Sunday, February 1, 2009

And the beat goes on...

Britni moved to Glendale and is working at Glendale Adventist Medical Center as a student OT!

This is the first practicum I actually, really like...a lot! Here's a typical day.

Oh wait, and I work in acute therapy for patients that just got out of orthopedic surgery (most of the time. Sometimes I get called to spinal injury, neuro, and critical care units).

7:50am- walk to work
8:00am- arrive and set patient schedule
8:30am-start to see patients

I LOVE this part of my day, because of the interaction I get with patients. I look at a patient, see their deficits and realize that they're human. Each of them are created unique and have different emotional and physical needs. God puts me there as a "temporary facilitator" for those needs. I go into a room, talk to a patient...smile...listen...sometimes lay a hand on their hand..and very quickly the bond is built and wipe their sad face with a damp washcloth. Let me tell you, the first time I did that for an 83 yr old man who spoke a different language...it didn't matter what treatment I had planned for him or that he didn't want to participate...he just smiled through all his pain. I knew that the number of unspoken words that were said couldn't say express the way we felt at that moment. The action said it all. God is so good to give me the opportunity to serve others. THANK YOU!
12:00am- I see patients until lunch time. Yummy! I work with some awesome fun people. They talk to me and humor my mistakes, give me advice, and love me for me.
1pm-3:30pm- More fun patients and correcting of mistakes!
3:30pm-5pm- Charting and critique from instructor.

Sadly, I don't think I'm good at change. Someone told me once that the only thing we can be certain of is change and we have no choice but to accept it gracefully. I'm still working on the graceful part. haha...Well, in the past month I've moved, the learning curve at work is really difficult, I don't have many friends out here (thank you to Victor and Kwasi. They brighten my week), and my car is totally broken. I've declared it a lemon. Pitiful-

Eh- God is still good though. He puts change in front of my face to change me and keep me out of trouble. He's brought me friends slowly and has helped me absorb all the new information at work. And there's no doubt He'll fix my car. Keep looking up guys!

Hope everyone has a good week!