OT Pumpkin a little late

Flashback to a few Halloweens ago..my friend Kerri indulged me in making an OT pumpkin. YAY OT!!!

electrical modalities in Georgia, Orlando FL AOTA Conference, and a cornocupia I can't spell

wow its been way too long since I last blogged. I am still struggling with the fact that I am almost daily going to face things I haven't seen before seeing as how I'm new!!I am trying to be evidence-based, occupation-based, learn all the basics….for example if I know I am going to get a patient with a hand diagnosis like trigger finger, then I can prepare for it by reading about it in a hand book, looking in an anatomy book to see what exactly it affects, looking in my OT book for ideas on how to treat it, determine my preliminary base of attack (ie pre-evaluation) which would include activity modification/education, modalities, extensor strengthening, range of motion, etc. I can also search online for evidence on what typically happens with the diagnosis and treatment, and even read first hand patient accounts on message boards or blogs, as well as see what is being said in the medical profession re surgical treatment, blah blah blah. So a lot of research and studying.

I got some magnetic poetry for a large metal cabinet in the clinic – you can get clients who enjoy self-expression to work on standing activity tolerance, or visual scanning, or fine motor coordination, while composing their own poetry. Or get window markers or dry erase markers and stand them at the mirror and let them trace themselves/draw themselves….in the case of children with autism, I've found that placing fingerpaint ON their face (like a red streak) will often get them to look straight into the mirror at themselves….and if you have one of those play tunnels that are manipulable, if for example the child is in the ball pit and you place part of the tunnel in the ball pit, they love to look into the tunnel… and you take the other half up and put it to your face…they will look you in the face more consistently and for longer periods of time. I dunno, just stuff that seemed true for me at least.

Um…..what else….I still haven't fenced with any of my patients…….one thing I think I wrote about on a previous blog entry is doing the american sign language alphabet with a lot of clients to work on praxis, fine motor coordination, etc…

I have a 139 NEW mails in my box that I havent even looked at…..it hurts me to delete them without reading them as most are AOTA listservs….but still have a lot of old mails to respond to including blog posts and comments I mean to do something with. I do have more stable Internet now so no real excuse beyond that I find the real world quite exhausting. I love OT, but I'd much rather do it on a part-time basis so that there was lots more time for sleep, my favorite activity ever……unfortunately I can't work part-time unless I find me a rich man….any takers? JUST KIDDING. Oh and loan repayment is so not cool. Which reminds me. I better go pay that bill. Oh crap.

So I am thinking about going to Orlando FL for AOTA conference this year..April I believe. I saw APTA is having theirs in February in San Diego, I wanna go so I can go home, but I don't think that would go over too well with my work, haha…OT at PT conf…haha…ludicrous…haha….anyway.

I am trying to find an electrical modalities course….or a thermal/electrical modalities course if need be….so that I can get certified in Georgia to do modalities. Soo important. But there don't seem to be any classes until this Spring and it's killing me yo. Any thoughts??!!

Um…….um……okay I think I've procrastinated enough. I love seeing OT students and OTs update their status on Facebook ….pretty interesting to see what other programs are up to…..
I better check out OT Connections…….oh wait….no more procrastination…..and oh yeah!! I did apply to the Emerging Leaders program, it worked out!! Now just cross fingers…

OKAY FOR REALS NO MORE PROCRASTINATION GOOD NIGHT.

I saw this somewhere…it cracked me up…

“Medicaid guidelines are like the bible: how you follow them depends on how you interpret them.”

Help AOTA members HELP

Trucking on

Lately I've gotten a lot of really supportive and sweet comments from people that let me know they are gaining something from my blog. That means a LOT to me, so thank you for taking the time to write. My roommate just got Internet, so I'm going to be able to write a little more….but not much more lol. I do want to write about some of the better treatment sessions I've had….like having hand patients do the American Sign Language Alphabet and Numbers 1-10 as part of their home exercise program to improve their fine motor/coordination….or having a hip patient (past precautions!!) do some stuff from a belly dancing DVD….or having a pt working on balance, endurance, etc, do some fencing with foam swords….or doing yoga poses for balance, endurance, etc….I think I do really well with younger pts (ie 20s or below) who need higher level work on things like balance and cognition….it's when you hand me someone who needs ranging and goniometry that I am like IS THIS PARALLEL TO THE LONGITITUDE AND IS THIS THE ANGLE AND DOES THIS LINE UP WITH THE THIRD METACARPAL AND HELP HOW DO I MEASURE CMC MOVEMENT AND AUGH.

But….I'm learning. In a typical day I may have patients with post polio syndrome (a lot of that here in comparison to other places!), a hand injury pt, an arthritis patient, muscular dystrophy patient, etc….except pretend I said that in person first language cuz I totally meant to. Ok I better go shower – just got back from a walk- then I'll come back to maybe blog in more depth or answer some reader emails or who knows what. I still need to complete the application for being an emerging leader through AOTA, that looks neat. And I couldnt take the PAMPCA course because its way overfilled :::sobs::: it makes me cry so much. Its hard to be an outpatient therapist and not be certified in modalities. Grrr.

