This week has added to my insane month of March. I have decided that March is not for me.
Before my week ended with craziness, I was able to experience something very interesting with a rehab patient. A rugby player that has had chronic subluxations of left patella. On his first day, we were able to take girth measurements, bike, 50 heel slides, and IFC with ice. The girth measurements on the first day showed a very big problem, his left quad girth measurement was 5 centimeters less than his right quad. He was experiencing muscle spasms, tightness, and pain. We continued with the ten minute bike and heel slides for the first weeks rehab. This week was his second week on tuesday we increased the intensity of the rehab to quad contractions, TKE’s, and ball squeezes. On Thursday he was complaining on pain located over his IT band he also complained of snapping. I explained to him that it could be tightness of the IT band rubbing on the lateral femoral condyle causing pain. However during his rehab he asked me to palpate his knee where his pain was located, I felt a large deformity, based on the location of the deformity I thought maybe it was an enlarged bursa. After calling Melissa over she thought it could have been a plika, however the deformity had moved about an inch and a half from the location from when his first pointed it out. We decided that it could have possibly been a piece of free floating cartilage. His doctor informed him that possibly they could do an exploratory surgery. In the next couple minutes the deformity disappeared, then after IFC and ice the deformity reappeared on the medial side of his knee. I hadn't ever experienced anything that large on the body before. I am very excited to see what his doctor said over the weekend. Also, with my rehab patient she started running and jumping rope very exciting. She is doing extremely well and I'm excited to see her proceed in her rehab. I was only able to do a couple of attempts for the week with no masteries. This weekend was my best friend’s wedding in Charlotte. I was able to go to Charlotte friday after our in-service. Her wedding was beautiful and I attached a picture of us after her wedding! However, I left early after the wedding before the reception because I knew later in the evening that the road conditions would be poor. Ten miles before the Virginia line the rain turned into snow and my car ran off the road into a ditch. An officer sat with me until the tow truck arrived to load up my car. The officer took me to the hotel where I stayed for the night. My car and myself are totally fine. I was very lucky but decided the month of March is not for me!
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If I were able to get into a time machine and fast forward a couple years after graduating with an athletic training degree and getting my masters in occupational therapy, I could see myself in a private outpatient clinic working in pediatrics. I love being around kids and the aspect of early intervention. Early intervention is extremely important for children at a young age services can change a child’s developmental trajectory and improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. Children who are in occupational therapy will typically have some sort of disability, children with disabilities look at life a totally different way. They enjoy the small things and are very thankful for everything that is done for them. Growing up my mom managed a pediatric OT and Pt clinic, when I went into the clinic the kids were so nice to everyone and wanting to make friends with everyone. Going into the clinic made me fall in love with the job, I would love to wake up every morning and be able to go into a clinic and be around the children all day long.
Over the past week I was able to meet Kelsey and as I said last week, she is willing to let me meet up with her and allow me to shadow her in the clinic. Shadowing her will allow me to get closer to accomplishing my dream because I need observation hours in order to apply to graduate school. As I was writing this journal earlier in the week, I had a traumatic experience with a man walking into my house. We later learned that the man is schizophrenia and suffers delusions. After discussing with my psychology professor, he believes that after the man spent six years in prison he triggered the schizophrenia and was never treated. After thinking a long time about my experience I believe that an early intervention would have benefited this man. Not the same type of intervention I would like to do but an intervention that would change a life. This week was a very slow week, women’s basketball ended last weekend so I wasn’t able to get hours with basketball and softball did more classroom practices due to the weather. I was able to get in the clinic for the minimum amount of time for the week. I am already at 100 hours of the semester so this week shouldn't hurt me. This week I have 27 masteries and 46 attempts total. I was hoping to get half to 84 before spring break, however with a slow week and only a couple hours in the clinic I was not able to meet my goal. “Compassionate Care for All,” has a lot of meaning. Compassion means showing sympathy or concern for others, as an athletic training student I have learned one of the biggest and best characteristics that I can have is to be compassionate. It is very important to not just treat the injury but to treat the patient. We should be focused on creating bonds with our patients. We should stress over the importance of trust with our patients, because our patients need to have trust in us that we are doing what is best for them.
I have a strong bond with my rehab patient. She and I did not know each other before beginning this project, however now we have created a bond that grows everyday. I know that she trusts me and the decisions I make for her rehab even when it hurts. When I am in the clinic I focus a lot on who the person is, what the are majoring in, sport they play, and name rather than just working on their injury. After being placed with football last semester I learned that a majority of the players have their favorite student and athletic trainer, being personable is key. This week Beth introduced me to Kelsey McMahan, Kelsey is an occupational therapy graduate for Radford University, graduating last year. She works at a private clinic for pediatrics. Which is the field that I would like to go into. I talked a little bit with her about if I could come and shadow and she sounded just as excited as I was. I am most excited to shadow her to see how occupational therapy differs from therapist to therapist. From an occupational therapist who graduated in the 90’s to a therapist now and how their technics differ, also as a student just entering the work field. One of the schools that I have been looking in attending is Radford. I am really looking forward to getting to know Kelsey and asking many questions many question about school! This week I was able to finish 25 masteries and 43 masteries. I was not able to get as many attempts as I was hoping for and was not able to do as many of my medical conditions evaluations done this week, so it put me behind from my goal. As with basketball leaving halfway through the week, I was not able to do many attempts with Melissa. |