Kia Ora 2007

Last night we went downtown for the new years festival "First Night, Pacific Bright". New Years here is a very pacificy celebration, I cant think of any other way to describe it. Other than hawaiian for a reference. There were flowers everywhere, strung from the ceiling, in peoples hair. Women had booths in the building stringing flowers together for necklaces and hair halos. There were hula dancers and island music....all very tropical! It was really something else to be among another culture ringing in the new year. JoAnna and I were walking into the building to see what it was all about when we passed a long line up...we checked to see what it was for and it was free face painting...we laughed to each other about how long the line was just for face paint...until one girl turned around and it looked amazing! So of course we did an immediate 180 and got in line. We waited for 45 minutes and then someone came and told us they were going to stop now so we could leave unpainted. Oh well...things like that happen. It wouldve been nice though if they had gone down the line earlier and said look, we're not going to get to you...go have fun somewhere else. So we went upstairs and watched the women flower, and then listened to the island music and watched a fashion show with hula girls showing you how to tie a sarong. After they went through their different ties they called for volunteers from the audience to tie one on themselves. No one volunteered...so the lady started pulling people out of the audience...she grabbed on girl who 'no speak english' and me. So I stood up on the little dance floor and showed them all how I would get ready for bed. Then they made me dance. The MC said that we should go home and wish that we were pacific ancestry. I hope that wasnt a burn on my dancing moves. Because my hips dont lie either! pfft. hahaha...I dont even want to know what I looked like up there! After all that we went in and watched a lady singer, who was apparantly #1 in NZ. It was getting close to countdown so we got a spot in front of the balcany where we had learned from watching the little kids make glow flowers and learn to drum a beat that there would be a parade. It was pretty neat when all the kids came out with the crafts they had made and the drummers added a nice flair. Then a haka or haku or something singer came out with the warrior dancers to bring in the new year. Just like on whale rider...then the sky tower erupted with fireworks and it was 2007. And for you all in NS it was 2007 just an hour ago. I will go home and toast it twice. Today we got our train/bus/ferry passes and tried to find where we both worked. We had no luck with either. I didnt have the exact address for my work building and nobody in tankinin had ever heard of such a place...even the hospital...and one lady said she couldnt believe that they would send us both out into the middle of nowhere. Over all it was a pretty discouraging trip, but I tried to remain optimistic. I will find it. We ran out of time to search for JoAnnas because the busses only run back to the city at 9pm so we wouldve had to be there all day. We came back to the city and instead had supper and went to the sky tower to see if we could go up it. It cost 18$ to ride the elevator up so we declined. We are going to ride the ferry somewhere tonight just to see the city from the water at night. And tomorrow go try and find JoAnnas workplace and tour a winery. I think I pulled a ligament in my foot (one of the calcaneo ones) so now I have a very attractive limp. The first thing I will work on with my clients is fine motor and strength in the fingers as they use massaging my feet as therapeutic activity. Sounds good to me. I had been trying to get the phone to work for three days now and finally got to call home this morning from jo's room...talked to dad for awhile and everyone else was away.

You Gellin?

After three days walking around New Zealand I am so not gellin! I am not sure when my feet will get their chance to recoop, most likely that week before classes start. Mom, if you are reading this, I hope you are prepared to wait on me hand and foot!
Yesterday we were supposed to go to the Zoo but it was raining when we got up, so we figured that wouldnt be a fun way to spend the day. JoAnna had been reading about Newmarket where they had some upscale shopping centres that she wanted to go check out, and I also suggested we check out the outlet shops in Onehunga since that would be a little more in my price range :) We took a zig zaggy route down to the bus stop where we were going to ask how to get to these places. We stopped into a really neat little boutique called Untouched World, New Zealand that had a few things I really wanted but were REALLY expensive. It was pretty depressing haha...we walked around and day dreamed for awhile and then after sighing over the prices decided the outlet mall was a must! We got an all day bus pass and headed out to Onehunga...where I quickly discovered that even outlet prices are not in my price range. After stopping in Newmarket we headed back home to massage our feet and change our shoes before going in search once again, for edible affordable nourishment. We trudged around downtown scouring at the asian food restaurants, and cursing the high prices of the euroupean food...I was getting to the point where it was becoming hard to overcome the urge to lay down on the sidewalk. We finally found an Irish pub where we decided we would order some side dishes. There was a platter on the menu with fries and stuff for 50$ no joke. And a budweiser cost 7.50. However the waiter was an authentic irishman so that took a way a little of the sting. I wanted to record him talking to us. When we walked in the sign above one of the booths said in Gaelic 'A hundred thousand welcomes' and I pointed it out to Jo saying hey my home town motto. And one of the men at the booth asked if I was pointing at his hairline. I explained to him why, and he asked if I was an Irish gal...he said they like the Scottish lassies. Turns out they are all Irish and had just gotten to Auckland and were very happy to find the little pub (as were we!). After supper we got some groceries and lugged them to the bus stop...I had to stop and reattach my arms every once in awhile. This morning we went to the zoo out by Western Springs. The weather today was very feisty, and would change at any little moment from dead hot to cool back to dead hot. I as a result, have a new pink glow...or a red tinge you might call it. I LOVED the zoo. But, hey, I love nature and animals so I was in MY ELEMENT. I think Jo may have been getting a little impatient with all my videos and pictures and silly shananegans. But silly shenanegans is my thing...its to be expected. I will be the next steve erwin. The last thing we did was try to find the elusive Kiwi. We were in the little hut for quite a while trying to capture it in all its glorious essence to show to you all back home. It was a wild adventurous kiwi hunt and I think you will be pleased with our captures. I really need to upload pictures soon. Work starts on wednesday and that will be something I will check out right away. After the zoo as we sat in the bus stop I read an ad about the park behind us saying can you spot the old lava flow in the wetlands...ok...that wasnt something I could pass up. So down we went to the wetlands (Jo walking barefoot in the grass sighing in pleasure at the feeling of anything that wasnt her sandles under her feet) and we found the pond with teh lava flow which was grown over. We sat down there for awhile talking and just taking it all in. It was so beautiful! All the trees and the water, the flowers and the singing birds, the warm sun...a great great way to spend the last day of 2006! So now we are getting ready to go bring in the new year at the free park in the concert! It feels weird to be headed out for teh new year celebration while everyone at home is still sleeping on sunday morning (its 4am in NS) HAPPY NEW YEAR you slow pokes. I will let you all know how wonderful 2007 was while you guys were sittign around waiting for it to make it your way. And you guys can let me know how Dec 28th was...because I lost it somewhere over the pacific...

