31 Oct 2008

Ummmmm no title

This e-mailmade me happy!! I changed location/name…but thanks Jane Doe!!!!!!!!!!!!

“that stinks….I am sorry you got your car broken in to. I just thought I would try and cheer you up by letting you know how much I APPRECIATE your blog. It is AWESOME. I read it all the time (have been for the past year) I am an OT student in “Smithland”. just wanting to say thank you so much for all your hard work! You have helped so many of us and have been a great inspiration to your fellow national students! (I have sent out your blog link to all 48 in my class!!)MUch THANKS!!”
-“Jane Doe”  2nd year OTS

I'm packing for a trip to Nashville to see some friends, one of them is performing in a band on Halloween….leaving Friday right after work (hope hospital census drops dramatically over night lol) and coming back Sunday. Poor Lester the Lion Kitty will be so lonely but I'm having a friend check up on him.

Today went rather smoothly – I wasn't alone much –  I think we're slightly backtracking to where I'm with my supervisor a little more but doing a lot more of the work – because I was feeling pretty puny on things like bed mobility and all that!! I think I'm more or less still on schedule with objectives, though.

I might write a little bit more in a few minutes, about a few of the things I never thought I'd be doing!!

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

30 Oct 2008

i can do this

I've got to run out the door to fieldwork. But I want to say to myself before I enter those hospital doors –  I CAN DO THIS.

 I CAN DO THIS. I CAN DO THIS.
 I CAN DO THIS. I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

29 Oct 2008

ugh

I wanted to write about ICU evals and treatments and stuff, but I'm at home dealing with aftermath of car being broken into stuff. Fraud alerts, mobile window services, auto insurance claims, personal claims, credit cards and debit cards canceled, a new checking account started, etc etc. WHAT A PAIN.

At least I'm not crying hysterically, I'm dealing with it. More later.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

29 Oct 2008

Tonight's drama

Car broken into. Driver side smashed and they went into console where everything hidden – including my ipod Nano (gift), a brand new GPS (gift), and my WALLET with all my credit cards, etc. FUN NIGHT!!!!!!!!! Luckily have good friends to help deal with it all. Ugh.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

28 Oct 2008

Go to Conclave.

This is a TOTAL copy/paste of an ad for Student Conclave.I have failed miserably in my duties of keeping y'all abreast of information. Don't drink hater-ade, I take full blame. So if you are interested, sign up like, ASAP. I went last year and it was COOL and this year it will be even COOLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS: I'm not sure the formatting will stay put, but I'm sure the vital information will stay intact….okay this is too long. I'm stopping now. GO TO CONCLAVE, STUDENTS!!! THE OT GODS WILL SMILE UPON YOU!

The AOTA/NBCOT National Student Conclave - Don't Miss It - November 14-16, 2008!

Watch the Top 10 Reasons to Attend the
2008 Student Conclave Video Clip

Register Before October 28th!
The 2008 AOTA/NBCOT National Student Conclave was designed exclusively for you!

  • Advanced-level educational sessions on hot topics
  • Insider knowledge on upcoming board exams
  • Networking with students from across the country
  • Mock interviews and resume critiques
  • Exhibit hall filled with potential employers, products, and services

Download the Program (pdf)

Download the Session Descriptions (pdf)

To Register
AOTA Student Members: $100
Nonmembers: $135
(VISA and MasterCard accepted)

After October 28th, contact studentconclave@aota.org to check space availability.


Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

26 Oct 2008

OT stuff eventually

I have a lot of OT stuff to share. A LOT. Like 100% relevant stuff, shocking, I know. But I'm still having a really rough time so um, it's probably going to be slow in coming. I'll probably put up a few things tonight.

This is the quote that is going to help me get through the next week…

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

The two pictures included were a gift…my friend re-did a figurine to make it me and Lester…down to my glasses and mole on my cheek, a little “OT” band, and cutting off the kitty's face/re-painting it to make it look more like Lester! 

 

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

22 Oct 2008

Not so great a day

Today was not such a good day. Busy at work, I felt I did a crappy job on some evaluations, had to go to the vet to pick up flea meds and then spend an hour with Lester the Lion Kitty in the bathroom cutting off his fur and waiting for dead fleas (and his eye looks better but his mouth is horrid again), and I've had random surges of anxiety all day – imagine the surge of adrenaline you get when something bad happens – and then imagine it happening to you for no reason, repeatedly, throughout the day. It's exhausting.

I do however have a ton of OT-related posts I want to do – like OT being a great recession-proof job, about Student Conclave, about Obama's grandmother's broken hip and how AOTA should jump on it, blah blah blah – but maybe I'll feel more like it later on.

