March 29, 2009
Honduras Pictures…Finally!
TA DA!!! Here they are…a month later! Just click on them to make them bigger. I wish there were more of the work he did with the patients and such, but of course he wasn’t thinking about pictures then. So here you go:
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- Living Conditions in the Area
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- Hotel he stayed at
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- Do you see the bird on top of the horse??
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- Pool at his hotel
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- On a hike with some classmates
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- The entire wall was lined with glasses to hand out
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- At the dam
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- Looking down from the dam
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- With one of the student tanslators
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- With Rico, another translator, who he would play bball with (refer to his email)
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- Waterfall- look at the people to see how big it was
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- They had military all over the place
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- Doing something dangerous and awesome
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- Dinner time
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- Tearing down
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- Helping with a surgery
March 26, 2009
Someday we will settle down…maybe!
Wow…this blog thing gets away from you quickly! I know I said I would post pictures of Chris’ trip to Honduras over a month ago, but I really haven’t found the time when I am at his computer! It’s crazy how busy we are! But this weekend I have nothing planned besides catching up on school work so I WILL do it this weekend or my name isn’t Becky Wells (soon to be Borgman). His pictures really did turn out amazing and I can’t wait to go with him next time. He said a lot of the optometrists bring their wives or husbands so I am alllll in!
Our month has been crazy crazy crazy! Here are some of the more interesting things:
Fieldwork- I had my first level 1 fieldwork and it was amazing! Even though I want to go into pediatrics and am pretty set on it, I decided to this one with the older population. I was at an independant living community for seniors and spent the week just hanging out with them and seeing if there was anything we could do (or OTs could do) to improve their independence. Before I make this longer than anyone would want to read, I will just say it was a WONDERFUL experience and the house is only about 1 mile from my apartment. I consider these people friends and will be back to visit often. I learned so much from the diversity of the groups in both the OT sense and just as friends. I LOVE the career I chose.
Boards-Chris took his boards and did wonderfully (as if there was any doubt)! We don’t know what he got yet but he felt good about them and that is much better than a lot of people feel after taking boards. I cannot describe how proud of him I am. He studied harder than I have ever seen anyone study. I wish I could have half of his drive. It is really neat because so many of his classmates will come up to me and talk about how much they believe in Chris and how if he doesn’t pass then no one will pass. I am not exaggerating…he is really respected for his skills as an optometrist and that is really cool to see after watching him work so hard for 3 years. Now he only has 2 classes left. But in true Chris fashion he is also taking a law and contact lens elective and is a TA for the injections lab. I will get him to take a break someday!
Third Quarter-I am in my 2nd week of 3rd quarter and am embracing for another whirlwind just like last quarter. Fewer tests but a lot more projects and papers this quarter. Because fieldwork took up a week of the quarter, we have 9 weeks instead of 10 weeks to get everything done and I have been scrambling to orient myself because of the shorter time.
Eyeball-We went to the “Eye Ball” last weekend. It will probably be our last because Chris’ class will be scattered all over next year andit won’t be as fun without them there. It was held at the observatory in Chicago so we had free reign of the place all night. So when we didn’t feel like dancing or just sitting there we could go look at all the exhibits. I have always LOVED astronomy (not so much because of the science behind it but it makes me realized just how magnificent God is) so I was on cloud 9. We had a great time. I got a little sad though knowing this was one of the last times his class would all be together like that (I am overly sentimental). They are all just so wonderful and we have made some great friends through ICO. For pics from the eye ball go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2551622&id=1929801&l=9e5a0fc4e2 .
We will be running the Shamrock Shuffle this Sunday (so I guess I lied about not having anything to do) so wish us luck. We are both nervous because Chris hasn’t had time to train that much and I have a poopy knee. But we are going to run together and hopefully keep each other going. Wish us luck!
And by the way…I want to so congrats my friend Val and her husband Josh on their baby girl!!! I can’t wait to meet Vera Sue this August!!!!!
Another by the way…GO CUBS!!! Please don’t make us say “there is always next year” again! And they owe us for getting rid of DeRosa!
February 21, 2009
From Honduras and Cali!
First of all I just wanted to recommend Long Beach, CA to everyone! It is gorgeous here! Not just the weather, but the city itself is immaculate. I will get more to my trip in a second (although I am still here). I didn’t think I would be able to update while here, but I found a computer and internet I didn’t have to pay for and I couldn’t wait to post another e-mail from Chris. He is on his way back to Chicago from Houston as I am typing this, but his e-mail was really powerful and I wanted to share right now.