Auckland the asian capital of NZ

We arrived this morning in NZ, finally. It was a long journey that was not always smooth sailing (and I only have 14 minutes at this online cafe to do it all justice). It involved a lot of standing in cues and a lot of waiting around and a lot of sitting on an airplane. Thats the short version. I will detail it later. We got to our apt and had to sit in the lobby for awhile because apparently business hours are just a suggestion here (something we noticed). We finally trudged up to our room weary and groggy eyed, desperately desiring showers...I turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door...someones shoes were in the front...food on the counter...mess everywhere...I turn to Jo "Um...someone lives here...no wait...yeah someone is in the bedroom" We slowly back up and go back to the lobby. New keys, new room. Up in this room we discover it is quite gross. Jo says unacceptable and tries to call Auckland U to make new arrangements. Phone just beeps at us. Back to lobby. New keys, new room. Trudge up to new room. Walk in...one bed, 2 rooms...back to lobby. New keys, new room. One bedroom door is locked. Back to lobby. Manager opens room. New key. Doesnt work. So we left to go exploring. We went down to some souvenier shops and to a neat little market, then made our way slowly down the main street stopping into shops where our wallets got a little lighter. I chatted up a surf shop guy and got some good tips. He however did not invite Jo and I on his New Years surfing trip. Better luck next time I say. We walked around by the water, picked up about 10lbs of brochures and lost about 5lbs in body fat. We searched for I would say hours for something to eat that wasnt raw fish and finally ate at a food court thing which I am pretty sure I am going to vomit up any minute now. Ugh. I dont recommend it. I think Jo desperately wants to call her mom and complain for awhile but it is 3:30 am back home so we stopped in at an internet cafe instead. 1$ for 30mins. Not too bad. We are going to see if the library has free internet maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow should be great. We are going to go to the Auckland zoo and some other museum the bus station guy recommended. We discovered a great deal on transit passes so our adventures should soon become more widespread. And the surf shop dude has given us ideas on where to go. Mom can I buy a surf board? :) Oh and I love the accents. I have also taken many many pictures and JO obliges every one of my stops to take a pic of somethign I saw on the street...and doesnt tease me when I strike odd poses. I wish I could upload some now. Hopefully once we start work. I am a little worried to charge my video camera in these outlets :S OK so this was the quick update. I made it. I am alive. And every now and again I stop and think: WOW! I am in NZ! Still seems surreal. I am in NZ. :D Too bad about the food...haha...

SNOW!

Fun Week

It is exam week (ish) leaving me with 9 more days in the school environment. When thoughts should be on neurotransmitters and evaluation principles, they are instead on Kiwi’s and hiking packs. My dreams are all about New Zealand, including my day dreams. I just wish exams were over so I wouldn’t have to pretend to think about synapses and randomized control studies. That’s not easy to fake! In other news winter decided to come early just for Jo Anna and myself! Mother Nature knew we were taking a brief hiatus in the other hemisphere and decided it would be nice to give us a little taste of snow before we left. I hope it sticks around for Christmas. Last night was pretty crazy, and I think everyone in Halifax forgot how to drive as soon as they saw white. By evening everything had gotten pretty slick, since all morning it had just been raining before becoming slush rain and eventually snow. It is now just typical snowing out, or from what I can see out the library windows.
What I am really learning at the library:
I love to watch people
Eating rockets then drinking water is gross
Clicking keyboard keys can be both white noise and irksome
It is impossible to remove all the dog hair from your fleece pants…impossible
I have the attention span of a may fly, or an ephemeral attention span if you will…
Tips like ‘if you don’t have time for the entire handout, just read the last page’ should be placed on the first page of the handout, rather than the last…
My intrinsic hand muscles are under-developed resulting in a weak webspace, and therefore I shouldn’t have to take so many study notes…
When the school network goes down…the library clears out
People do not understand what a network is, and will go from computer to computer trying to find one that will let them log in
Have I mentioned I enjoy watching people?

Zoom Zoom

School has been pretty busy, so my free time has been spent on that instead of this. Oh and a little thing we like to call occupational balance just so I dont go completely batty. The New Zealand plans are coming along pretty well, I think we even got ourselves an apartment yesterday. JoAnna and I both sent of our letters of acceptance to work in Traumatic Brain Injury, which neither of us, to say the least, is very excited about. I did mention in my letter that I would be interested in making the most of my visit by exploring many different types of occupational therapy and put a hint in about pediatrics. My passport arrived a few days ago, so now I am just waiting on my loan history to complete my SWIF application to help me pay for this whole thing. Exciting and scary all at the same time...isnt that my life! :)
We had a career fair the other day, and I must say it made my head spin. So many unanswerable questions...where will I go, what type of job do I want? I have no idea. It just seems to be coming up so soon. Maybe I just wont come back from New Zealand. I will hide out on some sheep ranch. If I go missing hopefully you wont be able to use this as a clue in the search. Or maybe I put it there to throw you off my track...
Regardless graduation is approaching. We had grad pics the same day as the career fair...just to keep everything in perspective of course. I have a feeling I may be going for the retake option (I wonder if you will actually be able to see the fear in my eyes?) I'm really looking forward to being done of school, but at the same time so many life altering decisions are on the horizon. I'm hoping that with time it will just all sort itself out and the right option will present itself clearly before me. Optimism will be my frame of reference for this intervention!
For The Health Of It is actually starting to come together, even after we had to start from scratch 4 wks before the show! I dont know if we will blow them away, but we will at least put on a good show! It is going to be a busy next few weeks as I try to learn how to dance. Luckily I only wrote myself a few lines so I am pretty sure I can master those in time.
I have been playing broomball every Sunday, and I am starting to get the hang of it. It's actually a lot of fun, and it's nice to dig out the competitive side in me once again. Rejuvenated by team sport every weekend so that I am ready to face another Monday with 3hrs of Diane in the morning. Thanksgiving and Halloween came and went, both of which were a great time. Nanuk was living with me in between the two holidays and it was really nice to have him around. You never get lonely when someone practically wets themselves with excitement everytime you come home. It also got me out of the house a lot more, an excuse to go to the park which is harder to find now that he is gone. But, he just didnt like it when we went to the class and he was getting too lonely himself so it was for the best. And with FTHOI coming up I wasnt going to be able to give him any more time than he was getting. The Remembrance day long weekend is coming up so I will get to go home and see him again.

Catch up

Things got pretty busy the last couple weeks of placement and I didnt have time to sit down and fill everyone in on the goings on. I had a great great time in Miramichi and made some great new friends. But the best part was the confidence I gained as an OT. I really felt like I was in my element there. Neuro is definately shaping up as a possible career path. Krista let Betsy and I out a day early because Jeff offered to drive me home on his way to a wedding, so I got home early and a drive; nice deal.

I spent a lot of time re-bonding with my little sister (we even had a renegade skivvies swim at the beach!) and playing with Nanuk. Chris provided a lot of entertainment and even let me play with his toys in the wood shop. I was pretty bored so I decided to build a shelf, then my very imaginative mind sort of got away from me and I ended up designing a tanker. Ok so maybe its just a really big shelf with box compartments. I had planned on putting it in our front hallway at home but upon further investigation...yes...there is no way it is going to fit unless I get dad to re-wire the front hall light switch :) I also thought this 'little' project would be finished in an evening...hahaha! It's still sitting in the wood shop waiting for me to put all the pieces together, if that gives you any idea what kind of a project I got myself into that cutting and routering and sanding and staining took 2 days.

