So despite Kristi and I having technique practicals and tests this week, we decided that we really needed to get away over the last weekend. We decided to go to Galena, IL, about an hour and a half up the mississippi. If you've never been to the Driftless Area of Northwest Illinois, Northeast Iowa, Southwest Wisconsin, and Southeast Minnesota, you really need to go. It is a beautiful area. It's called the driftless area because during the last ice age, when glaciers scraped and leveled all the northern area of the states, they somehow missed this area completely. So instead of the typical flatlands or rolling plains of the Midwest, there's a rugged topography with steep hills several hundred feet in height, rocky outcroppings of limestone, and deeply carved river valleys with a canyon effect. It's not anything you'de expect in the midwest. Galena is a historic town that was untouched by the modern developements of the post-war era, due to it's local depression of economy during that time. It's height of prosperity was the mid-1800's, and the architecture reflects that. Awesome Victorian, Romanensque, Greek Revival, Federal, and Vernacular architectural styles predominate the town, with 85% of the town listed on the National Historic Register. The Main St. area, where we stayed, has over 200 storefronts, all built in brick, 3 to 5 stories in height. The buildings create one continuous brick wall on each side of Main for about a mile. I've never been in a town quite like it. When I first visited there about 15 years ago, I fell in love with it, and I've been going back regularly ever since. This time we took our friends, Paul and Sharron. We've been friends with Paul for years, Kristi has known him for about twenty years. They're newlyweds, Paul married Sharron last January. Sharron is a perfect match for Paul. We don't get to hang out as much as we used to , as they used to live right across the street, but in the summer they moved further away, still in town, but before we'de see them about every day, and now we have to make plans to get together. With all of our busy schedules, it's been difficult to make plans. I'de say we see them about once a month now. This last weekend was great, as we really got to spend a lot of time with them, and we really got to know Sharron a lot better. It was a realxing weekend, mostly casually walking up and down Main, looking in the shops, and eating great food. We shared a two bedroom suite with a big living room , and we stayed up late watching movies on the flatscreen TV. We don't have cable, and neither do they, as life is usually too busy to watch TV anyway, so it was a treat for all of us! We're already talking about going back!
So back to reality this morning. Had a practical in thoracolumbar monday morning. I nearly did perfect, except I answered a question regarding one of my set-ups wrong. they ask you things like what's your DS, SCP, SP, CP, SSP, SP, STAB, PP, etc. They stand for things like patient placement, doctor stance, segmental contact point, segmental stabilization point, and so on. Well the teacher asked me SP and gave him the SSP on accident. Oh well, just one point missed out of 25, and a simple mistake. Not a big deal I guess.
Wednesday afternoon I had my first written exam in PT. It went OK, but I did struggle with keeping straight the different voltages and frequencies for different therapies. I'll need to review it more, obviously, before I start hooking electrodes up to people!
Thanksgiving today, as I'm finishing up this blog that I started monday morning... So happy Thanksgiving everone! Heading over to Kristi's cousin's house for dinner #1, then leaving from there to my Dad's house for dinner #2... I'm going to be stuffed by the end of the day! Well gotta go, have to load the van up.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
This will be a first... blog entries two days in a row.
So this morning I didn't have to come in to Palmer til 10:15. Wednesday and Friday I don't have my morning class, Rad III. It's nice to have a slow morning. Not that I could possibly sleep in with such a busy house in the morning. Delaney is usually the first one up in the morning. She's so cute about it when she wakes up on her own. She shyly peaks her head out her bedroom door and quitely says over and over again "I up" or "I wakey wake" waiting for approval to leave her room. Then when she finally hears us respond to her, it's as if she's gotten the green light to charge out of her room and run up to our bed with a big smile on her face. This is on a good morning, and it sets the mood for the day. This morning, however...
Well lets just say she's like her mother. If she's not gotten enough slee, everbody pays. If we have to wake her, it's usually because she stayed up to late, which last night was certainly the case. On mornings like this she's a bear. Everything's an argument. What clothes she's going to wear. Wether or not she wears a ponytail. She wants to do everything herself. "My pony!!!" she yeslls when you try to do her hair. She can't do it herself yet; she just rubs the pony tail holder back and forth over her head. Then she gets frustrated and wants help. Then she changes her mind when you're only half done. Repeat with brushing teeth, and putting on shoes. And getting her buckled into the carseat... Makes you feel like you've had a full day's work, and it's only 7am. It's a good thing she's so darn cute, but I think she knows it, and that's not good. There's nothing like having a toddler to make you question everything that comes out of your own mouth, every action you take. She's a sponge, and everything counts right now. What seems like a great idea one day comes back to bite you the next.
For example...
Because of her independence, getting her to do something can be a challenge. She might not want to eat at dinner time, or go to bed at bedtime, and so on. But we've also noticed that she doesn't ever want to miss anything. So for a while when she was saying "I don't want to" I'de respond, "That's OK, I'll do it" like at dinner I'de say "Well I'll eat it then." She'd then change her tune and say "I eat it" or at bedtime "I go to bed" Well it worked fine for a while, then instead of "I eat it" or I go to bed" in a pleasant demeanor, she'd start screaming "No! My food! or No! My bed!" in a defensive, selfish tone. So all that time I was using reverse psychology on her I was basically feeding her innate toddler selfishness, creating a monster! I'm constantly amazed and humbled at the responsibility of parenthood. I try to not be too hard on myself, and remind myself that I'm learning as I go, but at the same time these are her developmental years, and I want to make the most of them. I certainly don't want to blow it. There's no choice in this, no option to procrastinate. It's game time, all the time, and every day, every moment counts.
Kind of like attending Palmer...
In that I mean that you get what you put in. Some students can sort of coast through, putting in the bare moticum of effort, and pass everything. But I question how much they're really preparing themselves to be accountable for their patients health. We're preparing to take care of people here. To be their trusted doctors. We're going to be a lot of these people's only, or at least primary, healthcare provider. If we were dozing off or not even present in class the day that some random insideous disease or disorder was discussed, we might totally miss it. Don't we owe it to our patients to be the expert they assume us to be?
It's easy to get in the mindset of memorizing new material to do well on a test, to pass a test, to pass a class, to move on to the next one. Then you do a brain-dump of most the material you just went over to make room for the new stuff. I don't want to do this, and I get mad when I realize that it's happened. Fro example, Kristi is about a tri or two behind me, and is taking classes that I took last tri or the tri before. As she's studying she'll ask me for clarification on something. When I don't remember the answer, or worse yet, don't remember even the topic, it worries me. Last tri one of my teachers put it very sucinctly when she said, "When you get out in practice, every day, every patient, is a test. And it's not multiple choice. They don't sit on your table and say "Patient presents with throbbing pain over left side of face and over the top of the head, gets worse with rest. Do you suspect (A)cervicogenic headache (B)migraine or (C)stroke?" And meanwhile, I'm thinking, do I adjust, do I even examine, or do I call an ambulance? Once we're out of here, there's no A,B, or C. We'll be the experts, and we'll be responsible to do right for our patients. Period.
So basically I'm in no hurry to get through the classes. I'm trying to retain all that I can, and make the most sense of everything.
Speaking of which it's time to go to class, got P.T.
So this morning I didn't have to come in to Palmer til 10:15. Wednesday and Friday I don't have my morning class, Rad III. It's nice to have a slow morning. Not that I could possibly sleep in with such a busy house in the morning. Delaney is usually the first one up in the morning. She's so cute about it when she wakes up on her own. She shyly peaks her head out her bedroom door and quitely says over and over again "I up" or "I wakey wake" waiting for approval to leave her room. Then when she finally hears us respond to her, it's as if she's gotten the green light to charge out of her room and run up to our bed with a big smile on her face. This is on a good morning, and it sets the mood for the day. This morning, however...
Well lets just say she's like her mother. If she's not gotten enough slee, everbody pays. If we have to wake her, it's usually because she stayed up to late, which last night was certainly the case. On mornings like this she's a bear. Everything's an argument. What clothes she's going to wear. Wether or not she wears a ponytail. She wants to do everything herself. "My pony!!!" she yeslls when you try to do her hair. She can't do it herself yet; she just rubs the pony tail holder back and forth over her head. Then she gets frustrated and wants help. Then she changes her mind when you're only half done. Repeat with brushing teeth, and putting on shoes. And getting her buckled into the carseat... Makes you feel like you've had a full day's work, and it's only 7am. It's a good thing she's so darn cute, but I think she knows it, and that's not good. There's nothing like having a toddler to make you question everything that comes out of your own mouth, every action you take. She's a sponge, and everything counts right now. What seems like a great idea one day comes back to bite you the next.
For example...
Because of her independence, getting her to do something can be a challenge. She might not want to eat at dinner time, or go to bed at bedtime, and so on. But we've also noticed that she doesn't ever want to miss anything. So for a while when she was saying "I don't want to" I'de respond, "That's OK, I'll do it" like at dinner I'de say "Well I'll eat it then." She'd then change her tune and say "I eat it" or at bedtime "I go to bed" Well it worked fine for a while, then instead of "I eat it" or I go to bed" in a pleasant demeanor, she'd start screaming "No! My food! or No! My bed!" in a defensive, selfish tone. So all that time I was using reverse psychology on her I was basically feeding her innate toddler selfishness, creating a monster! I'm constantly amazed and humbled at the responsibility of parenthood. I try to not be too hard on myself, and remind myself that I'm learning as I go, but at the same time these are her developmental years, and I want to make the most of them. I certainly don't want to blow it. There's no choice in this, no option to procrastinate. It's game time, all the time, and every day, every moment counts.
Kind of like attending Palmer...
In that I mean that you get what you put in. Some students can sort of coast through, putting in the bare moticum of effort, and pass everything. But I question how much they're really preparing themselves to be accountable for their patients health. We're preparing to take care of people here. To be their trusted doctors. We're going to be a lot of these people's only, or at least primary, healthcare provider. If we were dozing off or not even present in class the day that some random insideous disease or disorder was discussed, we might totally miss it. Don't we owe it to our patients to be the expert they assume us to be?
It's easy to get in the mindset of memorizing new material to do well on a test, to pass a test, to pass a class, to move on to the next one. Then you do a brain-dump of most the material you just went over to make room for the new stuff. I don't want to do this, and I get mad when I realize that it's happened. Fro example, Kristi is about a tri or two behind me, and is taking classes that I took last tri or the tri before. As she's studying she'll ask me for clarification on something. When I don't remember the answer, or worse yet, don't remember even the topic, it worries me. Last tri one of my teachers put it very sucinctly when she said, "When you get out in practice, every day, every patient, is a test. And it's not multiple choice. They don't sit on your table and say "Patient presents with throbbing pain over left side of face and over the top of the head, gets worse with rest. Do you suspect (A)cervicogenic headache (B)migraine or (C)stroke?" And meanwhile, I'm thinking, do I adjust, do I even examine, or do I call an ambulance? Once we're out of here, there's no A,B, or C. We'll be the experts, and we'll be responsible to do right for our patients. Period.
