December in Photos

Ok, it's true that when the Holidays roll around, the time between Thanksgiving and NYE is choc full of family get togethers, friend reunions and memorable moments all worthy of capturing with a photo. It's also true that I've yet to upload and print those photos (eeek), which is surprising because I absolutely love taking, picking out and printing all those photos and finding places to put them!

So here we go, December in Photos....

Engagement Photos:
To be honest, these photos were actually taken in October but we got the disc and finally printed them in December, so needless to say we've spent several hours combing through them and picking out our favorites. Below are some of my favorites (really I could've added a dozen or so more). We were very pleased with All Angles Photography, enjoy!

Graduation
On December 15th I finally graduated with my Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree! It's been a rough five and a half years but totally worth it. Currently I'm in the midst of job hunting.

 My immediate family just after the ceremony.

 Stephen and I just after the ceremony.

After the ceremony we went to a local restaurant in the Highlands area near my school. It was fabulous having all my family and future in-laws at the restaurant celebrating the occasion.

Graduation Party

On the Friday after I graduated, Stephen graciously hosted a party with all our family and friends to celebrate my graduation. we had a blast.

My two best gals, at the party!

The graduation festivities continued with my new colleagues (former classmates) at a local entertainment area.

Once again, my two best gals!

 My MOH and I about to enjoy a celebratory toast!

On the Monday before we graduated, the officers of my class put together a class dinner, or opportunity for everyone to get together in a social setting one last time before walking the stage.

A great group shot of all my favorite PT (physical therapy) girls.

On Tuesday, we had graduation practice. Following practice we all made our way to the lobby of the gym for a champagne reception.

  Once again, some of my favorite girls.

Christmas Eve Morning

In light of trying to figure out the logistics of Christmas day with both our family dinners, Stephen and I decided to have our "Christmas Morning" the morning of Christmas Eve.

 Before the opening of presents commenced! Unfortunately we failed to get a pic of the two of us in front of the tree. Seeing as how I am the shutterbug of the relationship, we tend to end up with a lot of pictures of Stephen.

 

Stephen got me several games for my new Wii (a graduation present)

One of Stephen's favorite presents :)

On Sunday after Christmas, Stephen and I hosted a game party with all of my oldest friends. We've been friends literally, since middle school and a get-together at Christmas time when everyone is back in town has become a beloved tradition.

Our pretty sweet spread!

We also got to use the Wine Brique Stephen's mom gave us to keep wine chilled throughout a party.

It was great catching up with everyone and letting our competitive streaks come out during game play!

After the party my MOH and BM and I decided we better do some wedding planning seeing as how both of them would be a minimum of 5 hours away. So the next day we decided to go dress shopping for them. We had a blast.

They tried on probably a dozen or so dresses. We unanimously decided that this style in a navy blue would be perfect for the wedding! It even got me excited about the prospect of wedding gown shopping!

There we go, officially caught up, whew! The end of 2010 has certainly been amazing. I hope everyone's New Years is fabulous!

Did Everyone get their Shots?

This past Friday was my last day at physical therapy school....ever, I'm graduating in 3 days!! The moment is completely bitter sweet and has got everyone remembering special moments, good times and great events that have consumed our lives for the past 3 years.

My friend Michelle and I were reminiscing this past week and I remembered a funny, albeit, awkward time in my educational experience about a year ago. Apparently I bonded with our cardiopulmonary and geriatrics professor so much so that she started sending me e-mails individually.

I remember one afternoon checking my email and I received this hilarious joke (it was very appropriate at the time if you remember all the hoopla about the "flus")

"What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu?"
"For the bird flu you need 'tweet'ment and for the swine flu you need 'oink'ment"

I thought the joke was hilarious and found it to be even more so when I discovered that I was the only one to receive the e-mail... I didn't know we were that close!

Job Security?

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday festivities going on around town!

So my mom bought me a Wii for a graduation gift (I know I'm a little behind, but I was excited!) I ordered it from Best Buy on Thanksgiving for $30 cheaper than what it regularly is (therefore...super excited!) and it arrived at my parents house yesterday unbeknownst to me. I had traveled to my parents to do some laundry and found my brother and my dad waiting for some new appliances to be delivered.