Talking to my friend Troy one night we both realized we were looking for places to live in Halifax, so we decided to live together. We finally found a place after a few days of classes, that's not in too bad of a location. It is farther than I have been from school yet, but I am making use of the public transit system. Nanuk is even allowed to live here, but I am still nervous about leaving him alone while I am in class. He is here right now on a weekend visit. Before moving into my place I stayed at Jo's and we planned our trip to NZ. We are leaving Dec.27th and then flying out on Feb.15th but staying in LA until the 18th. It's pretty funny, because we fly out of NZ at about 8pm on the 15th and land in LA at about 10am on the 15th. We have become time travellers! We bought our plane tickets so it is slowly starting to sink in, I would say I have never spent that much money in one place before but you all know I am on my second degree so you would know I was lying!

We're all back to school and I must say I find it pretty overwhelming! My mind is so used to hands on learning after 3 weeks I am just starting to get it re-trained to be able to listen and just sit there. Not to mention the sheer volume of assignments being thrown at us, on top of major projects with outside professionals. There is a lot to do and I still have only bought one book. I'm having some trouble parting with my money after buying that plane ticket. We had our grad class photos done last week, and talk of grad photos and grad rings circulate the class discussions. I am still in a whirlwind and hardly believe all this is coming up on me so fast!
I also got my passport photo done so my next step is getting the passport and then work on getting my SWIFT funding so I can eat in NZ :)
NZ countdown: 95 days.

The ever elusive, Orions Belt

*Sigh* What a weekend!
As I sit here I am editing content in my head...? What do I save for our first weekend back as we sit around my cardboard box in the commons drinking out of paper bags? (You guys will hang out in my cardboard box right?)

Anyhoo...Thursday came around I didnt get my paycheck so I held off on doing my NZ errands and went to the beach with Erin, Jeff and Danny. We played throw the rock at each other and TV tag. Note to readers: TV tag is hard when you grew up without tv. Plus, everytime it was my turn they were like "well we know the show had to be on cbc!"
Friday I went out and mailed the foreign bank draft to NZ so step one is under way. Whale Rider here I come! Back home Sam, my roommate, read my tarot cards about my love life. If I read into it right I will be a fortunate woman. However, my rationalism is holding me back, I guess I over think things...and I dont want love to get in the way of my own goals and finding myself. Interesting. Then I went into town to hang with the crew at Dannys. We played card games, sang along to Danny on the guitar, enjoying conversation until 5am.
Saturday we headed off to the beach, chocolate milk ice caps in hand! It was a tad windy at times so I ended up with about a cup of sand wedged in my hair. We got a campsite at the beach and layed back listening to some tunes. I played a little barefoot soccer with the fence and Tinks car until I split my toenail. Then I tossed the ol pigskin around with Danny until it hit me and I started bleeding. Then I played tipsys with Jeff until my knees bled. Wait...am I the only one sensing a trend here? Good times had by all. Tink made us steak and potatoes and carrots on his little bbq and we roasted mallows on the fire for s'mores as we stared at the stars making each other laugh for hours. I snuck off at one point to sit on the beach and watch some falling stars by the ocean...it was great. A great night. NO idea what time we went to bed.
Sunday we are up and after Tink makes us bacon and eggs on his bbq we are laying on the beach. What a life. Less windy, and very warm. I turn a nice little shade of rose. Slathered in spf 45. Thank you scottish heritage, I love your freckly presents. We pack up and head back out to Erins around 4 where we gather up our wits and try and salvage a 12th wind. The gang meets back up at Jeff's and we start catching our breath. We head out to a cottage and night 3 gets on its way. We are ready to dance, and bay du vin days is our destination. Wow. The lobster carnival has some competition here. What a GREAT night...so much fun!
Monday we wake up...and I feel great! What? whaaaat? whaaat? I dont get it? Yes I am fine. 4 days later and hello world, I greet you with a smile :) We have dixie lee for breakfast...hahaha...ok maybe that was a mistake but it sounded so good as we ordered it. Watched The Boondock Saints and then I was back in Trout Brook. I started to watch a Disney movie with Tavi, but before I knew it my eyes were opening and the Zebra had just won the race and I had drool down my cheek, it was 6:30pm. So much for catching that 15th wind. I thought what I needed was a Siesta...but turned out I need to sleep until the next morning! Yes, do the math...12.5 hrs of sleep. And still today at work I had the "slows", we had a new client coming in and Krista was explaining how to assess scars etc and I was getting about 1/3 of it. I spent a lot of the day snapping out of dazes and day dreams. I shudder to think of how I wouldve been if I had gone to bed at 11 as planned.
It's week 6. Where has the time gone? I am stuck in that place between wanting to be done, but not wanting to leave. This year is going to go fast ladies. Dont forget your camera.

thank you spwinkaluh

So where did we leave off? I cant believe that was only 2 weeks ago. Everyone here has been keeping me fairly entertained, and I am having a lot of fun. We went to the exhibition and I had a good laugh watching Tavi chicken out of rides then pep talked her into some, as she screamed " I can do it!" and "I did it!" We went on some rides after that, I've discovered a new one that I am going to put in my backyard when I am rich. I got lucky and found a ride home for the weekend with Jeff, that was truly entertaining! After being held captive and forced to help Sarah pack we got out skim boarding again, sarah took some pictures so she probably has some pretty funny ones. Emily was having a rough bout with gravity. I didnt see many old friends at the BBQ, but I was lucky enough to get the job of serving pop to everyone, which consisted of standing in the sweltering heat and then periodically dipping my arm into ice water fishing for orange crush. Quite the sensation. Emilys birthday party was a bit rushed for me because I had to get back to the chi, so I missed the present opening, except mine (which of course she loved :P)I didnt even get to say goodbye to Sarah because she was driving our cousin home. I get up the next morning to go to work and upon packing my lunch into my backpack realize that in my haste I left it at home. Ah right, great, no problem...it just has all my work stuff in it...and it just happens to be week 4. So my midterm was postponed until I could get my objectives sheets sent up on the bus. :) Midterm went great, she of course loves me! haha. Oh yeah and I got an email from Sheila B asking me to send her some quotes encouraging masters students to enter OT and to talk about my fieldwork experiences...does anyone else find this ironic? I did it, of course...I must not be the only one she asked though. I even had to take pictures on fieldwork so we had a photo shoot while I made a splint...look for me...my mug may be plastered on the side of the school when we get back! hahaha and one of my quotes is about how we save lives...I love it...I cant wait to hear back from her.
Last weekend was action packed, we all went tubing at Betsy's then we went out to the beach and in to Barnaby days, I stayed over at Erins and then we went to the beach again the next day. Good times. We have some great plans for this upcoming weekend too, but I'll leave you in suspense.
JoAnna and I got emails about NZ, well actually JoAnna and Margaret got emails about NZ because the school is trying to test my patience in regards to fieldwork. JoAnna called and has me all excited about going now, we had to fill out application forms and send out NZ money to register soon. I just have to wait until Thursday when the bank stays open later so I can get the foreign money exchange. I went there monday and they were like, what is NZ money? HAHA I was like uh...I dont know, I was kind of hoping you guys would know...they didnt seem to know much about exchanging money.
So, yeah,placement is awesome, I have 8 clients and I am going through the waiting list to pick out which ones I want to add and then discharging the ones I think are ready to go...I tried to talk one of the cute guys into staying on by doing a work hardening program but he didnt want to use the machine so I may have to DC him anyway...Betsy said to just tell Krista he needs 2 more weeks of my edema massages...hmm...