So basically I'm in no hurry to get through the classes. I'm trying to retain all that I can, and make the most sense of everything.
Speaking of which it's time to go to class, got P.T.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
SO now we're a couple weeks into the tri, I can let you all know what I think of the classes I'm in now. I'm taking 4 DC classes and 3 BS classes this tri, with a total of 30 hours.
First thing in the morning, 3 days a week, MTH, for two hours I'm in Radiology III. This Rad class is all about the Physics of x-ray. How it works, radioactivity exposure, etc. I find it very interesting. A lot of people in the class don't care for it, probably because it's physics stuff, and it's first thing in the morning. I've always been fascinated with how things work though, so it's right up my alley. Dr. Rowell is nice and funny, and he makes the class very interactive. Later in the tri we get to start taking x-rays, just of models, but I'm looking forward to that.
After Rad I have an hour break, which I'm utilizing right now to blog...
Then my favorite class this tri, Thoracolumbar adjusting with Dr. Bovee. This class is awesome! Dr. Bovee is making this class so much fun. He's as much of an authority on Palmer Gonstead adjusting as you'll find. I think he's taken more post-grad adjusting seminars in Gonstead Methods than anyone in the world. He teaches the listings on a conceptual level, so we get to rationalize and think through the listings and set-ups, rather than memorize things like doctor stance, contact point, etc. You still need to memorize these things, of course, but the way he teaches the material, every listing we get, we think through the "why" and build the set-up. I learn a lot better this way. I'm not big on rote memorization. If I understand why I'm doing something, I'll for sure remember how to do it. Dr. Bovee is such a personality too. He looks like Bob Ross, right down to the poofy hair and goatee. He usually wears untucked Hawaian print shirts. He's very laid back. Always cracking jokes. Totally my style.
NMS II with Dr. Brozovich is about the neurologic and orthopedic tests of the lower extremity, building on the knowledge learned in NMS I last tri. Dr. Brozovich is full of stories about practice life, and being an expert witness in court. Lot of legal stuff in this class so far, like what you could get sued for if you fail to perform. It's insightful to see this aspect of the realities of being in practice.
Then another hour break...
Then on MWF I have PT II, again with Dr. Rowell. This is the passive therapies portion of physiotherapy, last tri was active therapies ( exercises and stretches). Passive therapy is things like hot and cold, electrotherapy, ultrasound, cold laser, stim... There's a lab with this class, and last week we had to experience the four stages of an ice water bath. I had to stick my hand in a bucket of ice with just enough water to fill it up, but it's all ice! 15 minutes through cold, burning, aching, then numbness! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! Those polar bear club members are insane. That's all I'm saying. Certifiable.
Signing out for now, time to go to class...
So I had lab in PT again today. Today we hooked up electrical stim on each other, learnng the different voltages and frequencies to use for different reasons and body areas. Dangerous. Fun.
Kinesiology, a bachelor's class, Monday nights with Dr. Pavlicek. He heads the rehab department and has a background and keen interest in sports. This should be a great class, and I guess about 70 other students thought so too. The typical B.S. class has about 15 to 20 students. I've never seen more than that, so 70 was a shock. Dr. Pavlicek is a great guy. He's about 12 feet tall and 500 pounds. OK I exagerate. But he's a big boy. First name Ranier. Like the Mountain.
Wellness, a psychology B.S. class with Tara Kelley is on Tuesday nights. Our class project involves picking an aspect of our own life that needs improvement for the sake of wellness. I decided that spending more meaningful time with friends was something lacking in my life right now. Ever since starting Palmer, getting married and having a kid, while renovating the house, I've had no time to just hang out. Go figure. Well not anymore. Last Friday I had a good friend from Palmer come over for dinner. It was nice to hang out with him outside of school for a change. This weekend Kristi and I are going to Galena, IL with friends. We reserved a two bedroom suite in a little inn right on Main St., so we can be next to all the stuff to see, do, and eat. I'm really looking forward to this, as our entire break I spent working on the house, and I still am every free moment I get. I really need a break! Galena is my favorite place to get away to. I've been going there fairly regularly for about15 years now. It's been a couple years now since we've spent the night there. We've visited quite a bit more often, passing through, but it's high time we spent a weekend there again!
Oh yah classes.
Finally there's Small Business Management with Karrie Holland. I took a marketing class from her last tri and really enjoyed it. She has an MBA and owns 3 or 4 locations of Cartridge World here in the QC. It's nice to have a business teacher that's in business, and can bring current and practical info to the class. Really looking forward to this class with her.
Once again a full plate and they call it "reduced schedule."
Winter tri is a long one for a couple reasons. For one it's the winter. Iowa winters are brutal, don't let anyone sugar-coat it. Daylight seems to last just a few hours. It's dark by 5. It's dark til 7. So on days I'm at school from 7:30 til 6:15, I'm in class from dark out to dark out. Not that I'd want to be outside when it's 10 degrees out. the other reason the winter tri is so long is that it's broken in two by a 2 week holiday break. Keep in mind that the fall break is two weeks long and the spring break is one week long. So when you get back from the holiday recess it feels like you should be starting a new tri, but really you're right in the middle of one. Usually you come back to tests waiting for you.
Sounds like I'm complaining, sorry. Don't take me wrong. Here in the midwest we like having cold dark winters, and we like to complain about them. It's like going to the gym. Feel the burn. It's good for you. No pain no gain. Makes you appreciate the other 3 seasons all the more. It's probably good for us in some Innate way, being a serious challenge to our survival instincts. Sympathetics kick in, endorphins circulate, pain decreases...ok it's too late to start talking neurophysiology.
Speaking of too late, it's now 10:10 and 10 minutes past my bedtime. Laney's been fighting going to sleep for the last 2 hours and I'm wiped out.
First thing in the morning, 3 days a week, MTH, for two hours I'm in Radiology III. This Rad class is all about the Physics of x-ray. How it works, radioactivity exposure, etc. I find it very interesting. A lot of people in the class don't care for it, probably because it's physics stuff, and it's first thing in the morning. I've always been fascinated with how things work though, so it's right up my alley. Dr. Rowell is nice and funny, and he makes the class very interactive. Later in the tri we get to start taking x-rays, just of models, but I'm looking forward to that.
After Rad I have an hour break, which I'm utilizing right now to blog...
Then my favorite class this tri, Thoracolumbar adjusting with Dr. Bovee. This class is awesome! Dr. Bovee is making this class so much fun. He's as much of an authority on Palmer Gonstead adjusting as you'll find. I think he's taken more post-grad adjusting seminars in Gonstead Methods than anyone in the world. He teaches the listings on a conceptual level, so we get to rationalize and think through the listings and set-ups, rather than memorize things like doctor stance, contact point, etc. You still need to memorize these things, of course, but the way he teaches the material, every listing we get, we think through the "why" and build the set-up. I learn a lot better this way. I'm not big on rote memorization. If I understand why I'm doing something, I'll for sure remember how to do it. Dr. Bovee is such a personality too. He looks like Bob Ross, right down to the poofy hair and goatee. He usually wears untucked Hawaian print shirts. He's very laid back. Always cracking jokes. Totally my style.
NMS II with Dr. Brozovich is about the neurologic and orthopedic tests of the lower extremity, building on the knowledge learned in NMS I last tri. Dr. Brozovich is full of stories about practice life, and being an expert witness in court. Lot of legal stuff in this class so far, like what you could get sued for if you fail to perform. It's insightful to see this aspect of the realities of being in practice.
Then another hour break...
Then on MWF I have PT II, again with Dr. Rowell. This is the passive therapies portion of physiotherapy, last tri was active therapies ( exercises and stretches). Passive therapy is things like hot and cold, electrotherapy, ultrasound, cold laser, stim... There's a lab with this class, and last week we had to experience the four stages of an ice water bath. I had to stick my hand in a bucket of ice with just enough water to fill it up, but it's all ice! 15 minutes through cold, burning, aching, then numbness! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! Those polar bear club members are insane. That's all I'm saying. Certifiable.
Signing out for now, time to go to class...
So I had lab in PT again today. Today we hooked up electrical stim on each other, learnng the different voltages and frequencies to use for different reasons and body areas. Dangerous. Fun.
Kinesiology, a bachelor's class, Monday nights with Dr. Pavlicek. He heads the rehab department and has a background and keen interest in sports. This should be a great class, and I guess about 70 other students thought so too. The typical B.S. class has about 15 to 20 students. I've never seen more than that, so 70 was a shock. Dr. Pavlicek is a great guy. He's about 12 feet tall and 500 pounds. OK I exagerate. But he's a big boy. First name Ranier. Like the Mountain.
Wellness, a psychology B.S. class with Tara Kelley is on Tuesday nights. Our class project involves picking an aspect of our own life that needs improvement for the sake of wellness. I decided that spending more meaningful time with friends was something lacking in my life right now. Ever since starting Palmer, getting married and having a kid, while renovating the house, I've had no time to just hang out. Go figure. Well not anymore. Last Friday I had a good friend from Palmer come over for dinner. It was nice to hang out with him outside of school for a change. This weekend Kristi and I are going to Galena, IL with friends. We reserved a two bedroom suite in a little inn right on Main St., so we can be next to all the stuff to see, do, and eat. I'm really looking forward to this, as our entire break I spent working on the house, and I still am every free moment I get. I really need a break! Galena is my favorite place to get away to. I've been going there fairly regularly for about15 years now. It's been a couple years now since we've spent the night there. We've visited quite a bit more often, passing through, but it's high time we spent a weekend there again!
Oh yah classes.
Finally there's Small Business Management with Karrie Holland. I took a marketing class from her last tri and really enjoyed it. She has an MBA and owns 3 or 4 locations of Cartridge World here in the QC. It's nice to have a business teacher that's in business, and can bring current and practical info to the class. Really looking forward to this class with her.
Once again a full plate and they call it "reduced schedule."
Winter tri is a long one for a couple reasons. For one it's the winter. Iowa winters are brutal, don't let anyone sugar-coat it. Daylight seems to last just a few hours. It's dark by 5. It's dark til 7. So on days I'm at school from 7:30 til 6:15, I'm in class from dark out to dark out. Not that I'd want to be outside when it's 10 degrees out. the other reason the winter tri is so long is that it's broken in two by a 2 week holiday break. Keep in mind that the fall break is two weeks long and the spring break is one week long. So when you get back from the holiday recess it feels like you should be starting a new tri, but really you're right in the middle of one. Usually you come back to tests waiting for you.
Sounds like I'm complaining, sorry. Don't take me wrong. Here in the midwest we like having cold dark winters, and we like to complain about them. It's like going to the gym. Feel the burn. It's good for you. No pain no gain. Makes you appreciate the other 3 seasons all the more. It's probably good for us in some Innate way, being a serious challenge to our survival instincts. Sympathetics kick in, endorphins circulate, pain decreases...ok it's too late to start talking neurophysiology.
Speaking of too late, it's now 10:10 and 10 minutes past my bedtime. Laney's been fighting going to sleep for the last 2 hours and I'm wiped out.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Been a while...
