Summer Has Come to a Close

If you were up and on the road before gas stations open on the weekdays this summer and happened to be driving down the interstate from Atlanta to northeast Georgia, there is a good chance that blue and silver bullet you saw on the highway was Ole Blue. Those who know me realize that calling my truck a bullet would suggest that my truck and me may travel even somewhat fast. That is a loosely-worded suggestion.

This summer I completed my first of two fieldworks (or an internships for you non-OT people) towards my occupational therapy degree and was lucky enough to be at Peachtree Orthopaedic Physical Therapy (POC) in Dunwoody, an outpatient clinic.

POC is the official orthopeadic company for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks, which all is good and fun to say but to those of you about to ask, do you think Braves General Manager Frank Wren would let a student rehab his players? You know better. The Hawks and Braves have their own therapists that go to the players anyway, but it was a tremendous learning experience nonetheless.

My fieldwork educator was Missy Thurlow, a well-respected hand therapist in Georgia and throughout the Southeast. Not only was she able to guide me through the summer and provide instructions from how to fill out charts to dealing with problem patients, but she will hopefully serve as a huge resource as I set out on the hunt for a job this time next year. She deserves all my thanks for taking me under her caring wing for the past three months.

Missy and one of her more famous patients,
 the world's No. 1 golfer Rory McIlroy.

While at POC, I was able to see everything I could have possibly wanted to. I followed a doctor around in the office to see what an initial visit looks like before we OTs will ever see them. I saw multiple days of surgery, which was much more interesting than I could have ever imagined. So much so that I have talked to some of the new first year students about joining in on some of their cadaver labs so I might can perform my own surgeries.

By the end of the summer, I had my own case load and was acting as a full-fledged therapist, except for having to have my documentation co-signed by a licensed occupational therapist. I even  joined a hand therapist professional group, the Georgia Hand and Upper Extremity Special Interest Group. 

I can also say that I have been one of those miserable rush hour commuters in the Atlanta area. Never again. Not saying I would never live there, but I will not commute in-and-out everyday. You know how I know Georgia Tech's Engineering School isn't all it is cracked up to be? Atlanta traffic.

As busy as I was I still had time to go and vacation a couple of weeks, to Passport with the youth from FBC Gainesville, a beach trip with the family, moving across town, and a trip to Arkansas. The summer was busy, but undoubtedly better than school.

Now that I am not waking up before the sun every day and commuting to Atlanta, much of my effort will be focused on school and my thesis. Only one more year -- and passing grades-- remains between me and a Master's of Science in Occupational Therapy from Brenau University.

On top of conducting research and eventually writing a 200-page paper with three of my new best friends, I continue to find things around the Poultry Capital of the Word (Gainesville) to keep me out of too much trouble. As some of you have seen or read, I have joined the staff at ArkansasExpats.com, a website devoted to the Razorbacks, and will produce a weekly column, which will run on Fridays previewing the upcoming weekend.

On Friday nights, you can come watch high school football with me as, different from last year when I was in the newsroom, I will actually go to games, sit in the press box, and write a story for the local newspaper The Times in Gainesville.

Then Sunday mornings will be filled with the inappropriateness of seventh and eighth grade boys in my Sunday School class. Big weekends in store for this fall.

When I was in Arkansas, my grandmother asked, "So your writing a weekly column, covering football, and writing for your own blog, and you're going to be a therapist?" My response, "Yep." It is a way for me to scratch a new found itch that I love, but I know could never make a career out of it.

I also learned that my grandfather was a paperboy when he was young, my old man was a copy editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and now I am just keeping the family tradition going.

With that being said, I have to go to class. It's my last first day of school.

The four of us in Gulf Shores

April 27

Tomorrow is the last day of finals in my first year of occupational therapy school at Brenau University. Yes, I should be studying my pediatric material for my test tomorrow, but there is too much going on in the world to not make a few comments. Lame title I know. It gets challenging to name the "random thoughts" posts.

Congratulations to Cleveland Browns RB Peyton Hillis. He will be the cover athlete for the famous Madden football video game franchise in 2012. He beat out some of the most popular players in the league including Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rogers and former cover boy himself Michael Vick. I have been a Hillis fan since his days at the University of Arkansas. I still find it hard to believe he beat the other Peyton and his Arkansas running back mates Darren McFadden and Felix Jones to the cover of Madden. (McFadden was on the cover of NCAA Football 09).

Samford has a new recruit making a visit to campus. Justin Combs, son of rap mogul Sean "P. Diddy of Puffy" Combs. Can you imagine the atmosphere at Seibert Stadium next year? And talk about some serious street cred. I am one proud alumnus.

To the college game. I am proud of Florida Head Coach Will Muschamp for kicking his First Team All SEC cornerback Janoris Jenkins off of the team after Jenkins was arrested a third time since moving to Gainesville. Muschamp has talked often about the Florida way, and this is a great start to changing a culture.

In other college football news, I am beyond tired of Ohio State and their coach Jim Tressel. Get him out of the game.

On a little more serious note, please pray for those affected by the tornado ripping through the southeast as I type. It has already done tremendous damage in Tuscaloosa and communities around Birmingham, a place I luckily called home for four years. Now it is my hometown of Rome, Georgia. Please pray for safety and the recovery efforts that will be soon to follow.

End of January

When tomorrow comes to an end the first month of 2011 will come to an end as well. Hard to believe January is already done. Looking back on the month it has been an eventful one. Since coming back to Gainesville I have:

Survived a snow storm- See my previous post for a closer look but this was a time in which we as an apartment were forced to have some bonding time. The bonding time has made for a much more comfortable living situation.

