Tuesday....the LAST on-site day :(

So today was my last day on-site with Diane at Ragged Mountain Physical Therapy. It was bittersweet since I have spent over a year as a patient with Diane and this semi-internship marks the end of my time with her. She has truly been influential in shaping me as an individual during my time here at Proctor. When times were tough whether it be with my leg or school life she was always there to give me the positive push to keep on chuggin' along. I spent a majority of my day putting together the final pieces of my presentation and organizing all of my information. This afternoon I was on-site and was just a helping hand since Toni wasn't in for therapy today. I look back on this experience and am extremely glad that I took the time to fill out the paperwork and participate in a senior project. It was definitely two and a half weeks well spent. All that I have left is to finish putting everything together and presenting what I have done and accomplished over the past few weeks. Graduation is looming and campus is bustling as everyone prepares for the end of the school year. Once again, things are bittersweet but... that's how it always seem to be when good things come to an end.

Monday....2nd to last day

As senior project truly winds down, preparations for the thursday presentations begin to take place. Morgan came by to see what I was doing at Ragged with Diane and brought a camera so that I could document some of the work I have been doing with Toni. I spent a solid 6 hours at PT adding to my hours for the entire project. Tuesday is the last on-site day should be a good one.

Weekly Reflection 2

Another week of senior project complete! After getting into a bit of a routine this week went by much more smoothly. I was tested on the anatomy of the shoulder at the beginning of the week and passed with flying colors. After that I moved onto the anatomy of the knee. I knew most of the ligaments and muscles that allow the knee joint to function properly, however, the mechanics of the knee were a bit foreign to me. After this week I understand what each piece of the joint accomplishes and why knee injuries are some common. Nutrition wise I've continued to keep my daily log and have noticed that my energy levels throughout the day have stayed much more consistent. Starting off my days have been much easier and the late afternoons don't seem to be nearly as painful. I've learned that this is due to blood sugar levels staying much more consistent instead of spiking throughout the day.

Once again I've really enjoyed my time spent on senior project this week especially while working with Toni. I've been able to watch him progress with the strength in his calf and flexion in his ankle as he completes his therapy sessions. I will say juggling wood shop and physical therapy has been rather aggravating as the final push to finish my chair took place. Other than that there really isn't a single complaint that I have.

All of the activities that I been asked to accomplish this week have been to help Diane run everything a bit more smoothly, teach me something or help one of the patients out. There's been nothing too surprising. I've helped stretch, watch, clean, answer the phone and set up for patients. I've really been able to see how many variables go into running a small business through my experiences thus far. I truly believe that I will greatly benefit from this week's activities, especially as I prepare to start working this summer. I will easily be able to manage my time and enjoy myself, as well as be able to manage my diet to keep me going all summer long.

A few more days left! Finishing up strong and looking forward to this next week.

The Musical

I figured I would throw another post in this weekend with some of my free time. I've started to study the ankle, which I will be tested on on Tuesday. I'll be getting tested on the Knee anatomy on Monday as Senior Project winds down. The biggest reason for this post though is to congratulate the cast and crew of Bye Bye Birdie. The musical was awesome, funny and extremely entertaining. The shows that Proctor puts on are always a blast. Posting my weekly reflection sometime tomorrow and then two days of on-site work, and presentation prep for the exhibit on Wednesday.

Friday

Getting into the groove of things on Senior Project. Spent the first part of the day putting the final touches on my adirondack chair. With that out of the way I can devote even more time at Ragged with Diane. I spent the majority of the afternoon with her, Toni was my patient yet again. After a solid chunk of time at Ragged there was a Gannett house barbecue to attend. Thus far I've been learning alot, but I also have really been able to see how much progress I have made with my own injury. I had a bit of a flashback as I watched Toni struggle to jump on his bad leg. It is rather humbling to be on the other side of the recovery process. Only a few days of project left, graduation here we come!

Thursday

Sorry about the late post, I left my backpack at Ragged overnight. Thursday was another good day. I spent another entire morning with Greg in the wood shop finishing up my chair. Then the afternoon was spent with Diane. I reviewed some more knee stuff and helped out a few patients, Toni wasn't in but he's coming today. Team dinner for the cycling team was last night as well, aspen burgers and whiffle ball made it a great time. Then I was back to the wood shop to start on chair assembly.

