Week 3_Loving My Kiddos

This week has been delightfully fun and eventful with the kids. Every day I left with boogers and drool coating my clothes. Needless to say, every laugh, every tickle, and every interaction I received from a kid was well worth all the germs. I am beginning to become more and more attached as you can see (or read). I had about 4-5 kids on my caseload at school and led all the treatment session for the kids at the clinic, all with varying disabilities (CP, Autism, missing radial bones, EBD). It was challenging and fun to be innovative and creative when taking into account psychosocial factors affecting this kids and their academic performance deficits during intervention planning.  For example, I implemented intervention with a little girl, missing radial bones since birth.  I took into account her interest in imaginative play and dress-up into our treatment session when addressing FM skills and gross motor play. I also integrated a little boy's interest in music into his session to motivate and encourage functional reaching with his affected arm, due to CP. I was able to demonstrate a vast array of knowledge as related to cerebral palsy and treatment ideas, such as weight bearing and using a variety of positions to facilitate movement. I had the opportunity to complete a few evaluations and will continue to have opportunities to assess many children at different developmental levels. I look forward to the weeks of growth ahead!

 

This weekend will be spent finishing up my last research presentation, for my online class, at Panera (yummy)! I must keep myself motivated with food. I, also, am volunteering at this fundraiser track meet our clinic is hosting tomorrow. And, of course, the remainder will spent at the beach and with our new adopted parents.... I can't wait to see what new and exciting things God sends our way this weekend!

Weeks 1 & 2 in Bradenton, FL

My lovely roommates, Ellen and Dana (friends and fellow OT peers), and I are all settled into our humble abode. I shall have to remember to capture pictures of our little dwelling and post them in a later blog. Ellen and I are sharing a bedroom, which has been quite fun, and also very stuffy and hot at nights. The picture below is us out on the town last night, capturing a picture with the Woodford Reserve napkin holder--a tribute to our KY home, which we miss oh so much.
The following two pictures are of the Sunrise Service we attended at the beach on Easter morning. Kayla (another OT peer) is a friend of ours who has her current rotation in Tampa. She has been coming to hangout with us on the weekends, which has been a blast.

Ellen and I attended the Sailor Circus (Mary Poppins-themed btw), and, oh yes, it was FUN! It is a circus put on by students (4th-12th grades). These kids are extremely talented and I was amazed by their skill and athletic abilities. I also learned that Ringling Bros. originated in Sarasota, and that is why the circus is a huge deal around this area.
My parents came to FL to visit me the first week I was here. We did a lot of sight-seeing and beach-combing, which was so fun. We also were able to meet up with my friend Kelly (a wonderful OT intern and friend I met at my last rotation in GA) and her boyfriend, Ben. Ben was finishing his rotation up in FL and Kelly came down to see him. I just love this couple and am so happy I got to see Kelly one last time in FL!
Yes, today I learned how to surf on a long board. We met this couple at church today, and after talking for a while found out that they lived on the EXACT street in Anna Marie Island that someone had recommended we visit. The husband is retired from the Army and they have a son in high school and a daughter in college. The husband, Dave, taught Kayla and I how to surf--checking that off my bucklist! :) The wife, Deb, was amazing and so hospitable. They lent us their beach chairs, let us shower at their house, and invited us to hangout in the future. She also gave us Hawaiian flowers for our hair (R ear means you are single and L ear means you are taken). Needless to say, they were truly a blessing, and all of the details of the day were so clearly orchestrated by the Lord. I have a feeling we are going to get really close to them while we are here on the island.

Now, here is a brief synopsis about my second Level II placement at Children's Therapy Solutions in Bradenton, Florida. Monday through Friday I am at Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary school, and on Mondays and Wednesdays I go over to the outpatient clinic after school. So far I have really enjoyed my placement. The school that I am at is not a typical school setting, in that it has a whole sector of the school which they call exceptional students (ESE or special education). We also have two medically fragile classrooms, which is the largest in the county. A majority of these students are on feeding tubes, non-communicative, and dependent for all ADL's. Children in these classrooms have a variety of diagnoses which include West Syndrome, TBI, seizure disorders, CP, and others.

I work with children from both general education and ESE classrooms. The majority of our children have Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, CP, seizure disorders, and Downs syndrome.

I absolutely adore the kids I have met thus far, and I am REALLY looking forward to the rest of my time here. I think this rotation will really help me identify whether or not Schools is my niche or not. Regardless, I can't wait to see where the Lord leads me over this next year. I am so abundantly blessed and would have never imagined I would have the opportunity to have such a wonderful career that does not feel like a job.....and be living in "paradise" all at the same time!

Week 10 has come and gone...

Phew, working 7 more days and then my time is finished in Warm Springs. This week I had the wonderful experience of evaluating a woman who speaks very little English and is from Pakistan. I have learned how to say "very good," "great job," "pain," and "good day" in Muslim. It has been fun to communicate and rely on her children to bridge the language barrier. Observing their family dynamics and watching the way they are so vigilant and attentive to her and her treatment sessions is something that is rare to find in families nowadays. I have enjoyed building rapport with the family and I think they are enjoying my enthusiasm to learn their language.

I am not going to write anymore because I am tired of looking at a computer screen after just writing documentation all day.

Love, love, more love,
B

Week 9

Just when I think I am going to have a normal, relaxing Sunday afternoon we find these little guys driving home from church... Hoping to talk my parents into letting me shipping one home. :/ The one on top is Franklin and the one on bottom is Roosevelt. Yes, after FDR, whom this place revolves around.