Well, what can I say, it's been a while. A little after my last post, we decided that we wanted to tackle some exterior projects on the house before winter sets in. Nothing major, just rip off the two layers of siding, old drafty windows and front door, then blow in insulation, wrap the house in more insulation, install new wood windows and cedar siding. We're going Craftsman on our house, with period details and materials. Also means a LOT of work. All the siding had to be primed front and back, and we pre-painted it before I hang it. Not quite done with the siding, hopefully this week... Was hoping to get it done over our 13 day break between tris. I literally put in 12 to 15 hour days every day of the break. Kristi and Dartagnan helped a lot, and my neighbor across the street and a friend have lent a hand when they could.
Our neighborhood is an awesome little enclave right by the river in downtown Bettendorf. The houses were all built between the turn of the century and 1950 for the most part. The lots are mostly 50 feet wide and the houses sit just 25 feet off the sidewalk. Its a walking, biking, running neighborhood. There's a great city park just a block from our house, and a little grade school and another park just 3 blocks in the other direction. We know all our neighbors, most of them well. It's the closest thing to a perfect little neighborhood you're likely to find. So anyway, every day I'm out there in the front yard, cutting and hanging siding, and attracting a lot of attention from the neighborhood. The friendly outside sales rep for K&K True Value, Dave, stops by about every day to check my progress. He gives me pointers and makes me feel like a pro at the same time. The mailman, also Dave, always stops and chats for a couple minutes. He even disclosed the home address of the hooligan who threw a rock through one of the old windows stacked up behind our garage in the alley. When he rolled by later on his little scooter I told him I knew where he lived, and by everything holy his mother would cry when she saw what I did to him... OK I didn't say that last part. But we did threaten police intervention. Probably scared the begeesus out of him. hehehe. Haven't seen him roll by on his little scooter since. We really love our neighborhood, and I'm sure we'll miss it sorely when e move after graduation. We talk about keeping the house, but honestly I don't think we'll be able to afford two household right out of school. It will be very hard to walk away from this house after all the hard work and love we've put into it.
Maybe that's why there's so many chiropractors in the Quad Cities. They all came to here to go to school, then met their spouse here, got involved with the community, or a church, whatever, and well, just never left. I don't think they all lived here already. Whatever the reason there are a ton of chiropractors here, and our business coach assures us that it would be a huge challenge opening a practice here. I tend to agree. Anyway I don't think either of us really want to stay here. We're always looking for the perfect place to move to after we're done here. It's always changing. When it's cold outside we start thinking South. When it's hot we think North... we talk about practicing with our friend in Australia, or going to New Zealand. We still have some time to figure it out I guess, but we both like having a plan, so it can be as stressful as it is exciting to think of all the possibilities...
So it's a new tri, seems like maybe that's how I started my last post... At the beginning of the tri it's easy to think you have all the time in the world. No tests looming, no grade yet. Starting fresh. But the tri hits you quick. Around thanksgiving, right before and right after, I have several tests. So there's not a whole lot of time to goof off, There's reading assignments to keep up with. For example in NMS II we have weekly quizzes, and this week's quiz is over 180 pages in the most dry neurological exam book you'll ever see. I've yet to pick it up without falling asleep. And it's fascinating stuff! We'll be performing these tests, analyzing the function of these nerves for the rest of our lives. But this darn book could make the most interesting subject boring. It's in it's millionth edition, and is THE text for the neurological exam, so there's no way Palmer wouldn't use it for reference. I just wish they'd mix it up a bit, maybe use, I don't know, pictures, perhaps. Seriously the thing looks like The Bible. OK so there are photos in it, all black and white though. They should use color. And people from this century. There's other books I just love though. Evans Orthopedic Exam is a great one. Mosby's Physical Exam. As an artist I love the Netter Atlas for Human Anatomy. Rather than photos of dissected cadavers there's wonderful painted illustrations of dissections. Nerves are yellow. Arteries are red, veins are blue, and lymphatics are green. Muscle bodies are bright red, and the tendons are bright white. Everything's neat. With photos of cadaver, it's like a pile of muck, all the same dingy gray tan color.
Studying with cadavers in person, on the other hand, is fascinating, and nothing, not the greatest text, could ever replace it. We're fortunate at Palmer to have an awesome cadaver lab. There are five classes in the curriculum that utilize cadaver studies: CNS, Gross Anatomy One and Two, and Spinal Anatomy One and Two. All of these classes are in the first year at Palmer. But as long as we're students we can use the open lab hours in the cadaver lab, and have access to most of the specimens to study on our own. It's truly a privilege to be able to study the human body in this way, and I marvel at the thoughtfulness of the individuals who donate their remains for the advancement of knowledge. Kristi and I want to do this... just not any time soon.
Well it's time for bed. I think if I post at night after I can't work on the house or tend to our children, maybe I'll get to it a little more often. Oh wait, that's when I study...
Until next time.
Our neighborhood is an awesome little enclave right by the river in downtown Bettendorf. The houses were all built between the turn of the century and 1950 for the most part. The lots are mostly 50 feet wide and the houses sit just 25 feet off the sidewalk. Its a walking, biking, running neighborhood. There's a great city park just a block from our house, and a little grade school and another park just 3 blocks in the other direction. We know all our neighbors, most of them well. It's the closest thing to a perfect little neighborhood you're likely to find. So anyway, every day I'm out there in the front yard, cutting and hanging siding, and attracting a lot of attention from the neighborhood. The friendly outside sales rep for K&K True Value, Dave, stops by about every day to check my progress. He gives me pointers and makes me feel like a pro at the same time. The mailman, also Dave, always stops and chats for a couple minutes. He even disclosed the home address of the hooligan who threw a rock through one of the old windows stacked up behind our garage in the alley. When he rolled by later on his little scooter I told him I knew where he lived, and by everything holy his mother would cry when she saw what I did to him... OK I didn't say that last part. But we did threaten police intervention. Probably scared the begeesus out of him. hehehe. Haven't seen him roll by on his little scooter since. We really love our neighborhood, and I'm sure we'll miss it sorely when e move after graduation. We talk about keeping the house, but honestly I don't think we'll be able to afford two household right out of school. It will be very hard to walk away from this house after all the hard work and love we've put into it.
Maybe that's why there's so many chiropractors in the Quad Cities. They all came to here to go to school, then met their spouse here, got involved with the community, or a church, whatever, and well, just never left. I don't think they all lived here already. Whatever the reason there are a ton of chiropractors here, and our business coach assures us that it would be a huge challenge opening a practice here. I tend to agree. Anyway I don't think either of us really want to stay here. We're always looking for the perfect place to move to after we're done here. It's always changing. When it's cold outside we start thinking South. When it's hot we think North... we talk about practicing with our friend in Australia, or going to New Zealand. We still have some time to figure it out I guess, but we both like having a plan, so it can be as stressful as it is exciting to think of all the possibilities...
So it's a new tri, seems like maybe that's how I started my last post... At the beginning of the tri it's easy to think you have all the time in the world. No tests looming, no grade yet. Starting fresh. But the tri hits you quick. Around thanksgiving, right before and right after, I have several tests. So there's not a whole lot of time to goof off, There's reading assignments to keep up with. For example in NMS II we have weekly quizzes, and this week's quiz is over 180 pages in the most dry neurological exam book you'll ever see. I've yet to pick it up without falling asleep. And it's fascinating stuff! We'll be performing these tests, analyzing the function of these nerves for the rest of our lives. But this darn book could make the most interesting subject boring. It's in it's millionth edition, and is THE text for the neurological exam, so there's no way Palmer wouldn't use it for reference. I just wish they'd mix it up a bit, maybe use, I don't know, pictures, perhaps. Seriously the thing looks like The Bible. OK so there are photos in it, all black and white though. They should use color. And people from this century. There's other books I just love though. Evans Orthopedic Exam is a great one. Mosby's Physical Exam. As an artist I love the Netter Atlas for Human Anatomy. Rather than photos of dissected cadavers there's wonderful painted illustrations of dissections. Nerves are yellow. Arteries are red, veins are blue, and lymphatics are green. Muscle bodies are bright red, and the tendons are bright white. Everything's neat. With photos of cadaver, it's like a pile of muck, all the same dingy gray tan color.
Studying with cadavers in person, on the other hand, is fascinating, and nothing, not the greatest text, could ever replace it. We're fortunate at Palmer to have an awesome cadaver lab. There are five classes in the curriculum that utilize cadaver studies: CNS, Gross Anatomy One and Two, and Spinal Anatomy One and Two. All of these classes are in the first year at Palmer. But as long as we're students we can use the open lab hours in the cadaver lab, and have access to most of the specimens to study on our own. It's truly a privilege to be able to study the human body in this way, and I marvel at the thoughtfulness of the individuals who donate their remains for the advancement of knowledge. Kristi and I want to do this... just not any time soon.
Well it's time for bed. I think if I post at night after I can't work on the house or tend to our children, maybe I'll get to it a little more often. Oh wait, that's when I study...
Until next time.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Family sick, but hanging in there
It's been one crazy couple of weeks. (I could say that anytime though...) Lets see last time I posted was just after getting back from my trip to Atlanta, with the harrowing brake loss on top of a mountain... came back just in time to go to class the following monday am at 7:30. That week I had my cervical technique practical. The practicals are the students opportunity to show the instructor your setup and adjustment for a specific listing. In cervicals we're working just in the head and neck, next tri thoracolumbar, followed by pelvic, then extremities. So each region of the spine has its own unique anatomy and common subluxation patterns, so Palmer Package adjusting is broken into seperate classes that way. Within each class we learn a variety of techniques...Gonstead, Knee Chest Upper Cervical, Diversified (which is really a whole bunch of random techniques thrown together) and so on... all of this together is Palmer Package. In cervicals class we average about 4 or 5 new listings per class, so you really can't aford to miss any classes if you don't want to fall behind. Today's setups were especially hard on my low back, as I had to sqaut way down to get a line of correction lower than my patient laying on a bench just 20 inches off the floor. I'm 6'2", and have a herniated disc in my low back that I've had the fun experience of aggravating several times since starting Palmer. Not fun. At it's worst I can't walk unassisted, and am pretty much confined to bed for several days. I don't want to let that happen again, so I'm moving around rather gingerly lately.Didn't help to ditch the car a couple weeks ago. I think I suffered from a mild case of whiplash. My intern in the student clinic has been working very hard at perfecting my listing on the Atlas Orthogonal table. He's about got it I think, and I'm starting to feel a lot better.