Dr.Grant

We're into week three and things seem to be zooming by. I'm settling into a comfortable groove at the hospital, I have a bunch of my own clients so I can go off on my own, or I can just watch her do whatever. My preceptor Krista is great, really funny; and she has a lot of experience. The clients all seem very appreciative because I can offer to do extra things for them like make up handouts and reminder sheets to take home. I am doing some NDT and hand therapy, making splints etc. Yesterday we had a client who was coming in for a carpal tunnel splint, because she had pregnancy swelling, that I was supposed to make (we had been getting cancellations so I had missed out on a few) she was 40 mins late for her 11am appt time and demanded we not only make the splint but we make her two. She said she had been sitting in the waiting room for 20 mins, and that the receptionist told her we were with another client (yeah we believe that) SO I tried to assess her as Krista got the splinting material ready and we eached splinted one hand. This lady was demanding! She was in a rush to get out so she could go have a smoke! AH! All my other clients have been dolls though.
I watched a total knee replacement last week, that was pretty intense, you can definitely see why they are in so much pain afterwards, they are nothing close to gentle with you while you are sleeping :P I had to ask for a stool so I could see better and they were hesitant to let me up incase I fainted, I assured them I was fine. After a year in the cadaver lab it takes a bit to faze you...like perhaps your friend standing in front of you with his latisimus dorsi hanging out covered in pottery...haha! I admit that fazed me. Other than that though, bring on the surgery. The anesthesiologist tried to recruit me, he figured another 8 yrs in school was nothing to a young person, and actually...the money would be pretty nice; considering he put the lady to sleep then left the room for a couple hours. He was showing me all the gadgets and what to do if something went wrong. Maybe that will be my next career.
Betsy, her boyfriend, Tavi and I went swimming in the river, it is a lot warmer than the ocean. However, I am unaccustomed to swimming in flowing water so I had to go out and buy some equipment for next time. I got water shoes so I could anchor myself in the rocky river bed, ear plugs because I was clogged up for an hour after the swim and then proceeded to get sick for a few days...I am tempted to get a nose plug and a mask. Oh and an anchor.
I went home last weekend for the lobster carnival, had a mini high school reunion which was nice. And spent some time on the beach. Katie's friend had a skim board so he taught us how to use it, that was a lot of fun, and we were actually pretty good by the end. I think we are all going to get a skim board because thats the only thing you can do in Toney River.
Last weekend was the Irish Festival here in the Chi, I went to the beach with Erin, Suzie, Allison and Jeff and his friends. It was super hot, so the swimming was nice. However you can tell which spots were not protected with sunscreen...like my lips. I woke up the next morning with a swollen bottom lip that was pretty tender. Then last night it started to blister. My preceptor called staff health so now I keep them all lubed up and it has spf in it so hopefully it doesnt happen again. Suzie had some pretty hardcore racoon eyes hehe!After the beach we went to a party at Jeff's friends and then off to the Irish Festival where we did a lot of jigging!!
Last night was the OT/PT Aid appreciation pool party so Betsy and I went to that after work. I am enjoying all this swimming. They also served salmon that was really good, and a homemade oreo icecream cake. I brought bits and bites...oh yeah...I am awesome!
There is another OT student from U of Ottawa there that is really nice too, Ariane. She is really French so she helps me out sometimes, she didnt start learning English until grade 5. We get to play together with the splints and whatever else we want to do. Theres also a Rec student, Mike that I mostly just poke fun at for having such an easy job.
I am planning on going home again this weekend because it will be Emily's 16th Birthday, and Sarah is moving to Alberta, and it is also the humongously famous Toney River chicken BBQ.
I leave writing in this for too long and have too much to fit in when I finally attempt a post...so I will try and get better at that. Even though Chris's dad may be my only reader...haha. Come on girls get working (LB I am proud of your attempts...but I need more...keep me busy). Until next time, I am off to rest for a busy day of saving lives tomorrow (as Jeff says)

Welcome to miramichell :)

So I have been away from a computer for 2 weeks and have found a chance to sit down and give an update to my loyal fans! :P It turned out to not be my last weekend in Freddy and Suzie, Lisa and her boyfriend and I went out on the town that Friday, I have pictures but they are on my computer and I am not. Saturday morning Suzie and I went down to the market one last time and I got somosas (I also even took a picture of them, but alas...) Mom came down Sunday and we left Monday for home, with a pitstop at the blue door so I could have some Thai food before returning to the woods. I had a great time at home, spent some time on the beach, got to go swimming and so did Nanuk (I have the scratch and bruise to prove it), watched movies with my sister and Christopher and went out to Westville for the Canada Day celebrations (can check that off my to do list and never return).
Found out that I lost the apt in Hali and walked home from my aunts in tears, called for the place in Miramichi and found out I lost it too. Had a panic attack. No joke. Haha...christopher had the voice mail to prove it but he deleted (I would have kept it for a good laugh and possible bribe material later but I guess Chris doesnt plan ahead). I am staying with Betsy at her place with her boyfriend, a couple and their 4 yr old daughter. I am quite the novelty to the little girl (Octavia...took me 2 days to realize that was her name, I thought it was tabitha?) She just calls me "that girl". I am her new play toy. She asks Betsy when we get home "Is that girl with you again?" and then shows me a new game we are going to play. I dont think she has realized yet that I live here. The other night at bedtime she didnt want to go and was starting to whine when her dad said, she will be here tomorrow, she said oh, and went to bed :)

Work so far has been great! Interesting clients again, and so far very different from anything I have done so ample learning opportunities! Retraining after a stroke, fitting splints, doing assessments etc. I've gone with physio ot see what they do with my client who was in a car accident and tore his FDP and is now all adhered, I may get to put him on the BTE so thats exciting; I cant wait to set up some programs on that. I watched a carpel tunnel release surgery today and I am pretty sure I could do it myself. It would have to be my specialty though. Only CT releases haha.

And this weekend is the exam for OT certification so I am getting a ride home with Erin so I can see Nanuk and catch some of the lobster Carnival!

oh geeze, I forgot the best part. Betsy's family owns an outdoor adventure business! So I finally get some adventures for Melissa's Adventures. She said I should be able to get some good pictures on our tours. Last night we went there for a Northumberland Salmon Protection Association meeting about how the river is plugged up with gill nets etc....then we had a barbeque...fantastic! I got a bumper sticker from her mom "I fish- I vote" :)

Kill Arnie

Shortly after getting home from frisbee on Tuesday, the skies opened up!


