What did you learn in kindergarten that you wish you did a better job of applying to the way you live your life today?
Nap time... I absolutely loved nap time when I was in kindergarten and I wish I was better able to apply it to be everyday life. Life would be so much more enjoyable if the adult world allowed everyone a 40min nap during the day... think about how rested you would be and better able to tackle those problems? It would be awesome. Haha
So again it's been awhile since my last post. I have been really busy again with my fieldwork and actually working that by the time I get home I don't feel like doing a whole lot. My weekends are relaxing though and always jam packed with activities. Last weekend I went out to the bar with George, my cousin Daniel and his friend Hannah because George's saturday job won free beer and pizza. That was very entertaining to say the least. We ended up hanging out back at my house afterwards. I ended up working for 10ish hours on saturday so I called into my afternoon family in Saquoit on Sunday so that I could have some time to myself for relaxing. It ended up being a good choice because George and I ended up hanging out with Kevin and Miss Julianne at his parent's house in their pool all afternoon which was really nice... awesome workout too. We ended up making a trip out to Walmart to buy a floating basketball hoop so that we could play water basketball which was a riot and quite a contact sport too haha. We stopped at Burger King on our way back where we all got crowns... wore them out of the store and then all the way home with the windows rolled down. We also decided to blare rock music so that we would get attention... we got some strange looks at a few stop lights in rome and then in Floyd a car full of old ladies started cracking up and waving too us... quite amusing I thought haha.
Then I had another busy week full of fieldwork and work. My first patient went home this week which was exciting... now I have 5 patients though so it's getting better. I hate not having patients because I get so bored. I also recieved an exciting call from my friend Sam M from school who might have a new job for me. She asked UCP about a job that would use our Health Studies degrees and they have a full time job as a Behavioral Specialist which requires a 4 year degree in psycology or a related field... she was willing to put it into a part time job if Sam could find a friend (me). So I won't say too much about that now because I don't have all the details... I'm waiting to hear back from Sam... but I may be getting a WAY better job. Not sure what exactly I would be doing or much about anything but if it requires a 4 year degree it has to pay better then my current position and it is still within UCP and with kids so it's perfect!! Other then that I recieved exciting news that Jules got a job out in Syracuse so she is def staying in NY for awhile so that is awesome!
I worked alot again this weekend but it was ok. Saturday I went to the racetrack with George and my cousin Daniel to cheer him on since he races. That was alot more fun then I thought it would be so I will probably be going back there more often. He came in 4th which is really good. Today I worked all day... I went to Remsen's graduation because one of the girls I work with graduated and I had to keep her sister under control during the ceramony so that her parents could enjoy it. It was really nice and quite a difference to how things would have been if the girl went to HP. Everyone in her class was really nice to her and willing to push her down the aisle in her wheelchair so that she wouldn't have to be different a have an aide there with her. She also got the largest cheer when they called her name and half the audience stood up for her. It was a really nice ceramony with alot of respect for the girl and her family. Quite touching actually haha.
George and I also adopted a new cat... well this one is pretty much a Kitten still... her name is Hera so that we can stick with the Greek god theme. She was a stray up at my in-laws so we kept her. She is rather hyper and very lovely.... Zeus is still unsure about her but the hissing has stopped at each other so thats a good sign. It's cute when they play together though because Zeus, who is rather lazy and not used to much physical activity, gets very winded and needs to lay down when they chase each other. Hera will sit there and look at him until he stands back up and the play resumes. Haha. However, Hera did not enjoy her first vet visit though... it took the vet and three assistants to pin down this tiny 5 lb kitten to give her a rabies shot. She was not happy!
As for this upcoming week... I'm sure it is going to drag. My 1 year anniversary with George is next monday so we are going away for the weekend to celebrate (since I have to work on monday... GRRR). We are heading up to The Edge hotel again on Friday night for a relaxing stay in one of their hot tub rooms... then we are spending Saturday up around Lowville and going to the races with Daniel that evening. No plans for Sunday yet but we hope to lay low and just relax. So needless to say the week is going to go by so slow. Hopefully I will have more time to write though...
