There is always a beginning. Sometimes beginnings can be rough, like early mornings, where, sometimes you have to force yourself to roll out of bed. Some can be challenging, like transitioning to doing physical therapy all on your own with the month's end goal of running a mile.
And then there are those blissful beginnings, where your thankfulness and gratitude may start to get annoying to some people.
How about the beginning of life? Like infancy, childhood, and adolescence. It is interesting to read and learn about the developmental stages and physical changes of a growing 'little person' and realize that was me not too long ago {like, I'm not actually and adult yet, am I?}.
Well, you guessed it right, that blissful beginning I mentioned earlier is none other than summer school - and what am I learning about? life's beautiful beginnings, aka. pediatric nursing.
So pediatric nursing isn't my favorite type of nursing, I don't plan on taking it up as a career or specializing in the field; however, I am enjoying every second of lecture, every word of each 50+-page chapters and every moment I am writing up clinical paperwork. Maybe it is those five months of being practically school-less that have given me a new perspective, a new desire to tackle this new beginning head on and with even more determination that before.
In addition to the beginning of Summer II classes for me, physical therapy has also thrown a curve-ball to my side of the court. You could say I have been promoted to PTA, that is Physical Therapy Assistant; it isn't official or anything, though.
I have been attending physical therapy sessions for my ankle for two months now, really a total of 7 weeks. Things to be progressing slow, but faster than I had anticipated. One of my physicians had told me that if, during my summer session clinical hours, I felt that ankle inflammation was bothering me, to just strap on my boot and keep going. You could say I expected the worst while hoping for the best. I stopped using my boot during the day about four days into walking and stripped it away from my skin for good {I would put it on at night while I slept} by day ten. Wearing that boot now would be more of a curse than an aid; plus, it is slightly smelly.
Well, month three of PT will be spent on my own.
If you have ever been in a situation like mine or close to mine, you know that physical therapy is a task which can be put off to the point where the whole day has passed and no therapy was done. It's a word us nurses like to call compliance; it's a word most people refer to as discipline, and it is hard. I mean, I did walk into this whole physical therapy thing with a mindset that I would be constantly working on ankle range of motion and strength, with perfect discipline. But it is hard. My most dreaded PT stretch is a simple plantar flexion stretch, however it is the most vital stretch in increasing my range of motion; because of the uncomfortable-ness of many of the stretches, I tend to put them off. What complicates things more is when you go from completely foot-focused to splitting priorities among other things, such as studies. In the world of pediatrics, it's like going from only child to siblings and learning to let someone else have all of mommy and daddy's attention.
* * * *
Isn't it somewhat ironic how when you begin going over URIs {upper respiratory infections} in the respiratory dysfunction chapter in pediatrics lecture, you come down with viral pharyngitis. No sure if my palantine or adenoids are swollen, but even so, that means I have tonsillitis too . . . ?
Oh, how I missed you nursing school.
It's nap time.
.
* * * *
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
{Lamentations 3:22-24}
I have been attending physical therapy sessions for my ankle for two months now, really a total of 7 weeks. Things to be progressing slow, but faster than I had anticipated. One of my physicians had told me that if, during my summer session clinical hours, I felt that ankle inflammation was bothering me, to just strap on my boot and keep going. You could say I expected the worst while hoping for the best. I stopped using my boot during the day about four days into walking and stripped it away from my skin for good {I would put it on at night while I slept} by day ten. Wearing that boot now would be more of a curse than an aid; plus, it is slightly smelly.
Well, month three of PT will be spent on my own.
If you have ever been in a situation like mine or close to mine, you know that physical therapy is a task which can be put off to the point where the whole day has passed and no therapy was done. It's a word us nurses like to call compliance; it's a word most people refer to as discipline, and it is hard. I mean, I did walk into this whole physical therapy thing with a mindset that I would be constantly working on ankle range of motion and strength, with perfect discipline. But it is hard. My most dreaded PT stretch is a simple plantar flexion stretch, however it is the most vital stretch in increasing my range of motion; because of the uncomfortable-ness of many of the stretches, I tend to put them off. What complicates things more is when you go from completely foot-focused to splitting priorities among other things, such as studies. In the world of pediatrics, it's like going from only child to siblings and learning to let someone else have all of mommy and daddy's attention.
* * * *
Isn't it somewhat ironic how when you begin going over URIs {upper respiratory infections} in the respiratory dysfunction chapter in pediatrics lecture, you come down with viral pharyngitis. No sure if my palantine or adenoids are swollen, but even so, that means I have tonsillitis too . . . ?
Oh, how I missed you nursing school.
It's nap time.
.
* * * *
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
{Lamentations 3:22-24}