Mid-terms

Last Thursday afternoon during a kinesiology lab that had to do with different types of levers, I had the following conversation.
- Professor: What class of lever is this?
- Me: I don't know. 
- Professor: That's why I asked you read the chapter before you came to class.
- Me: I thought studying for the anatomy test we had this morning was more important. (same class and same professor)
- Professor: You could have at least read it.
At that point I decided it wasn't worth going into the details of the week and asking him what he thought I should left undone.

I spent Monday studying for a mid-term on Tuesday in our Occupation Through Compensation class. We only have 2 exams in that class so I figured I'd better study, even if much of it seems like common sense. Once I started reading the questions I'm glad I at least looked at the material on Monday and a bit on Tues morning during the slow times at work.

We got out of work a bit late on Tuesday since a plane was late and I had a spin out on the way home resulting in the passenger side of the car slamming against the curb hard enough that I got out to assess the damage. One rim looked seriously bent but the tire was intact so I headed on home. As shaky as the steering wheel was when I hit 30 mph, I was glad that was all the faster anyone expected me to go. By the time I got home both tires on that side of the car were half flat. Thankfully one of my housemates could take me to school as there was no time to take the bus. By the time I got home following two tests the only thing on my mind was getting my car into the shop. Thankfully the tires were still only half flat so I was able to drive it to a garage rather than calling a tow-truck. The rest of my evening was spent studying for the hardest anatomy exam of the semester (per our professor). I ran out of energy at 8 and went to bed on schedule.

Wednesday we had class all day after which I went to pick up my car. Thankfully the tires were fine, I just needed a new rim/wheel and a realignment. Back home again I kept working on muscles, nerves and arteries in the back, forearm, and hand. I normally go to house church on Wednesday evening but I stayed home and studied until 8:30

Thursday morning I went to work and then off to school again. We had our anatomy test and I actually did quite well - better than the first one. Once that was over, we sat through a lecture on statistics for our research class. None of us had done the reading for that class either. After a break at so we could eat, we had the kinesiology lab. No, I really didn't need to read that chapter before hand. I probably got more out of it after the fact because I actually understood what it was talking about.

The out-of-the-ordinary in the last few weeks

Life is rather routine for most people. My life seems even more routine than usual this semester. I go to work; I sit at my desk and study (or go to class); I find something to eat; I fall into bed at 8 pm so I can get up at 4 am and do it all over again. But every now and then something happens that breaks the routine.

• Yesterday a friend from France called me. It was great to catch up on her life and extended family. And it is always good to know that I can still speak French.
• I continue to visit Audrey at the nursing home once a week. We have become friends and she really appreciates my visits. Last week I noticed a book on her dresser with her name on it as the author. "Did you write a book?" "No," she responded, "my daughter did." It turns out that she had recorded the stories of her life and one of her daughters had transcribed them for her 85th birthday. She is now 98. Her story was my leisure reading last weekend. This week when I went to visit she was sound asleep but I got to meet one of her granddaughters.
• Valentine's Day is a great money maker at UPS. We had to be at work 10 minutes early and it felt a like a one-day Christmas rush. The packages are lighter and there were lots of boxes of flowers. A friend who lives across the street invited me and a few other friends for a special meal that evening. 
• One of my stressed out classmates gave us all a package of fish shaped candy with the message, "Of all the fish in the sea, I'm glad we swim in the same school! Happy Valentine's Day! P.S. Just keep swimming." Somehow she had the creative juices, time and energy to brighten our day.
• This week I went with two of my classmates to learn from some people dealing with long-term homelessness. We all came away with the sense that we have a lot to learn. We'll be spending time with them every other week for the next couple of months.
• After church today I went with a friend of mine to Holy Land restaurant. It's great to spend $10 for a buffet of Middle Eastern food and enjoy some good conversation.

Overwhelmed

There have been times this semester that I have felt rather overwhelmed. Sometimes I feel behind. Other times the weight of everything that needs to be done by the end of the week feels too heavy to carry and I wonder how long I can keep going. This semester has a rhythm of working on our own for one week followed by a week of being in class Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, Wednesday morning and all day Thursday. That means two weeks worth of work needs to be done during our off week since there is little time to do much besides go to class during the second week. This past Monday when we gathered for cadaver lab, I was actually encouraged to know that everyone else is feeling overwhelmed as well. One gal said she sat at her desk and cried that morning because she didn't even know where to start. I can identify. Another classmate reminded us that it all would be done by the end of the week. I thought back to my days at Moody when one of my friends would remind us during syllabus shock week that all those assignments would be done by the end of the semester. I smile at that now because in this program we don't have the emotional energy to think beyond the next two week cycle much less to the end of the semester. Saturday afternoon I looked ahead at what is in store for the next couple of weeks and it includes a mid-term in one class and another anatomy test on the forearm and hand (among other things). If I can learn everything on a 3/4 inch stack of flash cards I will do just fine. Come the evening of Feb 21st, it will all be done but at the moment it seems like a rather tall mountain to climb.   

This past week we spent a morning going through a simulation of what it is like to work in an acute care setting. Other than the rooms being at least twice the size of a normal hospital room, it was a realistic situation and gave us at least some exposure to working with patients who are connected to tubes and monitors. Two occupational therapists who work in a hospital shared some of their expertise with us and then evaluated us as we took turns having a 10 minute interaction with a standardized patient (i.e. an actor taking that role). They were impressed with our overall interaction skills. Some other tidbits from last week:

• 20 to 25% of people don't have the palmaris longus muscle in one or both of their forearms. 
• We practiced teaching one-handed dressing techniques to each other as well as how to put on pants, socks and shoes while not bending past 90 degrees at the waist following a hip replacement. We will be tested on this by having to correctly teach one of our professors taking the role of a stroke patient or someone who has had a hip replacement.