So it's been awhile since my last post... things are going better I suppose. I've gotten used to things at Heritage and it's begining to feel more comfortable... I just basically told myself to stop seconded guessing the things that I do and I'll be fine and it's worked alittle. I'm up to 4 patients now but one of them is going home next week... my first patient ever is actually making it back home. Go me! It's exciting at least haha. This week has gone by fast... there have been alot of inservices to go too which change things up a bit and I went on a home evaluation again to get out of the facility for awhile. That was fun... on the home eval my supervisor and the PT Jack were talking about this guy and how he volunteered to go to Vietnam and remove live landmines... and my supervisor wanted to know how you removed a live landmine and then my Gouger sense of humor kicked in and I replied "carefully" Luckily they had a sense of humor too. The inservices have been interesting too... today we had one on fire safety because they changed around all of their fire procedures. So they had this guy from an outside company come in a teach it and at one section he was showing us how to put out someone who was on fire in a wheelchair (because apparently elderly people catch on fire alot when they can't walk...) so he had fire protected clothing and a lap board which he kept lighting on fire for people to put out. He wanted four volunteers and he got three easily and then he was waiting for the fourth so he goes "Alright I'm just going to light myself on fire and someone save me..." And he did! The only problem was was that no one tryed to put him out. Some health professionals we had... he eventually put himself out but it was funny.
I even got a phone call last week from Cora my fieldwork cordinator back at school and I got my last placement at a UCP preschool!!! I'm so excited. I had a choice between preschool or the promise program but I choose the preschool because I figured it was close to Early Intervention where I really want to go and I will get to see more then just autism... all I could picture with the promis program was 10 little childern like the kid I work with in Cold Brook and I couldn't do it haha. I'm wicked excited though. UCP generally hires their interns and I already work for them so hopefully I may be getting a job through this! Fingers crossed! Need to make it through heritage first I supoose.
Other then that it's been quiet... I've been working alot and doing my internship. Yesterday was George's birthday so we went out to dinner and today I got to hang out with Miss Julianne for awhile! I missed her! I'm meeting a new family for UCP Tuesday... they live in Remsen and hopefully I can replace my Sauquoit family with them. I love the little girl I work with out there but it's way too much of a drive and for 4 hours it's not worth it. This kid in Remsen is 16 and severely autistic... he is nonverbal and behavioral so it should be a challange but good experiance for when I'm an OT. We will see how it goes I guess. I've also stopped drinking soda this last week and began watching what I eat... Since I've moved out of my parents house I've gained about 30pounds and I don't see it and my husband claims he didn't notice but I don't like the number on the scale so I'm on a "diet". Mainly I stopped drinking soda and instead of munching on chips all day I'll have a salad or an apple... working so far because I lost 4 pounds in the first week. Go me! Thats it for now though... I'm hungry haha.
If you had to participate in any reality show, which one would it be?
I would participate in The Mole which is hands down my favorite Reality show ever and I am very excited to see it come back starting Monday!!! It had to be on like 6 or 7 years ago and I loved it... I'm hoping that this new season is just as good.
What are the goofy nicknames you have for your pet? Bonus points for sharing a picture of him/her.
Submitted by Papi Chulo.
Well my Cat's name is Zeus... orginally Scooter but that was a stupid name and he didn't answer to it anyways... above is a picture of my kitty being lazy which is what he likes to do. Well he now answer's to Zeus but all of George's friends and a few of mine have their own names for him and he actually answer's to that name if that person is calling him.
Kalky... the best man in our wedding, named him Leuy and then are other friend Jonathan said he looked like a Melvin... so then they combined it to make Leuy T. Melvin which us a cool name I suppose.
