Two Birds with One Stone....
So I don’t feel like studying for my cognitive neuroscience exam on Monday, so I’ve decided to do a LJ entry-well since I don’t have internet at the moment since I’m at Sana & Erin’s, I’ll just write a Word document. I haven’t written on here since about Spring Break. Nothing of importance has happened because my friends and I were totally unable to get together for a reunion during break even though (for the first time since we started college) everyone was home the same week! So I went down to the city a bunch and stayed home more and relaxed for a bit even though my mom and sister went to work for 8am every morning and woke me up on their way out. And I told my family my plans post Hopkins (Masters, year off, Medical school- possibly. I didn’t write about it on here because I wasn’t sure about it myself until I spoke with my advisor and my mom about it. Long story short, my dad’s fine with it, my mom says its okay as long as I go to med school after that year off and Steffie refuses to accept my decision and keeps shoving stuff about medical school and her friends who went to medical school and were pre-med and all this crap which pisses me off. I haven’t spoken to Leslie about it but I’m sure Steffie and Daddy have already spoken to her about it.) Anyway, it was much too short for my liking. I also managed to find the first (and only) full length story that I wrote way back in… 9th grade, I think… It’s terrible to say the least. Filled with inside jokes and way too many innuendos and it was just… ugh. Terrible. I don’t even know how or why I wrote it and why I even thought it was good! 50 pages of nonsense in 8.5 font no less! Oh, it makes me wonder.
Uhh.. so I’m back at Hopkins, back to studying and exams and all that jazz and I wish I had another week to just relax at home and not have to worry about any of this stuff. I had a bio exam the Wednesday I came back and I have this stupid cog neuro exam on Monday and I had no desire to study nor do I have any desire to continue to study for anything at the moment. I would much rather prefer to catch up on GH, OTH, OR, and even SPN than to read one more cog neuro lecture. So, instead, I’ll write about my volunteer work.
As you (may or may not) know, I got a volunteer position at KKI in the Spinal Cord Injury department. I started the week before Spring Break and started up again once I returned. My first day back wasn’t a great one. I was having a terrible day and though I was looking forward to volunteering, I felt out of place and useless once I got there. It was really busy because I’d gotten there earlier than I usually do since my Nervous System lecture ended early and so there were a bunch of people and I tried to walk around and see different stuff and clean when I was supposed to and all that stuff, but I just didn’t feel like interacting with people. It’s not the people at KKI, they’re all really nice and fun, I was just in a very bad mood. Nevertheless, when I left, I felt slightly better. After all, I may have been having a bad day, but the patients in there have it a lot worse.
So I went back on Thursday in a better mood. I felt like I was getting sick, but my Biology exam was over with and it was kind of sunny when the weather channel said it would rain all day. My iPod was totally in sync with me and I was inspired to rewrite the pre-confessional story in the way I originally thought of it. I didn’t get far because class started, but I planted the seed haha. Thursday was much better. I interacted with (almost) all of the patients. I still haven’t spoken to a teenager I’m going to refer to as R for patient confidentiality, mostly because I don’t know his therapists very well yet and it’s slightly scary to see kids my age with such injuries. I was able to watch and interact with a lot of the patients as soon as I walked in and was even able to take part in one patient’s therapy, which was slightly intimidating at first. Granted, I was only throwing a ball back and forth, but what if I hurt the patient? What if I threw the ball too hard? It was awesome that the therapist trusted me enough to work with the patient. She assured me that I wouldn’t hurt him when I threw the ball and it was surprising how easy going the patient was when he dropped the ball or was unable to throw it back. I can’t remember the disease he had, but he (let’s say his name is J) didn’t have much control over his hands in a way that a person with normally functioning hands would. I do remember that it was due to his brain stem being compressed into his spinal cord, but that’s all I’ve got.
