This is the minimum number of direct contact hours I have had for clinic work during the last 1.5 years (I'm still waiting to confirm hours for my offsite placement; hence, "minimum"). I was actually kind of surprised to see that the number was that high. It does feel like an accomplishment!
Of course, that number doesn't include all the hours of prep work and paperwork that went along with it. Wowza.
Take all of that plus hours spent in class plus hours spent out of class for class reading and assignments and projects and studying, and I can definitely see why I have been busy.
Yay for winter break*!
*side note: I can't believe the university this year, of all years, isn't starting spring classes until Jan. 17. Now until then would be a completely AMAZING break!! I, on the other hand, start my internship Jan. 3. I am super excited for my internship but am also in need of a break. I am definitely thankful for the break I do get.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
asha convention {san diego}
Before Thanksgiving, I traveled to San Diego for our certifying association's (ASHA) annual convention. The convention itself was a packed few days. I'm pretty terrible at estimating things, but there were probably 20 or so lectures going on at any given time, which made scheduling one's day a chore. In addition, there were also concurrently running poster presentations and an exhibit hall (read: lots of free stuff).
I was fortunate that my schedule allowed me to fly out on the morning of the day before the convention and further fortunate that one of my friends is from the area and was already there, so she picked up a handful of us from the airport and took us to the beach! I was my most relaxing day in months!
That evening after a few more of our friends had arrived, we went out to a wine and cheese bar, and the relaxing, wonderful times continued. These are great and supportive people. I think it started because one of our group was recently engaged, but we went around and everyone shared something good that had recently happened to them, and we toasted each person. :)
A number of my classmates presented posters at the convention. I found out after he left, that this guy I had captured on camera at my friends' poster was actually one of the authors they referenced on the poster. Sweet!
Here are some of us in the San Diego airport waiting for our flight back to Denver. Our flights were filled with speech-language pathologists and poster tubes.
I was fortunate that my schedule allowed me to fly out on the morning of the day before the convention and further fortunate that one of my friends is from the area and was already there, so she picked up a handful of us from the airport and took us to the beach! I was my most relaxing day in months!
Jen, Loriann, Jocelyn, me, and Jenny at Mission(??) Beach
ignore the months-old polish...
That evening after a few more of our friends had arrived, we went out to a wine and cheese bar, and the relaxing, wonderful times continued. These are great and supportive people. I think it started because one of our group was recently engaged, but we went around and everyone shared something good that had recently happened to them, and we toasted each person. :)
Kelby, Loriann, Jen, me, Heather, Jenny, Jocelyn, Emily
A number of my classmates presented posters at the convention. I found out after he left, that this guy I had captured on camera at my friends' poster was actually one of the authors they referenced on the poster. Sweet!
Here are some of us in the San Diego airport waiting for our flight back to Denver. Our flights were filled with speech-language pathologists and poster tubes.
Danielle, Suzanne, Amy, Davis
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
pumkin spice yum
I love a good Pumpkin Spice Latte as much as the next person this time of year. This drink recipe is not exactly the same, but it sure is good. Sorry, no amounts for you -- I just throw stuff together.
--strong coffee (I use my stove top moka pot to make an espresso-like coffee)
--milk
--splash of half-and-half
--sugar
--pumpkin spice
--ice cubes (5-6)
Mix all in a blender.
Yum.
I have a pot on the stove right now that will soon be made into this drink.
Today for kicks, I think I will top with some Redi-Whip and sprinkle a little pumpkin spice on top to make it pretty.
**update**
And pretty it was.
--strong coffee (I use my stove top moka pot to make an espresso-like coffee)
--milk
--splash of half-and-half
--sugar
--pumpkin spice
--ice cubes (5-6)
Mix all in a blender.
Yum.
I have a pot on the stove right now that will soon be made into this drink.
Today for kicks, I think I will top with some Redi-Whip and sprinkle a little pumpkin spice on top to make it pretty.
**update**
And pretty it was.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
under the belt
This week I got a few new experiences under the belt.