Ok. Yeah. So. Thanks again for helpful and inspiring comments and I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH IN A NOT CREEPY WAY CONSIDERING I DONT KNOW ANY OF YOU IN REALITY….the end.

hmmm

Gonna bring my foam fencing swords and a belly dancing DVD to use with some of my patients…also maybe the cymbals….

we had an outpatient patient write a letter to her inpatient therapists letting them know how she was….I initiated things and speech therapist finished it off and i think it was an awesome collaboration and very occupation based 🙂 yay.

lots of cones and clothespins and dowel rods have been in my past…..and will be in my future too, I know this….but I brainstorm every day and research every day hoping to continue to expand reportoire…..so lets hope I can one day be a cones free therapist 😉

COULD THIS BE A POST? By a new occupational therapist?

Well this is a lunch blogging entry. I decided I didn't have enough time to run to the gas station and to buy a frozen pie crust, so I'll quickly blog, only take a 30 minute lunch so I can get out of here earlier! I'm having to get used to the whole getting-paid-to-work-exactly-40 hours thing….have to juggle time! It's not the end of the world to get overtime, but I'd much rather just work exactly 40 hours because um, well, even fun work is work! Considering the majority of people I now interact with are either physical speech or occupational therapists and/or interns in those fields, there is a lot of shop talk outside work anyway. My speech therapy roomie and I talk a lot about cognitive therapy like when working on executive function. We share some patients who need work on high level skills so it's great to bounce ideas off each other.

I am trying hard to be a good and knowledgeable therapist – I've lately learned more about basic splints, and I am in LOOOOOVE with this book called Therapeutic Exercises, written by PTs, and I think it should be a mandatory book. LOVE it. For phys dys that is. Not that phys dys is my love. But I have a passion to learn even if it's not my love since I want my patients to have highest quality care possible!

The other day I had to quickly measure like a bazillion big, medium, and little joints of BUE with goniometers of varying sizes….including all the finger joints. I was a little frazzled. lol.
I do get overwhelmed some days, feeling like I don't know enough or have too much on my plate, but really I don't….just don't like not feeling like I have control and know everything. I study a lot on the diagnoses my patients have, and I am a big fan of educational hand-outs even though I know a lot of people don't read them. I'm NOT a big fan of home exercise programs – HEP – although I do give them, with instruction to incorporate into day (ie lean over kitchen counter to do shoulder pendulum exercises while waiting for oven to pre-heat).

Rural Georgia is cracking me up…..one of the techs calls me Kay-ar-en and it's not to be funny, she just has a thick accent. I love it. And I bring things like hummus or dried mangos with chile and they are like WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT OMG and I am like AHAHAHAHAHA wow.

Karma just got me cuz I just lost a chip in a sea of hummus. I mourn thee little chip. Rest in soggy peace.

I went to lagrange symphony orchestra yesterday – very fun.

Enjoying Georgia, enjoying job, but wish I could start feeling like a therapist and not a student or imposter! But I'm getting there. Slowly.
Sorry for lack of posts lately – internet so slow in Warm Springs that I rarely get on. This is a rare treat to post. lol.

So……..more soon I hope.
PS yeah I need to change my header since i'm no longer a student! :O

hmm

so it ocurred to me that unlike FW i havent been coming home and writing about my experiences each day….because i cant share them. for me, sharing them is my biggest motivation – writing things down for only my eyes is no fun to me as i feel its a waste in some ways – always better to share reflections so that others can bounce off their own thoughts, ideas, etc….maybe ill try to start writing about my day and sending it to myself….but then in a while going back and modifying details/events so i can post them later on in some form or anther. i dunno. my memory is poor and my need for reflection is great….so when i dont write my life down it almost feels like i never even lived it. hmm.

wow

I am cleaning out mailbox while sitting in an atlanta bread company in columbus GA with an OT intern Emily and PT intern Tana, and one of the things I am just now about to archive is from June 10th and its from when I found out the devastating news about dream job not going to work out for really painful (but legitimate) reasons….I cannot believe it has been almost 5 months now. Seems like a lifetime ago now that I am living in Warm Springs GA…..amazing how things change…..am sure it all happened for good reason….good for me to be in Warm Springs in this calm peaceful living environment ….anyway…just had to share that wow, its been 5 months. A lot of growth has been taking place. Wow. Just kinda stunned. 5 months. Wow.

work work work

Haven’t been posting a lot. Time flies away and with slow to no internet access at times, um, blogging gets left behind. I’m starting as the only OT at a satellite clinic tomorrow. I’m nervous but my time in inpatient and outpatient and vocational rehab has all helped me grow. Plus I’ll be working with a very experienced physical therapist who can help me out with some of the things I am not sure about. I really like the diversity and complexity of things you might see outpatient – but thats also what scares me, lol. Vocational rehab has been interesting, I’ve really been intrigued by the students there – they tend to be people with congenital issues like spina bifida, cerebral palsy, myasthenia gravis, etc…….some people with aquired issues. Anyways it seems like many of the students in OT have similar personalities in some ways, regardless of type of disability, which I find interesting.

Ummm……I wish I had a lot more resources…..like lots more books….I love reading about stuff and then seeing it in real life and applying that knowledge. So much to learn. Like right now I want to go research retrograde massage for hand edema. I remember vaguely once reading that massage should be really really really gentle and light as it otherwise causes microvascular damage. But then in general most therapists are relatively firm with their massage on the edema. So I am confused and need to research further.