Our census raised dramatically and we went from like, eight patients in a day, to right now having a minimum of 4 evals tomorrow plus sixteen treatments…for me, the main OT, and a COTA (who is there until 2pm I think?)….and I am pretty limited in my ability to handle treatments…augh!!!!!!! Ooh and it is the COTA's birthday tomorrow 🙂 And we are going out to eat lunch – OTs and STs – yay.

And TOTA conference is this Friday – a few OT students from my class and a bunch from class below are going. 🙂

Anyway….I'm going to try and function for a few hours! I'm supposed to meet some friends for dinner – but it will probably be a short affair if so since I'm so wiped out!

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

22 Oct 2008

A very happy birthday, including the OT realm :)

Today I got approximately 40ish Facebook messages, 20 texts, 10 phone calls, several emails, and several cards/packages/gifts….a very nice day. It started with text messages late last night, then I got a happy birthday song at 8am by a family, then throughout the day got lots of texts/phone calls although they all had to go to voice mail of course since I was working!

Speaking of work, today was my first truly good day as an OT student. For one thing my OT and COTA gave me a present!! Which was so sweet of them. A beautiful bracelet with earrings. 🙂 I definitely didn't expect it, it was quite kind of them.
My day Of course was helped by the fact I got all the easiest patients, but still! I did my chart reviews of the new evaluations, discussed with my supervisor the three knee replacement (day after surgery) evals I'd be doing, one of which was a bizarre case involving patellar fractures and leg immobilizations, and discussed a courtesy consult I'd be checking out. I did all three evaluations in the total joint unit and didn't skip any major steps, spoke slowly/clearly, was personable, got needed information relatively quickly, asked the nurses for permission, kept track of time, etc etc. Then did my courtesy consult, and got done 11ish, and then went down and did evaluation paperwork until lunch. After lunch I went to go see a patient who had a stroke, and we did a thirty minute cognition session – he had improved DRAMATICALLY overnight – yesterday he couldn't retain more than 3 numbers, today he could retain phone numbers, perform 3-step commands, name objects, write his name, etc – all things he couldn't do yesterday. Pretty awesome. Then I went to go see a lady who was deconditioned but she got discharged right then. So today, all by myself, I did three evaluations, a courtesy consult, and a cognitive treatment. Of course I got some advice and discussion with my supervisor so I don't mean to make it sound like I was in a bubble, but it was a big deal that I was so independent! It's Week 4 so it's time, but because I've struggled with anxiety and have so much weakness in the phys dys arena, it's taking me a while to hit my stride. All my patients today were relatively high level – the low-level patients who need help with transfers are still way beyond me, I don't feel comfortable with them at all. Which I need to be. When it's slow I like to follow the PTs around for the lower-level patients because it involves a lot of bed mobility and basic sit-stand, things like that, which overlaps with OT, and I can pick up more tricks/tips.

Tomorrow will be the busiest day we've had since I got here – and the COTA only stays until noon and the outpatient OT may not be there since she had to go home for her sick daughter today. We have at LEAST seven evals plus 9 treatments! I can maybe do 3-4 of those evals and 1-3 of those treatments I guess…the key is that even though we're busy I need to not stress….just take deep breaths and handle it. While being safe.

When I read back on my day you might be like, big deal, but to me, it's a very big deal, because of my anxiety levels having been so high. I hope tomorrow I can handle the challenges.

After work I went to OTS Kerri's and we ignored each other because I had like twenty thousand phone calls to respond to, plus I had just found out Lester the Lion Kitty made Icanhascheezburger.com which is a HUGE deal, HUGE, because I love that site and it's kind of elite – only a few cats a day get put up but they get thousands of submissions. So I was really excited. Then we went to Mexican where we met up with OTS Jason, Minda, Becca, and Brooke….had a lot of fun and of course exchanged some fieldwork stories.

Overall it was a really nice day both at work and afterwards…I appreciate all the phone calls, txts, Facebook messages, emails, postcards, packages, etc….I am blessed to have wonderful friends and family. Thank you all!!

It's not even 10pm but I'm so tired that I think I'm going to quickly prep my OT stuff and then go to bed! I'm 26 now, and that's old, so it's acceptable that I'm so tired, right 🙂

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

22 Oct 2008

21 Oct 2008

OMG OMG OMG OMG AGAIN SOME MORE

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Main page….Lester is second down….NOTICE HE MADE IT ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I submitted the picture weeks ago, dunno who did the caption…my friend Angela saw it. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG WHAT A BIZARRE COINCIDENCE
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none