The family, however, is rather sick. Laney was sick when Dartagnan and I were gone to Atlanta, with a fever around 102 off and on (mostly on) for about 7 days. We were warned a few weeks earlier when she had her last immunization that this could happen. Since it was a fever unaccompanied by any other obvious signs or symptoms we attributed it to that. She was well for about a week, then we got a call from daycare that she had a fever and wasn't being her normal rambunkshous self. She stayed home again for the rest of that week, which is a major challenge with Kristi and I at Palmer. We have to weigh whose classes are more important to not skip, taking into account mandatory attendance in the technique courses, tests and quizes, and really a genuine desire to not miss anything. This is never fun. I had to cancel out on taking the SPEAK program last weekend. I'm really bummed out about that one. I was looking forward to it, and it's only offered once or twice a tri so I'll have to wait til next tri to take it now. Last weekend I was under the weather too, as well as D. Laney was still kind of sick, mostly winey and klingy, which is a lot to deal with if you're sick too, believe me!
Kristi's had it the worst this last week. Areally severe cold, with fever and horrible body aches everywhere. Her and Dartagnan are now on an antibiotic and have been into the clinic every other day or so for adjustments. She stayed home yesterday, opting to postpone her radiology II exam. She had a pretty high fever and was up most the night before. She really didnt want to miss that test because the makeup is all fill in and short answer whereas the regular test is multiple choice. She's been studying very hard though so I'm sure she'll do fine on it.
Dartagnan broke his finger at school, while goofing around ninja style with a friend. It's a very minor break, and they've put it in a splint. He's pretty sick too, on an antibiotic as well. He still wants to stay up late, and eat junkfood. It's challenging to coax him into a healthier lifestyle. He's really wanting to stay fit, and he is fit looking. I don't think there's an ounce of fat on him. But he eats horrible food. Processed meats, cheese, and mountain dew. It takes a pair of vice grips and a plumbers helper to get any vegetables or fruit into him! We're concerned because we think his dad is diabetic, and Kristi had cancer. We want to instill heathy habits in him now so maybe he can avoid health problems later, rather than dealing with them after the fact. Typical teenager though, invincable and living for now only. Oh well. We won't give up.
Just got through a barrage of tests and practicals this last week, five in total. At least one a day the last half of last week and the first half of this week. Did well on all of them despite the challenges at home. I was about pulling my hair out by the end of it. I don't actually hardly ever get stressed out. Annoys and amazes Kristi how level I always am. But I've been stressed lately, I won't lie. Next week is boards, thank God I'm not taking them this time around! And it gives me a week off of school! Yeah!!!
I'll get Dartagnan's bedroon done in the basement, catch up on my studies, maybe read a non-academic book, preferably about some foreign land, far from Iowa. Going to visit family this weekend in Peoria. It's been too long, and I'm looking forward to that emensely.
Well, time to go register for next tri's courses. Gotta get in line and hope I get the sections I want. More on that later. Wish me luck. Peace.
The family, however, is rather sick. Laney was sick when Dartagnan and I were gone to Atlanta, with a fever around 102 off and on (mostly on) for about 7 days. We were warned a few weeks earlier when she had her last immunization that this could happen. Since it was a fever unaccompanied by any other obvious signs or symptoms we attributed it to that. She was well for about a week, then we got a call from daycare that she had a fever and wasn't being her normal rambunkshous self. She stayed home again for the rest of that week, which is a major challenge with Kristi and I at Palmer. We have to weigh whose classes are more important to not skip, taking into account mandatory attendance in the technique courses, tests and quizes, and really a genuine desire to not miss anything. This is never fun. I had to cancel out on taking the SPEAK program last weekend. I'm really bummed out about that one. I was looking forward to it, and it's only offered once or twice a tri so I'll have to wait til next tri to take it now. Last weekend I was under the weather too, as well as D. Laney was still kind of sick, mostly winey and klingy, which is a lot to deal with if you're sick too, believe me!
Kristi's had it the worst this last week. Areally severe cold, with fever and horrible body aches everywhere. Her and Dartagnan are now on an antibiotic and have been into the clinic every other day or so for adjustments. She stayed home yesterday, opting to postpone her radiology II exam. She had a pretty high fever and was up most the night before. She really didnt want to miss that test because the makeup is all fill in and short answer whereas the regular test is multiple choice. She's been studying very hard though so I'm sure she'll do fine on it.
Dartagnan broke his finger at school, while goofing around ninja style with a friend. It's a very minor break, and they've put it in a splint. He's pretty sick too, on an antibiotic as well. He still wants to stay up late, and eat junkfood. It's challenging to coax him into a healthier lifestyle. He's really wanting to stay fit, and he is fit looking. I don't think there's an ounce of fat on him. But he eats horrible food. Processed meats, cheese, and mountain dew. It takes a pair of vice grips and a plumbers helper to get any vegetables or fruit into him! We're concerned because we think his dad is diabetic, and Kristi had cancer. We want to instill heathy habits in him now so maybe he can avoid health problems later, rather than dealing with them after the fact. Typical teenager though, invincable and living for now only. Oh well. We won't give up.
Just got through a barrage of tests and practicals this last week, five in total. At least one a day the last half of last week and the first half of this week. Did well on all of them despite the challenges at home. I was about pulling my hair out by the end of it. I don't actually hardly ever get stressed out. Annoys and amazes Kristi how level I always am. But I've been stressed lately, I won't lie. Next week is boards, thank God I'm not taking them this time around! And it gives me a week off of school! Yeah!!!
I'll get Dartagnan's bedroon done in the basement, catch up on my studies, maybe read a non-academic book, preferably about some foreign land, far from Iowa. Going to visit family this weekend in Peoria. It's been too long, and I'm looking forward to that emensely.
Well, time to go register for next tri's courses. Gotta get in line and hope I get the sections I want. More on that later. Wish me luck. Peace.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Lucky to be alive!
So last weekend was Palmer's Homecoming. Heard it was great. Dr. John Dimartini (from "The Secret") who is a chiropractor who has written tons of self-improvement books, gives seminars, and is booked for years out, agreed to speak at Palmer. http://www.drdemartini.com/ Awesome! Wish I could have been there for that, and all the other things happening at the world's greatest chiropractic college.
I had booked a trip to Atlanta to meet with my practice management consultant, Dr. Peter Fernandez http://www.drfernandez.com/ who was hosting a 3 day seminar on how to successfully integrate personal injury claims into a practice, how to market this service, working with personal injury attorneys, the insurance companies, and doing it all ethically with a focus on the patient's needs. Great seminar (what I got to attend anyway)
It was supposed to be Kristi and I both going, bringing our son Dartagnan, who's 14, and leaving our daughter Delaney, who's 2, with Kristi's parents. Unfortunately, Delaney got sick with a fever, and we couldn't leave her with Gramma and Grampa because they both work, and Delaney can't go to daycare with a fever. Kristi elected to stay home with her, as she has more to study for anyway, and was not sure she had the time to devote to a weekend seminar. (Turns out she devoted a weekend to a sick toddler, Delaney had that fever for 6 days!)
So it was just Dartagnan and I going. We left Wednesday night last week, at midnight, after I took a short nap. I wanted to hit Chattanooga by lunchtime, as I wanted to spend the afternoon there with D (we call Dartagnan D for short) We were going to Ruby Falls http://www.rubyfalls.com/ and maybe rock city http://www.seerockcity.com/ because D is a nut for caves and cliffs. We made it to Ruby Falls at 1pm, and we weren't hungry for lunch yet so we decided to go straight to the tour. It was Awesome! There's a 130ft waterfall thats 1200 ft under the mountain. It was breathtaking. The rock formations were so cool too. I would highly recommend it. It was an hour and a half tour, and by the time we were done we were starving, so we decided to head down the mountain (lookout Mountain) into Chattanooga for a late lunch.
When you're up on top of Lookout Mountain, it's easy to get lost, as it's a residential area (very expensive homes, multi-million $ view) The roads wind and switch back to follow the cliff sides, literally hanging on the side of the mountain, or weave through the forest, which is definitely intact. A few wrong turns later I realize, to my horror, that I have no brakes! I frantically go to pull the e-brake, only to find it was already pulled! Evidently I used it at Ruby Falls and forgot to disengage it! In my defense I never use my e-brake, and only did this time because of the very steep decline I was parked on, with a drop-off in front of my car. When we got out of the car D threw his blanket over the brake handle between the seats, and when we left Ruby Falls I didn't see it, and the brakes didn't drag or grind or anything when we left. The car drove normal. I guess they were contacting enough though to heat up the brakes to the point that the fluid boiled, at which point you have no brake pressure at all.
So anyway we're going faster and faster, as every turn I make in hopes of finding an uphill road, I find more downhill roads! Drop-offs are whizzing past me to the right, and big trees are growing right up to the road on the left, where there isn't a rock wall, that is. Finally I make a turn away from the cliff side into a residential street, but it's going very steeply downhill. Now I'm moving at about 30 mph, which doesnt sound fast but believe me it's fast when you have no brakes on top of a mountain! There's trees hugging the road on both sides. Up ahead I see a break in the trees on the right. There's a driveway, with a mailbox and huge tree on the far side of it. Looks like about 6 feet between them, with an ivy covered ditch and burm. Looks like enough room to squeeze the Civic in. If the ditch and burm don't stop us the telephone pole 8 feet in will definitely stop us! So that's what I did. The car just fit, I didn't hit the mailbox, the tree, or the telephone pole, and I was a few inches from each! The back wheels were up off the driveway, and the front was down in the ditch. The car was stopped , and we weren't hurt. Lucky. Guardian Angel. Probably both!
3pm. Standing on the side of the road, trying to get AAA to help us. Worthless! Transferred 4 times! Had to start from the beginning each time. Didn't help that I didn't know wether I was in Tennessee or Georgia. (Lookout Mountain is in both) We're starving, I'm seriously sleep deprived at this point. Hotel is booked and payed for in Atlanta, seminar starts next morning at 8. Things aren't going well, but at least we're alive. Cop shows up. He's helpfull. D went to get the registration out of the glovebox for me and his very real looking toy handgun is sitting right there on top. Nice. Cop doesn't notice, or doesn't care (This is Tennessee) He gets a tow truck for me in a half hour (best AAA could do was two hours)
The tow driver was so nice, but he could have called me an idiot and I would have just smiled and nodded as I couldn't understand a word he said. Thick mountain accent. By the time he had my car out of the ditch it was after 5, and the shops were all closed. So he took the car back to his house on the mountain, but back south into Georgia 20 miles. The cop took us back to the Police station/Fire station/Town Hall.
From there I tried to get a rental car company to come up onto the mountain and pick us up. Bad news, Hertz couldn't spare a driver after 4pm, only one person working. No one else had a car available. So I booked the car with Hertz and next tryed to line up a taxi to come up and get us, and bring us to the airport where Hertz is. All this took over an hour. The taxi took 45 minutes to get to us. The cab ride was almost 30 minutes, and cost me over $40. We get to the airport at 6:30. We haven't eaten since 7:30am. Starving delerious. Dead tired. D is sick with a fever now. Kristi meanwhile is lining up a hotel for us. We have to go all the way back up to the tow driver's house, 40 miles away and back up on the mountain, in order to get our bags to stay the night. When we get there he lets us know the brakes are working (they cooled off) I still wanted a mechanic to check it over as we had 1000 miles left to drive on our trip. So we figured out a shop to meet at in the morning.