Graduation

With Graduation looming in the not to distant future many seniors are pushing hard making sure they have everything in their lives at Proctor squared away so that they can walk with the rest of their classmates. For some that may simply be passing their classes, others that may mean completing senior project. I myself have two tasks at hand, passing senior project... and finishing a folding adirondack chair for my woodworking major class. Somehow over the course of my three years at Proctor I have managed to escape the "skills major" credit that every student is required to have completed prior to receiving their diploma. Greg Allen was kind enough to allow me to take woodworking as a major, graded, class since I had some previous experience from my previous school. With the last few days of classes coming to and end I am pushing hard to finish my chair and with that receive my final credit. Without that credit, no graduation, no diploma, no college. Now, in no circumstance will I not finish the chair and risk the future of my very existence. However, the final few steps in completing this chair have been absolutely painful. I spent 4 full hours in the wood shop today from 8:30am-12:30pm sanding and painting 26 separate pieces of poplar. Oh what a joy that was. My back might need a bit of physical therapy from the hunched over position I was in most of the day. Warranted, I did get a break after lunch and spent some time going over the anatomy of the knee joint. I look forward to finishing this chair and joining Diane again at ragged tomorrow, should be a nice day! 80's with a few clouds.

Test Day

Another awesome day on senior project. I woke up and started things off with a nice breakfast, Wheaties with blueberries, a banana and protein shake got things going. I spent the first part of the day making sure that I knew the shoulder joint inside and out. I arrived at physical therapy just before 1pm and after helping Diane for a bit with a patient who recently broke his Tibia it was finally time to get tested on the shoulder anatomy. I passed with flying colors! Diane asked me about all of the muscles, joints, bones and tendons that I had been studying and other than messing up the pronunciations a few times I got all of the answers correct. I spent the rest of the day helping out and beginning to learn the next join, the KNEE! Toni even came in today and we threw in some new exercises to his therapy routine. Overall a busy but productive day!

Tomorrow I'll be sanding in the wood shop for the majority of the day and studying the anatomy of the knee, should be a blast...

Week 2

The internet in Gannett has finally been fixed, posts will be up at night from now on.

Yesterday was a solid day. I spent the majority of the day studying the anatomy of the shoulder and sanding the many many many pieces of my folding adirondack chair at the wood shop. After a nice lunch outside I headed over to help Diane out from 2-4:30pm. Toni was there and he is slowly making progress with his calf strength. I remember when I was at that point he's really progressing though. I'll be getting quizzed on the shoulder anatomy soon then moving on to the knee and ankle joints.

I also ran into Chris Young today and he mentioned a nutritional website www.mypyramidtracker.gov which allows you to tracker your physical activities and food intake in a super detailed system. I'm going to give it a shot and see what I get out of it.

Just under two weeks til graduation!

Weekly Reflection

I apologize for this weekly reflection being posted late. The internet in Gannett House has not been cooperating. Luckily Diane has her own internet that I can use to get this up.

The first week of senior project is complete! I have had a rather enriching, interesting and enjoyable week. The focus thus far has been on the anatomy of the shoulder joint. I have learned the major bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons thus far. The rotator cuff has also been looked at thoroughly. Diane has quite a few patients with shoulder issues, more specifically rotator cuff issues. The knowledge that I have gained has allowed me to visualize the injuries that Diane's patients have, understand how specific exercises target those injuries and work to improve them. Moving away from the physical therapy aspect of my project I have been able to really dive into the topic of sports nutrition. I have spent a majority of my down time researching the topic and talking with coaches, other athletes and everyday members of the community on the subject. I've been able to gather so far that many members of the proctor community tend to eat fairly well, although there are also a lot of members that fail to do so. However, the most common thing is that people do not stay hydrated enough to perform at optimum performance levels. I found this rather surprising due to the amount of talks and information that we have been given as a community about the importance of staying hydrated in my three years here at proctor. I've also learned how to manage what I eat better and how timing is extremely important for when you eat and how it effects your energy levels. I'm looking forward to start exploring the anatomy of the knee and ankle joints next week, as well as, continue to research and practice the sports nutrition aspect of my project.