It is getting harder to say good-bye. Tomorrow is my last day of placement, but today was my last day with the early psychosis program. I really thought the 8 weeks would drag out longer than this. I am going to miss my clients. I have too curious a personality for these silly placement things. I need to know what happens to them next. I snuck into work before my preceptor this morning because I bought her a big multi-frame for her office. She has mulitple photgraphs around the room and none of them were framed, so I picked out some good ones and put them in and then put the frame up on her shelf. I then went to meet with the psychologist who did a personality test on one of my clients (which by the way was eerily dead on, I want one done on me!) and Sharon ran in late. After that we had a meeting with the team nurse about our new youngest client who was being screened that aft. Sharon had a meeting after that while I got stuff ready for my afternoon sessions and packed for our trip to the lake. I wasnt sure when she would make it to her office. She did however finally find it, but I wasnt there to see it, she absolutely loved the idea so I was very happy about that.
We headed out to Killarny lake with our health in action group and had a picnic and waded (one swimmer, there wouldve been 3 if I hadve had the notion to wear my suit! The water was so nice!) Back at the clinic I met with 3 clients back to back and explained to them how Sharon would be taking over after I left. They were all so cute, "youre leaving?!" They were sad :P I thanked them for being so open with me and told them how much I appreciated them allowing a student to take their case. Sharon has promised me some updates in code through email, so we are trying to give code names to everyone :P Most of my clients I wont get a chance to even say good-bye to. I tried filling out my evaluation form but I hate doing it, so instead I uploaded my pictures from today :D
Tomorrow we are going out for lunch, and I have to find time to write up 4 notes! Then Suzie, Lisa and I are going out on the town to say goodbye!



Sharon at the lake side watching another client swimming

Blogger is being a little bitch and wont post any more of the pictures...

Almost done in Freddereecton

It's my last week of Fredericton placement. Feels like I am running out of time, we book clients and I realize I wont be there, I plan my one on one's and realize I cant do the follow up, I'm even missing some field trips! I have a lot of clients booked for my last day with EPP to try and fit them in before I leave, then Sharon reminds me I will have a lot of notes to type up after that...I have no idea when i will fit them in; so I told her I wasnt going to do any therapy. I am just going to tell them this is our good-bye session and to make sure they dont talk to me about anything that is documentable, if they start talking about their functioning I am going to plug my ears and humm. That should work. We had, well I had my last frisbee match tonight, because I wont be there for the rest of the league. Luckily it was also the night of the frisbee party, so it was like a goodbye party pour moi!


Lauren and I on the sidelines


Suzie and I after the game


Suzie and I were chosen for the spirit game again...what is with that? Getting ready for the sour worm race!


Most of Franklin's Army, named after the turtle...we still have to Iron on the logos

Oh and Jo, Ziggy who is a friend of Jeff O'neils...has a sister who runs a horse farm in NZ...and yes we can stay there hehe...I told him to hook us up!

Last weekend in Freddy??

Myself and my preceptor Sharon fraser, in the day therapy room at Chalmers.

We presented yesterday and it went well, they really enjoyed it. Betsy was there, and I wasn't expecting that! But there were less people than I had imagined so it wasnt too bad. We went to the market today, Erin is in town from Miramichi and we met catherine down there. I got the necklaces for everyone also, I got my sisters the nicknames I gave them. I got to try the famous Somosas from the OT, I had the turkey one, it was good. I also had the new green ice tea and I like it :)
When we were headed down town we stumbled across an event, I think it was called something like free day in fredericton? A lot of things were free like the museums etc. Example for JoaAnna- free icecream! They had a whole bunch of corvettes new and old all lined up down the street (of course Suzie took my picture vanna'ing an old classic convertable) and there were vendors etc. We watched a bit of a kids science show and the guy had a little boy put a pile of mentos into a bottle of Pepsi and the thing gysered about 15 ft into the air. Now there's a party trick! We walked around in stores and I almost got new runners, the girl said I could run down the street in them but I was wearing a skirt so I might've looked a little silly...add to that all the people around downtown for this festival of sorts. None of the shoes really meshed with me so I left empty handed. I did see a couple people I know in the store though. It was good to hang out with Erin today because she will likely become a source of entertainment for me when I move on to the Chi. Tonight we are going to an all you can drink wine thing and then to see Grand Theft Bus. Should be a fun night.


Lisa and I after the presentation


Striking a pose in our matching uniforms :)

Sweet Potato Fries

They are my new love. I went out for supper last week and ordered them on a recommendation, they are great! I had to go out to sobeys and buy some so that I could try it at home myself. They are pretty hard to cut up! We went out for supper again tonight, the OT girls were in town for orientation or what not so I was with the former 4th yrs (Suzie, Catherine, Jen, Julie and Victoria). I, of course, split an order of sweet potato fries with Suzie.
Lisa and I do our presentation on Friday about community mental health, every time we work on it we almost choke laughing. We are supposed to discuss the issue of the lack of OT representation on mental health teams so I came up with the idea of taking pictures of people doind OT activities and cutting the OT out of the picture so there is a white blank space. The series is titled, what is missing in our communities? Then at the end of the presentation we have Occupational Therapy, changing the face of our communities: which is the same pictures with the bodies back, only they have our heads now. Larger than normal heads. We did one, and it was just a picture of someone on a bus (ok that someone happens to be in a bunny suit) and it really looks like we are on the bus too. I die everytime I see the pictures. I just really hope they share our sense of humour.


Me and Lisa...des ergotherapeute



Lisa running a group, and I doing a 1:1


Lisa meeting with a client who has an addiction


Me running a relaxation group

If it lets me I will show you the Bunny pictures some other time, perhaps after the presentation it will let me :)

Pre-Script Post-Script

I wanted to add these to my last post, but it wasnt allowing me that option; so here are some images to go along with my ramblings...


This is a fiddle package much like what I would be getting.




I took this the other night from the balcony, I wish I had somewhere to go to take better shots that night. I couldnt even get my roomie to get up and look at it...I need some photographer friends.




The necklace I got at the market!

Plodding Through

I guess I was getting bored with this thing, but I have been strongly encouraged by un-named persons to continue on with my tales.
Work has been pretty continuous, still running morning meeting, taking them for walks, running group, running relaxation and doing initial interviews. I am not looking forward to documentation when I reach the real world. I took a sick day last week and missed a Health in Action day where they went and worked out at the Y, so that was disappointing. My partner Lisa and I have been working hard on our community presentation, we are trying to make it as humourous as possible. Lisa's roommate is on my frisbee team and he had to ask her if we were related; we look alike and have very similar personalities, its actually quite funny. We even dress the same, identical even, we've got it right down to the freckles and green eyes, 2 sisters, fisherman fathers, the melissa-lisa name thing... When I go to Miramichi she will be in Cambellton which I guess isnt too too far away considering I wont know many other people. My preceptor gave me a pamphlet on an Irish Festival they have every summer in the Chi which is apparantly a good time, and Suzie is going to come up for it that weekend. David also told me about a canoe run thing they have where they drink and canoe to different parties all along the river (dangerous no?) So I am accumalating entertainment to fill my 2 months. Suzie and I went to the market last weekend and I got a necklace like Martha's and Janelle's. I am going back this weekend to get some more, plus I saw a purse there that screamed out my name and said buy me, which I didnt, however Suzie says it is a sign if I am still describing this purse to people, I must own it. We also went to a music store and picked out instruments; she is going to buy a guitar and I am going to buy a fiddle. So I will learn to play that in Miramichi (my renter is sure to love that!). I have always wanted one, and I saw that they arent as expensive as I thought, so why not right!?

