Just Hangin Out

I haven't written anything in a while because not much has happened in the clinic since I started on Sept 4. I have also been too tired to think let alone type out a blurb on my blog, which I knew would happen some day. Don't get me wrong I have been doing things, but I have come to find out that jumping in my car and dropping by someones house unannounced is not a good idea when everyone live 20-30 miles from me. But here is what has been going on I have been worshiping at Richland Hills Church of Christ and am on one of the praise teams, I have seen Cody Blair coach his 7th graders in a game for which I had to run the clock, I went to the Clash of Champions a match-up between Northwest High School of Miami, FL and Carroll High School of Southlake, TX and I've gone to a football practice run by Mark Gibson and his assistant Zach Garza.

Mondays,Wednesdays and Thursdays are my long days because I work from 9 am to 7pm which is good because I don't have to worry about traffic on the way home. Tuesdays and Fridays are better because I work from 7am to 1pm so little traffic both ways and who can complain about a 6 hour day. I have been living a fairly routine simple life during this rotation but I am enjoying myself.

"Through trials we'll grow together"

I am writing this blog with heavy heart tonight. I learned earlier today that one of my siblings, my friend, and my brother was called home. Aaron Fry was a fun loving young man who I first met when he came to my house in Abilene with his sister. At the time he was not yet in college and I had no clue he would become one of the 50 siblings I would pledge. I was able to spend a great deal of time with him during our spring break campaign to Washington, D.C. and as he played Dance Dance Revolution at the house I lived in on College Drive. Aaron was a magnificent trumpet player and gifted vocalist. I will truly miss my boy.

Matt Saller, Me and Aaron

2 more weeks in the Permian Basin

My time here in the Midland/Odessa area has been well spent. I got to spend some time with my family (the longest amount of time since I left for college in 2000). I was able to work in different facilities and learn what the real world of physical therapy is going to be like. I have witnessed one of the wettest Summer's in the history of the Permian Basin. Lastly I got to live rent free for about five months and celebrate my mom's birthday with her. Even though I have family ties in this area I would not want to live here to start my career. I've been asked at 2/3 of my rotations here if I was going to come back after I graduated, and at the place I am now the supervisor and a couple of the therapist continue to offer me bribes to stay here. I just laugh and let them know that I am not saying never, but moving back is not in my current plans.

I look forward to moving to the metroplex in a couple of weeks and spending the next four months with former roommates and college friends. What I don't look forward to is the drive to work through the Dallas/Fort Worth traffic. It is also going to be nice being that much closer to graduation and beginning my life as a real physical therapist (after passing the National Physical Therapy Examination) and making my own money. So those of you who currently live in the metroplex and read this blog I will be there in late August, give me a hollar.

Things I want to do while in Dallas/Fort Worth:
1) Watch Cody Blair coach football
2) See Garza on the sideline next to jr. high kids
3) Witness the phenomenon that is Coach Mark Rex Gibson

Happy 50th!!!!

On July 23rd my mom will be celebrating her 50th birthday, we celebrated with a party on Saturday with food and dancing. For those of you who have not met my mom she is a wonderful and exciting lady who knows how to have a good time. People say I look like her and some even say I act like her and she says I act like my dad. I don't mind being compared to her because she is a beautiful lady with the personality to match.

So Happy Birthday MAMA!!!!


Me and my mom dancing at her party

No Title Would Really be Appropriate

In my time as a student physical therapists I have encountered many fun characters, many of whom I have written about in my blog. Sadly none of my previous patients hold a candle to the lady I worked with today, ans she is not even my patient. Here is a brief history of why she is at the rehab hospital at which I work. This women weighs 300 plus pounds and she was admitted to the hospital for Chronic Illness Myopathy, which is a fancy way saying she has general weakness and cannot move by herself.

Amazingly enough today she was able to stand up with little help and slowly turn and sit down in a wheelchair and leave her room for the first time since she has been admitted. Other than the fact she weighs so much and she can't physically sit up alone, she also has another problem that makes it painful to sit up. The problem is that her uterus is prolapsed, meaning it is not on the inside anymore (if you want more info GOOGLE it). Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have 300 pounds sitting on your stomach or any other part of you for that matter. You may be asking yourself, with the current medical technology why hasn't she gotten that fixed? The answer is simply she chose not too many years ago.

Her having this condition is not the only thing that makes her interesting though, it is the fact that she refers to that area as her "Ding Dong." I don't know about you but that is just funny to me and I can't help but laugh out loud every time she says it. She constantly says "I'm sitting on my ding dong", "watch out for my ding dong", and when we ask her to do something "as long as it doesn't hurt my ding dong."

Today at the end of her treatment she made a request that I thought I would never hear and hope I never hear again. She asked one of us (the 3 therapist in the room) if we would put oil on her ding dong. Apparently it had become dried out with all the moving and getting pushed up and down the hallway. At that point I looked at the other therapist, who are ladies, one of them walked out of the room to get the nurse the other just smiled, then I just turned away and started laughing. I am happy to say that I didn't have to put oil on her "ding dong", and my clinical instructor informed me that would never have to put oil on her "ding dong."

People like this make being in the health care profession fun and keep me writing in this blog.

Question of the Week

This weekend I was at a wedding and as I do at most weddings I was thinking about how it will be when I get married. Then I began to wonder who would attend, other than those who are obligated, like family, and the people who are in the wedding. There are several factors that affect who is able to attend a wedding the two most important being date and location.
This line of thought led me to the following HYPOTHETICAL question, How many people would attend my wedding if it was some place exotic like THE MOON?

I realize there are several limitations to a wedding on the moon, but if you eliminate the cost issue and the face that going to space requires training and what not, would you come to my wedding.

These are the people who have RSVP 'd thus far:
Cris Carpenter
Alex LaBounty

So make your reservations and I'll see you on the BRIGHT side of the moon in the year 2050.

Those Three Magic Words

For the next 6 weeks I will be working with people who have had strokes and one of the things that can occur when someone has a stroke they can lose the ability to express themselves. The loss of the ability to express oneself or to understand verbal instructions is known as aphasia. One of he people who I am treating is experiencing expressive aphasia and right hemiparesis (paralysis of the right side of the body).

What makes this lady so interesting is that when I first went to see her on Tuesday she only said three words "yes", "no" and "shit". When she is trying to give instruction or let you know how she is doing she simply says "yes yes yes, yes yes yes yes." On the other hand when she doesn't want to do something during treatment she tells me "no". When she is in pain or I ask your to do something she doesn't think she can do she says "shit", but she does it with a nice little smile on her face.

As this week has continued she has added the words push, don't, up, down, and the numbers one through twenty. It is the funniest thing when she counts because she can't begin counting until she hears me say one, and she continues fairly consecutively with some prompting and since we we stop the exercises at twenty she sometimes just skips right to twenty so she can be done.

I think I will enjoy this affiliation especially when I get into the swing of things and get to see my patients progress.