires. It's really gross at the hospital. You can't even see the hills anymore. Hope everyone is doing ok and haven't melted yet. I'm going to go back downstairs where it's cooler. Can't believe I'm almost half-way through this rotation already! Then I'll be moving up to SLO...WOOHOO!
Things have been going relatively well during my rotation thus far. I think I am starting to adjust to the fast pace of the hospital and getting more comfortable with working hands-on with patients. There have definitely been ups and downs, and every day is completely different. My CI and I have slight personality conflicts that I'm trying to work out. Things are getting better, but there are still some issues that have yet to be resolved. Thank goodness for the perma-grin! I've been most amazed by the fact that I am a minority at this hospital. 75-80% of the patients I see do not speak English. The majority speak Armenian, followed by Spanish. Yes, I am learning Armenian. I'm also quickly refreshing my Spanish from high school. The patients seem to find it funny that I'm even attempting to speak their language and laugh at me, but somehow I have to get through to them...no matter how terrible I sound!
Most memorable moments thus far (good and bad):
-Projectile neon green vomit (think exorcism)
-Wiping patients' butts because nursing is too busy (it's no fun for either party involved)
-Getting peed on
-VIP patient...sorry, I can't tell you who it was!
-Having lunch with the CEO of the hospital
Things I like:
-There's never a dull moment
-Every day is different
-I see a wide variety of patients...ortho, neuro, cardiac, you name it!
-Some of the other PT's there are awesome and have taken me under their wing
-Getting gifts from patients (baked goods, lotions, etc.)
-Being out of the classroom and putting my hard-earned (and expensive) knowledge to good use
-FREE TIME! I actually get to come home and do nothing, and I couldn't be happier. Plus, I have a weekend now that is actually a weekend and not non-stop studying. This means shopping, movie-going, wedding planning, baking...things that make me happy! :)
Things I'm not so fond of:
-The commute! I can think of a lot of things I would rather do with those 2 hours each day I spend in the car
-I only see patients for a few days and then they're gone
-The stress of having every thing I do being graded
-The constant feeling of being behind and having to play catch-up all day
-Being on my feet, climbing up and down flights of stairs, lifting 300+ pound patients...I am exhausted by the end of the week!
-Bodily fluids...enough said.
So other than working like the rest of the normal population, I've been enjoying my free time. It's been bloody hot and smoky from all the fires. It's really gross at the hospital. You can't even see the hills anymore. Hope everyone is doing ok and haven't melted yet. I'm going to go back downstairs where it's cooler. Can't believe I'm almost half-way through this rotation already! Then I'll be moving up to SLO...WOOHOO!
Monday, August 10, 2009
My middle name is chaos...
...or so it seems! The past few weeks have been a bit hectic to say the least. The end of the term was busy with projects, packing, and more. Finals week came and went. It wasn't a huge deal, except that we still had class and the finals kept getting switched around so we never got a lot of notice before we took them. We also had to say good-bye to each other, which was very surreal. After spending the past year and a half together, all day every day, it was weird to say good-bye for 7 months. None of us could really wrap our heads around not being in class for 13 hours a day or studying on what some people call "the weekend" or seeing different people every day. Well now that's just crazy talk! But we all said our awkward good-byes and wished each other well, and just like that we all left the nest of our insanely structured program. Then I had to pack up all my things and deep clean the house.
This past weekend, that wonderful Jeff of mine came down to help me move back in with my parents. We rented a Uhaul trailer and hooked it up to his truck. After several hours of heaving all my junk and then schlepping it up and down stairs, I was moved out. I was sad to move this time. Brian and Anthony (the boys next door) came over one last time and ran around our empty house. Brian looked in the door and shouted "What happened to your house?!?!" I told him that we were moving, and I'm not sure he really understood since they just danced around our empty living room like it was any other day. I hope whoever moves in there plays with them or has kids of their own that will play with them. They deserve it! And I will miss them...
Then Jeff and I went with my mom to the Ventura County Fair on Sunday because we were too pooped to go on Saturday night like originally planned. It was way more crowded than normal because it was Family Day and there was some popular Mexican band that was attracting even more people. But we ate yummy fair food...corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, kettle corn, cinnamon rolls...yep, there went the diet! But it was worth it!
