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.
Showing posts with label Boards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boards. Show all posts
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
My First Adjustment!
I'm totally excited! Just performed my first adjustment in Cervicals class and it went very well! I was so nervous, and I didn't get done in the 25 minute timeframe that would have allowed me to get 2 extra credit points (but no one in the class today did). We had to do the work-up with visualization (checking for indicators of right or left superiority/inferiority), ortho-neuro testing, leg check, instrumentation, palpation and x-ray findings. Then we had to decide which adjustment is best for the patient based on all the findings. My patient had a VSC (vertebral subluxation complex) at C4 and I performed a Dth (double thumb) adjustment, prone, at C4. After, the leg check was no change, but pain on extension was decreased, and the nervoscope revealed the break that had been at C4 was no longer present. Yea! I was happy I didn't hurt my patient and that the adjustment "went."
Now I'm just reviewing my notes for the Abdomen Practical in Phys Di, which is in 30 minutes. After that, I hopefully will have time to run home and grab something to eat before Board Review begins at 4. That goes until 9 tonight and starts up again at 8 am tomorrow morning. Quite the weekend. I just have to say I'm thankful we had a snow day this week so it seemed like I sort of had a weekend.
Now I'm just reviewing my notes for the Abdomen Practical in Phys Di, which is in 30 minutes. After that, I hopefully will have time to run home and grab something to eat before Board Review begins at 4. That goes until 9 tonight and starts up again at 8 am tomorrow morning. Quite the weekend. I just have to say I'm thankful we had a snow day this week so it seemed like I sort of had a weekend.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Irene Gold Board Review & Snow Day
I spent the entire past weekend in Board Review. I was dreading sitting for so many hours and had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised because our instructor was hilarious and he really helped tie together all the material we've learned so far in our education. Fortunately, the time flew by. I took walks around campus during the breaks to help the sitting not be so unbearable. It was hard not really having a weekend, though.
We had a snow day yesterday. The count was 17 inches for Bettendorf. Our neighbor, Doug, snowblew our walks and drive. That was such a blessing, because, with Jon's herniated discs and my externa otitis (outer ear infection), it was hard on us to do it.
Jon had gone out Tuesday night, while I was at the urgent care clinic getting my ear looked at, and had shoveled, which he really shouldn't be doing at all. When I got home, it looked like it hadn't been touched because of the wind and the drifting.
Before I came home from urgent care, I stopped by Hy-Vee and picked up some groceries and lots of bottled water, just in case. I also got three movies from RedBox, which had hardly anything left. We watched "Babies" with Lani in our bed that night. She loved it. It was charmingly done. Last night Jon and I watched "Repo Men" which was really disturbing psychologically and violently. That wasn't such a good rental. Lani and Dartagnan watched an owl movie, "Legend of the Guardians" I think. They liked it, too.
I also stopped at Walgreen's to get my prescription for my ear drops before coming home and picked up valentines for Lani to make for her class and some Smarties to put with them. They also had in those yummy Reese's peanut butter cup hearts, so I got one for Jon, because that is his favorite. Just driving home from Walgreen's at Duck Creek down Kimberly Road hill, which is a very short drive, was bad. The snow was at least 6 inches deep and, if it had been plowed, it didn't look like it had. I'm glad it was downhill to go home because I wouldn't have made it if it was the other direction. By the time I did get home, the blizzard was in full swing. I unloaded groceries, got the car and van parked behind the house, off the alley, in preparation for the plows to come by the front of our house where we usually park, and got inside as quick as possible.
To thank Doug for all his hard work, I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Lani helped me measure out the brown sugar and vanilla, and helped me beat the eggs into the mix. She loves to "help." Dartagnan delivered the cookies for me.
I knew I should buy extra bottled water, but had no idea why I felt that way. Well, when Dartagnan woke up yesterday, he came out of his room and was standing in water. We had a leak in a pipe somewhere in the ceiling, under the new construction Jon just did! So Jon spent the entire day re-routing the water from the hot water heater. It was not fun being without hot water almost all day, and having no water at all for a few hours, but we managed. I'm so glad that Doug helped us out, or Jon wouldn't have been able to drive to go get the parts and would have had to walk to the hardware store, which would have used up valuable time (plus, the three copper pipes were about 10 feet long each, which would have been a bear to carry home in the cold and snow).
I heated water on the stove and used it to give Lani a bath in the kitchen sink because we'd all stayed up and watched movies the night before, so she went to bed without her usual nightly bath. She loved it! She's not had a bath in the sink since she was very little, and she's a rather large two-year-old. She didn't want to get out.
Dartagnan helped me dig out all around the cars and under them, too. We got them cleared off and started them to make sure they would start with no problem today. He helped me clear the drive even closer to the fence so we could squeeze both in a little closer to the fence and a little farther away from the alley, in case a plow came through. Wanted to make sure that we wouldn't get hit or lose a side mirror on the van.
