Cervicals Spinal Evaluation update

I felt pretty good about the Cervicals Spinal Evaluation on Friday.  Dr. Hagen was overseeing my findings and adjustment.  The adjustment didn't take, my patient said.  However, because the instrumentation changed, it was considered an actual adjustment.  That is one of the things that Jon and I discuss:  whether or not instrumentation findings are valid or not.  I'm not sure what I think at this point.  I'd have to use them more to feel I have developed an informed opinion on that. 

I did quite a bit of studying over the weekend, combining review for Boards with reading more of Mosby's text for Phys Di.  I read the chapter for Male Genitalia and am working through the Female Genitalia (which is twice as long due to pregnancy information) and I started reading the chapter on Anus and Rectum.  I know all of the info concerning the Anatomy and Physiology will be on Boards, and I know I'll need to know the diagnostic info for upcoming classes, so it is good reading.  I also reviewed some PNS.  The final for Phys Di is this coming Friday and the final for PNS is next Monday.  I want to be ready to do well on both.

We found out Dartagnan is failing 3 classes recently.  I'm not joking when I say we have tried just about every approach to try to motivate him to do his homework and take school a little more seriously.  We've tried standing over him, taking him back to school when he's "forgotten" his homework, had him stay after school (mandatory) to work with his teachers on his work, grounding him from fun things, rewarding him with money/activities if he gets good grades...pretty much nothing has worked.  He has been so resistant.  So, over the weekend, Jon and I began exploring boarding schools, specifically, military boarding schools.  We've found some that sound like a good fit for Dartagnan, especially one called Camden in South Carolina.  Their website states it perfectly:  they believe boys need physical activity (they have physical training every morning before classes), benefit from smaller classes (17:1 ratio), don't need the distraction of the opposite sex (they are a boys-only school) and they are dedicated to helping students that may struggle with ADD/ADHD or lack of motivation.  We are also looking at a school in Georgia, and three in Virginia. 

Since we began looking at the schools, we thought about visiting, because that is really necessary to determine if the place is a good fit for him.  The only time that will work for us to do this is our next break from Palmer.  Thinking about taking a whirlwind tour of schools over break is a little disheartening, because I was planning all the things I wanted to get done over the break at home.  However, Dartagnan's education is very important, so we are going to do what we can to make this happen.  We are still planning it and talked to him about the idea last night.  He was very excited and wanted to see all the schools' websites.  So Jon spent time showing D all the options.  I was glad that D was excited about the prospect and he said he would rather go to boarding school than to Bettendorf High School, where he currently is.  I think he sees it as an adventure and it will be.  I would have given just about anything to get away from Bettendorf High School when I was there myself.  Not because it is a "BAD" school; it is a very good school academically.  I just had a really hard time there because my family was blue-collar, middle-class and many of the kids there were white-collar, middle-class.  I also was not a person to be quiet and just go with the crowd.  Dartagnan is not either, so I think coming back from Minnesota, where he did well in school, has been tough for him.  Up there, he had a chance to make a new reputation for himself.  Here, everyone already thought of him as a slacker and a class clown (his teachers said they suspect he is very intelligent, but that he doesn't want anyone to know it and that he can lead the whole class on a tangent).  So he simply fell back into a familiar pattern when he came home.

I have to take all my Boards review materials with me on the trip, because Boards are about halfway through March and I really don't want to be stressed about them and feel I've not studied sufficiently.