Today was my first day of my first 8-week rotation. I'll be at Glendale Memorial Hospital working in an acute in-patient setting. After waking up way earlier than I wanted to in order to avoid traffic and getting lost in downtown Glendale, I finally made it. I'm not sure anything could have prepared me for this. The best way to describe it is pure and utter chaos. If the patient isn't there or hasn't gotten their medication or whatever random reason you would like to insert, you just move on to the next patient and so on until you find a patient on your list that you can do therapy with. I had one lady screaming at me, yelling "GET HER OUT OF HERE!" at the top of her lungs. Nothing like a warm welcome! One patient screaming out of pain unnecessarily loud...I know she was in pain, but she had already received a double dose of pain killers and my ear drums thought she was being a bit of a drama queen. One patient said I was cute. One patient said I was nuts if I thought I was getting him out of bed. The list goes on...basically a lot of running around, trying to find charts and nurses, running up and down the stairs while carrying around equipment, trying to decipher doctor's hand-writing (no wonder things get interpreted incorrectly!). The worst part of the day was a patient on our list died in the ICU while we were there today. It wasn't while we were treating him, but it was not exactly something I wanted to have happen while I was on this rotation, let alone on the first day. Oh well...it can only go up from here, right?! Only 39 more days to go!
I hope everyone is enjoying the ends of their summers. I will be busy running around the hospital and purging all my excess stuff that I've moved home and refuse to move again. Miss you all!
This past weekend, that wonderful Jeff of mine came down to help me move back in with my parents. We rented a Uhaul trailer and hooked it up to his truck. After several hours of heaving all my junk and then schlepping it up and down stairs, I was moved out. I was sad to move this time. Brian and Anthony (the boys next door) came over one last time and ran around our empty house. Brian looked in the door and shouted "What happened to your house?!?!" I told him that we were moving, and I'm not sure he really understood since they just danced around our empty living room like it was any other day. I hope whoever moves in there plays with them or has kids of their own that will play with them. They deserve it! And I will miss them...
Then Jeff and I went with my mom to the Ventura County Fair on Sunday because we were too pooped to go on Saturday night like originally planned. It was way more crowded than normal because it was Family Day and there was some popular Mexican band that was attracting even more people. But we ate yummy fair food...corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, kettle corn, cinnamon rolls...yep, there went the diet! But it was worth it!
Today was my first day of my first 8-week rotation. I'll be at Glendale Memorial Hospital working in an acute in-patient setting. After waking up way earlier than I wanted to in order to avoid traffic and getting lost in downtown Glendale, I finally made it. I'm not sure anything could have prepared me for this. The best way to describe it is pure and utter chaos. If the patient isn't there or hasn't gotten their medication or whatever random reason you would like to insert, you just move on to the next patient and so on until you find a patient on your list that you can do therapy with. I had one lady screaming at me, yelling "GET HER OUT OF HERE!" at the top of her lungs. Nothing like a warm welcome! One patient screaming out of pain unnecessarily loud...I know she was in pain, but she had already received a double dose of pain killers and my ear drums thought she was being a bit of a drama queen. One patient said I was cute. One patient said I was nuts if I thought I was getting him out of bed. The list goes on...basically a lot of running around, trying to find charts and nurses, running up and down the stairs while carrying around equipment, trying to decipher doctor's hand-writing (no wonder things get interpreted incorrectly!). The worst part of the day was a patient on our list died in the ICU while we were there today. It wasn't while we were treating him, but it was not exactly something I wanted to have happen while I was on this rotation, let alone on the first day. Oh well...it can only go up from here, right?! Only 39 more days to go!
I hope everyone is enjoying the ends of their summers. I will be busy running around the hospital and purging all my excess stuff that I've moved home and refuse to move again. Miss you all!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Busy, as always...
Yes, yes...I know I've disappeared for a while. I have been insanely busy with projects galore! We've had at least one, if not 2-3 projects due each week, along with quizzes and being in class for long lengths of time. I'm not sure why people thought this term was going to be easy, but it sure is time-consuming. I guess it's not so much difficult, as it is a lot of things to get done all at once.
I've also been busy going through my mounds of stuff that I've accumulated over the years and trying to purge some of it. It's a bit ridiculous. Now the problem I've been having is that I have emotional ties to items and have been pairing memories with things. I think it's a common thing to do this, but it makes it hard to let go of things. At least my roommate Carol has gone through a bunch of it and claimed it as her own, and the rest is going to Good Will. Better than throwing it out I guess.