New this week:

I discovered that this new trail I run opens up to a therapeutic riding stable. Hm, future volunteer opportunities?? I think so...


Ventured to Columbus, GA with the new ladies last night (Saturday) and saw a great comedy club and band play.
Two more weeks and one day to go. :)

Love and blessings,
B

Week 8 :)

"Instead of dashing headlong towards your goal, let Me set the pace. Slow down, and enjoy the journey in My presence." -Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

I have thoroughly been soaking in what the Lord has been trying to teach and show me this week. My mom sent me the devo, Jesus Calling, and it has literally changed my outlook on how I approach each day. Hope, peace, faith, and love are the course it sets me on each morning, and what an adventure each day has been. I am not stressed. I have stopped worrying. I have started praying more about everything--I know, sounds like a no brainer that I should have been implementing before....

I want to share a tidbit of my week with my patients.

This week I truly learned the importance of implementing occupation-based practice. it not only invigorates your "OT spirit", but gives you a glimpse of how it can change the course of many patients' therapeutic experience. I had a blast developing creative interventions that were graded and adapted to address my patients' deficits--creating a bowling alley in the therapy gym, painting a canvas on an easel, playing horseshoes to address functional reach, decorating a wreath to increase prehension skills, finger knitting, etc. My patients thoroughly enjoyed the interventions this week, and seeing their response to my treatment approach really lifted my spirits. Occasionally, I have found myself slipping into the clinical treatment approach, but this week was a great reminder of the importance of meaningful occupations.

I also learned how beautiful life is, and how every day is a blessing. I have a patient who is a 40-yr old gentleman with a deadly brain tumor who is one of the most tenacious, positive people I have met. His prognosis is 4-5 years at best. He has very limited movement in his left side. He continues to progress and get movement back in his arm, and then he will have a seizure and lose his function again. He is the most driven, hard-working patient I have encountered. He literally sweats, grunts, and challenges himself during every one of our therapy sessions. He always comes to me the next day with a report on the progress he has made and the new exercises he develops for himself in his room. He always thanks me for what I am doing for him, but he has no idea the impact he has made in my life.

I am also blessed to be at setting that is so client-centered. One of my patients today could not stop talking about the gem of a facility that we were. Quote on quote, "This place is Georgia's best kept secret." She was amazed at the teamwork that occurred here, and was enthralled by all the activities and equipment we had at our disposal. She is absolutely right, and I do not think until recently I realized what a truly unique place this was.

I hope that these experiences will forever remain in the forefront of my practice. I hope that I can give the world even half of what my patients give me on a daily basis. I am challenged continually to grow and learn all I can, so I am providing competent, client-centered care.

I pray that you allow your heart to be opened to all the Lord wants to teach and show you (Rom. 12:2). As I reflect on my life, the times that were the most trying were ALWAYS where I gained the most needed pruning and the growth. Be blessed and be open to accepting the blessings He wants to adorn you with.

Know that I miss you and you are loved by me. :)

B

The Canyon Crew

I hope you enjoy this photo tour of my weekend....

The Canyon Crew

The other interns and I headed off into the great unknown of Lumpkin, GA. In Lumpkin lies Providence Grand Canyon, a farming excavation gone awry. Years ago, farmers in GA attempted to farm some land. As they dug up their fields to farm, erosion begin occurring rapidly. This land, which was once covered by water, was layered underneath with sand and clay. The erosion continued as the farmers attempts to farm and dig kept failing. More and more of the land became huge trenches, which eventually turned into these large canyons. The layers of the canyon are clearly visible, starting at the top with more clay and ending on the canyon floor with sand as white and snow. In some parts, the sand was purple--literally purple. Occasionally we stumbled upon small purple rocks or huge clay mounds, which totally fed into my sensory fixation. The trails on the canyon floor were a mix of sand and clay with trickles of water that streamed through them. It felt great on our bare feet. Yes, it was obvious I was from KY I am sure....

Katlin and I perched on a very tiny ledge overlooking the most beautiful part of the canyon.

After several fun hours spent sand surfing down the walls of the canyon and enjoying this nature paradise, we headed into the small town to enjoy the best BBQ I have ever feasted on. With stomachs full of sweet tea, boiled peanuts, BBQ, and pecan pie (that's some serious southern eatin') we ventured to this restored 1850s town called Westerville. It displayed kilns, candle making, wool presses, slave quarters, and old restored buildings.

Cobbler/tannery shop


Slave quarters

Slate boards and desk in an 1800's schoolhouse

Boiled Peanuts (No, not animal droppings...)

A bedtime prayer.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."......

...."They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 1:1-10,19

This verse just encourages me in every which way. It challenges me to live for what I know. It challenges me to be joyful and bold in all circumstances. But, most importantly, it challenges me TRUST. Trust no matter what. Trust that He will lead me as long as I let Him be my guide. Trust that he has my life, my future, my plans already laid out. When He challenges me, I am to obey. Obey with authority. Obey with faith. And obey with steadfastness no matter what the circumstances or outlook. I am to live a life that bleeds. A life that is not my own. A life I was given with His grace on the cross and His daily mercy in my life. A life, that when I reflect on it, I am able to see His hand and His anointing on every page. A life that is worth something because He is worth it all. I love Him. I yearn to see and feel His presence everyday. I am blessed. Blessed beyond measure and yet I still cower. I still doubt. I still judge. I still lie. I still envy. I still place worth in counterfeit gods. Yet, at the end of the day He still loves me and wants me to hear what He told Jeremiah: "I formed you. I will rescue you. I am with you. Do not be afraid." Yay for such an awesome loving Father, and the only friend we truly need.

Nighty night,

B