Good Grades, Good Rides, Good Runs, and Good News!

[Vegas_Sky]

Hi everyone!

I just had to come on here and share some of the happiness that I’m feeling right now - things are going really well!

First off, I made it through the end of the term and through finals! There were SOOOO many times this term that I thought I would never make it, but I did! And not only did I make it through, But I actually made a 3.6 GPA this term! I got A’s in my research project and in Statistics and a B in biochemistry. I was hoping that I might get an A in biochemistry, but it’s a really hard class for anyone to take, so I’m happy with a B, considering some of my non-brain injured friends barely squeaked by with low C’s. It’s actually the best GPA I’ve posted since Summer Term 2009! All due in no small part to my amazing speech-language pathologist who got my brain working again and helped me learn new studying and learning methods.

Secondly, I rode Poppy tonight! Poppy is the mare who threw me. It’s been 94 days since the accident and since I rode Poppy. She was naughty and snarky under saddle just like she always is (gotta love grey OTTB mares!) but was so sweet and happy on the ground to have me riding her again. We really get along great and all in all, I was pleased for how well she did for having very little work over the past three months. I really love that mare and I’m so happy to be riding her again! Hopefully I will be jumping her within a month!

Thirdly, training is going awesome! It feels so good to be out every day running or cycling or swimming or any combination of the above…but especially running! I’m gaining fitness at a respectable rate and the bad days are drastically decreasing in frequency. My old energy level is starting to return, too! Physical therapy is going awesome, although we still have a lot to work on in the spinal department. But the progress over the past month has been awesomely fantastic :D!!!

Fourthly, I got some good news from the doctor today that the knee injury I got while snowboarding on Friday is NOT a cartilage or connective tissue tear, just a sprain/overuse, most likely isolated to the bursa! That news is very exciting, as I don’t think I could take another three months off, losing all of my training! Still have to take a week off of running though - that just means for time for swimming and cycling and riding!

Today has just been such an awesome day! The past week has just been so awesome that I had to share! And now I get to celebrate with three weeks all to myself to enjoy and love and to fill with riding, running, cycling, swimming, reading, and time with my kitties and my family.

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope your holiday season is as joyous and merry and bright as mine. And remember, the best way to make yourself feel great is to do the same for someone else

[KLS]

Awesome news! So happy for you, on all fronts

[stryder]

So, so happy for you. A thrilling report!

[Invite]

Updates like this are what give hope to the rest of us. I am so happy for you. I’m sure you are beyond thrilled! Congratulations and happy holidays

[AKB]

Wonderful. I am so glad things are approaching normalcy. You worked hard to get everything back on track, and the work paid off.

Keep us posted. Eventually, I would like to read about some vet school or other grad school acceptances for you!

[DressageGeek_Ribbon]

@KLS;5283355

Awesome news! So happy for you, on all fronts

ditto this!!!

[Leena]

This is the kind of news I LOVE !!!

[Ray]

yay!!!

happy holidays

[Vegas_Sky]

Thanks everyone! Your support and encouragement have been invaluable to me through this process. I couldn’t have done it without you.

As for the next step in my education, I graduate with an Animal Science degree in June, then start a post-bacc degree in Exercise and Sport Science in the Fall to finish up med school requirements. The plan is to start at OHSU, COMP-NW, or U-Washington in Fall 2012! And you know what? I think a career in PM&R rehabilitation brain and spinal cord injuries and pediatric disorders would be pretty much amazing. Yep

AND I just got the placement for my internship next term - I’ll get to spend 30 hours working with one of the best pediatric primary care physicians in the community! Um. Awesome.

[AKB]

I think that is a great plan. I have always found pediatric neurology to be fascinating. As a pediatric nurse practitioner in an Urgent Care, I see a lot of kids with neurological issues. Many of them are quite complicated to figure out. For a while, we had a pediatric neurologist working with us at night. It was wonderful to learn from her as we negotiated the maze of kids with seizures, headaches, movement disorders, unusual appearance, head injuries and so much more. Pediatric neurology is amazing stuff.

Pediatric rehab is a unique area. Make sure you spend enough time doing it so you know whether or not you like it. The people I know either love it or hate it. Coming from an Urgent Care background, I am used to seeing things I can fix in the 15-20 minutes that I am alloted per child. I find rehab to be very frustrating because in my alloted 15-20 minutes, I can’t even start to fix anything on a kid who is doing rehab. Most of the time, it takes me more than 20 minutes to even figure out who to send them to fix whatever problem they have.

Have fun at your internship. A lot of general pediatric practice is, in my mind, pretty boring but necessary stuff (e.g., vaccines, normal development). Remember that after you learn the boring stuff, there is a lot of really fun stuff to learn. I come home with lots of good stories every night. Last night, my pediatrician colleague asked me to come in and give a second opinion on a rash. The teenager, a hunter rider, had purple legs. My colleague was about to order all kinds of lab work (blood count, clotting times, rheumatoid labs), when I recognized the purple as the color that new riding pants turn your legs if you ride in the rain! I wiped the purple color off the legs with a couple of alcohol swabs. We all got a good laugh out of the experience.

[whicker]

Wahoo Wah!

This fabulous news!

While you are looking at new ideas, please consider osteopathy. It is amazing!! Google Janek Vluggen and the vluggeninstitute.com. He started as a D.O. and then was one of the creators of equine osteopathy. He is based in Aachen, but he teaches at the institute near Austin, Texas. He is the world expert in the field and personally does the teaching. He has been a literal lifesaver for my horses.

You may be able to help your mare be comfortable and happy. The snarkies are frequently quite fixable. My horses changed to kind mellow personalities all the time.

P.m. me for more info. This is awesome work!

[Vegas_Sky]

AKB: Yeah, I think primary care in general can be kind of boring, but very necessary to learn. As for which specialty I’ll end up in…I really don’t know! There are so many cool things to choose from! I wish I could do them all. I really love orthopedic surgery too. But I figure I’ve got a few years to decide yet!

Whicker: Two of the medical schools I’m applying to are osteopathic schools. I really like the philosophy of osteopathic medicine and I would love to use it with my patients.