Zombie-tired and starving, we made the trek back to town to finally get some dinner. We ate at 8:30 at a nice brewery restaraunt downtown chattanooga, Big River Grille and Brewery www.bigrivergrille.com It felt so good to finally eat, and when I told the waiter our story he brought me a beer on the house.
Kristi booked us at the Chattanoogan Hotel, which was a very classy place www.chattanooganhotel.com . Not that it mattered much as we just slept, but the beds were awesome. D got to sleep in while I went to the service center in the rental Toyota Prius. At first it felt like a tincan, but it grew on me. The car was fine other than some air in the brake lines and some glazing on the rotors, and they promised it would be done within an hour. So I went down the street to a coffee shop where they roast their own beans and had a great americano. www.chattanoogacoffeecompany.com So good I bought a bag to take home. (Drinking some right now) I'm at least a 3rd generation coffee snob. When I was still too young for kindergarden my mom brought me to her parents' house, right next door, for morning coffee nearly every day. I was drinking coffee by the age of 4 (probably mostly milk and sugar) I drink it black now, unless it's lousy, then I'll put cream in it to mask the flavor. I'll drink the worst coffee, as it's better than nothing, but given a choice I love the good stuff!
So got the car back and off to get D up and get on the road. He's feeling lousy. I decide not to drive to Atlanta right away and just take it easy. We lay around the hotel til checkout at noon. We then go have lunch at this great place that Kristi and went to last time through called 212 Market www.212market.com D had his usual, a filet minion, jeez that kid's expensive. Didn't touch his veggies either. A little sightseeing (by car) and it was time to hit the road. We made Atlanta at around 4, sat in rush hour for an hour. That evening we just layed around the hotel room and watched tv. We don't have tv at home so it's a treat when travelling! Went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner but neither of us enjoy it as he's sick and I'm feeling rocky too, in hindsight I now realize it's probably whiplash from the accident.
Next day at seminar was great, although I had a hard time concentrating. D was feeling better and wanted to go to the mall nextdoor, Atlanta's Perimeter Mall. It was huge and overwhelming to him so I decided to stay and walk around with him a bit. We were there about 2 hours and called it quits, as everything there was so expensive. I gave him $75 to spend how he wanted and he didn't want to buy anything. His mom instilled some thriftiness in him after all!
We then went to McDonald's and to go see The Expendables. Great movie! Plenty of gratuitous violence, hardly any of it plausable. Thin plot. Just what I needed! I felt like a super hero by the time we left. Then I realized that everyone in the movie (except for Jason Statham) is a lot older than me and in a lot better shape than me. Oh well. (I meant that Jason Statham is not older than me. He is, however, in a lot better shape...) My self image still includes chiselled abs and big guns, even though they disappeared long ago. I believe a healthy self image is important, however dillusional it may be... I keep telling myself it will be easier to get and stay in shape when I'm done with Palmer. I'll be pushing 40, who am I kidding!
The next day, last day of seminar, I decide because I'm still not feeling great that we'd better hit the road instead. We left at 10am and got home right before midnight. Long day on the road!
Monday was D's first day of highschool. That went well. Going to class was hard for me, and I'm still feeling rocky. My doctor in the student clinic is home sick so I've not yet been in to get checked after the trip and accident, and meanwhile I've been hanging drywall in D's bedroom for the last 3 days. I'm a glutton for punishment.
Test tomorrow in Cervicals class, and I'm nervous about it. So many listings to keep straight.
X-ray analysis is starting to click for me though. I'll let you know how that goes. I better log off now and start studying, as tonight is open house at D's highschool. Fun times.
I had booked a trip to Atlanta to meet with my practice management consultant, Dr. Peter Fernandez http://www.drfernandez.com/ who was hosting a 3 day seminar on how to successfully integrate personal injury claims into a practice, how to market this service, working with personal injury attorneys, the insurance companies, and doing it all ethically with a focus on the patient's needs. Great seminar (what I got to attend anyway)
It was supposed to be Kristi and I both going, bringing our son Dartagnan, who's 14, and leaving our daughter Delaney, who's 2, with Kristi's parents. Unfortunately, Delaney got sick with a fever, and we couldn't leave her with Gramma and Grampa because they both work, and Delaney can't go to daycare with a fever. Kristi elected to stay home with her, as she has more to study for anyway, and was not sure she had the time to devote to a weekend seminar. (Turns out she devoted a weekend to a sick toddler, Delaney had that fever for 6 days!)
So it was just Dartagnan and I going. We left Wednesday night last week, at midnight, after I took a short nap. I wanted to hit Chattanooga by lunchtime, as I wanted to spend the afternoon there with D (we call Dartagnan D for short) We were going to Ruby Falls http://www.rubyfalls.com/ and maybe rock city http://www.seerockcity.com/ because D is a nut for caves and cliffs. We made it to Ruby Falls at 1pm, and we weren't hungry for lunch yet so we decided to go straight to the tour. It was Awesome! There's a 130ft waterfall thats 1200 ft under the mountain. It was breathtaking. The rock formations were so cool too. I would highly recommend it. It was an hour and a half tour, and by the time we were done we were starving, so we decided to head down the mountain (lookout Mountain) into Chattanooga for a late lunch.
When you're up on top of Lookout Mountain, it's easy to get lost, as it's a residential area (very expensive homes, multi-million $ view) The roads wind and switch back to follow the cliff sides, literally hanging on the side of the mountain, or weave through the forest, which is definitely intact. A few wrong turns later I realize, to my horror, that I have no brakes! I frantically go to pull the e-brake, only to find it was already pulled! Evidently I used it at Ruby Falls and forgot to disengage it! In my defense I never use my e-brake, and only did this time because of the very steep decline I was parked on, with a drop-off in front of my car. When we got out of the car D threw his blanket over the brake handle between the seats, and when we left Ruby Falls I didn't see it, and the brakes didn't drag or grind or anything when we left. The car drove normal. I guess they were contacting enough though to heat up the brakes to the point that the fluid boiled, at which point you have no brake pressure at all.
So anyway we're going faster and faster, as every turn I make in hopes of finding an uphill road, I find more downhill roads! Drop-offs are whizzing past me to the right, and big trees are growing right up to the road on the left, where there isn't a rock wall, that is. Finally I make a turn away from the cliff side into a residential street, but it's going very steeply downhill. Now I'm moving at about 30 mph, which doesnt sound fast but believe me it's fast when you have no brakes on top of a mountain! There's trees hugging the road on both sides. Up ahead I see a break in the trees on the right. There's a driveway, with a mailbox and huge tree on the far side of it. Looks like about 6 feet between them, with an ivy covered ditch and burm. Looks like enough room to squeeze the Civic in. If the ditch and burm don't stop us the telephone pole 8 feet in will definitely stop us! So that's what I did. The car just fit, I didn't hit the mailbox, the tree, or the telephone pole, and I was a few inches from each! The back wheels were up off the driveway, and the front was down in the ditch. The car was stopped , and we weren't hurt. Lucky. Guardian Angel. Probably both!
3pm. Standing on the side of the road, trying to get AAA to help us. Worthless! Transferred 4 times! Had to start from the beginning each time. Didn't help that I didn't know wether I was in Tennessee or Georgia. (Lookout Mountain is in both) We're starving, I'm seriously sleep deprived at this point. Hotel is booked and payed for in Atlanta, seminar starts next morning at 8. Things aren't going well, but at least we're alive. Cop shows up. He's helpfull. D went to get the registration out of the glovebox for me and his very real looking toy handgun is sitting right there on top. Nice. Cop doesn't notice, or doesn't care (This is Tennessee) He gets a tow truck for me in a half hour (best AAA could do was two hours)
The tow driver was so nice, but he could have called me an idiot and I would have just smiled and nodded as I couldn't understand a word he said. Thick mountain accent. By the time he had my car out of the ditch it was after 5, and the shops were all closed. So he took the car back to his house on the mountain, but back south into Georgia 20 miles. The cop took us back to the Police station/Fire station/Town Hall.
From there I tried to get a rental car company to come up onto the mountain and pick us up. Bad news, Hertz couldn't spare a driver after 4pm, only one person working. No one else had a car available. So I booked the car with Hertz and next tryed to line up a taxi to come up and get us, and bring us to the airport where Hertz is. All this took over an hour. The taxi took 45 minutes to get to us. The cab ride was almost 30 minutes, and cost me over $40. We get to the airport at 6:30. We haven't eaten since 7:30am. Starving delerious. Dead tired. D is sick with a fever now. Kristi meanwhile is lining up a hotel for us. We have to go all the way back up to the tow driver's house, 40 miles away and back up on the mountain, in order to get our bags to stay the night. When we get there he lets us know the brakes are working (they cooled off) I still wanted a mechanic to check it over as we had 1000 miles left to drive on our trip. So we figured out a shop to meet at in the morning.
Zombie-tired and starving, we made the trek back to town to finally get some dinner. We ate at 8:30 at a nice brewery restaraunt downtown chattanooga, Big River Grille and Brewery www.bigrivergrille.com It felt so good to finally eat, and when I told the waiter our story he brought me a beer on the house.
Kristi booked us at the Chattanoogan Hotel, which was a very classy place www.chattanooganhotel.com . Not that it mattered much as we just slept, but the beds were awesome. D got to sleep in while I went to the service center in the rental Toyota Prius. At first it felt like a tincan, but it grew on me. The car was fine other than some air in the brake lines and some glazing on the rotors, and they promised it would be done within an hour. So I went down the street to a coffee shop where they roast their own beans and had a great americano. www.chattanoogacoffeecompany.com So good I bought a bag to take home. (Drinking some right now) I'm at least a 3rd generation coffee snob. When I was still too young for kindergarden my mom brought me to her parents' house, right next door, for morning coffee nearly every day. I was drinking coffee by the age of 4 (probably mostly milk and sugar) I drink it black now, unless it's lousy, then I'll put cream in it to mask the flavor. I'll drink the worst coffee, as it's better than nothing, but given a choice I love the good stuff!
So got the car back and off to get D up and get on the road. He's feeling lousy. I decide not to drive to Atlanta right away and just take it easy. We lay around the hotel til checkout at noon. We then go have lunch at this great place that Kristi and went to last time through called 212 Market www.212market.com D had his usual, a filet minion, jeez that kid's expensive. Didn't touch his veggies either. A little sightseeing (by car) and it was time to hit the road. We made Atlanta at around 4, sat in rush hour for an hour. That evening we just layed around the hotel room and watched tv. We don't have tv at home so it's a treat when travelling! Went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner but neither of us enjoy it as he's sick and I'm feeling rocky too, in hindsight I now realize it's probably whiplash from the accident.
Next day at seminar was great, although I had a hard time concentrating. D was feeling better and wanted to go to the mall nextdoor, Atlanta's Perimeter Mall. It was huge and overwhelming to him so I decided to stay and walk around with him a bit. We were there about 2 hours and called it quits, as everything there was so expensive. I gave him $75 to spend how he wanted and he didn't want to buy anything. His mom instilled some thriftiness in him after all!