First, I and another clinician have been providing Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) therapy to a 60-something client with Parkinson's disease. LSVT is THE speech therapy for individuals with PD and one of the only therapies in our field with such high levels of evidence supporting it. It truly is amazing. Not only were we delivering this therapy, but we were being supervised by the creator of it (who is also one of my current professors). It seems she doesn't usually do clinical supervision in our clinic, so this was a unique opportunity -- and one you can bet I was pretty nervous about. I was also nervous because I don't think of myself as having an "LSVT personality," in which you are a super excited cheerleader and also a boss of the session and client. However, it went very well. BUT, the specific experience this week that was a first for me was that we had to dismiss our client. LSVT is very regimented and requires treatment fidelity to be effective. Part of the therapy is homework -- daily on the days you receive treatment (four days per week) and twice daily on the days you don't (the other three days of the week). Our client was not doing homework. It was a tough thing to dismiss: Sure, it was too bad I didn't get the full experience of the therapy and seeing the results and getting those therapy hours, but more than that, I felt bad for the client. It kind of feels like sending the message, "You failed" (which I know is not true). Plus, I had built up a relationship with this client and all of a sudden I was saying, "Sorry, I'm not going to help you anymore." Sad. I don't disagree that it was the right thing to do. I hope the client will find a time in life when he can commit to the therapy and comes back and does it!
Second, I performed my first real bedside swallow evaluation on a real life hospital patient yesterday! The patient came in with suspected stroke due to right-side weakness and some decreased ability to talk, which was then exacerbated by a fall onto a hard surface (so likely post-concussive as well). Imaging did not confirm stroke, but a swallow study is always in order for suspected stroke because cranial nerves can be damaged, impacting your motor and/or sensory functions -- both of which are very important for swallowing. As you might imagine, the subfield of swallowing in speech-language pathology is a very important one -- it's probably the only one in which your decisions could result in the death of the patient. Yikes. The goal is to determine whether the patient is safe for swallowing, and what types of textures or strategies might facilitate safety. Safety is does not just mean eating without choking; what you really want to be concerned about is aspiration (food or liquid going down the trachea into the lungs) because this can cause aspiration pneumonia and subsequently death. AND aspiration can be silent! That is, the patient does not react to food/liquid slipping down past the vocal folds with coughing -- it just goes down. Aspiration can not be confirmed with a bedside swallow evaluation; a video fluoroscopy swallow study is used for that, in which you actually watch by way of X-ray video barium boluses being swallowed and can see it going down the wrong way. But anyway, I did the bedside eval, which looks at swallow structure structure and function (including strength and range of movement) and sensation. We then provide different consistencies to the patient and observe swallowing, while also feeling on the neck for proper movement of the larynx. Yes, I was nervous. Yes, I forgot some things or did not fully do some things (no worries -- my SLP supervisor was right there helping me out). I got lucky that my patient has no dysphagia / no risk of aspiration. Yay, patient!
First, I and another clinician have been providing Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) therapy to a 60-something client with Parkinson's disease. LSVT is THE speech therapy for individuals with PD and one of the only therapies in our field with such high levels of evidence supporting it. It truly is amazing. Not only were we delivering this therapy, but we were being supervised by the creator of it (who is also one of my current professors). It seems she doesn't usually do clinical supervision in our clinic, so this was a unique opportunity -- and one you can bet I was pretty nervous about. I was also nervous because I don't think of myself as having an "LSVT personality," in which you are a super excited cheerleader and also a boss of the session and client. However, it went very well. BUT, the specific experience this week that was a first for me was that we had to dismiss our client. LSVT is very regimented and requires treatment fidelity to be effective. Part of the therapy is homework -- daily on the days you receive treatment (four days per week) and twice daily on the days you don't (the other three days of the week). Our client was not doing homework. It was a tough thing to dismiss: Sure, it was too bad I didn't get the full experience of the therapy and seeing the results and getting those therapy hours, but more than that, I felt bad for the client. It kind of feels like sending the message, "You failed" (which I know is not true). Plus, I had built up a relationship with this client and all of a sudden I was saying, "Sorry, I'm not going to help you anymore." Sad. I don't disagree that it was the right thing to do. I hope the client will find a time in life when he can commit to the therapy and comes back and does it!