I noticed the packaging on the kitchen table and asked my brother what that was all about. Well he told me that the Wii had been delivered and I tell you what... it was hard for me to spend anymore time at my parents as I couldn't wait to get it home and PLAY!!!

I finally got it home about 20 minutes before Stephen got home from work and he was excited as I was! We probably played for a total of about 2 hours last night and this morning... my right shoulder is, I'm not gonna lie, a little sore and Stephen was complaining of elbow pain last night.

This is what a search for "Wii Injuries" brought up on Google:

...gulp, there are some pretty nasty ones.

So, I've realized the more Wii's there are, the more upper extremity injuries there will be, i.e. more patients for physical therapists!!!

That seems a little unethical though now that I think about it. I guess I'll give my arm a rest today...for a little bit, I can't resist playing!

The End of an Era

So on Wednesday (before Thanksgiving) I finished my 3rd and final 8 week full-time internship as a physical therapy student. The next time I have patients I will be a fully licensed, board-certified, practicing physical therapist!!!! Um yea, I'm excited!

This was me way back in 2008 at the White Coat Ceremony as I began my journey through PT school.

I really enjoyed my last clinical rotation and I thought I'd take the time to talk a little about the facility and how it touched my heart. First off, it's an out-patient pediatric facility and I'm in love with kids (perfect match, I know). There were some hard times and some difficult patients but I can honestly say, that I loved gaining the trust of the kids I was treating and their families. 

With kids, you really feel like you are a part of the family since you see most of these kids for 6-12 months at a time. I loved learning what they liked, what their quirks were and how to "trick" each kid into doing the work and exercises I needed them to do :) It was honestly the most challenging clinical rotation I had. 

Below is a YouTube video created by therapists and staff at the facility. I think it gives really good insight into what the facility is all about and what it's goals are and how it's helped so many children.

OH and I forgot the HORSES (I know, how do I forget eight 2000lb animals I dealt with for at least 4 hours a day). I loved working with the kids on the horses. I had heard of hippotherapy prior to this rotation but it was really great to be there and work hands-on for eight weeks with these amazing animals and see the improvements in the kids. Such a blessing!

Here we go Again! Rants and Raves

Rave:
1 day down

Rant:
39 to go

Is it bad that I'm already counting down the days to the end of my second clinical internship when I've only had orientation and haven't even met my clinical instructor yet?

I think NOT!

Rave:
I am, however, excited about this experience. It is in the acute care field at a local hospital and I've heard from several good friends that they actually enjoyed the acute care setting more than they ever thought they would. I'm still anxious to meet my clinical instructor and to see what it really is like to be a physical therapist in the hospitals in acute care.

Rave:
Apparently several of my classmates are potentially in the same building as I am for this rotation, I do know for a fact, that one of my good friends, Nikki (check out her cute blog here), is there because we spent today in orientation together! It makes the day go by much better when you've got a good friend with you.

Nikki and Me

Rant:
Parking at a busy hospital...enough said.

All in all I'm excited to get this one going!

What setting do you think you want to work in?

These words have haunted me since the beginning of physical therapy school. As soon as people find out that I'm in school to become a physical therapist the very next question is almost always, "What setting do you think you want to work in?" For the longest time I had no idea. At this point in my PT school career I've successfully completed 3 internships. Two of those were in the outpatient orthopedic setting and the most recent one I've completed was in a skilled nursing facility. Now I can honestly say that I think I may have an idea about where I want to practice and that is in the skilled nursing setting (a.k.a. SNF).

I thought I'd use this time to list all of the different settings that I'm aware of that physical therapists can work. I think my readers may be surprised to see that physical therapists really are EVERYWHERE in the healthcare setting!

• Acute care settings in hosptials
• Outpatient clinics
• Subacute rehab facilities
• Schools
• Nursing homes
• Assisted living facilities
• Pediatric settings
• Health and wellness centers

Whew, now can't you see why I didn't really have it narrowed down? In addition to these listed there are several areas where PT's can be found.

