fantastic

9/12/06

one of the Bucky Phillips check points

"day 11"

Did another history for an eval today!  And I was SO much better, still not perfect though.  And then there was another eval, but she did it because it was Fibromyalgia.  And I'm glad she did because half-way through the lady said that she didnt even want physical therapy, it was all very confusing and weird and Liz (my CI) was kind of in shock.  So the lady left.

In the gym I saw one of the guys that I had seen in the ICU and I got to teach him exercises.  I guess he lost 121 lbs.  I mean, I assume he is fully 'with it' so I believe him, but he's still a healthy size, so in a way, that was a good thing I guess.  My new favorite inpatient...well I have two right now, but the new one I believe had cancer or some systemic disease because he is just SO weak.  But he is such a good worker.  His wife always comes with him.  And everytime I look at him he is using a theraband or doing range of motion.  What a good guy.  I really hope whatever his problem is, is over, or in remission or something.  He's so nice.  Most of the other people that are in in-patient gait training are grumbling and dont want to try to walk or whatever, and its so sad that this really nice guy is the weakest person I've seen yet in the gym.  My other favorite is this lady who, sadly, has been an inpatient since the day I started, but she is really sweet and she always brings something to read while she waits.  She's sweet.

The big news of the day is my surgery that I was able to observe.  I felt like meredith grey with my scrubs and mask and hair net and booties over my shoes.  But the surgeon was not McDreamy.  This anasthesiologist was so much nicer than the last one that I saw.  I would want this lady to put me to sleep, she really cared about the patient, and she was actually the one that made sure everyone knew who I was and she even talked alot with me before the surgery.  The surgeon was also ALOT nicer than the last surgeon I saw and...I just looked over at the TV and my roommate is watching the cooking channel and there is crumbled corn bread with rasperry sauce on top and it looked alot like what I saw in surgery today.  Anyways, the surgeon had just gotten back from Minnetonka, so we bonded over that.  Not really, but he was interested at least for 2 minutes.  The lady that was having the surgery was saying the funniest things.  She said "Dr. ---? Can I talk to you." He said of course.  She continued "I just want to let you know that I am an angel.  So you better do good, because I am an angel."  Later she told a story "My friend pointed a flashlight at me and said to go into the light, it was a mean joke."  And then she said "Dr. ---, my friend bought me an angel, it is in my room.  It is my guardian angel.  Dr. ---, I want to see my angel in my room, not in heaven, so you better do good."  And all the rest of the time she was snoring really loud.  Anyways, the actual surgery was crazy.  I've been told about Total Knee surgeries, but you really have to see it.  I mean, they are sawing off bone, chipping it out like you would chip ice (with a pick and a hammer), ripping it off when they can with their hands.  I mean, they have this HUGE drill, probably a foot long.  And they have this huge hammer.  I really dont know how to describe it...well, the OR Technician gave me some glasses and told me to wear them so that the blood and bone that would be flying wouldnt get in my eyes. 

My roommates are nice, but they are PAs.  Joe and I didnt talk much about work for this reason (because I would avoid having to deal with it).  This reason is that they seem to think I'm an idiot.  Alot of people don't realize how much we have to learn to be PTs.  And its pretty insulting to be treated like I dont know anything and like what I do is not hard.  I know, they are Physician Assistants, they know alot more about alot of stuff, but I'm not dumb.  Grr. 

That's all!

Lyndsey