We then went to McDonald's and to go see The Expendables. Great movie! Plenty of gratuitous violence, hardly any of it plausable. Thin plot. Just what I needed! I felt like a super hero by the time we left. Then I realized that everyone in the movie (except for Jason Statham) is a lot older than me and in a lot better shape than me. Oh well. (I meant that Jason Statham is not older than me. He is, however, in a lot better shape...) My self image still includes chiselled abs and big guns, even though they disappeared long ago. I believe a healthy self image is important, however dillusional it may be... I keep telling myself it will be easier to get and stay in shape when I'm done with Palmer. I'll be pushing 40, who am I kidding!
The next day, last day of seminar, I decide because I'm still not feeling great that we'd better hit the road instead. We left at 10am and got home right before midnight. Long day on the road!
Monday was D's first day of highschool. That went well. Going to class was hard for me, and I'm still feeling rocky. My doctor in the student clinic is home sick so I've not yet been in to get checked after the trip and accident, and meanwhile I've been hanging drywall in D's bedroom for the last 3 days. I'm a glutton for punishment.
Test tomorrow in Cervicals class, and I'm nervous about it. So many listings to keep straight.
X-ray analysis is starting to click for me though. I'll let you know how that goes. I better log off now and start studying, as tonight is open house at D's highschool. Fun times.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Back in the swing of things...
New tri at Palmer! I'm taking some fifth and some sixth tri classes, as I'm on an individualized schedule. Also I'm in two bachelor's courses. Seven classes in total, and somehow that's considered a "light load"... 12 - 16 hour semesters are nothing like 30+ hour trimesters, trust me! I worked 60+ hour weeks before coming to Palmer and had much more free time than I do now!
OK enough griping, I'm actually loving the classes I'm taking this tri, and my schedule is starting to make sense. I have to be there first thing at 7:30 for my Cervical Adjusting class Monday through Friday. Before that I have to help get Laney, out two year old, ready for school (We call daycare school, as the one she goes to seems more like a school than a babysitter) and drop her off there. It's conveniently right next door. If anyone is looking for daycare for 18month - 4year olds, they're the greatest! Positive Parenting at Trinity. Check it out at www.positiveparentingpreschool.com Delaney LOVES it there. Oh, I was talking about my schedule, I digress...
So anyway after a hectic morning every day, I don't have class again until 9:20, but only on Wed and Thurs (Philosophy IV) or 11:10, but only on Mon, Tues, and Fri (Physiotherapy I). Then I'm free (I use that word liberally) til 1:55 for NeuroMusculoSkeletal (NMS) I which is every day, followed by OB/Pediatrics every day at 2:40. Those are all the regular classes I'm in, but then Monday from 3:45 til 6:15 I'm in a bachelor's course: Sports Injuries. Tuesday I have my Physiotherapy lab from 3:45 til 4:15, and Thursday I have my other Bachelor's course, Marketing from 3:45 to 6:15.
I'm just starting to get used to the big breaks in the morning schedule, and a crazy busy afternoon. Family life makes the afternoons tricky. Laney has to be picked up no later than 5:30. If anyone out there has ever picked up a kid late from daycare you understand this concept. Our last daycare, before Laney was 18 months old, actually charged us the $1/minute late fee and then fired us as clients! We've not been late at Positive Parenting and we don't plan to either! Don't think they'de react the same way but I'd rather not find out! When we pick her up she's ready for dinner, which is rarely what we eat because she's all of a sudden gotten extremely picky. Everything foreign she says EEEWWWW and pushes away, refusing to even taste. Some things she's always loved she does the same thing with. Every evening we have to solve the mind-frying question of what to feed Laney. Do we try to get her to eat something nutritious or sucumb to Mac and Cheese. ( at least it's organic) I don't know how I'll handle it when she says EEEWWW to that...
Then it's promptly to the bathtub as she's usually wearing half her dinner, where she consistently splashes half the bath water onto the floor...
Then she runs around like a crazed lunatic, into walls...hopefully not down the stairs. When she gets tired she gets reckless and manic. It's fun and terrifying and tiresome all at the same time!
Bed for her by 8 but she's been keeping herself up til 9 or 9:30 playing in bed lately, giving shoutouts for water or for general attention. By the time she's out so are we, virtually exhausted. Now somehow it's time to study and write blogs...
So what about all that time in the morning and early afternoon?
Well there's club meetings. I'm in several, though I can't claim I go every week. AO (Atlas Orthogonal) which is an upper cervical specific technique. I took the elective last tri, and club is a great way of honing skills learned. Activator meets at the same time, so I alternate. Gonstead club is great for perfecting manual adjusting skills, as is Palmer Package club. Then there's ToastMasters, which is actually an international organization for public speaking. Palmer has a chapter, we meet once a week and deliver speaches to each other and critique them. When we get out of Palmer we'll be ready to deliver awesome health talks and presentations, which are integral to a successful practice. Another class I'm taking in the form of a weekend seminar at Palmer is S.P.E.A.K., which has much the same goals as Toastmasters, but is Palmer and Chiropractic specific. It integrates the Dale Carnegie series into it as well. A huge benefit of doing SPEAK is it certifies the student to take part in the Palmer health screening events, which will be great practice for when we run our own clinic. Also it's a great way to get patients as a student intern in our clinic at Palmer.
I'm also taking business seminars in Atlanta and Orlando six times a year from our consultant. These are weekend long events. The next one is unfortunately the same weekend as Palmer's Homecoming so I won't be here for that.
Our son (my step-son) Dartagnan just decided to move back home after a semester and then the summer break up in Minneapolis where his father and father's family live. He stayed with his aunt, uncle and cousins, and his Grandma. We sent him up there when we found out that his Grandma was terminally ill with advanced throat cancer. We wanted for him to able to spend as much time with her as possible, as they've always been close. She just passed a couple weeks ago while they were all on a family vacation. She was a wonderful lady, keen wit, sharp humor, thick German accent. Never anything wrong with her if you were to ask her. We miss her dearly.
So D is back, and while he was gone we moved Laney into his bedroom. So now he's sleeping in our sunroom. Sucks for him in the morning as he loves to sleep in and the room is all windows!
Which brings me to the other thing occupying all my spare time, finishing his new bedroom in the basement. We're coverting a nasty sixties era rec room type basement into a master suite complete with the house's largest bedroom, largest bath, a new laundry room, and a media/family rec room. He has to share the bathroom and rec room with us, and he better share the laundry...
We want to get him into his new room as soon as possible, as he starts highschool in two weeks and I'd rather have him have his own space at this point in his life. While he was in Minnesota I got the Laundry, stairway, and basement hall completed. I had to get the laundry moved to finish the new drain tile and sump pump installed on the side of the basement that his bedroom and bathroom are. Just got that (almost) done during the last break, between our travels. So far I've got his walls and walk in closet half framed in. I'll finish that later this week, after the three tests I have over the next 3 days, so that I can move on to wiring and drywall this weekend. With drywall, trim, and flooring I'm looking at at least a few more weeks, so he'll have already started school but that's the best I can do...
I'm starting to regret being handy...
We can't forget all the other things that invariably keep a dad and husband busy (and blessed). Cram all that in with Palmer and you have one interesting schedule.
So, sorry it's been so long since the last post. It seems I'm constantly running to keep up with yesterday, but such is life. I wouldn't trade a single aspect of it in, honestly, and there's so much more I wish I had time to do. I haven't painted in ages. I can't remember the last time I've been to the gym (though I did go jogging on the mississippi walk a few weeks ago, quads still hurt) I want to take advantage of Palmer's free Rosetta Stone again to improve my Spanish and maybe pick up French. I would love to get more involved at church. I wish I had time to actually read my textbooks, rather than skim and look up specific things. I want to take more special technique electives while I'm here at Palmer. I want to pass boards (got round one out of the way)
Mainly I want to know when I leave here that I'm a capable doctor that's ready to continue learning and growing, is an awesome listener able to get to the heart of a patient's problem, is well equipped to open a practice right away and to not only survive, but thrive. I want to prepare, learn, develop myself without ever compromising the other roles and relationships in my life. It's a tightrope and juggling act at the same time. But plenty before me have done it, so I know I can too.
OK enough griping, I'm actually loving the classes I'm taking this tri, and my schedule is starting to make sense. I have to be there first thing at 7:30 for my Cervical Adjusting class Monday through Friday. Before that I have to help get Laney, out two year old, ready for school (We call daycare school, as the one she goes to seems more like a school than a babysitter) and drop her off there. It's conveniently right next door. If anyone is looking for daycare for 18month - 4year olds, they're the greatest! Positive Parenting at Trinity. Check it out at www.positiveparentingpreschool.com Delaney LOVES it there. Oh, I was talking about my schedule, I digress...
So anyway after a hectic morning every day, I don't have class again until 9:20, but only on Wed and Thurs (Philosophy IV) or 11:10, but only on Mon, Tues, and Fri (Physiotherapy I). Then I'm free (I use that word liberally) til 1:55 for NeuroMusculoSkeletal (NMS) I which is every day, followed by OB/Pediatrics every day at 2:40. Those are all the regular classes I'm in, but then Monday from 3:45 til 6:15 I'm in a bachelor's course: Sports Injuries. Tuesday I have my Physiotherapy lab from 3:45 til 4:15, and Thursday I have my other Bachelor's course, Marketing from 3:45 to 6:15.
I'm just starting to get used to the big breaks in the morning schedule, and a crazy busy afternoon. Family life makes the afternoons tricky. Laney has to be picked up no later than 5:30. If anyone out there has ever picked up a kid late from daycare you understand this concept. Our last daycare, before Laney was 18 months old, actually charged us the $1/minute late fee and then fired us as clients! We've not been late at Positive Parenting and we don't plan to either! Don't think they'de react the same way but I'd rather not find out! When we pick her up she's ready for dinner, which is rarely what we eat because she's all of a sudden gotten extremely picky. Everything foreign she says EEEWWWW and pushes away, refusing to even taste. Some things she's always loved she does the same thing with. Every evening we have to solve the mind-frying question of what to feed Laney. Do we try to get her to eat something nutritious or sucumb to Mac and Cheese. ( at least it's organic) I don't know how I'll handle it when she says EEEWWW to that...
Then it's promptly to the bathtub as she's usually wearing half her dinner, where she consistently splashes half the bath water onto the floor...
Then she runs around like a crazed lunatic, into walls...hopefully not down the stairs. When she gets tired she gets reckless and manic. It's fun and terrifying and tiresome all at the same time!
Bed for her by 8 but she's been keeping herself up til 9 or 9:30 playing in bed lately, giving shoutouts for water or for general attention. By the time she's out so are we, virtually exhausted. Now somehow it's time to study and write blogs...
So what about all that time in the morning and early afternoon?