I went home last weekend which was great, got to see the pup and the famdam. Emily and I took Nanuk to the beach in the rain, but still enjoyed ourselves! I had fish both nights in a row, but no lobster. Dad tried to get me to go out on the boat saturday but the thought of waking at 3:30am didnt appeal to me at the time. I also finally got a haircut, so it is a bit shorter. Christopher came over and we watched a couple movies, I do not recommend the Producers. haha...we can do it! we can do it! We are planning a trip to NFLD at the end of the summer for a picture taking excursion! Should be fun, the guys will all bring their guitars and I will bring my fiddle, because I am sure by then I will be almost pro. Colleen and I are also toying with the idea of going to surf school, another thing to be a pro at I'm sure...

I am enjoying my time here, and I wish I could stay longer, but I am sure I will feel the same way about Miramichi at the end of August. It's all about attitude. Well...Suzie and I are going shopping, I want to pick up some more board shorts if I can find some good ones.

Evaluation Week

So I get back to work on Monday, and the client who I spent all that time convincing to stay had left over the weekend, which is very discouraging. I have been running all the meetings and groups lately so that has been interesting. While the clients do their relaxation I sit there and sketch them, its pretty funny. Although last time I just did a lake scene because my mind was still at Toby's cottage. We have some pretty interesting clients in now. One guy is pretty annoying, Sharon and I have him diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, so you can just imagine what he is like. We even got out the DSM to check on the traits. One girl and I get along pretty well, she's sweet. She also thinks I am hot and smart, so of course I like her! :P We pretend flirted with guys down on the green when we were on our walk yesterday, she cracks me up. She was making jokes yelling to them about how she gets out in a few days. Things in both dept's have just been puttering along, I cant believe 3 weeks to go.
Ultimate Frisbee started on Tuesday, we are the Franklins Express.Suzie got beaned in the face, but she is ok! :)Last night I hung out with maggies brother David, we rented Date Movie, it was slightly funny, but we shouldve gone with the history of violence one I think :P Toby is doing well from what I hear in my reports, although none of you left any comments! I dont think anyone even reads these...Hi Mom! Hi Chris! Hi Jo! hahaha...

Summer Kick-off

When I got to work on Friday one of my clients told me that he was leaving AMA (against medical advice). After talking with him for a while in the lounge about how he felt about going home and what his plan was to stay clean we learned that he didnt really want to leave. He had a bad day on Thursday and called home to get picked up and thought it was too late to cancel the pick up because his dad lives an hour away and would be there soon. He mentioned wanting to go into rehab so that isnt something I let slip by and I looked into getting him into a program in st john. Its not as easy as it should be. He would have to call the health centre when he got home to make an appt with an OPC, which could be up to 3 weeks, and then they would screen him and get to know him for awhile and then try to get him into a program which could be a month or so after that. Meanwhile he has to stay clean on his own. Long story short I managed to talk him into staying his full term in detox and I think he was able to communicate a lot of concerns, so it felt good. And all the others told him how proud they were of him for staying. He asked me to be his sponsor, I sort of wish I could, but I know thats not reasonable. I took the group on their afternoon walk by myself Friday because I was supposed to be working on the self reflective essays while my preceptor did paperwork and the walker guy didnt show up so I of course volunteered to go out on the nice sunny day! On the way back into the building they even all stuck up for me when the commissionaire gave me a hard time about opening the door to let us back in, it was funny...they were like you dont talk to our girl like that!

Then Maggie picked me up and we went out to Tobys cottage for the night! It was a lot of fun even though it rained a little off and on. He has a hottub and the cottage is in a great spot (although I may have lost weight from the mosquitoes)! His brother Joel took Maggie and I out on the 4 wheeler which was great. We had a bonfire and sat in the tub all night. I got up early and went and sat down by the lake for a while, it was very peaceful. Later in the morning Toby had an accident involving a coffee mug and ceiling beams and had to be rushed to the hospital to take care of a wound which I will describe as a steak oozing out of his back, which was I presume his lats. I almost cried, or threw up, it was intense for a bit. It was a good thing that Maggies friend Jeff is a medical resident because he took fast action. They went to the hospital with him and his parents and we sat around talking about all of Tobys accidents for awhile. Janek and I took the canoe out and were going to paddle over to Joels cottage on the other side of the lake but gave up and just went down the lake. We played some frisbee, BBQ'ed and lit firecrackers. Everyone eventually went home except Bob and I and we talked shop etc until Maggie and Jeff got back with news that our Toby was waiting for a surgery consult. Until I hear from Toby I can just hope that everything went well. When I got back to Fredericton Kevin and I went to see the DaVinci code, sometimes my tired cottage mind got a little lost...but overall it was good. Then I talked to my friend Chris on MSN, that is always exciting. He is planning a trip up here with the excuse that my goonies tshirt logo finally came in the mail. (Look Chris, you finally made the blog)


Tobys cottage from the bottom of the stairs to the lake


Standing on the deck


Stairs to the lake


Jan thinking about how wonderful OT's are


FTHOI plotting


Maggie preparing for S'more time


post s'mores


Practicing my j-stroke with my new friends


Actual j-strokin with my actual new friend


Kickin back while Janek brings me on a tour

Crash Landing

I ran my first group today, the clients made me do it. Sharon said I would run the one on Wednesday last Friday because they wanted me to teach them instead of her, but she had forgotten and we had plans to skip group and everything to go shopping! However, the clients remembered so of course I had to oblige them. I played a game with them about occupational balance in recovery. Its hard to really get your mind into that of an addict, but watching them today was a little bit of an eye opener. They just didnt know how to live anymore. Some had been addicted since they were young teens, and their days had been consumed with scoring and using. One guy said " I am not often at a loss for words, but when you asked me about leisure, I really couldnt for the life of me think of what that could be in my life." They seemed so distressed afterwards, how do they know what to do, what do you do in a normal day if it isnt searching for that high? It was an odd experience. Trying to explain to people what just comes so naturally. They started talking about something that happened the night before and how they laughed until their knees were weak, and then it dawned on them that this was the first time they had laughed like that and were sober. It almost made me tear up hearing them say things like that. I want to wrap my arms around each one of them and kick the ass of any pusher that comes near them. But I have to be like the momma bird and kick them out of the nest when discharge comes and just hope they can fly on their own.
My preceptor forgot it was midterm time until a silly nurse asked how much longer I had left here. I was just going to let it slip on by, you may have noticed she can be a little scattered sometimes, I love it! She is always talking about how she is supposed to go to some stats meeting, but lets the lady forget; so I told her I was doing the same thing :) Wait is this week 4! I tried to convince her it was week 3 but she got out the calandar...foiled again. So we do midterm Monday. unless...