Though working with J was an amazing experience, he was not my favorite patient by far. That honor is shared by two patients, E and P. The therapists said I could ask them (and not the family) how the patients were injured, but I haven’t been able to ask about these two people so I don’t know how they are injured. I’ll probably write about them more as I continue volunteering. Anyway, E is a little girl, possibly no older than three or four who has to have therapy for her legs. At first, like any child her age, she’s a little skeptical of strangers and will give you “the look” when she doesn’t know who you are. However, as she warms up to you, she’s the cutest little thing! I haven’t really passed the stone gaze phase, though she seems to remember me from when I first met her on Tuesday and we painted together. Since she’s young, I could sense her frustration and fear when learning to walk with crutches that I didn’t really see with the other patients. However, she was possibly one of the hardest workers there. At first, she was afraid to use the crutches and would whine or start to cry when the therapists would try to get her to start walking, but after she got used to it, she raced one of the therapists down the hall way (not very fast by some standards, but she picked up quickly) for a lollipop and managed to win (not without the help of her sisters and one of the other trainers of course). The therapists would make the activities like games and have her participate in the games that would make her laugh and get really excited to play along, so much so that the entire PT/OT department would laugh along with her and the trainers’ enthusiasm and it just puts everyone in a brighter mood.
P is closer to my age, though probably not older than me. He has a SCI, for sure, but I don’t know exactly how bad it is. His OT (Occupational Therapist) told me a little bit about it, but I’ve forgotten what she said. He has therapy to work on strengthening his arms and trunk muscles and he has no use of his legs. I first saw him on Tuesday when I came in, but I didn’t want to go over to him. But Thursday, after working with J, I asked his OT if I could watch for a bit, and I’m glad I did. Dude has to be one of the funniest guys I’ve met for a while. He was constantly cracking jokes and though he insulted the Yankees (said they were stupid and that the Orioles were the best… pfft), I enjoyed watching his therapy. I met his mother who seemed a little cold when I first met her, but by the time we were leaving, she turned out to be really nice. P was a bit of a slacker, cheating a little bit during activities and trying to take the easy way out sometimes, you could tell he took his therapy seriously. Most of the time his “slacker habits” emerged when he was feeling frustrated or when he was getting tired but once he gained back some energy, he would work extremely hard to make sure he was doing what he could. He had on DC Shoes, which automatically placed him at the top of my list (DC is Ken Block’s company and Travis Pastrana/ Rob Dyrdek are sponsored by them so I must support them! Plus, their shoes are insanely comfortable and stylish). I wanted to tell him I liked his shoes (I was wearing my own DC Shoes that day) but I was too busy laughing and watching the interaction between him and the OT so I forgot and didn’t remember until I was halfway to the Shuttle stop after telling them to have a good weekend by the valet lot. I must remember to compliment the shoes next time I see him supporting DC…
Anyway, everyone is cool there and it’s quickly becoming the highlight of my week. I only clean up the mats and stuff and interact with them at a limited level, but it’s a really cool thing to do during the week. Stephen Murray’s not there anymore (though he may come back in a few months), which is a good thing because I don’t know if I would be able to handle seeing him do therapy since I tend to cry every time I see him in a video. Hell, I was close to tears at some points just dealing with some of the patients recently. But, anyway, it's a fun time and I hope to be there for a while. Hopefully it'll help me decide exactly what I want to do with my life...
Uhh.. so I’m back at Hopkins, back to studying and exams and all that jazz and I wish I had another week to just relax at home and not have to worry about any of this stuff. I had a bio exam the Wednesday I came back and I have this stupid cog neuro exam on Monday and I had no desire to study nor do I have any desire to continue to study for anything at the moment. I would much rather prefer to catch up on GH, OTH, OR, and even SPN than to read one more cog neuro lecture. So, instead, I’ll write about my volunteer work.
As you (may or may not) know, I got a volunteer position at KKI in the Spinal Cord Injury department. I started the week before Spring Break and started up again once I returned. My first day back wasn’t a great one. I was having a terrible day and though I was looking forward to volunteering, I felt out of place and useless once I got there. It was really busy because I’d gotten there earlier than I usually do since my Nervous System lecture ended early and so there were a bunch of people and I tried to walk around and see different stuff and clean when I was supposed to and all that stuff, but I just didn’t feel like interacting with people. It’s not the people at KKI, they’re all really nice and fun, I was just in a very bad mood. Nevertheless, when I left, I felt slightly better. After all, I may have been having a bad day, but the patients in there have it a lot worse.
