Trying to find balance...

So, the thing I'm struggling the most with is finding balance between my professional and personal life. It's like, I know that I need (and want!) to separate work from home, but it's so hard. I'm slow with things and not really efficient yet, so sometimes* I have to stay late to finish my paperwork. (*Sometimes is usually ~3 times a week.) And then, I have questions when I have someone with a condition I've never treated before (insert the eval I just did on a lady who I believe has un-diagnosed trochanteric bursitis) which requires me to spend a little bit of time researching on the internet. Then, I am taking over the cardiac program and feel obligated to give my patients the best care I can, which includes looking up education materials. Add all that together and most days I am doing a lot of work related things outside of work.

And, on top of my fatigue issues, all this is making it very hard to make it to the gym on a regular basis. For example, tonight I just came home and by the time I cooked dinner, I was completely wiped out. So, I realize I need more separation than work being work and personal life being sleep... But, I just don't know what to do to make it different. It's very frustrating. I had found an article to read on the APTA about this very topic, but it had nothing good to say... Basically, just that you need to balance things. Well, I know that... I just don't know how when I am at work late, need to look up something about a patient for the next day, and have unrelenting fatigue. (I finally just did some hormone testing, so we will see what the results show and then what my options are for that...)

I've just gotten into bad habits (mainly not going to the gym regularly) since moving away from home and starting school. It's been a hard transition and there's been a lot going on in my personal life. Besides all the stress of school, my mom was very, very ill through 2/3 of it and there's always something going on with our house whether it be renovations, laundry, etc. I just don't have the energy to deal with it all and so I'm ending up suffering. Which, in turn, is making me feel slightly miserable and sort of like crying a lot.

I just keep telling myself that things are going to improve over time. And that it's not always going to feel like this... Or at least, I hope it doesn't or I may drive myself insane. In fact, as I'm writing this, I am incessently yawning and heavily debating on going to bed. I'm just so tired. But, it will get better! It has to!

Yes, you do need to do research after graduating ;)

(But, it's so much more fun!)

So, I got some exciting news that I am going to be taking the lead in revamping our cardiac rehabilitation program at my job. This is great for a few reasons:

1. I *LOVE* cardiac patients, cardiac pathologies, cardiac responses to exercise; I love the heart!

2. Up until this point the cardiac patients have been performing a modified version of the pulmonary program, which isn't "wrong" per say, but it is also not the best we can be doing for these patients

3. I am excited to use my creativity and new knowledge to change the face of this program and then hopefully help market my company and make us a larger player in this field in the area

So, this weekend I found a couple of articles from the American Heart Association on their core components and guidelines, as well as some performance measures for cardiac rehab. I'm hoping to read through those articles later today and then also look back on my school notes and in my textbooks to remind myself of all the important things that should be considered when dealing with a cardiac patient.

I'm so excited to be able to have this opportunity, with a patient population I'm very passionate about... I know I just posted last time about the stress test that I completed, and the reason for that is that I have a congenital heart issue. Thankfully, it doesn't limit my ability to do anything, but it has made me very interested and passionate for the cardiac world. And, I feel I'm in a unique situation where I can maybe relate (a little!) to my patients.

I'm also drooling over the AACPR's textbook on Cardiac Rehab, but it's also $60. I'm going to email my cardiopulmonary professor and my boss to see if we have a copy of this anywhere that I could borrow, before I consider buying it... I don't want to overwhelm myself with information, but I think it could be helpful.

I am also planning on becoming a member of the AACPR because I feel like there is a ton of information on there that would be beneficial. My cardiopulmonary professor and the respiratory therapist are both members (in our area) and it seems like it has been useful for them, so I'm debating on when to join.

So, things are feeling very exciting and also a nerve-wracking, but as I investigate, I'll be sure to post some good cardiac rehab information! :)

My first stress test...

Today I had a stress test done, mostly for my own piece of mind. I'm easy to admit that I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and I've had a little bit of a bumpy time throughout school with some new heart symptoms. Luckily, through trial and error of my own accord (and help from my PCP since my cardiologist would never call back [very annoying and could rant about that separately!]) I eliminated most of my symptoms, but still am left with some anxiety about exercising to my full potential.

So, after my check up at the cardiologist last week (which went well! He tells me my heart looks exactly the same as it did two years ago!) he suggested if I really wanted to have piece of mind they could run an exercise test and that way if I do have symptoms it would be caught on multiple monitors and if there is a problem that only presents with exercise they would catch it.

Well, let me tell you, I am the biggest wuss on the planet. I couldn't make it the whole way through the stress test, but I did hit my almost max HR (with no symptoms, yay!) and I think everything looked great! I had no symptoms and that's the first time I've taken my heart rate past ~164 in two years.

So, I now have a HUGE appreciation for my future cardiac patients who have to go through this stress test. It's not really that fun, and I've had a huge headache since doing the test this morning. (I'm assuming it's from being dehydrated since I did it first thing in the AM and didn't really drink anything before hand... And I also skipped my morning coffee.)

Anyway, this post was sort of pointless... If I was feeling really motivated I could've written all about what the protocol is, but I don't really feel like it right now. And, I'm about to head out for an easy dinner with the boyfriend and a friend!