Oh yes, and I went down to San Diego to get in some Auntie time with Grady...and of course see Melissa and Derek too! I can't believe how big he's gotten.
He's full of smiles and laughs now and kept staring at me, seeming to trying to figure me out. He can stare at me all day long! I wasn't there long, but I ran errands with Melissa on Friday and we even got Grady's birth certificate...he's official now! I also babysat while Melissa and Derek celebrated a friend's birthday. Course, when he's already asleep it makes the babysitting job a whole lot easier. On Saturday morning we all went for a walk around Lake Murray, and then checked something off of Melissa's "Things to Do Before Going Back to Work" list and went to the Lake Murray Cafe. Glad I could be a part of checking something off Melissa! I was only there for a short time, but I wanted to go down before I moved. Thanks Melissa and Derek for letting me come down...it was terrific to see you three!
Yes, for those of you who haven't heard, I'm moving back in with my parents starting in August. My two roommates were planning on moving out, so my options were to either find 2 new roommates or to move out. Since I'll be having a rotation up in SLO starting in October, I didn't think it made sense to find 2 roommates for 2 months. So I'll be commuting to Glendale for my first rotation and the potentially staying there for the rest of my grad school career. There's two other girls who will be living in the area, so we can all carpool together for the 15 weeks of class after our rotations.
So I think that just about catches up everything. It's been insanely hot...triple digits for about a week now, and predicted for at least another week. I'll be taking a load of stuff home on my way up to SLO this weekend. Other than that, just trying ti finish up this short term. And now back to the projects!
I've also been busy going through my mounds of stuff that I've accumulated over the years and trying to purge some of it. It's a bit ridiculous. Now the problem I've been having is that I have emotional ties to items and have been pairing memories with things. I think it's a common thing to do this, but it makes it hard to let go of things. At least my roommate Carol has gone through a bunch of it and claimed it as her own, and the rest is going to Good Will. Better than throwing it out I guess.
Oh yes, and I went down to San Diego to get in some Auntie time with Grady...and of course see Melissa and Derek too! I can't believe how big he's gotten.
He's full of smiles and laughs now and kept staring at me, seeming to trying to figure me out. He can stare at me all day long! I wasn't there long, but I ran errands with Melissa on Friday and we even got Grady's birth certificate...he's official now! I also babysat while Melissa and Derek celebrated a friend's birthday. Course, when he's already asleep it makes the babysitting job a whole lot easier. On Saturday morning we all went for a walk around Lake Murray, and then checked something off of Melissa's "Things to Do Before Going Back to Work" list and went to the Lake Murray Cafe. Glad I could be a part of checking something off Melissa! I was only there for a short time, but I wanted to go down before I moved. Thanks Melissa and Derek for letting me come down...it was terrific to see you three!
Yes, for those of you who haven't heard, I'm moving back in with my parents starting in August. My two roommates were planning on moving out, so my options were to either find 2 new roommates or to move out. Since I'll be having a rotation up in SLO starting in October, I didn't think it made sense to find 2 roommates for 2 months. So I'll be commuting to Glendale for my first rotation and the potentially staying there for the rest of my grad school career. There's two other girls who will be living in the area, so we can all carpool together for the 15 weeks of class after our rotations.
So I think that just about catches up everything. It's been insanely hot...triple digits for about a week now, and predicted for at least another week. I'll be taking a load of stuff home on my way up to SLO this weekend. Other than that, just trying ti finish up this short term. And now back to the projects!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
4 years...
Today is me and Jeff's 4 year anniversary. I cannot believe how quickly those years have flown by. I consider myself so lucky to have found someone that makes me this happy, and who is willing to put their life on hold while I pursue my dream. It stinks not being able to be together today, but hopefully this is the last time we're apart on our anniversary. It's pretty much impossible for me to put into words just how wonderful our time together has been, so here are some pictures to walk you through our adventures over the past 4 years.
I love you Jeff, with all my heart. Thank you for making me feel like I'm the only girl in the world. Here's to a lifetime of love and happiness together...
Monday, July 6, 2009
4th of July...