Tuesday was my day to be in the dispensary where the patients came in once they were done with every station in order to get their new/used glasses. It was cool to see so many of them go “wow! esta claro!” haha which means “wow this is clear”! We gave away tons of candy and some t-shirts. I also played a little basketball with one of the student translators from here in Honduras named Rico. He was my lifesaver on Monday because as you know my Spanish is horrible so he would come over and I’d tell him to perform the “usual” and he would laugh and tell the patient everything for me. Anyway I saw him shooting hoops so I gave him some pointers on how to jump shoot instead of just throwing the ball at the hoop. He caught on quickly and we became good friends. He gave me his email address and I gave him mine so we could stay in contact after we leave here. It’s cool to see the impact we can have on people despite our short time down here. Wednesday was full and probably the busiest for me because we were basically the doctors and would decide on who got what drops, glasses, and sunglasses etc etc etc. Pretty cool and powerful stuff. We saw a guy with a retinal detachment and another kid who had light perception only in one eye due to a toxoplasmosis infection which wiped out his macula. After the day at the clinic we took a bus ride to the waterfall! Talk about freaking cool!!!!!! I took lots of pictures/videos just for you to see what we’ve been doing so don’t you worry, haha. Today (Thursday) was the last day of optometry stuff. Tomorrow is our last day here which will be a free day then we come home on Saturday. Today was cool because we were in surgery all day. Cataract surgeries mainly. There was one 16 year old girl who had surgery at 3 to remove some congenital cataracts but they took both her lenses completely out leaving her only to rely on super thick, thicker than Coke-bottle, lenses to help her see which barely helped at all. So she got two lens implants inside her eyes to take the place of the glasses. It will take a little while to get her vision completely cleared up but she was counting fingers in front of her face which she hadn’t been able to do since she was a little girl. She cried for a while with tears of joy which was cool to be a part of. The only really bad thing that happened today was a man and his wife brought in their 3-day old baby son who they had noticed did not really open his right eye. The doctors took a look and found out that the baby had not developed the right eye at all and the boy will only have one eye for his lifetime. And on top of that he had some mucopurulent discharge in his mouth which might mean he has a systemic infection most likely from the birth process where he picked up syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia from the mother. So this kid has a little ways to go to get healthy. Unfortunately, (to quote the ophthalmologist himself) a heart attack is considered an emergency but in Honduras the heart attack won’t even be treated so who knows what will happen to the baby. I almost actually cried to see the mother bawl her eye out.
Sorry to end on that sad note! I can only imagine what seeing that must have been like for him. Chris is an extremely compasstionate man so I am sure that had a great effect on him. I like how he said he “actually” almost started crying because for those of you who don’t know Chris…crying is not something he does easily at all. Although not everything seemed to be happy-go-lucky while he was there, it certainly seems he had an amazing time and I will post pictures for you all to see, especially of that waterfall (I am a little envious he was able to see that, I must admit 
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As for me, my weekend has been wonderful as well (although I am sure this is boring after reading Chris’ email). My flight was perfect, the conference was VERY interesting, and the weather has been amazing. I have to mention, if you looked to the right outside my hotel room you would see the ocean. Then to the left- mountains. Coming from a place where to the left and right are cows and corn…it was awesome. Anyway, I learned so much and even the stuff that was over my head (as I am still a 1st year OT student) gave me something to consider in the future once I am more skilled. Being around these amazing researchers and therapists has been a breath of fresh air after having my nose in text books and hands in cadavers. I especially became excited when they would talk neuro and I would know what they were talking about! My director kept laughing at me because I would go “oooo, I know that!” under my breath. Both tonight and last night I walked down to the pier and tonight I even studied (finals week is this week) there. I would say that was a step up from the library . Last night was eventful because we had a little “party” among the therapists and they hired a magician to perform for us (the theme of the conference is perception within sensory integration…so he fit in well). This kid was only 18 years old, had been doing magic for 4 years, was the Teen World Champion, and had more talent in his pinkie than I do in my whole body. He was not only a good magician, but an entertaining, hilarious performer. His name is Sterling…keep an eye out for him. He even pulled me up on stage for a trick and I have always wanted to do that!
I am heading back to Chicago tomorrow morning and cannot WAIT to see my fiance. Then I have finals (poopy) then a week long break (yeah!). Thank you all for safe trip prayers! Again, I will post Chris’ pics soon!
February 16, 2009
Email From Chris!!!!
