Rotation #1...check!

Number of miles put on my car: 4800
Longest commute: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Shortest commute: 45 minutes
Number of Armenian phrases learned: 10
Number of pounds lost: 8.5
Number of times I passed out: 0
Number of days left: 0

It's official...I finished my first rotation! I can't believe how quickly it flew past, but I am very happy to be finished. I gained a lot of experience these past 8 weeks, building up my confidence and perfecting my skills. I will not miss the commute or waking up at the buttcrack of dawn. I don't think I've ever worked so hard physically, at least not in a while. The proof is in the weight loss up there. Hello jumpstart to the wedding diet! I can now count in Armenian (well, to 4 anyway), as well as some other phrases. Of all the languages in the world, I would not have picked Armenian to be the next one I'd be learning. On the last day, my CI brought in bagels, cream cheese and OJ and made me a good luck sign. It was a very weird day, with 6 patients either refusing treatment or not being able to be seen for one reason or another. It was surreal driving home, knowing that I wouldn't be driving back there on Monday morning. Surreal, but very satisfying. :) Now all that's left for me to do is turn in my paperwork, which I'll be dropping off at school on Monday.

This week I'll be moving up to SLO, which has served as motivation these past 8 weeks. I knew that once I got through this rotation, I'd get to be with Jeff for 3 months. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is! Now it's time to pack my stuff up again (didn't I just do this?!) and prepare to freeze my butt off. I know, I'm a wimp. But after living in triple digit weather for half the year, I am not used to the cool weather. I know I'll get used to it, but there will be lots of layers on me until then!

Yesterday my mom and I went to my friend Jocelyn's daughter's 1st birthday party. You may remember me talking about little Miss Abby. I'm her "auntie", and love spending time with the cutie pie. She will be the second flower girl in the wedding, accompanying Miss Sofia down the aisle (and Grady too!). She didn't really know what to do with the cake, and just picked at it and stared at everyone, wondering why all of a sudden watching her eat was so interesting. And she was more interested in the cards and tissue paper than the gifts themselves. Very cute, and I'm so happy I was actually in town for the celebration! Happy birthday Abby!

33 days down, 7 to go...

Hard to believe, but I only have a week and a half left of this rotation! CRAZY! Oh how time flies when you're working your butt off...and maybe having an ounce of fun every now and then. I will be giving an inservice (not by choice) next week on deep vein thrombosis, or DVT's, with the most current research and evidence. Now doesn't that just grab your attention. I'll be glad when it's over, and have been very slowly working on it in my pathetic attempt to avoid giving all together. It's not working...

Jeff came down last weekend, which was wonderful, as always. We didn't do much, in our typical fashion. But what we did do is watch some football on my parents' brand new 40 inch HD LCD! Although, it seems to be defective because both USC and the Chargers lost. They weren't losing on the old tv, so this is clearly the only explanation. It was a sad weekend in football for us, but we saw every drop of sweat being shed in their valiant efforts, and in HD no less!

I had missed watching football with Jeff. Him making fun of me yelling at the players for being stupid, or to run faster, or to throw the ball, or to watch out because they're about to get hit. Him laughing some more at me when I sing along with the Chargers song and dance around. And then me falling in and out of sleep during all non-USC or Chargers games, usually smooshing Jeff to death in my attempt to get every minute of snuggle-time in, only to be bolted awake when he would yell at the tv because of a bad call (or a good one for that matter). Good times. But really, this has been one of the things I have missed the most about being with Jeff. Being the bums that we are, watching football all weekend long, together, on the couch. Just being together. Pure bliss.

The weekend before that we were at a family friend's wedding in Somis at Hartley Botanica. I've grown up with this family since elementary school, and did dance with the bride for all those years. My mom is the one with all the pictures, so I will post some once I steal them from her. A beautiful wedding that was a lot of fun...there was a photo booth and candy station! Here's a pic of me and another family friend (we're sad b/c our sisters aren't there).

Congrats again Triona and Ryan! Hope you had a terrific time on your honeymoon!

That about wraps things up. I guess I should work some more on that inservice of mine. My next post will probably be after I'm finished with this rotation. Can't wait!

Too good to be true...

Well I jinxed it...yesterday it took me an hour and 40 minutes to get to work on my new "faster" route. SO not worth it! It's back to the out of the way, traffic-avoiding route. I knew it was too good to last!

I also forgot to mention that I got a Save the Date for my friend Kristin's wedding. I am super excited for her and Andrew. They were a big part of my Cal Poly days, and I've missed them since they moved to Washington. She and I lived on the same floor in the dorms at Cal Poly and then were roommates for the other 3 years. The wedding will be in April and would you believe it...in SLO! Maybe I'll get referrals from her! And the wedding wheels are turning...

Happy September?

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...

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!

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!

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!