We only lost electricity once, for just a few moments. We were very thankful for that, too, because it was so cold outside that our house would have cooled down to the point of being unbearable within a few hours. We had anticipated that possibility and turned the heat up higher than usual when we went to bed Tuesday night, so we'd have a "cushion" of warmth if we did lose power. We do have a wood-burning fireplace, but it does not put out much heat and wouldn't have done us much good in a power loss.
I did a load of laundry with cold water, cleaned more of the living room, did some studying for Phys Di. It was a overall a pleasant day for me; not so much for Jon having to plumb all day. He was exhausted afterward, from having his hands over his head all day.
Looked at heritage/vintage roses on-line last night. I think I would like to try growing some climbers on our fence this summer...that would be so beautiful, roses all over the fence...
Time for class.
We had a snow day yesterday. The count was 17 inches for Bettendorf. Our neighbor, Doug, snowblew our walks and drive. That was such a blessing, because, with Jon's herniated discs and my externa otitis (outer ear infection), it was hard on us to do it.
Jon had gone out Tuesday night, while I was at the urgent care clinic getting my ear looked at, and had shoveled, which he really shouldn't be doing at all. When I got home, it looked like it hadn't been touched because of the wind and the drifting.
Before I came home from urgent care, I stopped by Hy-Vee and picked up some groceries and lots of bottled water, just in case. I also got three movies from RedBox, which had hardly anything left. We watched "Babies" with Lani in our bed that night. She loved it. It was charmingly done. Last night Jon and I watched "Repo Men" which was really disturbing psychologically and violently. That wasn't such a good rental. Lani and Dartagnan watched an owl movie, "Legend of the Guardians" I think. They liked it, too.
I also stopped at Walgreen's to get my prescription for my ear drops before coming home and picked up valentines for Lani to make for her class and some Smarties to put with them. They also had in those yummy Reese's peanut butter cup hearts, so I got one for Jon, because that is his favorite. Just driving home from Walgreen's at Duck Creek down Kimberly Road hill, which is a very short drive, was bad. The snow was at least 6 inches deep and, if it had been plowed, it didn't look like it had. I'm glad it was downhill to go home because I wouldn't have made it if it was the other direction. By the time I did get home, the blizzard was in full swing. I unloaded groceries, got the car and van parked behind the house, off the alley, in preparation for the plows to come by the front of our house where we usually park, and got inside as quick as possible.
To thank Doug for all his hard work, I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Lani helped me measure out the brown sugar and vanilla, and helped me beat the eggs into the mix. She loves to "help." Dartagnan delivered the cookies for me.
I knew I should buy extra bottled water, but had no idea why I felt that way. Well, when Dartagnan woke up yesterday, he came out of his room and was standing in water. We had a leak in a pipe somewhere in the ceiling, under the new construction Jon just did! So Jon spent the entire day re-routing the water from the hot water heater. It was not fun being without hot water almost all day, and having no water at all for a few hours, but we managed. I'm so glad that Doug helped us out, or Jon wouldn't have been able to drive to go get the parts and would have had to walk to the hardware store, which would have used up valuable time (plus, the three copper pipes were about 10 feet long each, which would have been a bear to carry home in the cold and snow).
I heated water on the stove and used it to give Lani a bath in the kitchen sink because we'd all stayed up and watched movies the night before, so she went to bed without her usual nightly bath. She loved it! She's not had a bath in the sink since she was very little, and she's a rather large two-year-old. She didn't want to get out.
Dartagnan helped me dig out all around the cars and under them, too. We got them cleared off and started them to make sure they would start with no problem today. He helped me clear the drive even closer to the fence so we could squeeze both in a little closer to the fence and a little farther away from the alley, in case a plow came through. Wanted to make sure that we wouldn't get hit or lose a side mirror on the van.
We only lost electricity once, for just a few moments. We were very thankful for that, too, because it was so cold outside that our house would have cooled down to the point of being unbearable within a few hours. We had anticipated that possibility and turned the heat up higher than usual when we went to bed Tuesday night, so we'd have a "cushion" of warmth if we did lose power. We do have a wood-burning fireplace, but it does not put out much heat and wouldn't have done us much good in a power loss.
I did a load of laundry with cold water, cleaned more of the living room, did some studying for Phys Di. It was a overall a pleasant day for me; not so much for Jon having to plumb all day. He was exhausted afterward, from having his hands over his head all day.
Looked at heritage/vintage roses on-line last night. I think I would like to try growing some climbers on our fence this summer...that would be so beautiful, roses all over the fence...