I didn’t know if I would be able to hear from Chris when he was in Honduras as the internet there (as well as the electricity) is pretty shady. But I just got back from working out and SURPRISE I have an email from my world traveler. I thought I would post the parts of the email you would all enjoy (minus the mushy “I miss you stuff” ) Here it is:
The landscape itself is absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. However, the locals throw trash and garbage in every nook and cranny you can think of. It’s sad and disgusting at the same time. But they are very grateful for the help we are giving them. This morning we arrived at the clinic which is a school for grades 1-12, I believe, and there were about 700 people standing outside the gates waiting for us to get in. It was an unbelievable feeling to walk into the buildings. These people parted like the Red Sea, like we were rock stars. It was pretty cool to see. I spent all day looking at the back of the eye undilated which was long but saw some cool things. The hotel we are staying it is probably one of the best in the country, yet our sink does not work so we have to brush our teeth in the shower haha. But beggers can’t be choosers. The rooms are actually spacious. The schedule so far has been get up at 5:45 for breakfast and then at the worksite by 730-ish and finishing up around 2 or 3. Then it’s back to the hotel to swim in the pool and drink lots of beer haha. Nights so far have been spent drinking, playing cards, and playing CatchPhrase. Today we also rented kayaks and went out on the water of the lake. Talk about beautiful!
That’s about it for now…but I will post again if I hear from him. Who knows if he will be able to get to the internet again though. Hope you enjoyed hearing from Chris as much as I did! And as always, prayers for a safe return are appreciated!
February 12, 2009
Coming Up!
Chris and I have a lot coming up this next month and a half and I thought I would give our readers a heads up incase I am not able to update as soon as I should. And also, thoughts and prayers would be appreciated!
Today- Chris finished his finals for this quarter. After this, he only has ONE final left…ever!
This Saturday (2/14)- Chris leaves for Honduras for a week. He is really looking forward to it and I cannot wait to hear about it. He will be giving eye care to people living there who could not otherwise afford it. Pretty cool stuff!
Next Thursday (2/19)- I am going to Long Beach, CA to go to a Sensory Integration and Perception Conference. This is going to be a such a great opportunity for me. Although it will be pretty intense, I hope not all of it is completely over my head.
The week after I get back from my trip I have finals week to finish up my 2nd quarter and that will be wonderful. This quarter has definitely tried my stress levels, as the facutly all said it would, and I am ready to move on and not small like cadavers anymore!
Mid-March (I can’t remember the exact date right now)- Chris has his first set of boards. He has been studying nonstop for the past couple of months. He will do beautifully, I just know it!
End of March- Chris and I will be doing the “Shamrock Shuffle”. This is an 8K run through downtown Chicago. Training for this has inspired me to participate in the Chicago triathlon on August 30th. Although its a mini triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 3.1 mile run, 13 mile bike ride) I have never done anything like this. Some other girls in my class are doing it with me (Chris will be in Alabama at the time 
) so it should be a fun time!
That’s all for now, but I will put up pictures and all that fun stuff after it all happens!
January 22, 2009
Light at the end of the academic tunnel…
Chris and I are getting excited to kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as school goes. I know I am only in my 2nd quarter, but something happened this week that made me realize I really won’t be here for that long. I put in special requests for my fieldwork rotations, which start June 2010. I had to do this early because they fill up so fast and also because that will be after Chris and I are married and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be placed somewhere 1000 miles away from my husband. Anyway, they have been confirmed! One of them is actually at the same hospital my mom works at, so we are excited to have lunch together . I didn’t think it would happen so soon! I called Chris and told him it is offical, we are moving back home after we get married…no turning back now! Only God knows what he has in store for us after my rotations, but we have something to go by now after wondering for so long where we were going to be after we are married. This little detail has given me a little boost as I sometimes wonder if we will ever be done with school. But I am being careful to not wish time away!
After this quarter, Chris only has 2 more classes left. TWO!!! How cool is that? I am glad we got together early in his optometry school career so that I could see all his hard work pay off. I am so proud of him! He has his first set of boards coming up too, which is nerve racking for him but exciting as well. These are just more events that show us we are getting there!
January 15, 2009
Attention “Twilight”ers!
I just received an e-mail informing me about something very exciting…ready? Twilight will be out on video March 21st!!!! Yes, I signed up to have an e-mail sent to me when the release date was known and I am willing to take on all criticism for doing so.
When it comes to Twilight, I say “don’t knock it until you try it”. I understand not everyone will or does like it ( I wasn’t a fan of Harry Potter, and I know I am in the minority there) and I will be the first to say the movie is not nearly as good as the book. The story line stays relatively true to the book, but the special effects are pretty cheesy. When I first heard about the premise “a vampire and a human girl fall in love and there are 4 books based on that” it didn’t sound like my kind of thing. But there is so much more to it than that and a little over a week later I was done with all 4 books and sad because I wanted to know what in the heck Edward and Bella were up to now! Some girls in my class all bonded over these books too and we often try very hard to find some way to relate occupational therapy to Twilight to make class more interesting. And I know a guy who read the first book and really liked the movie. I am not going to say who because he would not be happy if I were to disclose his name…I will just call him C. Borgman. No, that’s too obvious, I will call him Chris B. Point being, do not make fun of us Twilighters…after you read the books you will be hoping for a convention too! Okay, that might be a stretch.
