A Clinical Experience or two: week 1

Dear Ones,

By nothing less than a miracle, I've passed my second year of graduate work. Now I'm off on a clinical experience or two. I have the greatest family: my aunt and uncle are feeding and sheltering me for the next couple months while in UT. I'm working at a neuro-rehab unit which is very different than anything I've done before but really interesting. I am working with stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and amputation patients. This week has been mostly observation which has made the days long. I have been mostly involved with a patient who is paralyzed from the waist down and have already seen her do remarkable things. This is definitely a population I would like to work with.

I've enjoyed spending time with old friends and catching up with people out here. Its back to watching my brother's play intramurals, hearing people in the grocery store talk about "wards" and "mutual" and enduring dry weather. Last week I got to see my brother and his beautiful wife while they were in town. This week its been seeing my mom's side with my cousin's wedding being tomorrow.

I suppose if there is a lesson or lessons I've learned since working on my unit they would be: A. don't ride a motorcycle and B. watch my blood sugar. With those words of wisdom, I'm out.

-E