Second, I performed my first real bedside swallow evaluation on a real life hospital patient yesterday! The patient came in with suspected stroke due to right-side weakness and some decreased ability to talk, which was then exacerbated by a fall onto a hard surface (so likely post-concussive as well). Imaging did not confirm stroke, but a swallow study is always in order for suspected stroke because cranial nerves can be damaged, impacting your motor and/or sensory functions -- both of which are very important for swallowing. As you might imagine, the subfield of swallowing in speech-language pathology is a very important one -- it's probably the only one in which your decisions could result in the death of the patient. Yikes. The goal is to determine whether the patient is safe for swallowing, and what types of textures or strategies might facilitate safety. Safety is does not just mean eating without choking; what you really want to be concerned about is aspiration (food or liquid going down the trachea into the lungs) because this can cause aspiration pneumonia and subsequently death. AND aspiration can be silent! That is, the patient does not react to food/liquid slipping down past the vocal folds with coughing -- it just goes down. Aspiration can not be confirmed with a bedside swallow evaluation; a video fluoroscopy swallow study is used for that, in which you actually watch by way of X-ray video barium boluses being swallowed and can see it going down the wrong way. But anyway, I did the bedside eval, which looks at swallow structure structure and function (including strength and range of movement) and sensation. We then provide different consistencies to the patient and observe swallowing, while also feeling on the neck for proper movement of the larynx. Yes, I was nervous. Yes, I forgot some things or did not fully do some things (no worries -- my SLP supervisor was right there helping me out). I got lucky that my patient has no dysphagia / no risk of aspiration. Yay, patient!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
amazing discovery of the week:
Tomato bisque is easy to make. This is an amazing discovery for me because I love tomato bisque...no idea why I never looked into this before. Probably because I only have it at those fancy soup and sandwich places (and Noodles & Co, haha). [[True confession: I HATE tomato soup (like the canned stuff) and always have. I wonder why I ever even tried eating tomato bisque...]] Yes, I went an easier route (read: canned tomatoes) than some recipes that are out there, but it is still quite tasty. All we did:
--finely dice a medium yellow onion
--sautee until translucent in 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil (or whatever combination of oils/fats you prefer)
--stir in 1 T of flour (or corn starch) and 1 T sugar and cook for at least 1 min while stirring continuously to prevent burning
--add a little bit of water (I added probably 1/4-1/2 c)
--stir in 1 T Better Than Bouillon (or you can use a can of chicken broth instead of this and water)
--add two 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
--add salt, pepper, sugar, chicken broth stuff to taste
--bring to a boil
--reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 min; add more liquid if you need it
--allow to cool some and add 1.5-2 c half-and-half (or heavy whipping cream) or don't add it to the pot and simply add desired amount to each bowl
So easy. We didn't even bother with pureeing it (I generally hate pureeing soup in a blender...at least my blender...because it takes so long). Using crushed tomatoes and finely dicing the onions makes for a pretty fine-textured soup.
This plus a colby jack on poppyseed/sesame seed/hazelnut bread sandwich Foremanned made for the perfect lunch for today. Yay for a perfect lunch to suit the weather; boo for it only being like 51* today. And rainy. Ick.
--finely dice a medium yellow onion
--sautee until translucent in 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil (or whatever combination of oils/fats you prefer)
--stir in 1 T of flour (or corn starch) and 1 T sugar and cook for at least 1 min while stirring continuously to prevent burning
--add a little bit of water (I added probably 1/4-1/2 c)
--stir in 1 T Better Than Bouillon (or you can use a can of chicken broth instead of this and water)
--add two 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
--add salt, pepper, sugar, chicken broth stuff to taste
--bring to a boil
--reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 min; add more liquid if you need it
--allow to cool some and add 1.5-2 c half-and-half (or heavy whipping cream) or don't add it to the pot and simply add desired amount to each bowl
So easy. We didn't even bother with pureeing it (I generally hate pureeing soup in a blender...at least my blender...because it takes so long). Using crushed tomatoes and finely dicing the onions makes for a pretty fine-textured soup.
