a.mess in the making: disinfect

It will be a miracle if I get through these next 7 weeks without catching some contagious bug from one of my kids. It was yet another never-ending week-- I worked 46 hours in 4 days (just a friendly reminder, I'm not getting paid-- in fact, paying to do this.), topped off with some pink eye, a case of the flu (all of the lovely projectile symptoms included), and more runny noses than I can count--and that was yesterday alone. On the bright side, I probably have the cleanest hands of anyone in the state because I wash and sanitize and shower and scrub religiously. Because if I can barely handle this caseload and these hours healthy, I don't even want to think about trying to do so under the weather.

one of our many toy rooms-- who knew all these
games from my childhood could be therapeutic!

On that cheery note, I thought I'd give you a quick overview of the patients I see, because pediatric PT is such a different world than where I came from at ORS. Here's a lowdown of my caseload:

One has a teeny tiny cerebellum (the part of your brain that controls balance, coordination, fluidity of movement, etc).

Two have infantile seizure disorders. {even though they're both almost 1, we're still working on helping them roll and crawl}.

Six have torticollis-- that "twisted neck" syndrome I mentioned earlier.

One has Down Syndrome (the worst case my CI's ever seen--he's 2, and hasn't started crawling yet).

Three have DCD (developmental coordination disorder). {they're my favorites because we do jumping, agility ladders, hopscotch, play catch, and ride bikes}

Two have general orthopedic issues--back pain and patellar dislocation problems.

One has ALL, acute lymphocytic lymphoma (cancer).

Three are toe-walkers with ankle equinus contractures (really, really tight calves). {we brace, stretch, play a lot of Wii Fit, and walk backwards}

One was just released from the hospital following neck surgery.

Two have hemiplegia (weakness on one side of their bodies).

One has brain damage resulting from non-accidental trauma (shaken baby syndrome). {she's a doll- we play a lot, using both hands and both feet, and challenge her thinking and problem solving too}

That's a lot of diversity, eh? From what I can tell, peds is a pretty unique mix of neuro and ortho. And what's great about working at Children's, such a large, well-known organization, is that I'll have all kinds of opportunities to explore pediatrics outside of outpatient PT. In two weeks, I'll spend a day at the hematology-oncology (cancer) clinic in the morning, then head to the serial casting lab in the afternoon. And the day before Thanksgiving, I'll shadow inpatient PT at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, then hop in the pool in the afternoon to help out with some aquatic therapy. I'm also planning on scheduling days at the pediatric sports medicine and chronic pain clinics.

Halloween flashback: last year, we were pop singers- Ke$ha, Katy Perry and P!nk (nose ring!)

So, that's work. And considering how much I work, I haven't had much of a life outside of the clinic this week (i.e. yesterday = arrived at 7:15am, left at 8pm...). I did see A Wrinkle in Time at the Children's Theater on Wednesday (I just can't get away from kids, can I?), which was actually really great. And I've been consulting as Jack's personal PT. He's dealing with a grade 3 ACJ separation (a pretty bad shoulder sprain), and heterotopic ossification in his quad (he beat it up so bad playing rugby--hit after hit after hit--that part of his muscle started to turn into bone). What a brutal sport. In Jack's honor, I'm seriously considering dressing up as a rugger for Halloween (tight shirt, tiny shorts, cleats, and a little bit of mud should do the trick). If so, I guess I need to learn the Haka war dance--

Tonight-- the first fire of the year (oh, so cozy), some Sam Adams Octoberfest, and game 7 of the World Series. Tomorrow--let the Halloween festivities begin!