Now I'd like to share why I enjoyed the SNF environment as much as I did:

• More one on one time with the patient
• Smaller caseload
• Intimate relationships are formed with other therapeutic disciplines like occupational and speech therapy that helps you to better treat the "whole" patient
• Working with the geriatric population is enlightening and entertaining
• You can really see success with the patients in terms of gaining their functional mobility back

So as of right now, I'm leaning towards the SNF setting for where I would like to start my PT career at the beginning of the upcoming year. Now all I have to do is get some studying done and pass the boards...gulp

What Happens at the Winery...Stays at the Winery

Today I took my last final of graduate school and have completed all didactic course work (bring on graduation in December!) and to celebrate a great group of us girls went out to a local winery for the afternoon, and had a blast.

We started with some wine tasting in the loft.

We wandered around the market and the grounds to the lake and fed the Koi ducks who completely trumped the Koi

 We had some fun on the dock!

We were then attacked by the ducks, Sarah tried to shake her booty to throw them off...didn't work

To top off our afternoon we visited one of our professors who, believe it or not, has goats...lots of goats. We had wine and cheese at her house and enjoyed her great views and the goats. At one point one hopped up on the table to try and get some crackers.

All in all an amazing afternoon with some great girls and a lovely way to top of the semester!

And so it must begin....but so soon?

I guess the world is trying to tell me to get on the ball. This week, for class, we had to make tentative study plans for reviewing all of our didactic course work before we have to take the physical therapy licensure exam at the end of this year/beginning of next year. I was very proud of my study plan. I had organized material based on where I am going to be for my clinical affiliations for the next six months so what I'm reviewing will be congruent with what I'm actually doing on site.

In addition to making the study plan, I got my first test prep book today. It's weird but I feel and urge to get all my class material out and organize it so I'll be ready to go. Then I think...wait a minute, I've still got a month of classes left for this semester.


So while I've got good intentions currently, I highly doubt any reviewing will be done prior to that third week in May in between my TWO (lucky me!) vacations prior to my internships.

Celebrate!

Tonight, my university celebrated 25 years of physical therapy education in our city with dinner, dancing, live music and a key-note speaker all while honoring one of my professors who actually was integral in bringing physical therapy to our city. Stephen and I went with one of my friends and her boyfriend to the event at one of the premier hotels on the river. We had a blast and had fun getting to know the lighter side of our professors and networking with past graduates and potential future employers!

Me and Stephen just prior to the event.

A Day at the Capital... and the Dentist

Yesterday was the state's advocacy day for physical therapists. So being a physical therapy student with with lots of involved professors, we took the day off from classes and headed down to Frankfort for the afternoon. Our goals were to make a presence (we had students from Bellarmine, University of Kentucky and PTA students from Somerset as well as practicing physical therapists). We wanted to talk to our personal legislators and enlighten them on what physical therapy is and the value in our practice act as well as the importance of allowing physical therapists to have practicing autonomy.

The capitol, however, yesterday it was rather dreary, cold and snowy!

In Kentucky, we do have direct access, meaning a patient can bypass their doctor and come directly to a physical therapist and be evaluated and treated-sounds great right!? Not so much-while technically this can happen, unless the patient is loaded and capable of paying for the intervention, they're out of luck because insurance won't cover direct access treatments.

Classmates working hard to represent physical therapy in the capital building.

Also there are several health care providers billing for physical therapy when in fact a physical therapist is not performing the services. Athletic trainers and chiropractors are among those repeatedly billing for physical therapy despite the fact they are not physical therapists. So our goal in Frankfort was to get the legislators on our side and let them know that we are a force, we are a profession with a practice act and with unique knowledge and skills that can benefit the community.

On a side note, while eating a Sierra Turkey sandwich at Panera prior to getting to the capitol, one of my bridges became dislodged :( Soooo sad. So I didn't get to spend nearly as much time at the capitol as I would have liked and way too much time at the dentist. But it's all good now, so I'm happy bout that and really proud of my classmates who made an impact at the capitol.