But, out of all the tests I've taken in the past 2.5 years, I'd say the stress test was the easiest one ;) Sure beats taking a PT exam!

First Day as a "real" PT! :)

Well, as I work on filling in some missing pieces (mainly my 4th clinical experience, graduation, getting a job and studying for the boards), today was a monumental day in my journey from teacher to clinician... Today was my first day as a real-life PT!

Since I did a clinical experience prior to my employment, today felt like I'd never left. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it definitely helped ease my anxiety. In fact, there were a few familiar faces today and I guess I can expect a couple more later this week. The clinic is sort of slow right now (compared to when I was there before) which I also take as a blessing that I won't be quite as overwhelmed as I work into getting into a routine.

I was working with some patients today and found myself continually going to my prior-CI to ask for permission. I sort of realized halfway through the day that technically, I can now make decisions based on my own opinions. ;) It's still nice to ask permission for someone else's patient though.

So, it was a long day... 10 hours.... Wow. My feet are absolutely killing me, so I'm looking forward to getting used to the feeling of being up and moving all day so that my poor feet don't feel like they walked through a war zone.

I'm also exhausted. It has been about 10 weeks (I would guess) since I last even touched a patient, much less was active all day. I could honestly go to bed now and am literally considering it once I finish this blog post.

I honestly can't believe I just went to work today. I literally went to work and got paid! It's crazy. I remember when I started this journey back in 2009, it seemed like 2014 would be a million years away and now it's here! The interesting thing is, now that I'm done with school I want to try to pick up some hobbies, but I have NO IDEA what I want to do with all my newly earned free time... Definitely getting back to the gym is on the top of my list, and I keep trying to convince my boyfriend we should get a fish tank. Thank goodness the Olympics are on and I can entertain myself with that for the time being! Go USA!

Studying for the NPTE: My Plan

So, I've decided upon a plan to study for the NPTE and figured I would share it here... I am not sure if this plan will work, but it's what I'm going to try to do.

I have 6 weeks until test day and plan to allot my time as follows:

Day 1 - 12: Neuro (my weakest topic) (two days will taken off for baking holiday cookies and Christmas Day!)
Day 13: Practice Exam 1
Day 14 - 20: Cardiopulmonary
Day 21: Practice Exam 2
Day 22 - 28: Start Musculoskeletal
Day 29: Practice Exam 3
Day 30 - 36: Finish Musculoskeletal
Day 37: Practice Exam 4
Day 38 - 41: Review weaknesses and other small topics
Day 42: Exam Day

I'm hoping by starting with my weakest subject that I will spend the most time with it and then ending with musculoskeletal will help have the most things in my memory right before test day.

We shall see what happens!

Time to study for the NPTE

Well, now that graduation day is over, it's time to seriously start planning how I'm going to study for the NPTE. I have the TherapyEd course books and plan on using them as my main means to study. I have a classmate that I am planning on studying with from now until test date; hoping we can keep each other motivated.

My rough draft plan is to start with my weakest subject, which is neuro, then move into cardiopulmonary and finish up with musculoskeletal. Although musculoskeletal is the largest section I hope that studying it closer to the test date will help me remember more.

I feel like I didn't really get to celebrate graduation all that much because this test is looming over me. But, I'm also ready to buckle down and get this very last thing done and over with!

The Day I Got My Doctorate

(below is the speech I proudly gave to my fellow classmates, professors, family and friends on graduation day)

Wow, graduation day. I know for myself and the rest of my classmates, we’ve all had moments when we thought this day would never come. It’s been a long journey. While I was thinking about my experience through PT school, I thought about how each of us has encountered countless highs and lows. Obviously, today is the highest high we’ve had yet, probably being surpassed only by the day when we proudly hold onto our licenses. And we aren’t the only ones who have experienced the ups and downs leading to graduation- I know that our families and friends have been beside us through the good and bad. And, they are all sitting here today, ready to celebrate.
When I was trying to find the right thing to say, I came across these words by Nelson Mandela that perfectly describes the journey of PT School. He said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Mendela’s statement resonates so well, because everyone in this room knows that PT school is not all roses and rainbows. In fact, it’s more like practicals and playing Jeopardy with Dr. Schreiber. The low points happened to everyone, but occurred at different times - things like waiting until the last minute to do our PBL, working endlessly on the matrix,  our blunders on exams, our mistakes during practical- These were all moments for each of us that made PT school seem impossible.
But, for every low, there was inevitably a high. And, so I’d like to remind us of the good times-- things like: remembering the day we got accepted into PT school, the lifelong friends we’ve all made, the first time we aced an exam, our first clinical and our last clinical—these are all moments that made the journey worth it. These moments were when we stood proud, and we said to ourselves, “We can do this.”
And so, we had different personal journeys through school and each one of us has specific events in the past two and a half years that are etched into our memories as the highs and lows. But even though we’ve all had unique experiences, we made it here together today.
So now, I stand proudly in front of my classmates, my fellow doctors of physical therapy, our wonderful professors, our loving families and friends - and I can say- we did it. It doesn’t seem that impossible after all. Congratulations to the Class of 2013!