Well there's club meetings. I'm in several, though I can't claim I go every week. AO (Atlas Orthogonal) which is an upper cervical specific technique. I took the elective last tri, and club is a great way of honing skills learned. Activator meets at the same time, so I alternate. Gonstead club is great for perfecting manual adjusting skills, as is Palmer Package club. Then there's ToastMasters, which is actually an international organization for public speaking. Palmer has a chapter, we meet once a week and deliver speaches to each other and critique them. When we get out of Palmer we'll be ready to deliver awesome health talks and presentations, which are integral to a successful practice. Another class I'm taking in the form of a weekend seminar at Palmer is S.P.E.A.K., which has much the same goals as Toastmasters, but is Palmer and Chiropractic specific. It integrates the Dale Carnegie series into it as well. A huge benefit of doing SPEAK is it certifies the student to take part in the Palmer health screening events, which will be great practice for when we run our own clinic. Also it's a great way to get patients as a student intern in our clinic at Palmer.
I'm also taking business seminars in Atlanta and Orlando six times a year from our consultant. These are weekend long events. The next one is unfortunately the same weekend as Palmer's Homecoming so I won't be here for that.
Our son (my step-son) Dartagnan just decided to move back home after a semester and then the summer break up in Minneapolis where his father and father's family live. He stayed with his aunt, uncle and cousins, and his Grandma. We sent him up there when we found out that his Grandma was terminally ill with advanced throat cancer. We wanted for him to able to spend as much time with her as possible, as they've always been close. She just passed a couple weeks ago while they were all on a family vacation. She was a wonderful lady, keen wit, sharp humor, thick German accent. Never anything wrong with her if you were to ask her. We miss her dearly.
So D is back, and while he was gone we moved Laney into his bedroom. So now he's sleeping in our sunroom. Sucks for him in the morning as he loves to sleep in and the room is all windows!
Which brings me to the other thing occupying all my spare time, finishing his new bedroom in the basement. We're coverting a nasty sixties era rec room type basement into a master suite complete with the house's largest bedroom, largest bath, a new laundry room, and a media/family rec room. He has to share the bathroom and rec room with us, and he better share the laundry...
We want to get him into his new room as soon as possible, as he starts highschool in two weeks and I'd rather have him have his own space at this point in his life. While he was in Minnesota I got the Laundry, stairway, and basement hall completed. I had to get the laundry moved to finish the new drain tile and sump pump installed on the side of the basement that his bedroom and bathroom are. Just got that (almost) done during the last break, between our travels. So far I've got his walls and walk in closet half framed in. I'll finish that later this week, after the three tests I have over the next 3 days, so that I can move on to wiring and drywall this weekend. With drywall, trim, and flooring I'm looking at at least a few more weeks, so he'll have already started school but that's the best I can do...
I'm starting to regret being handy...
We can't forget all the other things that invariably keep a dad and husband busy (and blessed). Cram all that in with Palmer and you have one interesting schedule.
So, sorry it's been so long since the last post. It seems I'm constantly running to keep up with yesterday, but such is life. I wouldn't trade a single aspect of it in, honestly, and there's so much more I wish I had time to do. I haven't painted in ages. I can't remember the last time I've been to the gym (though I did go jogging on the mississippi walk a few weeks ago, quads still hurt) I want to take advantage of Palmer's free Rosetta Stone again to improve my Spanish and maybe pick up French. I would love to get more involved at church. I wish I had time to actually read my textbooks, rather than skim and look up specific things. I want to take more special technique electives while I'm here at Palmer. I want to pass boards (got round one out of the way)
Mainly I want to know when I leave here that I'm a capable doctor that's ready to continue learning and growing, is an awesome listener able to get to the heart of a patient's problem, is well equipped to open a practice right away and to not only survive, but thrive. I want to prepare, learn, develop myself without ever compromising the other roles and relationships in my life. It's a tightrope and juggling act at the same time. But plenty before me have done it, so I know I can too.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A busy break, a new trimester
Well finals went great for me. I did well in all my classes last tri, and am eager to get into the next round.
Break was busy! We hit the road to go to Minneapolis to pick up our son from his aunt's house there, along with his cousin. We we're taking them with us to my mom's summer residence on Washington Island, Door County, Wisconsin http://www.washingtonisland.com/ http://www.doorcounty.com/ . It's been our family vacation for the last three years in a row now. We had a great time. The boys had run of the island on their bikes, and we enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out with my mom and step-dad. It was just what we needed to recharge our batteries before starting a new term.
Classes are going to be great this tri. I'm in cervical adjusting class, NMS 1, which focuses on diagnosis of disease and disorders of the head, neck, and upper extremity. Also in Physiotherapy 1, OB/Pediatrics, Sports Injuries and Marketing which are both Bachelor of Science courses, and Chiropractic Phylosophy IV. A very full schedule for being a reduced load! Oh well I like being busy...
First weekend back in school and a friend I met at Palmer and I went to a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert at the United Center in downtown Chi-town (Chicago, IL) where the Bulls play. It was an awesome concert. I've been a big fan of his since I was a kid. The firswt time I saw him in concert I was 19 years old, 1994. He rocks. We had fun checking out Chicago. Great food at a little Italian bistro called Bice, and great live blues at B.L.U.E.S http://www.chicagobluesbar.com/ , a bar thats been rocking live shows every night since sometime in the seventies. Very authentic, gritty, true blues bar. It was atruly cool place but we didn't last very long there though before we had to crash. Not 21 anymore... Just as well to get a decent night's sleep and get home at a decent time today to spend what's left of my weekend with my family.
Speaking of which I need to log off and go help Kristi give Lani her bath. That tends to be a joint effort these days...
Break was busy! We hit the road to go to Minneapolis to pick up our son from his aunt's house there, along with his cousin. We we're taking them with us to my mom's summer residence on Washington Island, Door County, Wisconsin http://www.washingtonisland.com/ http://www.doorcounty.com/ . It's been our family vacation for the last three years in a row now. We had a great time. The boys had run of the island on their bikes, and we enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out with my mom and step-dad. It was just what we needed to recharge our batteries before starting a new term.
Classes are going to be great this tri. I'm in cervical adjusting class, NMS 1, which focuses on diagnosis of disease and disorders of the head, neck, and upper extremity. Also in Physiotherapy 1, OB/Pediatrics, Sports Injuries and Marketing which are both Bachelor of Science courses, and Chiropractic Phylosophy IV. A very full schedule for being a reduced load! Oh well I like being busy...
First weekend back in school and a friend I met at Palmer and I went to a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert at the United Center in downtown Chi-town (Chicago, IL) where the Bulls play. It was an awesome concert. I've been a big fan of his since I was a kid. The firswt time I saw him in concert I was 19 years old, 1994. He rocks. We had fun checking out Chicago. Great food at a little Italian bistro called Bice, and great live blues at B.L.U.E.S http://www.chicagobluesbar.com/ , a bar thats been rocking live shows every night since sometime in the seventies. Very authentic, gritty, true blues bar. It was atruly cool place but we didn't last very long there though before we had to crash. Not 21 anymore... Just as well to get a decent night's sleep and get home at a decent time today to spend what's left of my weekend with my family.
Speaking of which I need to log off and go help Kristi give Lani her bath. That tends to be a joint effort these days...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
On why I chose chiropactic, Palmer, and a reduced class load!
Hi everyone, Jon here. It's my first blog entry. We'll see how this goes, as I started using email just a few years ago and am far from figuring out my Facebook page! Technology is moving faster than I can keep up with... darn that's something my Gramma would say...
Well a quick introduction is in order I guess. I'm a fifthish tri student. I say fifthish as I'm on an individualized schedule, and am finished with fourth tri and taking some, not all, of the fifth tri courses. My original class is finishing ninth tri; they're almost done! I took two trimesters off after the birth of my daughter, as did my wife, who is also a student (and fellow Palmer blogger Kristi.) We're a bit older than the typical Palmer student (if there is such a thing!) mid thirties, second career. I was in sales for the last decade or so, after majoring in art in undergrad straight out of highscool. I love to paint in watercolors, used to paint in oils, do large murals, bronze sculpture, drawing, printmaking...OK pretty much all art mediums at one point or another. I've owned and operated two art studio/galleries, the more recent one in Davenport's awesome Bucktown Center for the Arts right downtown on the river, a short walk from Palmer. I love art, but honestly I go crazy spending hours in a studio by myself; I need human interaction! Probably why I gravitated to sales when art wasn't paying the bills. The fast pace, unique challenges, and constant new faces appealed to me (as did the paycheck ;-)) but after several years of success, honestly I was getting bored, and feeling unfulfilled. I knew I wanted to help people, and in a more meaningful way than what I was doing.
I struggled for a while figuring out what it was I wanted to do with my life. I had a great job, a home on the beach in beautiful Saint Augustine, Florida (closest place to paradise in the states!) but I was not happy. As i said before, I wanted something more meaningful for my life. I looked into a few different career choices, but nothing felt like the perfect fit. I considered being a medical doctor, but it wasn't a good match as I've had a lifelong aversion to medicine. I've never trusted pills! Oh and I hate blood, other people's, that is. I'm fine with my own but the sight of someone bleeding has always made me queezy. I thought about being a psychiatrist 'til I seriously reviewed my own psyche...yikes! After thinking about how physical therapy got me through a long recovery from a nasty head-on collision years ago, I seriously contemplated that route. I shadowed therapists and quickly found an industry dictated to by big hospitals and big insurance, with practically no opportunity to run my own business. I'm very independent, and didn't like the idea of working for someone else the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to run my own show, so to speak, and to not be limited in what I could do to help someone.
I was getting very frustrated in my career search. Then the most fortuitous thing happened... I herniated a disc in my back again. I know, hardly fortuitous! It had happened a few years before, and I was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where they pumped me full of morphine and tried to talk me into a spinal fusion surgery. I laid in that hospital bed for five days thinking the whole time "there's got to be a better way!" I didn't get the surgery, I just let my body heal itself. I had never been to a chiropractor, and knew nothing about it. All I knew is my dad called them "quacks" and "witchdoctors". My brother's father-in-law is a chiro, and my brother and his wife had recently enrolled in Palmer when I hurt myself that first time. When it happened, I called my brother and asked him what I should do, and he said "Call an ambulance!" In his defense, I was paralyzed in pain, in a contorted position on my kitchen floor, and halfway across the country. Chiropractic care never came up the first time, but then at that point I wasn't looking for a change in career, so maybe it was for a reason.