Started P90X- Wow... what a program. I have started to see results from working out everyday. By doing the program I am now starting to feel a need to workout everyday. I physically feel better, sleep better, and feel more productive about my days. I still have 60 more days to complete but I can say that I am looking forward to them.

Joined First Baptist Gainesville's Sanctuary Choir- This has been one of the best things I have done since moving here. As sort of a New Year's resolution I wanted to become involved in a group other than my classmates. I am still struggling with names of people but everyone has treated me like one of their own. The hardest part about the choir? This is the first choral group I have been a part of since 6th grade chorus that isn't led by my father.

UGA basketball game- Again, check out the previous post for a breakdown but I had a great day in Athens roaming around with my sister. She's cool and makes me look hip and trendy when I am in downtown Ahhhhhthens. But really, it is always fun to go to see someone else's environment. Now I am expecting a visit in return from Ellen to show her all the fun here in Gainesville.

Started my second semester of occupational therapy school- Yeah... so when I am not busy I do this thing called graduate school. This semester is all about Neuroscience and Pediatrics. I am learning a lot and am not too far behind from the registration fiasco that took place for the first two weeks of school. I am doing my fieldwork in Lawerenceville, Georgia at All About Kids. Being in the clinic is so much better than the classroom. I am really looking forward to doing it on my own in a couple of years.

Life is good here in Gainesville.

Made It Through One

Sorry you have not seen an update on here in a while. I have been busy with finals, but I am proud to say I have finished one semester of Occupational Therapy school. To celebrate being done a bunch of us (my classmates) went out and hit the square of downtown. Needless to say, there was not much to hit and we were gone by supper time.

I headed west to Mississippi to kick off my Christmas break, playing the esteemed role of a townsperson in First Baptist Church Vicksburg's presentation of God's Christmas Gift. I am sure they saw the talent and will be asking me back to fill a larger role. On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending First Baptist Church Jackson's Carols by Candlelight, a Strong family tradition. While there I, at times, felt as close to God as I may ever have. The final two anthems the choir were an arangement of Amazing Grace and Handel's classic Hallelujah Chorus.  I am convinced the feelings I felt were as close to what heaven feels like as we have here. There are very few times that I can remember in my life feeling this way and I will hopefully remember it for the rest of my life. I know watching it on the computer is not the same, but here is the link. FBC Jackson- Amazing Grace

I have made it back to home sweet Rome and all that is missing is my sister. It is going to be great to have some extended time with the four of us all under the same roof.

To the fans of my sports analysis, be looking forward to my best bowls of the season and bowl picks to come.

Eye Opener

For those of you who don't know I am attending Occupational Therapy school right now and for the next three years. I wrote this as a reflection on my hospital experience a couple of weeks ago and felt as if I should share it...

My hospital experience was one of the most important parts of my first semester in OT school, and maybe when I look back at it, my career. I feel as if pieces of information that I have been trying to put together in school have start to come together through my experience at the hospital.

I was in acute care and followed a very professional OT. One part of the day I experienced, the all-intimidating bathing, was really not as bad as it is made out to be. I had heard stories from other students about having to give people baths and was quite nervous that I was going to be one of the ones to help with bathing. Turned out I got to do bathing and toileting, and believe these are experiences every student going through the program should have their eyes open to. There is no way to know if you will or will not be exposed to it in your own career. Look at our professors. None of them stayed in one practice area for too long, and I bet none of them thought in their first year they would teach. We always say that the versatility is one of the best parts about being an OT.

The experience helped me learn some important things that I will carry throughout my time as a student at OT. Get over it. At some point you have to do things that aren't always comfortable and push you to the limits. Whether this is going to look at a cadaver, watching a patient being given a bath, or teaching patient, new toileting techniques, sometimes “you gotta do what you gotta do”. I realized that these are all things we as OTs are exposed to and need to be comfortable with them. The patient trusts you. Imagine if you were that woman who has just suffered a stroke, first day on a new floor, with a new OT, and there is a male graduate student, a stranger and complete surprise, watching you in some of your most personal moments. Patients trust that we as OTs know what we are doing and that we will carry out these responsibilities in the most professional manner. These are people. Hearing the patient’s history in team meetings not only let me see that OTs are just part of the recovery process but also that patients are people, with families and amazing stories just like us.

It really hit me at the hospital that as an OT we are so much more that just a therapist that comes and helps, but we are giving life and independence back to someone. Yeah, we do some things that are pretty uncomfortable to most people, but that is yet another reason why not everyone can or will do what we do. Coming from mostly an outpatient shadowing background, I learned quite a bit.  I may never work at a hospital but it is great to know that is always something I can do if I want to.

Side note-- There was something else that I dealt with at the hospital and learned from, but it didn't fit to share it in this reflection. Occupational therapy is a field dominated mostly by women. I would liken the ratio to education maybe a few more females on the female to male ratio. I was asked by on of the OTs working in an abrasive tone, "You're a guy, why would you want to be an OT?" I stepped back and wanted to say, "You're a girl, why do you want to be an OT?" But remembering that I am in an inferior position, I just simply thought about it. I told her, "For the same reasons that you want to. I love seeing the progress of patients and using occupations they love to do to teach them how to do them again." She had no rebuttal but, "yeah, me too." I honestly believe God has lead me to become an OT because I will be able to show his love, kindness, how awesome our bodies are that He made, and ultimately a whole lot of patience to those that may not know it and by doing so I can help one person, great.

For those of you reading, family and friends, if you never knew why I want to be an OT, I hope I cleared up some confusion.