Browse Category: work

Basketball Practice

team

This Saturday (April 18th), I’ll be playing in a 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball tourney.  It’s to benefit the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program located in Berkeley.  Unfortunately, everyone on our team has never played w/c b-ball so today at lunch we gathered all our sports chairs and “practiced” at our Sports Medicine court across the street from the main hospital.

practice

I have horrible upperbody strength so this was pretty challenging.  Just wheeling myself across the street was an adventure all by itself.  Once at the court, we all realized how much harder it is to shoot the ball without your legs, being at least a foot shorter, and still having to get the ball into a hoop at regulation height.  We all survived our one and only practice session and hopefully it will be enough.  Come out and watch me!!!

Venue/Location:
James Kenney Recreation Center
1720 8th St, Berkeley, CA 94710

When:
Saturday, April 18th 10:00 am -2:00 pm

This is dedicated to Brother…

It’s National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day! Wooooooooo! I’ve always loved the combination but I’ve recently rediscovered the benefits of having it for breakfast each morning. I bring a slice of wheat bread to work, toast it at the cafeteria, grab a PB packet and a strawberry jelly packet, and voila! Breakfast!

12 days

We are well within Week 2 of our “Veggie Experiment“.  I haven’t tasted fish, pork, chicken, or beef for the past 12 days and it’s been ok so far.  I guess I can think of only two big bummers so far:

  1. We attempted to go out to eat on our usual Wednesday last week and it was quite a learning experience.  We chose a place we go to regularly just to see how we could make this experiment work.  Unfortunately they were serving a special “BBQ Menu” that night.  Dude!!!  It’s bad enough that I had to go veggie but I couldn’t try any of their special BBQ items!  Jes explained to the waiter that we were trying to go veggie so he brought us the bar menu and we luckily found a few items to try.  But we didn’t get to have any brisket!!!  Bummer.
  2. Today I was feeding one of my patients who is an extremely picky eater and  I managed to coax him into eating some of his omelet and pancake.  He also had 2 strips of bacon sitting there on his plate, which he COMPLETELY REFUSED.  It was killing me!!  It smelled so good and this little kid was refusing the “magical animal”!!!!!  I wanted to just gobble it up for him and pretend it never happened but I reluctantly tossed in the trash.  Double-bummer.

So, last Friday we added egg to our “OK foods” and this Friday was supposed to be when we add fish again.  However, after figuring out that my brother’s wedding reception was coming up in 2 weeks, we decided to keep going without fish for an additional week.  So, by the time the reception rolls around, we will be back to our regular carnivorous diet just in time for the tasty Thai feast.  I can’t wait!

A Back-to-Work Treat

I went back to work today all relaxed and ready to tackle my day. I actually hobbled in since I have the worst shin splints EVAR right now and my left knee is killing me. Besides all that, I had a pretty good first day back at work. That was…until I went upstairs to see one more patient. She was a sweet little 11-month-old enjoying herself on my lap. Little did I know that she was having such a good time that she emptied her bladder into her diaper which then leaked all over my lap. What happened to all those leak-proof diapers I’ve seen on TV?! Sure, the pee was bad enough but what’s worse is that the baby’s on some crazy medicine that gives her super highlighter yellow pee. So, when I stood up there was a huge wet bright yellow spot on my pants that might as well have been a sign that said “Look here! I peed myself!”. In the meantime, the little baby just looked up at me with a big smile on her face. *sigh* All I could do was change her diaper and call it a day. Luckily it was the end of the day and I could just throw my coat on and drive home instead of wandering the halls of the hospital searching for scrubs to wear. So, that was my first day back at work. WooPEE!!

I totally rocked it!

sewing machine

Last week my PT partner asked me to make a gait belt for our patient and I said, “OK, but let me just figure out how to do it first.”  Yesterday I consulted with my mentor about what materials to use and the best way to assemble it and dove right in.  My biggest hesitance was tackling the industrial sewing machine that is notoriously prone to breakage but I figured it out.  I think my saving grace were the sewing classes I took last year.

two straps

Velcro

Once I got started, everything I learned came flowing back.  I pinned my materials, remembered how to turn the stitch, and even replaced the bobbin when it ran out.  This machine was awesome.  It stitched through 2 pieces of thick straps and Velcro without a single flinch.

X stitch

This morning I finished it up by adding a leash-like handle and it stitched through two straps, a piece of Velcro, and two more straps!  Amazing.

inside

So here is the finished product.  I actually ended up giving the belt a second set of stitching to smooth out the inner seam (see the bulges?) but I forgot to take a photo of it.

gait beltIt’s basically a belt that goes around a 2-year-old, closes in the back with Velcro, and has a looped strap that allows his parents to provide him support without having to bend down too far.  He’s a little wobbly and this will allow him to walk with his caretaker giving him a little extra stability.  Once he gets stronger, I suppose they can also use it as a leash the next time they go to an amusement park.  Haha.

action

Here’s the belt (and our little dude) in action.  Yay!

Chugging Along

I’ve been chugging along these past couple weeks with work and running.

At work, I’m transitioning from the Outpatient service to the Acute Inpatient Rehab service.  This means juggling my usual schedule of 20-25 patients/week with the one patient (staying in the hospital) that needs to be seen twice daily.  It has certainly been quite an experience so far but luckily I’m paired up with my favorite PT, a good friend of mine, who keeps me laughing and in check as I’m learning the ropes.  The only bummer about this new assignment is that I have to see him at 8:15 in the morning, which is 45 minutes earlier than usual for me. I also have a student following me around all week, which has slowed me down a little bit.  Luckily she’s fun to have around.

As for the half marathon training, I’m up to 6 miles now with a little under 2 months to go.  I’m on a steady routine of 3-4 days/week of running, which includes the Long Run on the weekend.  I’ve been injury-free so far (knock on wood) and it’s getting a little easier each week.  Last week I ran from my house to Fisherman’s Wharf and back, which was a little crazy trying to dodge all the tourists and street performers.  I may need to rethink my route for this weekend.

This week it’s been raining and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to go skiing for the first time this season.  I was told that I wasn’t needed at work on Monday after all so it looks like Tahoe may be in my near future…this weekend perhaps?!