Cure for the weekend 'Blahs'

So its the middle of the long weekend! I have hardly seen the girl that I lived with since I got back from the valley, her family is up from Manitoba so she is often out with them. The Canadian Mental Health Association is having a fundraiser in our building selling croc footwear, alook at this little croc family!

Also on Wed as another fundraiser there is a clothes sale! They are turning my pad in the health centre into a changing room and selling clothes that were worn once in fashion shows and were donated to the CMHA. They are going to make so much money its great! Even off the crocs alone they must be making a mint! When I came into work on Friday it was nuts in the entry way with people grabbing crocs up left right and centre! I wonder if our grad class can get into any of these ideas, asking stores for donations etc and having a sale in the SUB or tupper.
I had another one on one at the Detox which was really hard. I just didnt know what to say, sometimes I am scared that I dont know enough to make recommendations, you know? I'm still wearing training wheels. He was telling me about what began his problem with substance abuse and was asking what he should do. When he was 13 he went to his best friends house because him and a group of friends often hiked up to go swimming. His friend was sleeping and his mother said to just leave him, he wouldnt go today, but he insisted and woke him up and made him go. On the way there while they were all crossing the street he felt a push on his back and he fell forward. He heard screeching and turned around to see his best friend get hit by a car driven by a guy a couple yrs older than them. The guy had done the speed up to scare them trick but then lost control, and his best friend died saving him. He never got any counselling and still feels all this sadness, guilt and anger. I didnt know what to say. All I could do was recommend he get help for this or he would never overcome his addictions because he was trying so hard to numb himself. Then he said something that really clicked for me as a learning tool..."Thank you so much for your ear". I guess we dont always have to be the experts, sometimes just being there and listening can mean so much for a person (therapeutic use of self anyone?). I gave him some resources on grief counselling.
I wanted to go to a concert on Friday, and the market on Saturday but no one was around this weekend. I started getting that feeling where I am more than ready to just go home. BUT then Maggie called and invited me to her house for a BBQ! Her family is really great and it was a good time. We went out after to her brothers girlfriends and then Maggie and her fella went home and I went out to Dolans with her brothers and their friends. They were all super nice making sure I had fun and felt like a part of the crew. Her brother even goes to the Chi a lot and said he would entertain me when I got shipped out. However, during my adventure I lost the cap off my "I read the Coast" pin that scott gave me at the Junos concert! Haha...so that was a little sad.


This is part of my grad gift from my older sister, its hilarious!


The yellow rain in Fredericton?? Please please be pollen! haha... After a heavy rain this is what my roomies boots looked like sitting on the balcony. I had seen the yellow rimmed puddles before, but this was a curiosity.


The view from my balcony, I love how there are so many trees in Freddy, makes for a nicer walk to work.

Caps and gowns

Ultimate frisbee was pretty entertaining, I wish I had taken my camera! There was definately a lot of nice things to look at. One guy even said I was a natural, because frisbee is one of my innate talents just waiting to be released. The whole time they were showing us all these different types of throws I was thinking, oh repetative strain injury, oh ulnar deviation etc etc haha! Its a dangerous sport! The concert was also great, I love InFlight Safety! We even met Tara there and I ran into a couple people I knew from Acadia.
I left Fredericton this weekend, which was a nice change of pace. I spent 7 hours on a bus to get there, but it was so nice to be back. I had to hang out at the hospital for a while waiting for my dad and did a little OTing while I was there. I helped a lady getting her hip xray :P Nanuk went bezerk when I got home, dad was blocking him at the door and he tried to just plow his way through dad but it wasnt working (very funny!)We left early sunday morning to make it to WolfVegas in time for brekkie, then I remembered that meal hall wasnt cool! Oh well one last walk down memory lane. We took a lot of pictures around the campus, I love the Acadia grounds.


Those are paintings! I always loved them...






We had supper at Joe's of course, a classic, and then had icecream at Hennigars, yet another classic. Convocation was good, I was so happy to see the sun and they changed the ceremony since I went there so its a lot faster. I got a few Acadia memorabilia and framed my diploma and then we had to rush to catch the bus so I could make it back to Freddy. We missed the bus in Truro so we chased it to Amherst, so I didnt have to spend 7hrs on the way back which was a bonus. Some weirdos sat by me after the Moncton stop, haha, this one guy was like do you like reptiles? I wish I couldve seen my face...it was so random. I just said um...I dont know. So he picks up his backpack and says I have one want to see it, and proceeds to pull a crocodile gecko out of his bag. Nice.
Back at work and things are moving along, she finally pulled the Learning Objectives out today and it is the end of week 3. She told me to make up 3, I told her last year I had one or more for each section...so she said I could do that too...but we decided 3 was fine! haha! I met with my own client today, alone, and she is doing great since our last meeting. She is using the strategies we talked about. The crew in at detox this week were also full of spunk and liked to joke around. One of the girls is pregnant and is on methadone so that the withdrawl doesnt cause premature labour. Her boyfriend will check in after she checks out.

It doesnt really matter...right now

(title is the line the lady says over and over in one of our relaxation tapes, it is one of my favourites to make fun of...I find it hard not to giggle when she says it)

So week 2 has now ended! I am struggling slightly with realizing that the time we have left is as long as the whole time I was in Charlottetown, but other than that things are great. I am loving my placement! I cant get over how friendly and open the clients are. On Monday I started working on my community project, I am working with a student from the Uni. of Montreal and she is really nice. We are looking into the role OT could play in existing community mental health programs here in Freddy that currently dont have one on staff, they are hoping our project opens up some job opportunities that maybe I could come back and fill haha! We also went to a seminar on crystal meth because of its increasing popularity...I seriously hope it doesnt catch on because wow does that stuff mess you up! We had a meeting with parents of a young boy who were complaining about the behaviours he has been displaying lately (schizophrenia) and we educated them on the disorder and I think it was really eye opening for them (things they were blaming him for that he had no control over) and I think it really scared the mom when we got to the suicide and drug section. But hopefully they use the techniques we talked about on how to address the issues because she was pretty much just yelling at him or ignoring him (I get to meet him next week). I started doing initials this week, and I am hoping to get a lot more practice. I still feel a little disorganized and unconfident in my advice. I was interviewing one girl (schizophrenia) and she brought up how her leisure has declined because she is scared to go out in her neighbourhood because a boy on her street raped her. I had a slight pause as in my head I was screaming THEY DIDNT TEACH US WHAT TO SAY FOR RAPE! I was remembering all the stuff about suicide and was so nervous about saying the wrong thing (especially since the girl became teary eyed a lot in the interview and if she started crying I mightve started too!) So I just asked her if she had talked to anyone about this before and if legal action had been taken. My preceptor said that I handled it well and it is the sort of thing we will let her explore with us later when she is more comfortable (she had spoken with a counsellor about it). We also ran a health in action group which is through EPP so that is a lot of fun too. It was organized because so many of the young people gain weight on the meds so they do a healthy activity and then come back for a healthy lunch...what a job I have! I'm excited for our next outings. I got to go to the clubhouse, and friends and fellowship, and the job placement program as well. Starting to write OT notes also and am having a hard time focusing the info...I asked her if I could just write a story and forget about this DARP crap. I have a hard enough time focusing these blogs, maybe I do need to write more than once a week, I have so much more to say but this already looks long! Good thing I have a captive audience ;) I have been running in the park here and I love it, I think I even like it more when it is wet, the park is really pretty and has some great trails (and killer hills). Suzie, from the yr ahead of us is working here so we have been hanging out, tonight we are going to play ultimate frisbee and then go to In-flight Safety at the capital! I think it will be a great night! AND tomorrow I go to NS so I can graduate! I get Monday off for it and I will get to see my puppy for a night!