The first week of class came and went. It wasn't too terrible, other than the fact that I was going through a bitter/grumpy phase when it truly hit that I hadn't had a week-long break since April and won't be getting one until October. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but I rely on those weeks to help motivate me and get through each term. It didn't help matters that Jeff took the week off and was enjoying a vacation (that included time with Grady) without me. Jealous? Yes. Bitter? Definitely. Sorry to those who had to put up with my funk. Hopefully I'm over it now. My schedule (as of right now) is as follows:
Special Topics: Mon, Wed 8:30-12
Seminar: Tues, Thurs 9:30-12
Special Populations: Tues, Thurs 1-6
Diagnostic Imaging: Wed 5-10
Yep, I get Fridays off which I think is well-earned and deserved! Maybe I'll get a few weekend run-aways out of it. Any takers??? It's a quick 6-week term, so I know it's going to fly by and I can't wait to get out of the classroom.
For the 4th I went up to Kernville to spend time with Jeff and his family. I somehow managed to bypass terrible traffic and only took 30 minutes longer than usual. What a pleasant surprise! I got to hold my sweet little nephew for a little bit before Melissa and Derek left on Friday morning. Jeff and the boys went to the shooting range on Friday while I played with Sofia, Andrew and Jordan. Always entertaining! Saturday a bunch of them went white water rafting while I studied...it's a little too close for comfort for going out to the clinics and my fear of getting injured has greatly increased as the date approaches. We watched the fireworks from across the lake and even had glowsticks to play with while we waited for them to start. Here's a cool, yet creepy picture of Sofia playing with them...
Sunday we went for a sea-doo ride on the lake before heading out of town. I actually hit more traffic coming home than leaving town. Go figure. Then back to the grindstone and class in this yucky heat. Bleck! All in all a fun trip. It was great seeing everyone and getting away from the normalcy that grad school has become.
Oh yes...Jeff and I asked little miss Sofia if she would be the flower girl in our wedding. At first she said yes, then she said no and that Andrew could be the flower boy instead. Then I told her that the flowers were going to be pink, to which she gasped and exclaimed "YES!" Sofia promised to have the flowers fly all over me and make me look pretty. Love that kid! Although, I'm not sure who was more excited about it...Sofia or Betty! :)
Sofia will be joined by another little girlie near and dear to my heart, although I haven't asked her (more like her mom) yet. But I think the parties involved have a good inkling that it's coming. :) They will be absolutely adorable with Grady as the ring-bearer! Can't wait...just 2 more years! Haha!
Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th and managed to stay out of the heat. Now I should get some work done...
Special Topics: Mon, Wed 8:30-12
Seminar: Tues, Thurs 9:30-12
Special Populations: Tues, Thurs 1-6
Diagnostic Imaging: Wed 5-10
Yep, I get Fridays off which I think is well-earned and deserved! Maybe I'll get a few weekend run-aways out of it. Any takers??? It's a quick 6-week term, so I know it's going to fly by and I can't wait to get out of the classroom.
For the 4th I went up to Kernville to spend time with Jeff and his family. I somehow managed to bypass terrible traffic and only took 30 minutes longer than usual. What a pleasant surprise! I got to hold my sweet little nephew for a little bit before Melissa and Derek left on Friday morning. Jeff and the boys went to the shooting range on Friday while I played with Sofia, Andrew and Jordan. Always entertaining! Saturday a bunch of them went white water rafting while I studied...it's a little too close for comfort for going out to the clinics and my fear of getting injured has greatly increased as the date approaches. We watched the fireworks from across the lake and even had glowsticks to play with while we waited for them to start. Here's a cool, yet creepy picture of Sofia playing with them...
Sunday we went for a sea-doo ride on the lake before heading out of town. I actually hit more traffic coming home than leaving town. Go figure. Then back to the grindstone and class in this yucky heat. Bleck! All in all a fun trip. It was great seeing everyone and getting away from the normalcy that grad school has become.
Oh yes...Jeff and I asked little miss Sofia if she would be the flower girl in our wedding. At first she said yes, then she said no and that Andrew could be the flower boy instead. Then I told her that the flowers were going to be pink, to which she gasped and exclaimed "YES!" Sofia promised to have the flowers fly all over me and make me look pretty. Love that kid! Although, I'm not sure who was more excited about it...Sofia or Betty! :)
Sofia will be joined by another little girlie near and dear to my heart, although I haven't asked her (more like her mom) yet. But I think the parties involved have a good inkling that it's coming. :) They will be absolutely adorable with Grady as the ring-bearer! Can't wait...just 2 more years! Haha!
Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th and managed to stay out of the heat. Now I should get some work done...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Comps...
Alright alright...I know I disappeared for a while, but let me tell you...I've been busy! So I will attempt to catch you up on everything. Let's see...
