In order of most to least exciting news...
1) I got a job!
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. It's a great institution for numerous reasons. I had my first student rotation there, so I got to experience what I call The Machine first hand. I swoon. Therapists rotate yearly as well as sub-rotate within a given area every couple months. I'll be in acute care, though which area will be determined closer to my start date (could be orthopedic, medical, neuro...). My estimated start date is not until July 23rd, so I have time to get licensed and twiddle my thumbs. Won't see a paycheck until August, but it is nonetheless amazingly reassuring to know that I have a job -- a GOOD job -- secured. It's also a 20 minute walk from home.
ABC News is putting out a documentary of NYP called "NY Med" on July 10th at 10pm eastern/9pm central. Here's a link to the preview (~two minutes). The cameras were allowed to go anywhere and everywhere over a period of months. I've not heard of a project like this before. They had full access and full rights to anything so long as those caught on camera volitionally agreed and gave written approval (HIPAA laws somehow fully respected, so blurred faces of those in the background).
2) Soon to meet Nathan's mama
In the just over two years Nathan and I have been dating I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Nathan's mom. Looks like we'll get to use the days following my licensure exam for a visit upstate, so long as the pre-employment stuff (physical, fitness test, etc) required by NYP does not impede. Get ready, May, a storm's coming your way!
3) Visceral mobilization course.
It was as literal as it sounds: finding and then releasing restrictions in the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, greater omentum, large intestines, liver, gallbladder, diaphragm, bladder, many sphincters, and a discussion though not full training for the uterus. It was kind of incredible. Huge changes in people without touching their musculoskeletal system. The course instructors like to use people who have actual symptoms rather than just poking at another healthy body, and there is never a lack of someone in the room who could use the technique at hand. Previous whiplash injury - esophagus restricting neck and chest range of motion. Asthmatic on chronic steroids - difficulty utilizing the diaphragm for breathing rather than his shoulder muscles. GERD (acid reflux) - particular dysfunctional sphincter and restricted stomach. Difficulty digesting fatty foods - dysfunctional gallbladder output. Low back pain (especially right sacroiliac) with difficulty extending the right hip when walking - cecum (start of the large intestines in the lower right portion of your abdomen, neighbor to the appendix) adhered to underlying musculature and the right pelvic bone. Very cool stuff.
4) Merus's and her seven extractions.
Her initial good progress became a nose dive into worse and worse state of pain despite Buprenex 3x/day. Recovery food from the vet helped (super smooth texture, high calorie so her ability to eat very little went much further than normal food). Just as I was starting to wean her from 3 doses per day of Buprenex (an opiate pain med) down to 2 per day, she hid for a solid 36 hours without eating. Great... I started to worry, only for her to skip and meow at my side for food. She had effectively stopped cold turkey from meds, so I took a chance and gave her food without meds for the first time in a month and a half. Took 15 minutes and two or three bouts, but it worked! She's been off meds for at least a week now, and eating more easily and normally every day. Not 100% yet, but I'll take it. So will Sadie. She's had it with Merus getting all the extra attention, much like a two year old acting out once their sibling is born. I tell you what -- Sadie (a.k.a. Little Miss Princess, a.k.a. Spiderrabbitdolphinsealworm) may make everyone swoon but she sure as heck can cause A LOT of trouble....
5) First heat wave of the season.
It barreled into town on the actual first day of summer. NYC didn't get into the triple digits, but we sure were close. That was when Merus hid for 36 hours. My guess is her spot was a magical 5 degrees cooler than our sweltering apartment (we have two fans, no AC). I know much of the rest of the country experienced it too. (If you haven't already heard, much of Colorado has been burning for some time with more than one area evacuated. Check out the Denver Post for a map of all the fires, and I found this link to a handful of photos of the fires. Amazing to think how harnessing the power of fire opened humanity's window into modernity, and yet I too forget that it can occur spontaneously and, as evidenced in CO, doggedly.) I had to be particular as to what kinds of fluids I was constantly ingesting, though I'd say it was the first time in years that I wasn't completely miserable during a heat wave. We still have July and August though, so I'm not delusioned into thinking this year will be easier as a whole.
6) Obsession with Reese's
Give me a Reese's peanut butter cup and I'll be gone in one bite. Give me a bag of mini Reese's and there'll be a pile of foil and wax wrappers the size of my two fists put together. A few weeks ago we discovered that Breyers has started a line of ice cream involving name brand cookies and -- lo! -- Reese's. It's usually only carried at our local grocery store in half gallon size instead of pints. Very bad idea. Very, very bad... At a different grocery I found Reese's ice cream cups. I stared for about half a second before running away. You saw nothing. Nothing at all. Frozen okra, that's what it was. Pathetic. Then a week ago I found a recipe online for something I have no idea what to call aside from monster cookies. It uses pre-made refrigerated cookie dough formed into the bottom of a muffin tin, an upside down Reese's placed on top, then brownie batter over the top until each tin is 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. I stood in front of the brownie mixes at the store for a solid five minutes, first considering brands, later considering if it was a good idea. I choked and walked away. *sigh*
7) T-minus 6 days and counting...
The licensure exam is July 2nd at 8am. Something like 6-8 hours per day have been spent studying for this thing. Banging my head against study guides and coffee shop tables, jabbing holes in my skull with pens and highlighters, slicing myself like Edward Scissorhands with my stack of 350 flash cards and counting. You know, quality studying time. Luckily my cohort from school (also named Laura, a.k.a. Subconscious) has needed someone else to study with. We study our own things aside from questions or venting, but we commit to a location and stay there for a set number of hours.
The TherapyEd study guide by O'Sullivan is thorough, though has pissed me off numerous times. I almost chucked my laptop through the wall on Thursday of last week after one of the practice exams left me infuriated. I'll stick to one example: placenta previa. During pregnancy the placenta attaches itself incorrectly and could end up separating from the uterine wall. Study guide: no pelvic floor exercises (i.e. kegels), no abdominal exercises; any pelvic muscle exercise could induce uterine contractions and further placenta separation. Practice exam A (made by the same TherapyEd group): that answer is wrong. Continue pelvic floor exercises, discontinue abdominal exercises. *sigh*
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