Don't meth up your life!

So, its Sunday night and I think to myself, I should check and see where I have to meet my preceptor tomorrow. Turns out I dont meet her at the Chalmers Hospital which is 2 blocks from my apartment, but, I meet her at the Victoria health centre which is, um...20 blocks from my apartment. A nice little change of events. I guess they wanted to help me out with an adventure. Finding the health centre in the morning, and getting there on time- challenge accepted. I actually beat my preceptor- for the win! I started off in the Detox unit, which was interesting. I was picturing Trainspotting all the way, screaming and sweating, kicking and punching...but its all pretty tame! Its all still a lot of orientation, and figuring out what is appropriate to talk about etc, its the kind of unit you tip toe around. It's a little disheartening because you can become attached to the clients and you want so much for them to reach their goals, but they are there for a week and then they are out. I think it is such a big step for them to just be there and there is only so much as OT's that we can do when we only see them for a week and then they are left on their own. And I am so curious to see how things turn out for them. I just had to say goodbye to my first client that I got on Monday and I have mixed feelings about it. He is 21 and it is his first time in for narcotics abuse and he is really shy. He was really starting to come around though and was opening up during our walk about how he is uncertain about going home today but how he really wants to get over this. I was able to talk to him about setting up a good support system when he gets home but I will be wondering about it for the rest of placement and how well he dwill do when he goes back to hanging out with the same crowd. We also just got a new girl in who is 19 and this isn't her first visit to detox, which really makes you wonder what our system is missing to support these people (I would love to do research on this Beagan!) I understand that detox is medically based to clean out the system and the best we can do is provide some education during their short trip, but I just wish there was something for them at the end. The waiting list for the methadone maintenance program is a year and half if they require that, and its the same for a councilor. So they clean up, they acquire all this information on sobriety in a supporting environment, but then they go back to drug town and are expected to stay clean.
Every other day I am in the early psychosis program, which is a great resource for people who just experienced their first psychotic episode. We definitely have some interesting cases. Most of the people in the program are our age, so you can appreciate their concerns for getting their lives back on track because so much happens for us at this age! I have gotten to see some one on one discussions but they also have a health in action program that meets biweekly that I am very excited about and weekly healthy outings because so many people experience weight gain from the meds which impacts their self-esteem at a very fragile time. Mental illness is no joke, delusional thoughts can be scary and dangerous- one back story involves attempting to saw off their own head to let the spirits out.
So many interesting cases! People who have grandeur and think the sun is giving them energy to live forever, that the radio is sending them messages, voices telling them to spread the word of god and to kill themselves...some just started having psychosis because they did too much crystal meth (and this is 2 yrs later and they are still experiencing it!) There is no cookie cutter guidebook on what to expect with psychosis, that is for sure!
So that was my first week, with minimal to nil adventures! :P But I definitely am looking forward to getting more hands on and meeting more of the clients. And I think the walk to work is shrinking my butt haha!

Of course I took pictures, because whats a blog without visuals...


This is the Chalmers Hospital, which is not where I work :)


This is the Victoria Health Centre...where I do work!


I noticed this view from my preceptors office yesterday, the red circle is the chalmers, the blue is where my apt is, and the green is one of my hills


This is what my preceptor calls Melissa's Pad, I could pretty much move in. Its where I do my private work while she does hers (temptation to nap is prevalent) Has a kitchen and 2 bathrooms, and is even equipped with food!


Me watching "Healing the addicted brain"...and yes, I almost cried...twice, plus I noticed some neuroanatomy mistakes

This is looking the other way at the health centre, thats the st john river, theres a nice trail there. The building in the centre is the emergency homeless shelter, which isnt a great location because right behind where that person is walking (around the corner) is the balcony where our detox clients have their smoke breaks (a great view for them to see people doing drugs/drinking, people they get high with, score from etc etc)




This is the smoke break balcony, man do they love their smoke breaks! Addicts are addicted to everything it appears. Everything here is locked entry and exit so I have a card I wear around my neck that says 'student' and opens the doors, so they have to buzz to come back in. They have rules about not talking to people over the railing (like I mentioned above with the homeless shelter in case they are scoring etc) and the conversations can be monitored because they arent allowed to tell "war stories" about past drug use in case it affects peoples recovery. All the doors are locked but they are all here on their own free will (you have to check yourself in) so they can decide to leave at anytime if they wish.

Time to think about learning objectives...can I get a whoop whoop?

Welcome to Freddy Beach

I have just begun my Fredericton Adventure. Fredericton may not sound super exciting, but it is my goal to force it to become so. Instead of backpacking across New Zealand, I am here in Freddy Beach, and so help me, I will make the most of it! JoAnna and I will be in NZ this December so there is nothing to worry about; a slight set back. Which is actually a welcome set back right Jo...bring on the surf in sunny NZ instead of slightly chilly NZ!
Anyhoo back to the current adventure. We set off to get groceries this morning and realized sunday shopping wasnt all it was cracked up to be because of the store hours :P SO we killed time at the O'Dell park, which was a brilliant find! I will be spending a lot of time there. It was very nice and sunny today so a good start! I wish Nanuk was here though :(

This is us disappointed with NB's hours of operation. s-What are we going to do? m-I dunno think the dollar store is open? s-Why do you need something there? m-Yeah a time killer. s-For an hour and a half!?

Salvation, an entrance to the Odell park. Man says the loop should take you an hour and a half...We think...perfect! Then he says we should run because we need it...wait did that man just call us fat? Sarah holds me back from kicking his butt...

Sarah...not running.
Oh man I am so fat I cant make the hour and a half trek...so....tired...
...must...lay...down...need...rest...hahahaha...I should really find that guy and kick his butt!



Here we are Timber Dancing...hahahahahahahaha...inside joke...