Anyway, the second time it happened I was in my hometown of Peoria, Illinois, where my brother's father-in-law has a practice. I was staying at my dad's house, and he found me stuck in the same awkward position faceplanted on the floor. He took me straight to Doc's office. I couldn't believe it, as he always called them quacks. Turns out my dad had been going to Doc for the same problem, seems I inherited my dad's back problems. I guess my brother had talked him into seeing Doc and he had worked wonders for him. My dad assured me that Doc would "fix me right up". He had to practically carry me in, I was in so much pain. I had my first chiropractic adjustment, and I'm not exagerating when I say I cried in amazement and relief, and stood right up from his table with no pain. I was shocked. It was an awesome, life-changing experience. I've always thought highly of Doc as a person. He's a great guy, fun to talk to and hang out with. My brother lucked out with the in-laws! But here I saw him in a completely new light. I saw him at work. He quickly calmed me down as soon as I was in his office. He assured me he could help. He was completely confident, and knew exactly what to do. With nothing but his hands he healed me instantly. I told him so and his reply was simply "You healed yourself, kid, I just helped." I didn't know what on earth he was talking about at the time, but now I get it. Anyway, I instantly knew what I wanted to do with my life. I was scared to leap in, though. I was reluctant to follow in my little brother's footsteps. I was uncertain what a career in chiropractic really meant. It took me about six months to come to a firm decision after that adjustment. I went to see Doc for an adjustment once a week during that time, each time becoming more confident it was what I wanted to do.
I researched several schools, even though Doc's a Palmer grad and my brother was going there, I had to be sure it was the best school for me. It came down to Palmer Davenport and Palmer Florida, after ruling out several other chiropractic colleges. The Florida campus is only about forty miles down the coast from my home there, so location was a strong motivator for that campus. Family is close in both places, so that didn't help me with a decision. I liked everything about the Florida campus, actually. It's a great school.
Ultimately though, I was drawn to the history of the Fountainhead. It all started here. There's something comforting in that. Like somehow being in these halls, I'm getting the whole picture, an unsullied perspective. All the chiropractic schools have their own strengths, their own gifts to offer. They all produce members of the world's truest healing art, and therefore all have a profound impact on humanity. But to me there's just something about being here where it all started... speaks to the history buff in me I guess.
Well anyway I've got another great reason for being happy with my decision. I met my wife here. She was my admissions rep! My brother introduced me to her, as she helped him and his wife into Palmer. He told me she was great, that i would like her...he had no idea! (Or maybe he did...) She told me she was starting the program in July of '07. She asked me when I would like to start and I told her as soon as possible! It was December of '06. I needed I'm not kidding ALL of my science prereq's. She helped me get my prereq's squared away at the community college here, Scott. In six months' time I took gen. bio., human bio, physics I and II, chemistry, organic chemistry, I'm forgeting now what else and oh yah CLEPed three classes. It ended up being around 35 credits in six months. Decent preparation for the pace of first tri! Except that Kristi and I decided to get married two days before starting Palmer, and found out two weeks later that she was pregnant!!!! Lot of changes in a few weeks! New home (well, an old home I'm renovating...future blog), new wife, new step-son, new endeavor, new baby on the way, NEW LIFE! Oh and I LOVE being a daddy and my daughter is the most beautiful, sweet, sassy, and gifted two year old the world has ever seen but that's a future post....
Though juggling it all has been a constant struggle, and at one point I left Palmer frustrated for a while to try to earn money to support the family, I can honestly say I wouldn't change any of it. It's been one heck of a journey, and I'm only halfway through! Then it's on into the great unknown of life in practice, which I keenly anticipate! I'm learning that so much of the education I receive is what I choose to receive. What I mean by that is what lies beyond the scheduled classes. The choice to really learn. When you make a conscious decision to make the most out of an educational experience, it opens so many doors to new opportunities. I'm telling you, you can get the world's best education and preparation here if you choose to. Make the most of your time here, and with all your endeavors. It's your life now as much as it will be when you're graduated and working. The happiest students here, and I'm sure anywhere, are the ones who have figured that out. It's just dawning on me, guess I'm a slow learner...Anyway if you choose a life of chiropractic you choose a life of learning. It doesn't end with a diploma and a license, it begins!
OK I think I've waxxed phylosophy long enough for one evening! Did I say "quick introduction" at the beginning of this?! Jeez!! I thought I was going to talk about finals this week! Oh well, next post I guess...
Well a quick introduction is in order I guess. I'm a fifthish tri student. I say fifthish as I'm on an individualized schedule, and am finished with fourth tri and taking some, not all, of the fifth tri courses. My original class is finishing ninth tri; they're almost done! I took two trimesters off after the birth of my daughter, as did my wife, who is also a student (and fellow Palmer blogger Kristi.) We're a bit older than the typical Palmer student (if there is such a thing!) mid thirties, second career. I was in sales for the last decade or so, after majoring in art in undergrad straight out of highscool. I love to paint in watercolors, used to paint in oils, do large murals, bronze sculpture, drawing, printmaking...OK pretty much all art mediums at one point or another. I've owned and operated two art studio/galleries, the more recent one in Davenport's awesome Bucktown Center for the Arts right downtown on the river, a short walk from Palmer. I love art, but honestly I go crazy spending hours in a studio by myself; I need human interaction! Probably why I gravitated to sales when art wasn't paying the bills. The fast pace, unique challenges, and constant new faces appealed to me (as did the paycheck ;-)) but after several years of success, honestly I was getting bored, and feeling unfulfilled. I knew I wanted to help people, and in a more meaningful way than what I was doing.
I struggled for a while figuring out what it was I wanted to do with my life. I had a great job, a home on the beach in beautiful Saint Augustine, Florida (closest place to paradise in the states!) but I was not happy. As i said before, I wanted something more meaningful for my life. I looked into a few different career choices, but nothing felt like the perfect fit. I considered being a medical doctor, but it wasn't a good match as I've had a lifelong aversion to medicine. I've never trusted pills! Oh and I hate blood, other people's, that is. I'm fine with my own but the sight of someone bleeding has always made me queezy. I thought about being a psychiatrist 'til I seriously reviewed my own psyche...yikes! After thinking about how physical therapy got me through a long recovery from a nasty head-on collision years ago, I seriously contemplated that route. I shadowed therapists and quickly found an industry dictated to by big hospitals and big insurance, with practically no opportunity to run my own business. I'm very independent, and didn't like the idea of working for someone else the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to run my own show, so to speak, and to not be limited in what I could do to help someone.
I was getting very frustrated in my career search. Then the most fortuitous thing happened... I herniated a disc in my back again. I know, hardly fortuitous! It had happened a few years before, and I was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where they pumped me full of morphine and tried to talk me into a spinal fusion surgery. I laid in that hospital bed for five days thinking the whole time "there's got to be a better way!" I didn't get the surgery, I just let my body heal itself. I had never been to a chiropractor, and knew nothing about it. All I knew is my dad called them "quacks" and "witchdoctors". My brother's father-in-law is a chiro, and my brother and his wife had recently enrolled in Palmer when I hurt myself that first time. When it happened, I called my brother and asked him what I should do, and he said "Call an ambulance!" In his defense, I was paralyzed in pain, in a contorted position on my kitchen floor, and halfway across the country. Chiropractic care never came up the first time, but then at that point I wasn't looking for a change in career, so maybe it was for a reason.
Anyway, the second time it happened I was in my hometown of Peoria, Illinois, where my brother's father-in-law has a practice. I was staying at my dad's house, and he found me stuck in the same awkward position faceplanted on the floor. He took me straight to Doc's office. I couldn't believe it, as he always called them quacks. Turns out my dad had been going to Doc for the same problem, seems I inherited my dad's back problems. I guess my brother had talked him into seeing Doc and he had worked wonders for him. My dad assured me that Doc would "fix me right up". He had to practically carry me in, I was in so much pain. I had my first chiropractic adjustment, and I'm not exagerating when I say I cried in amazement and relief, and stood right up from his table with no pain. I was shocked. It was an awesome, life-changing experience. I've always thought highly of Doc as a person. He's a great guy, fun to talk to and hang out with. My brother lucked out with the in-laws! But here I saw him in a completely new light. I saw him at work. He quickly calmed me down as soon as I was in his office. He assured me he could help. He was completely confident, and knew exactly what to do. With nothing but his hands he healed me instantly. I told him so and his reply was simply "You healed yourself, kid, I just helped." I didn't know what on earth he was talking about at the time, but now I get it. Anyway, I instantly knew what I wanted to do with my life. I was scared to leap in, though. I was reluctant to follow in my little brother's footsteps. I was uncertain what a career in chiropractic really meant. It took me about six months to come to a firm decision after that adjustment. I went to see Doc for an adjustment once a week during that time, each time becoming more confident it was what I wanted to do.
I researched several schools, even though Doc's a Palmer grad and my brother was going there, I had to be sure it was the best school for me. It came down to Palmer Davenport and Palmer Florida, after ruling out several other chiropractic colleges. The Florida campus is only about forty miles down the coast from my home there, so location was a strong motivator for that campus. Family is close in both places, so that didn't help me with a decision. I liked everything about the Florida campus, actually. It's a great school.
Ultimately though, I was drawn to the history of the Fountainhead. It all started here. There's something comforting in that. Like somehow being in these halls, I'm getting the whole picture, an unsullied perspective. All the chiropractic schools have their own strengths, their own gifts to offer. They all produce members of the world's truest healing art, and therefore all have a profound impact on humanity. But to me there's just something about being here where it all started... speaks to the history buff in me I guess.
Well anyway I've got another great reason for being happy with my decision. I met my wife here. She was my admissions rep! My brother introduced me to her, as she helped him and his wife into Palmer. He told me she was great, that i would like her...he had no idea! (Or maybe he did...) She told me she was starting the program in July of '07. She asked me when I would like to start and I told her as soon as possible! It was December of '06. I needed I'm not kidding ALL of my science prereq's. She helped me get my prereq's squared away at the community college here, Scott. In six months' time I took gen. bio., human bio, physics I and II, chemistry, organic chemistry, I'm forgeting now what else and oh yah CLEPed three classes. It ended up being around 35 credits in six months. Decent preparation for the pace of first tri! Except that Kristi and I decided to get married two days before starting Palmer, and found out two weeks later that she was pregnant!!!! Lot of changes in a few weeks! New home (well, an old home I'm renovating...future blog), new wife, new step-son, new endeavor, new baby on the way, NEW LIFE! Oh and I LOVE being a daddy and my daughter is the most beautiful, sweet, sassy, and gifted two year old the world has ever seen but that's a future post....
Though juggling it all has been a constant struggle, and at one point I left Palmer frustrated for a while to try to earn money to support the family, I can honestly say I wouldn't change any of it. It's been one heck of a journey, and I'm only halfway through! Then it's on into the great unknown of life in practice, which I keenly anticipate! I'm learning that so much of the education I receive is what I choose to receive. What I mean by that is what lies beyond the scheduled classes. The choice to really learn. When you make a conscious decision to make the most out of an educational experience, it opens so many doors to new opportunities. I'm telling you, you can get the world's best education and preparation here if you choose to. Make the most of your time here, and with all your endeavors. It's your life now as much as it will be when you're graduated and working. The happiest students here, and I'm sure anywhere, are the ones who have figured that out. It's just dawning on me, guess I'm a slow learner...Anyway if you choose a life of chiropractic you choose a life of learning. It doesn't end with a diploma and a license, it begins!
OK I think I've waxxed phylosophy long enough for one evening! Did I say "quick introduction" at the beginning of this?! Jeez!! I thought I was going to talk about finals this week! Oh well, next post I guess...
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