So I went back on Thursday in a better mood. I felt like I was getting sick, but my Biology exam was over with and it was kind of sunny when the weather channel said it would rain all day. My iPod was totally in sync with me and I was inspired to rewrite the pre-confessional story in the way I originally thought of it. I didn’t get far because class started, but I planted the seed haha. Thursday was much better. I interacted with (almost) all of the patients. I still haven’t spoken to a teenager I’m going to refer to as R for patient confidentiality, mostly because I don’t know his therapists very well yet and it’s slightly scary to see kids my age with such injuries. I was able to watch and interact with a lot of the patients as soon as I walked in and was even able to take part in one patient’s therapy, which was slightly intimidating at first. Granted, I was only throwing a ball back and forth, but what if I hurt the patient? What if I threw the ball too hard? It was awesome that the therapist trusted me enough to work with the patient. She assured me that I wouldn’t hurt him when I threw the ball and it was surprising how easy going the patient was when he dropped the ball or was unable to throw it back. I can’t remember the disease he had, but he (let’s say his name is J) didn’t have much control over his hands in a way that a person with normally functioning hands would. I do remember that it was due to his brain stem being compressed into his spinal cord, but that’s all I’ve got.
Though working with J was an amazing experience, he was not my favorite patient by far. That honor is shared by two patients, E and P. The therapists said I could ask them (and not the family) how the patients were injured, but I haven’t been able to ask about these two people so I don’t know how they are injured. I’ll probably write about them more as I continue volunteering. Anyway, E is a little girl, possibly no older than three or four who has to have therapy for her legs. At first, like any child her age, she’s a little skeptical of strangers and will give you “the look” when she doesn’t know who you are. However, as she warms up to you, she’s the cutest little thing! I haven’t really passed the stone gaze phase, though she seems to remember me from when I first met her on Tuesday and we painted together. Since she’s young, I could sense her frustration and fear when learning to walk with crutches that I didn’t really see with the other patients. However, she was possibly one of the hardest workers there. At first, she was afraid to use the crutches and would whine or start to cry when the therapists would try to get her to start walking, but after she got used to it, she raced one of the therapists down the hall way (not very fast by some standards, but she picked up quickly) for a lollipop and managed to win (not without the help of her sisters and one of the other trainers of course). The therapists would make the activities like games and have her participate in the games that would make her laugh and get really excited to play along, so much so that the entire PT/OT department would laugh along with her and the trainers’ enthusiasm and it just puts everyone in a brighter mood.
P is closer to my age, though probably not older than me. He has a SCI, for sure, but I don’t know exactly how bad it is. His OT (Occupational Therapist) told me a little bit about it, but I’ve forgotten what she said. He has therapy to work on strengthening his arms and trunk muscles and he has no use of his legs. I first saw him on Tuesday when I came in, but I didn’t want to go over to him. But Thursday, after working with J, I asked his OT if I could watch for a bit, and I’m glad I did. Dude has to be one of the funniest guys I’ve met for a while. He was constantly cracking jokes and though he insulted the Yankees (said they were stupid and that the Orioles were the best… pfft), I enjoyed watching his therapy. I met his mother who seemed a little cold when I first met her, but by the time we were leaving, she turned out to be really nice. P was a bit of a slacker, cheating a little bit during activities and trying to take the easy way out sometimes, you could tell he took his therapy seriously. Most of the time his “slacker habits” emerged when he was feeling frustrated or when he was getting tired but once he gained back some energy, he would work extremely hard to make sure he was doing what he could. He had on DC Shoes, which automatically placed him at the top of my list (DC is Ken Block’s company and Travis Pastrana/ Rob Dyrdek are sponsored by them so I must support them! Plus, their shoes are insanely comfortable and stylish). I wanted to tell him I liked his shoes (I was wearing my own DC Shoes that day) but I was too busy laughing and watching the interaction between him and the OT so I forgot and didn’t remember until I was halfway to the Shuttle stop after telling them to have a good weekend by the valet lot. I must remember to compliment the shoes next time I see him supporting DC…
Anyway, everyone is cool there and it’s quickly becoming the highlight of my week. I only clean up the mats and stuff and interact with them at a limited level, but it’s a really cool thing to do during the week. Stephen Murray’s not there anymore (though he may come back in a few months), which is a good thing because I don’t know if I would be able to handle seeing him do therapy since I tend to cry every time I see him in a video. Hell, I was close to tears at some points just dealing with some of the patients recently. But, anyway, it's a fun time and I hope to be there for a while. Hopefully it'll help me decide exactly what I want to do with my life...