ROM and Electricity

So it's fun times in all of our PTA classes these days. We're learning all about e-stim and range of motion/ stretching. I got a 97% on my first midterm. Next week, I have my checkout on assistive devices, Range of motion, and stretching. Still need some practice but I think I'll be okay. Have a great day and God bless... Sean

A Shortened School Week

This was a very short week at school due to the MLK holiday and an unexpected snow day on Wednesday. We've been studying the physiology of pain in my interventions class along with ultrasound. We also just started our electrical stim. unit and I spent about 3 hours on Tuesday afternoon hooked up to various e-stim machines feeling all kinds of different jolts some of which felt good and were really kind of cool, in a weird sort of way, (like the one that made me involuntarily extend my wrist) to really annoying and almost painful. E-stim is very complicated so we have many more lectures and labs still to do on that subject. I also had my first checkout of the term (ultrasound) on Thursday. I haven't gotten my score back yet but I think I did well. In Kinesiology, we're still studying gait and ambulation aids. I'm learning all about how to teach people to manage crutches, canes, walkers, etc. I'll tell you, it's a lot more complicated than it looks. I'm really not minding having afternoon lab. Yes I miss getting out early and it makes the day a lot longer but I get a lot of studying done during our 4 hour break on Tuesday and Thursday. Plus, the weight room is open for an hour during that time so a bunch of us from the program usually go work out. It's kind of neat because it gives us a chance to hang out outside of class a little. Oh, and by the way, I was able to put up 225 on squats X 6 reps on Thursday which I'm pretty happy about given that I haven't done a real squat in about 5 years (no squat racks at SWCC). Okay, pop quiz: Do you know how some people get a headache or a stomach ache and immediately want someone to rub their back because it makes them feel better? Well, there is a real scientific explanation for why that is. I'll give a big "congradulations" to the first person who can tell me what that scientific explanation is. People from my PTA program can't answer this. :o) Have a great day and God bless... Sean

Winter Term Kick-Off

Winter term kicked off this week with a bang. Most of the week was spent learning how to do theraputic ultrasound and studying gait and ambulation aids such as canes, walkers, and crutches. We had a huge crutch relay race out in the hall today which was kinda fun. We also had our first quiz of the term which I did really well on. All in all, it's off to a good start. Next week is a short week with MLK day on Monday. Thursday will bring my first check out on ultrasound which I'm feeling fairly confident about but I need to run through it a few more times as checkouts can be tricky as I found out last term. Just to make things more interesting, snow is in the forecast for the next few days through Monday at least. As of right now it dosen't look like a huge storm, maybe a couple of inches of accumulation at the most but it could potentially be enough to shut down school and make us miss a day. We'll see what the next few days brings... Have a great day and God bless... Sean

A Boxing Day Excursion

Had a great time hiking on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge with my friend Doug today. First we went to the Green River Falls trail where I promptly got us lost. Luckily I got us lost in such a way that we ended up going in a big circle right back to our car. Then we drove back toward Vancouver and did part of the Cape Horn trail which is a really cool trail that goes along the cliffs by the Columbia River. There are some excellent viewpoints there and a couple of waterfalls. I would say that the Washington side of the Gorge has the edge in terms of the views but the Oregon side has the better waterfalls. We actually ended up having some decent weather too which surprised me a bit since it was supposed to rain. Anyway, it felt good to get out there and burn off some of that Christmas dinner! I'll have more pictures up on my Facebook page later on. Have a great day and God bless... Sean

4.0!

Hey all...

This is the last school update of 2011. Throughout the term, I've been trying to post updates about school because I am blessed to have a whole team of family and friends who are right with me as I embark on this adventure. Some of these folks are far away and this is really the only way to keep them informed about how I'm doing.

So, the last week of school...finals week...is officially over for me and what's more, grades are in. I'm excited to say that for the first time in my life, I got a 4.0 GPA for the quarter! I'm excited and thankful to everyone who has supported me through this quarter. Both sets of parents (mine and Amys) have been EXTREMELY helpful and supportive. My Aunt Terry and Uncle Dick (along with a whole host of others) have also been very supportive in terms of prayer and words of encouragement for both myself and Amy. Most of all, my wife Amy has been amazing. For those of you who have never been in a marriage where one spouse goes back to school, the other spouse has to put up with a lot. Amy has had to endure lots of evenings alone upstairs while I am studying, a few last minute changes of plans (like yesterdays last minute "Oh by the way, I have to go into Oregon City and get my last Hepatitis Vaccination today." that I pulled) and even a few (I know this is hard to imagine) days of bad attitudes on my part because I'm stressed over a test or check out. Through it all, she has been nothing but supportive and I really appreciate that more than she will ever know. Love you sweetie!

So anyway, all that to say that I had a successful fall quarter and I just want everyone who has supported Amy and I to share in that with us. Thank you all. I'm excited to enjoy the moment for a little bit and then get back to work on a very challenging winter term in January.

Have a great day and God bless...

Sean

Fall Term in the Books (Almost)

This week was my last real week of fall term. We ended up PT interventions lab with an overview of theraputic exercise on Tuesday and a simulation on Thursday. The simulation involved a bunch of stations set up like a real hospital room (complete with IV's, catheters, etc.) where we ran through different scenarios (open heart surgery, hip replacement, stroke, pnemonia and MRSA, etc.) As patients, we had to have real catheters put in which was really uncomfortable but to make the experience as realistic as possible, that's what it took. Okay, I'm kidding, we didn't REALLY have catheters put in but we did have a catheter line running into our pockets (and no farther, thank God) and we had fake (i hope) pee in the bag so it was still pretty realistic. Anyway, it was a really good experience. We were all bumbling and making mistakes through the scenarios but at this point, that's still expected. We learned a whole lot and had a lot of fun at the same time.

Finals are next week. Monday is A&P, Tuesday is PT interventions and Wednesday, we finish with Intro to PT. After that, we close to book on fall term.

Have a great day and God bless...

Sean

First Quarter Winding Down

Had a great Thanksgiving break. It was kind of hard to buckle down on Monday but by about Thursday night I was back in the swing of things.

Anyway, had my last checkout of the quarter on Tuesday. It was a minor train wreck as I kind of slow roasted my partner on hot packs because I forgot to put layers between her and the heat. That could have been an automatic fail but I think the thing that saved me was that I brought the layers over to the treatment area and just forgot to use them so instead of an automatic fail, I just got marked down a point. I ended up with a 17/20. My worst checkout score yet but still a solid pass so I'm not complaining.

So I now have one more week of classes and then finals week. Studying for finals begins in earnest this week.

Have a great day and God bless...

Sean