So "break" ended when I came back to school and began seriously studying for comps. And I mean seriously...12-14 hours per day of studying, practicing, quizzing, etc. You know it's bad when you realize it's 10 o'clock at night and you never ate dinner and didn't even notice. Lots of trying to remember information, laughing (nervously) when we came across something we never even remembered learning in the first place, and praying for the best outcome.
Monday was Neuro. They hired actors to be our patients, which I guess was a good idea. I had the unfortunate blessing of going in the first group, so my actor didn't completely have her story down yet and threw me for a little loop, but I just focused on what I knew and what I had figured out and tried to treat it as best I could. I was so nervous because I hate going first that I dropped my stuff on her when I went to introduce myself. Poor thing! The look on her (and my tester's) face was priceless. Oh yes, and Melissa...guess what the diagnosis was...MS! I thought of you! Anyway, I treated a Neuro patient with mostly Ortho techniques but completely justified it and proved that I was 75% competent. You should note that a 75% was considered passing throughout the week, so we kept saying that we only need to be 3/4 competent.
Tuesday was Cardio Pulm. We got to work with a partner for part of it, and although we're not sure if this was how it was technically supposed to be done, my partner (Heidi) and I didn't really let our professor direct questions to one of us specifically and helped each other out by finishing the other person's sentences. We treated our post-heart attack patient brilliantly and panicked when we got a "Do you think there's anything else you should do?". That's usually is a sign that you've forgotten something major and you better think quick. Turns out that what we did was too conservative, even though we followed it directly from the book, but it's always better to error on the conservative and safe side than to push the patient too far, so another passed test.
Wednesday was the written, which really is on a computer, but was a practice board exam. I ended up getting a 70% on it, which I'm quite content with since a 75% is what is required to pass the real board exam and I'm not even finished with school yet! Not to mention that with an exhausted brain, I know I made stupid mistakes, and really should have gotten a higher score. Plus they told us we should aim to get above a 60%...done and done.
Thursday was Ortho, which should have been my moment of glory. It was set up that you had to go through a bunch of different stations, and then eventually treat a patient which was your "partner" that you had to differentially diagnose and set up with a exercise program, etc. I got a patellar femoral syndrome patient, which probably means nothing to most of you. Should have been a cake walk, but then my tester decided to make me focus on the most random things and wouldn't let me do the standard treatment protocols. I made a slight error on one of the tests, merely a wrong hand placement, lost my confidence here and there and had to make pauses to think things out. At the end our tester asked my partner and I if we had anything to say for ourselves. Another panic attack...I told him that it was the end of a really long week and apologized for anything I had done wrong. Basically he told us that he understood how tired we were, but all in all was very impressed with our clinical knowledge and reasoning. So, in pure exhaustion, I passed the last one. Hooray!
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that they "accidentally" scheduled class with a lymphedema specialist during all this (I thought of you, Becky), so we went to class on Tuesday and Thursday from 2-6. We were not happy campers. She was a nice lady, and we learned about the massage techniques and wrapping to do with these patients, but it was still the last thing we wanted to be doing.
Then I ran off to SLO on Thursday night to get in some more time with Jeff since it had been cut short during our "break". Ashley happened to be down there again so we had lunch, got a pedicure, and caught up on our girl time while Jeff was at work on Friday. And she also popped some terrific news...she's going to be moving back to SLO! She plans on attending Cal Poly's teaching credential program starting in January, and I cannot wait to have her back again! I missed that girl. Jeff may not be too thrilled, but I sure am! Jeff and I didn't do much all weekend. A whole lot of bumming around. We went to see Transformers, watched the USA vs. Brazil soccer game, and I tried to just let my poor brain recover. On my way back down I stopped and spent some time with my dad to try to make up for Father's Day. Had a good chat and dinner, and then was back on the road to school.
I think that about catches everything up. I will post my schedule once everything is finalized. Comps were definitely not fun, and I definitely made mistakes that I shouldn't have, but am overall pleased with how I did and am feeling confident to go out into the clinics. I will leave you with this sad note...It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that one of Jeff's family's dog, Molly, had to be put down during my comps week. She was an absolute sweetheart, full of snuggles and kisses, and she will be greatly missed. It was hard to maintain my focus knowing what was going on and trying to keep Jeff happy during comps. It's so hard to lose a pet. Miss you Molly-moo! *sigh* Anyway, hope all is well with everyone, and stay out of the heat!