This plus a colby jack on poppyseed/sesame seed/hazelnut bread sandwich Foremanned made for the perfect lunch for today. Yay for a perfect lunch to suit the weather; boo for it only being like 51* today. And rainy. Ick.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
hospital
This is not my for-keeps internship (real internships are in the spring; I have my school placement but am still interviewing for my other placement), but I have an offsite placement at this hospital for a few months this semester. I spend one morning per week here going around with the SLPs.
I just finished my second week, so I am still doing a lot of observing. So far, it has been a really great experience. I am with the SLPs who work on the acute floors (as opposed to rehab), so the patients we see have just had their injuries/damage/surgery or have just had a new development in their speech/language or swallowing. Yes, swallowing. This offsite is actually specifically for swallowing, though I have seen about half-and-half swallowing and language/speech evals. My first week I saw a heartbreaking stroke case but obviously can't share the details. This last week was all about swallowing. I even saw someone in the ICU, got to gown and glove up, and help move the patient...I felt so Grey's Anatomy, haha. We also had two video fluoroscopic swallow studies (VFSS), and I was pleased with how much I actually do remember from my dysphagia class.
If anyone is curious what a VFSS is, it is a video x-ray of swallowing. We present the patient with different textures of liquids and solids that have barium in or on them so that they can be visualized by x-ray. Our job is to observe how the patient handles the different textures in her mouth, pharynx, and larynx and to determine what is safe for the patient. Typical textures are thin, honey-thick, nectar-thick, puree, and cracker/cookie, and then we will often do a barium tablet as well to determine the safest way for a patient to take meds. The most important thing to look for is if anything is going down the trachea instead of the esophagus, but there is A LOT more to look for than that, and it all happens crazy fast.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
kansas in signs
Another trip to KS under the belt. It was a really fun trip and one I was very much looking forward to, especially for two reasons: 1. I would get to see my husband again after a month of being in different states; and 2. I would finally get to meet my new niece!
kansas signs...
I always find it exciting to cross state lines. Does anyone else honk when you do? I asked a few of my friends here about that, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Well, I do.
Near Colby. No offense to the man, but this creepy Jesus head popping up out of the wheat billboard always weirds me out.
Delicious Mexican food found here. I always love when I get to Goodland at some meal time (or not meal time...as I specifically waited until 2:30 for lunch so I could eat here) and have time to stop for longer to get this food. Hands down they have the best tortillas I've ever eaten. We always get plain tortillas as dessert. It's called El Reynaldo's. It's funny because the signs and menu pictures at this restaurant totally make it look like a chain, but it's just a local place. Although, there is an El Reynaldo's in Burlington, CO, too, but I haven't stopped yet to find out if it is the same/related.
Probably one of the prettier state border signs and setting. I love how they have a huge pull-off area for photo ops. I still remember the first time I went to Colorado (as a kid)...I expected to see mountains immediately upon crossing the border.
I still have to get a picture of my favorite billboard along the drive for my collection. It will probably be easier / safer to get when I am not the only person in the car. Plus, this trip I had forgotten what town it was near so it was all of a sudden just upon me. Next time, I'll be prepared.
kansas signs...
I always find it exciting to cross state lines. Does anyone else honk when you do? I asked a few of my friends here about that, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Well, I do.
Near Colby. No offense to the man, but this creepy Jesus head popping up out of the wheat billboard always weirds me out.
Delicious Mexican food found here. I always love when I get to Goodland at some meal time (or not meal time...as I specifically waited until 2:30 for lunch so I could eat here) and have time to stop for longer to get this food. Hands down they have the best tortillas I've ever eaten. We always get plain tortillas as dessert. It's called El Reynaldo's. It's funny because the signs and menu pictures at this restaurant totally make it look like a chain, but it's just a local place. Although, there is an El Reynaldo's in Burlington, CO, too, but I haven't stopped yet to find out if it is the same/related. 
Probably one of the prettier state border signs and setting. I love how they have a huge pull-off area for photo ops. I still remember the first time I went to Colorado (as a kid)...I expected to see mountains immediately upon crossing the border.
I still have to get a picture of my favorite billboard along the drive for my collection. It will probably be easier / safer to get when I am not the only person in the car. Plus, this trip I had forgotten what town it was near so it was all of a sudden just upon me. Next time, I'll be prepared.
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