January 11, 2009
What is Optometry?
Chris insisted I clarify his profession as well and told me to write the following:
An optometrist can do everything an ophthalmologist can except surgery.
And I am going to add in my own little disclaimer:
Optometrists study JUST the eye ball for FOUR YEARS…they should be able to do as much, if not more, than an ophthalmologist.
What is Occupational Therapy?
In about 1 year and 10 months I will be a full-fledged occupational therapist and that will be followed with about 30 years of explaining to people what that is. Is it someone who trains people how to do their jobs? Am I like a physical therapist…just for the upper extremities? Do I do crafts all day long with patients? Although there is a tiny bit of truth behind these statements and I can see where the misconception was started, the answer to all these questions is “no”. And I am not offended in the least when people either ask me what it is or have a completely wrong idea because, to be honest, I didn’t know what it was until about 3 months before I applied to grad school to be one and I feel like I am just NOW understanding what it truly means to be an occupational therapist. Since I am writing this blog for our friends and family, I thought it would be nice to explain what OT is so that the people I love can have a better idea of what I am spending 2½ years of my life working towards. And if someone decides to google “What is occupational therapy?” maybe this post will come up and I can help someone else out! Here are SOME examples of where OTs work…but definitely not a complete list:
· Hand therapy- Not a whole lot of tasks/activites can be done easily without the use of your hands. So an OT in the field would look at a hand injury, find out what kids of occupations the patient does with his or her hands and follow up with the right treatment plan for that person. Hand therapy would be different for a pianist (fine motor) than it would be for a radio DJ. This is probably where our comparison to physical therapy comes from because it deals a lot with kinesthetics.
· Community reintegration- In this field, an OT helps either inmates in a prison or residents of a mental health facility (there are other examples as well) who have not been in the community for a lengthy amount of time prepare for life on one’s own. If a person has not had to deal with budgeting, transportation, job searching, etc, for a long time, this can be a very intimidating experience. An OT would help with the skills needed as this person took on occupations needed for independence. This might even include being a father or mother again.
· Activities of daily living- ADLs are the tasks that we do everyday to take care of ourselves. Showering, brushing our teeth, dressing, making food, etc. And when someone has a disability or suffers from an injury (ex: spinal cord injury, hip replacement), these can very hard to do and along with that a person’s dignity can greatly suffer. An OT would show different ways of performing a task, teach a person how to use adapting equipment, or work on strength and endurance to be sure a woman can stand long enough to cook for her kids (that’s just an example).
· Consulting- One of my professors has worked with construction companies to be sure the building they are working will meet the needs of its owner or of anyone using it. I am sure everyone has heard of ADA (American with Disabilities Act) which ensures all new public buildings must be accessible to everyone. Well, even these regulations don’t do a whole lot; it is great that there is something…but it has many loopholes (I am going to stop myself from standing on a soapbox right now before I go off on a tangent). Anyway, my professor looked at things like harsh lighting, how easy it is to maneuver a wheelchair, height of sinks, you get the idea.
· Consulting again- For my first fieldwork, I am going into a senior community that does not have an OT and looking into what kind of activities the house supervisor can incorporate so that the residents are able to find meaning in their everyday life. I will also be looking for improvements and adjustments that can be made in the house so that the residents are able to be as independent as possible.
· Mental health- Instead of explaining this one, I am going to give an example. One of my professors has worked in a mental health facility and while there, one activity she loved to do with the patients was crafts, jewelry making especially. She would tell us how proud and excited her patients were when they completed a project because it gave them such joy in making something “beautiful”. They felt good to give it to someone they loved or to keep it and say “look what I did”. In the midst of all the negative happenings they may experience, this little activity allowed them to be creative, express themselves, and feel in control of something in their lives.