So far I have really enjoyed some aspects of what I am doing and not really enjoyed other aspects. I truly find anatomy fascinating and interesting, however, I can say with confidence that I will not be going into any sort of real medical field anytime soon. I have enjoyed the experience of interacting with patients and being on the other side of the physical therapy process. I really liked the challenge of keeping a nutrition log; I challenge everyone in the community to attempt that. The ability to stay on top of the task and remember to write down everything you eat is challenging. Even if you are simply writing down the basic ingredients in a meal it still drives you to step back and look at what you just put in your body. I imagine that many people would feel bad about what they just fed themselves if they had to write it down after the fact.

Everything I have been asked to do so far has had a purpose behind it and really has not caught me by surprise. I have had my own patient a few times which has been fun. I've been Toni Blach's personal physical therapist since I experienced a similar injury to him and know the recovery process rather well. This has taken a load off of Diane and allowed her to focus on her other patients as well. There weren't really any surprises or things that jumped out at me this week, except for the fact that the shoulder has many more muscles than I had thought in the first place.

Overall I've benefitted greatly from this first week. I have really been able to slow down and realize what I am eating, the amount of what I am eating and when I am eating it. I really noticed the benefits of eating smaller meals throughout the day, about 2-3 hours apart after the first 3 days (I started keeping my log on Sunday) during my cycling race on Wednesday. I ended up placing 4^th in one of the longer races of the year and felt like I had energy afterwards to spare. I've also really benefitted from the ability to follow a looser schedule that is fluid throughout the week. This has kept me aware of the time, where I'm at and kept me on top of things throughout the week. I imagine college life to be fairly similar to this schedule wise and it makes me even more excited for next year than I already am.

Another Day of PT

Sorry for the missed day. Thursday was rather busy. I was at Ragged with Diane at 9am, hit up assembly, then back to Diane. Lunch broke up the day again, with a trip to the woodshop and then a return to Ragged. I was Toni Blach's personal physical therapist Thursday helping him through a similar injury to mine. He broke his Tibia this year and it's cool to be able to share my experience in therapy with him. Research and studying were also part of my day as well.

Today, Friday was just as busy. I was up early to complete my C-Block wood shop class and after lunch joined Diane again. I was with her from 1pm-5pm and helped out Toni again. The shoulder anatomy is a bit challenging, however, I am figuring out the hidden muscles one by one. The weekend is here and I will be studying, keeping my nutrition journal up to date and cross referencing my nutrition information with more sources.

My reflection upon the week will be coming soon!

What a Day!

Sorry to all of my loyal fans for missing my blog entry last night. I was having computer troubles with my google account and could not manage to log in to post. All problems have been solved and I'm here to let you back into my world. Today was a rather relaxed day. Diane is not in the office on Wednesdays so I was left alone. I woke up at 8:30 and made myself a nice breakfast of fruit and oatmeal with a protein shake....yummm! Then I hit the books doing the best that I could to figure out the underlying muscles of the shoulder joint. There are a lot more muscles involved in this complex joint than you would think. I hit up my C-Block class afterwards and made some progress on my folding adirondack chair, which my graduation is contingent upon. We headed up to Newfound Lake for the last bike race of the season. It was a long and strategy driven race. I was super pumped about my performance and ended up 4th overall after gritting it out on some rather steep hills! The nutrition journal is becoming easier to just jot my meals down in, and I am beginning to brain-storm about my dining hall posters.

A quick update on yesterday: it was my first day with Diane, I spent a few hours with her at Ragged Mountain Physical Therapy after spending most of my day trying to make sense of various anatomy books that she had given me. Nothing too exciting.

Tomorrow should be good with a pretty full day in the office with Diane and her patients.

First Day: May 10, 2010

Senior Project has officially started! However, I was not able to fully start my on-site experience with Diane Fowler. That will be tomorrow! I was home today in Leominster, MA interviewing for a summer internship position. The interview went well, and I was able to start various other parts of my senior project. One of my goals is to keep a comprehensive nutrition journal so that I can track and modify my eating habits over the course of my project. I completed my first day of tracking my meals. I've realized that it takes a bit more discipline than I had originally imagined. I also began research on the anatomy of the human shoulder which will be the first joint that I am quizzed on by Diane. The bones, tendons and muscles all seem fairly simple to figure out...its gonna be time to break out the note cards soon. Overall it was a successful day and I am looking forward to helping Diane on on-site at Ragged Mountain Physical Therapy tomorrow!