Time for class.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Boards
Thankfully, I am not taking Boards, the tests that are required for gaining licensure in the U.S. They are being held this weekend. Started today (I think) and Thursday and Wednesday were study days for students in 4th Tri and higher. So has been nice to have some time off, especially since I was still not feeling well yesterday.
Today felt a bit better and cleaned house and studied this morning. I got quite a bit done. Decided that since I had accomplished so much, that I would go to yoga at noon. Was so refreshing and relaxing. Went to Indigo Wellness www.indigowellness.com and Shannon, the teacher, was very calm and peaceful. I think I may have to get a card for multiple sessions.
This afternoon I had tutoring with Dr. Rogers and felt good about that. Picked up Lani and fed her dinner and got her bathed. She's watching "Peter Pan" and enjoying the songs immensely. I signed her up for ballet and swim lessons at the Y http://scottcountyfamilyy.org/bettendorf/default.asp She had fun last night at her ballet class. We had to then hurry to the high school, as it was Parent Teacher Conference night. Met with all of Dartagnan's teachers except one (we ran out of time) and then had to get him to his hip-hop dance class (lessons for him started this week too, like Lani) in Moline at The Academy of Performing Arts http://www.qcacademy.com/ He's exceited to be back in dance. He has Jazz/Ballet on Monday nights and wants to add in Ballroom and Salsa, but we have to find a place for him to take it that, as he says, isn't "scary" which really means, that it isn't just adults, but also some teens or just teens. This won't be easy to find in the Quad-Cities.
So in the morning, I'm planning to go to the Farmer's Market with my mom early (7:30 feels early on a Saturday), then later, at 10:15, take Lani to her swim lesson. After we get back home, I'll get ready to go horseback riding with my friend Callie, who has two horses stabled about an hour away from here. I've not been with her before, but I think we'll have a great ride. Callie's in Boards, so I know she will be welcoming the opportunity to get away from the books/Palmer for a bit. Might convince Jon to go out with Callie and her friends to dinner tomorrow night...we'll see if he feels like it. He will be working on Dartagnan's room tomorrow, getting it painted. (Yea!)
Think I'm going to put a load of laundry in the machine and read some Renal Physiology or write out some PNS pathways before I hit the hay. Jon is still out of town. He left earlier this afternoon to meet his mom and stepdad in Peoria and drop off a painting to them. He hasn't left yet but will come home tonight, I think. :) Dartagnan is staying the night at my mom's house and hanging out with his cousins (my sister-in-law and her two boys just moved back in with my mom and dad about two weeks ago while my brother is traveling in the Pacific for the Marines until December).
Today felt a bit better and cleaned house and studied this morning. I got quite a bit done. Decided that since I had accomplished so much, that I would go to yoga at noon. Was so refreshing and relaxing. Went to Indigo Wellness www.indigowellness.com and Shannon, the teacher, was very calm and peaceful. I think I may have to get a card for multiple sessions.
This afternoon I had tutoring with Dr. Rogers and felt good about that. Picked up Lani and fed her dinner and got her bathed. She's watching "Peter Pan" and enjoying the songs immensely. I signed her up for ballet and swim lessons at the Y http://scottcountyfamilyy.org/bettendorf/default.asp She had fun last night at her ballet class. We had to then hurry to the high school, as it was Parent Teacher Conference night. Met with all of Dartagnan's teachers except one (we ran out of time) and then had to get him to his hip-hop dance class (lessons for him started this week too, like Lani) in Moline at The Academy of Performing Arts http://www.qcacademy.com/ He's exceited to be back in dance. He has Jazz/Ballet on Monday nights and wants to add in Ballroom and Salsa, but we have to find a place for him to take it that, as he says, isn't "scary" which really means, that it isn't just adults, but also some teens or just teens. This won't be easy to find in the Quad-Cities.
So in the morning, I'm planning to go to the Farmer's Market with my mom early (7:30 feels early on a Saturday), then later, at 10:15, take Lani to her swim lesson. After we get back home, I'll get ready to go horseback riding with my friend Callie, who has two horses stabled about an hour away from here. I've not been with her before, but I think we'll have a great ride. Callie's in Boards, so I know she will be welcoming the opportunity to get away from the books/Palmer for a bit. Might convince Jon to go out with Callie and her friends to dinner tomorrow night...we'll see if he feels like it. He will be working on Dartagnan's room tomorrow, getting it painted. (Yea!)
Think I'm going to put a load of laundry in the machine and read some Renal Physiology or write out some PNS pathways before I hit the hay. Jon is still out of town. He left earlier this afternoon to meet his mom and stepdad in Peoria and drop off a painting to them. He hasn't left yet but will come home tonight, I think. :) Dartagnan is staying the night at my mom's house and hanging out with his cousins (my sister-in-law and her two boys just moved back in with my mom and dad about two weeks ago while my brother is traveling in the Pacific for the Marines until December).
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