Mary Studies...

Sneaked this photo of Mary studying for a test the other night. She is taking a nurse aide course at the local JC. Her clinical rotation will be at a local nursing home/rehab facility where some of my patients go on discharge from the hospital. Should I help out here? Maybe give Mary some tips or tell the patients to watch out for her? Hard to decide whose side to be on, might have to go with the patients on this one.

Anyway seeing her study brought back some memories from my days at school. I just renewed my licence, already been two years since I graduated. As I reminisced back and and she studied I thought about some of those blogs I wrote about night screaming. There were folks who got a real kick out of that. They thought I was being funny. I don't think they knew it was real. I was scared. After my job layoff I was close to being nothing.

I haven't had to write about night screaming in a long time.

October was PT Month...

Picture of our Physical Therapy Staff from the Lufkin Daily News this week. October was Physical Therapy Month.

Check the links at the side bar for info on our in patient services as well as a new link I added to our out patient clinic.

Don't forget our other staff, we have occupational therapists and speech therapist too. They each have their own month.

Hurricane...

Hopefully the hurricanes headed for the Gulf coast will do no harm. Already seeing some folks around here getting ready. Here is an old picture, from Hurricane Rita in 2005. I am sure you have seen it on the blog before. It's my pick up and trailer loaded with supplies from a National Guard distribution point to transfer to the 1000 or so folks that were housed about a week at St Patrick's Church. It was about enough for one meal, then it was back to scrounging again.

I am doing nothing special around here. I noticed the chain was off my chain saw, might put that back on, make sure it will crank. I'll look in the wreckage of Mary's bedroom for my good flashlight, she is usually using it to find stuff under the bed.

Other than that I won't need much because I'll go where ever the action is, the hospital or the church. There will be stuff there, or I will work on getting it there.

Here is a link to the month of September 2005. Strangely the same what with hurricanes coming and the Panthers kicking off the high school football season in Tyler to night. Only thing different is I am not attending school in Kilgore.

http://theolderyouwillget.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html

The Graduate...

No I did not bawl. I was quiet and reflective as my wife drove me to and from Kilgore yesterday. I gazed upon the five DPS units we saw. I noted the road kill carcasses for the last time. I wondered who was going to buy the big pontoon boat in Henderson they have not been able to sell in over a year. I reflected on my classmates as we scattered all different ways. God's blessing to them all.

One thing over, another begun.

The Pinning Ceremony...

The Kilgore Class of 2007 PTA grads had their pinning last night. Very nice occasion. The sign out front said it all.

Here is the class picture, that's instructors Carla Gleaton and Dr. Bice flanking us and I think we had one classmate absent.

Here is the pin.

It has been a little over three years since I lost my job of 25 years and went back to school with this goal in mind. I can't believe those three years are over, but at the same time those 25 years seem as if they are some kind of pre history, an evolving, a crawling from the muck to live in a different place kind of experience.

I can't begin to thank all the folks that have helped me along the way. There have been so many, teachers at Kilgore and Angelina College, co workers that guided me and gave me a chance to learn new things, folks that I know prayed for me and most of all my wife, Cathy. She has put aside many things she wanted to do while I studied and drove these years. Looks like there will be some pay back involved, but the payments I must make are not going to be a strain on the account at all.

Durn, I am all sensitive this morning. I think I am turning emo, talking all about feelings and relationships and stuff like that. I still got to walk across the stage tonight. I'll be bawling like a baby by then.

Only 3 more times...

Do I drive to Kilgore. It's almost over. I might even just drive two times. I could make Cathy drive me up there to walk across the stage.

Anyway the drive got to really be a drag yesterday. I was so bored I stopped and talked to a man in a black and white car. Well, he did most of the talking. No, it's none of your business what he said.

I also got my cap and gown yesterday. I'll have to take it back, they left the pants out of the package. Should be an easy fix. I'll talk to them today.

Let me see how many test can I take this month? I need to renew CPR, take defensive driving, oh yeah, the National Board Exam for Physical Therapists Assistants! I almost forgot about that one!

Making our Contributions...

I'm making my contribution to depletion of fossil fuels and global warming again this week. That's the long drive to Kilgore. Just a few more days till graduation. The nightmare of the last three years has the end in sight.

Another contribution was made yesterday. It was by Mary and it is a saying that needs to enter the lexicon of popular slang. I asked Mary about a friend of the family. I said, "What does that guy do for a living?" Mary replied, "He's in the R.E.D. Neck business." I guess you had to be there but it was hilarious. She says it is original.

All I can say is go my child, my work with you is finished. Make the world your own.

Another Transition...

I said transition, not transmission although it feels like I am transmitting sometimes.

Last day of clinical. I won't have to wear this pin anymore. As Waylon Jennings said, "Got my name painted on my shirt I aint no ordinary dude, I don't have to work." He was referring to the gaudy country western suits of the old days. The SPTA stands for student physical therapist assistant, most of the time it is pronounced SPITA.

I will miss my patients. Should be an easy day, some kind of employee appreciation day with free food going on, maybe a humble student will be able to slip in.

Next week it's back to Kilgore for a week to finish this thing out. I wrote that I made a mad dash on my lunch hour to Kilgore to turn in my case study during my lunch hour last week. Something about Kilgore makes my stomach rumble. The next part of this is pretty graphic, so continue to read and you can consider yourself warned. As I drove toward Kilgore I began passing very loud and frequent gas. I made it with no accidents, auto or otherwise, hoped out of the car, delivered the paper, it only took a second and back to the car. I opened the door and it was quite rank inside. I hope not too much of that clung to my clothes when I passed through the office.

On the drive back my stomach was quiet as I got further and further away. After next week I will take a roundabout way to avoid Kilgore if I ever go that way again.

One more thing. My pinning ceremony is next Thursday May 10th. The graduation is May 11th. I'll walk.

Here is the invite to the pinning, invites extended through the press, but if all 4000 odd visitors to this web site show up I need a little advance notice. I said I would have four guests. I have come to know that my instructors do not like surprises.

I suddenly have to go to Kilgore Today...

I was real productive yesterday. Home after clinical, mowed the yard, studied a bit for the board exam and about 9pm I was about to haul out an electric guitar for some good loud fun right before bedtime.

A flurry of telephone calls erupt. On the house phone, on the cell phone, the email dings. It's my classmates. Seems almost everyone overlooked the fact that the case study papers are due today. So the lines are buzzing. I have my paper written, so no problem there. I call my teacher and her lines are buzzzing. She has another student on. I ask permission to email. She says no. So I got to drive. And go to clinical.

I guess I had assumed the paper was due in class next week when I return for a week of activities there before graduation. My fault for that assumption. Could not be a worse day to take time from the clinic. There will be a couple of new patients today and one PT is off for a funeral. So we will be busy. Maybe I can make it up there and back during lunch. The drive is an hour and we are usually slack from about 11:15 to 1:15. It's an hour drive from Doches. So I should just make it.

I did have to break my Wal-Mart boycott last night when I ran up there at 10:00pm to get a folder to put my paper in. First time I have been there in about 4 years. Then it took me a little less that an hour for one final proof read and to put it all together. Took me longer to go to sleep because I got all keyed up it the sudden dash to action. That old reticular activating system (RAS) and maybe a little sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) kicked it may have take me longer to go to sleep that to finish the paper.

It's heck I tell you to have all these signals and chemicals rocking around inside and know what they are. I sometimes wish I was just crazy.