So "break" ended when I came back to school and began seriously studying for comps. And I mean seriously...12-14 hours per day of studying, practicing, quizzing, etc. You know it's bad when you realize it's 10 o'clock at night and you never ate dinner and didn't even notice. Lots of trying to remember information, laughing (nervously) when we came across something we never even remembered learning in the first place, and praying for the best outcome.
Monday was Neuro. They hired actors to be our patients, which I guess was a good idea. I had the unfortunate blessing of going in the first group, so my actor didn't completely have her story down yet and threw me for a little loop, but I just focused on what I knew and what I had figured out and tried to treat it as best I could. I was so nervous because I hate going first that I dropped my stuff on her when I went to introduce myself. Poor thing! The look on her (and my tester's) face was priceless. Oh yes, and Melissa...guess what the diagnosis was...MS! I thought of you! Anyway, I treated a Neuro patient with mostly Ortho techniques but completely justified it and proved that I was 75% competent. You should note that a 75% was considered passing throughout the week, so we kept saying that we only need to be 3/4 competent.
Tuesday was Cardio Pulm. We got to work with a partner for part of it, and although we're not sure if this was how it was technically supposed to be done, my partner (Heidi) and I didn't really let our professor direct questions to one of us specifically and helped each other out by finishing the other person's sentences. We treated our post-heart attack patient brilliantly and panicked when we got a "Do you think there's anything else you should do?". That's usually is a sign that you've forgotten something major and you better think quick. Turns out that what we did was too conservative, even though we followed it directly from the book, but it's always better to error on the conservative and safe side than to push the patient too far, so another passed test.
Wednesday was the written, which really is on a computer, but was a practice board exam. I ended up getting a 70% on it, which I'm quite content with since a 75% is what is required to pass the real board exam and I'm not even finished with school yet! Not to mention that with an exhausted brain, I know I made stupid mistakes, and really should have gotten a higher score. Plus they told us we should aim to get above a 60%...done and done.
Thursday was Ortho, which should have been my moment of glory. It was set up that you had to go through a bunch of different stations, and then eventually treat a patient which was your "partner" that you had to differentially diagnose and set up with a exercise program, etc. I got a patellar femoral syndrome patient, which probably means nothing to most of you. Should have been a cake walk, but then my tester decided to make me focus on the most random things and wouldn't let me do the standard treatment protocols. I made a slight error on one of the tests, merely a wrong hand placement, lost my confidence here and there and had to make pauses to think things out. At the end our tester asked my partner and I if we had anything to say for ourselves. Another panic attack...I told him that it was the end of a really long week and apologized for anything I had done wrong. Basically he told us that he understood how tired we were, but all in all was very impressed with our clinical knowledge and reasoning. So, in pure exhaustion, I passed the last one. Hooray!
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that they "accidentally" scheduled class with a lymphedema specialist during all this (I thought of you, Becky), so we went to class on Tuesday and Thursday from 2-6. We were not happy campers. She was a nice lady, and we learned about the massage techniques and wrapping to do with these patients, but it was still the last thing we wanted to be doing.
Then I ran off to SLO on Thursday night to get in some more time with Jeff since it had been cut short during our "break". Ashley happened to be down there again so we had lunch, got a pedicure, and caught up on our girl time while Jeff was at work on Friday. And she also popped some terrific news...she's going to be moving back to SLO! She plans on attending Cal Poly's teaching credential program starting in January, and I cannot wait to have her back again! I missed that girl. Jeff may not be too thrilled, but I sure am! Jeff and I didn't do much all weekend. A whole lot of bumming around. We went to see Transformers, watched the USA vs. Brazil soccer game, and I tried to just let my poor brain recover. On my way back down I stopped and spent some time with my dad to try to make up for Father's Day. Had a good chat and dinner, and then was back on the road to school.
I think that about catches everything up. I will post my schedule once everything is finalized. Comps were definitely not fun, and I definitely made mistakes that I shouldn't have, but am overall pleased with how I did and am feeling confident to go out into the clinics. I will leave you with this sad note...It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that one of Jeff's family's dog, Molly, had to be put down during my comps week. She was an absolute sweetheart, full of snuggles and kisses, and she will be greatly missed. It was hard to maintain my focus knowing what was going on and trying to keep Jeff happy during comps. It's so hard to lose a pet. Miss you Molly-moo! *sigh* Anyway, hope all is well with everyone, and stay out of the heat!
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