Miss Julianne named him Malcom and then upgraded it to Stinkyman Malcom because of how bad he can stink up the house after using the litter box.
Meghan named him Satan which was then changed to Hades or however you spell the greek god of the underworld. That name has since faded but it was still one of them so it was mentioned.
Other then those George and I just refer to him as Buddy alot but those are his many names.
Onward to my fish now haha... I have a bunch of strange named fish... We have Sir Sucks Alot (A sucker fish), Albino (an albino shark), Frank (A Bala shark which George named... his brother Harry died), Mayo DaWayne (A Catfish of the DaWayne family), Dyslexic DaWayne One and Two (An upside down catfish although I think Sir Sucks Alot ate one of the two) and lastly we had Fairy (A rainbow shark who died a few days ago.) Those are my fishy's names but I can't get pictures of them... only Frank, Mayo and Sir Sucks Alot swim around... the rest hide.
So after the first week of my 12week fieldwork placement I have to say that it isn't terriable. I'm at the Heritage Healthcare center for the summer in the post acute rehab unit. Basically thats where you go if you aren't able to return home after you are discharged from the hospital. Overall I have realized that I don't think I like the setting... although alot of that could be the facility. In a nursing home rehab setting basically you get patients after the hospital, you work with them alittle bit and they end up going back to the hospital and then coming back. The pattern contiunes until they are either admitted into Long Term Care or they die. I think that I prefer to see more progress in the patients then that which is why I loved Faxton so much. I also liked the new patients everyday and the faster paced... it kept things from getting boring.
My first day at Heritage was alittle rough and I was very concerned about the next 12 weeks. My supervisor basically handed me a stack of 12 patient files and told me to get familiar with them so that I knew what was going on with them when they came in. She didn't give me any explanation of the paperwork or nothing she just disappeared... but not before telling me that they don't have any schedule for the patients they just come when they feel like it. So basically you can get all 12 patients at once or none at all.. as a student that is nuts! So the first day was really rough but on day two I had a conversation with my supervisor and asked to be shown the paperwork and everything so it started to go up hill. My main complaint though is that the OT's and PT's practically do the exact same thing which isn't right. I think I have spent more time and learned the most from a Physical Therapy Assistant then any OT. Heritage is also very behind times in technology and ways of treating patients. I think I got spoiled at Faxton... it was so awesome there and now I'm across the street looking at Faxton through the window wishing I was there.
Things also improved when I got my first patient. My supervisor asked me on the second day if I wanted a patient so I figured why not... I was totally bored out of my mind just watching people and they do the same thing with all of their patients regardless of their diagnosis so how hard could it be? I hate the cookbook therapy as it is called but I'm not assertive enough to say anything about it as a student. I just want to pass and move on the the pediatric stuff. My patient is doing good... she should be going home soon haha. She was basically independent in everything when she came in I just think she is here because her husband is here as well. She was a good one to start with because I couldn't hurt her. It's kind of cool having a patient but I really haven't had to do much with it this past week. However, tomorrow I have to start doing alot of paperwork to go along with her.... but it has to be more interesting then sitting there and watching the paperwork being done.
The people there are pretty cool as well. After the first day I've gotten along with my supervisor, Laura, much better. She actually treated one of my kids through UCP so we have common things to talk about and she lives in Floyd so thats cool. There is another OT, Ned, who is alittle wierd but still nice... I'm happy he isn't my supervisor though because he keeps disappearing and saying he doesn't have time to teach. Then there is an OT assistant, Val, which can do anything an OT can do except evaluate patients but that isn't a big deal at heritage. She is alright... she is really good at explaining things too me though especially on my first overwhelming day. The PT's are awesome though... there are two actually PT's Jessica and Garliee, and then two PT assistants Jack who is hilarious and an awesome teacher, and then Alisa who is very nice. If it wasn't for the people this would probably be a nightmare...
Well that is a summary of week one... eleven more to go. :/