· PEDIATRICS!!!- I saved this one for last because it is what I want to do and why I got into OT. What are the two things every child needs to be given the chance to do? Learn and play. As an OT in pediatrics I will look at what is standing in the way of these two things and use therapy of all kinds to give that child the chance to succeed. I may work with children diagnosed with autism, muscular dystrophy, downs syndrome, ADD/ADHD, any injury, you name it. I am sure I will write many posts on what I am learning in this area because it is an undeniable passion of mine so I will keep this explanation to a minimum. But, I wanted to give a certain scenario that I think explains what my role will be as an OT in pediatrics.:
o Another one of my professors works in the school system and a 13-year-old girl she worked with (I’ll call her Annie) had extreme sensory processing problems. In Annie’s case, her nervous system took in every sound, touch, sight, and taste to an extreme and this created a huge distraction. Imagine if you were trying to study and felt as though someone was screaming in your ear or if the lightest touch you felt startled you; that’s what everything felt like to this little girl. She came to see my professor for a session and Allyson had Annie draw a picture of herself. In her picture, Annie included multiple eyes, noses, mouths, limbs and ears showing that her senses were in overload, preventing her from learning and playing like she should. Allyson did some sensory integration with Annie which helped her to calm her nervous system down and get it back to where it should be. This therapeutic technique has truly become my biggest interest. After this, Allyson asked Annie to draw another picture of herself. In the picture she had 2 eyes, 1 nose, 1 mouth, 2 ears, 2 arms, and 2 legs, showing her senses were no longer over taking her. She was able to go back to class and concentrate. This is only a slice of what sensory integration is…but I love it!
There are so many areas for an OT to be a part of (and I have only scratched the surface)- which is why we take classes in everything from anatomy to mental health to theory to neurology. But all occupational therapists look at what occupations a person loves to do or should have the right to do, figure out what is standing in the way of fulfilling that occupation, and guides the patient through whatever treatment plan is needed to succeed in that occupation. Pretty cool huh?
January 6, 2009
Happy 2009!
I am trying this blogging thing again! I tried last summer, but it just got away from me after a few posts. But while I was driving back to Chicago from Christmas break I was thinking about all that happened in 2008 and immediately regretted not documenting it on a blog. Chris and I lead pretty fast paced lives right now, and before I knew it a year had gone by since we had been engaged, Sydney (my niece) went from using two word sentences to saying things like “help me Papa, I’m just a little girl!” and singing her ABC’s, and the list goes on and on. So I am trying this again as a way to help Chris and I look back…and even show our kids what our lives were like during this time in our life!
In 2008 Chris and I got engaged (definitely the highlight of the year…orour life to this point), he started seeing patients, I moved to Chicago and started school, and we have been planning for our wedding (as much as possible anyway). We have also welcomed many new little ones into our life including 3 little cousins (Avary, Rylin, and Madison) and a little guy (Seth) who is the baby boy of some very good family friends. It has been very fun to hold tiny babies everywhere we went back home! There is a whole lot of in between all of that, but that would be a very long blog! Simply we had an extremely blessed 2008!
2009 has no intention of slowing down, which I have no problem with…most of the time. Chris begins his externships in May (and is ALL done with classes!). He will be back home in the summer, in Alabama in the fall, and will be back here with me in the winter and then the spring. He also takes his first set of boards in the spring. In February he will be going to Honduras for a mission trip to spend a week helping others receive vision care who could not afford it otherwise. I have my first fieldwork rotation in March and will be increasingly busy with school. We will continue planning for our wedding as it is now 1 year and 4 months away. In August a VERY dear friend of mine, Val, and her husband will be welcoming their first baby and I am determined to be the best unrelated Aunt I can be! I really can’t think much farther beyond Spring though, but I will be documenting!
I am going to leave you with a funny story that ended our 2008. I have been cutting Chris’ hair for about a year and a half now with absolutely no glitches. The morning of New Year’s Eve, Chris and I were getting ready to go to Des Moines to stay with some friends and he asked me to cut his hair really quick. Our hair trimmer had broke and his mom got a new one, but it was pulling his hair more than cutting it. So his dad ran down to the store to get a new one quickly and this was all putting us very behind schedule to get the Des Moines. When we got the new clippers, I was in such a hurry to get it done that I forgot to put the blade guard on (you know…the “number 2″) and put a big ole’ buzzed strip up the back of his head. 3 feelings immediately arose within the room, I felt awful, Chris was mad, and his dad was laughing harder than I have ever seen him laugh. His mom was just comforting both of us, as she always does . Chris was only mad for about 20 mins but I continued to cry as I buzzed the rest of his head after he told me he didn’t like the bull cut. He still looks adorable, of course, but I think I took it harder than he did because I felt so awful! But even then I knew it would be funny later and a good story. We are already laughing about it and he got to tell everyone today on his first day back about what I did, and I can only imagine how he must have told it! Oh well…he still wants to marry me! And I am going to blog…for real this time.
Here is Chris’ new hairdo. Doesn’t he look so happy about it:
