Baby, it's COLD outside!

According to the thermometer outside my back door it's a nice toasty 28 degrees here, which is quite warm compared to the 15 degrees in Seattle, or maybe the sunlight is throwing it off because it definitely doesn't feel like 28! The picture is taken from my living room window, and while many of the main arterials have been sanded and de-iced, our neighborhood streets are still a skating rink.

This is without a doubt the longest cold and snow snap I remember in all my time growing up in Seattle. The snow started late last Saturday and has continued on and off throughout the week. We are expecting another big storm tonight into tomorrow (Sunday) with wind gusts way up above 60 or 70 mph. While I have had to cancel a couple of events for the sake of safety, I am one to look for a silver lining which has been that I've been on break for all of this, so no trekking it to the U district, and I have been drinking a lot of tea, which is never a bad thing. Of course in typical Seattle style, temperatures are expected to warm up early next week which will melt the snow and we'll once again miss a White Christmas by that much!

So I'll be hunkering down for the next couple of days, listening to the sound of wind, trying to stay warm, with one brief outing to rescue my sister from the airport tomorrow. Let's hope the power doesn't go out for too long.

Finals are here..eep!

I have three this week, one today, one tomorrow and one Wednesday. Today and tomorrow (especially tomorrow) are biggies so any prayers are more than welcome. I'll report back once I can think of things other than neurological treatment and the cervical and thoracic spine... :)

Another You Tube Gem

While I have seen all the Star Wars movies, and did enjoy them, I am not what you would call a Star Wars fanatic. However, I am extremely familiar with the epic music of John Williams. What's that? You don't think you are? You might be surprised...have you ever seen Superman? Jaws? E.T.? Indiana Jones? Schindler's List? Jurassic Park? Harry Potter? NBC Nightly News or Meet the Press? Okay, I could keep going, but I'll stop. Anyway, John Williams is one of the most prolific movie composers out there. I was a band kid all the way through high school and I truly believe it is a band rite of passage to play at least one (emphasis on at least) John Williams movie medley at some point in your musical career. I think I've played about three. The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Daily Breakfast with Fr. Roderick, and he played the audio of this YouTube video. Check it out if you want a laugh.

It's all about ATTITUDE...

So...to follow up my last post on interesting comments read and/or heard in the media...

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself abnormally home on a Sunday evening. Being a Core Team member for my parish's Life Teen program, my Sunday nights are usually booked until about 9 PM with our meeting, Mass and then the Life Night. The first weekend of November, however, we took 20 teens to the High School Youth Convention (fabulous!) and we did not have a Life Night that evening. So I'm at home and 60 Minutes is on TV.

The last story in the show featured an interesting technology being developed for people who are completely paralyzed, usually only able to move their eyes. This condition is termed Locked In Syndrome and can result from degnerative conditions, or massive strokes affecting the brainstem. The main player in this story was a neuroscientist who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease). This disease is degenerating, causing progressive loss of muscle control and eventually death. Initially he had stated that he did not want to be kept alive when he would become ventilator-dependent but had changed his mind due to this technology and now does depend on a ventilator to breathe and has progressed to the point of having Locked In Syndrome. Via electrodes in a cap that is placed over the skull, the patient can use their thoughts to control pointers or a mouse on the computer screen and use software to "read", record and playback text that they have painstakingly typed by moving the pointer from letter to letter. There is even in the works the possibility of implanting electrodes into the brain and controlling wheelchairs and robotic limbs. The technology is fascinating and I thought the story did an interesting job of highlighting that despite severe disabilities, people with Locked In Syndrome are functioning, thinking, alive human beings. And then...this line happened:

"[The neuroscientist's] skull cap interface is a machine that has given him back his humanity"

Hold on...what was that? When the reporter gave this line, it literally left me cold. What happens to his "humanity" when he's not wearing that skull cap? Is it any less present? This scientist, despite only being able to move a few muscles in his face, being completely dependent in his care, still goes to work and does research. His mind is alive and active, the gift present here is that of communication. I don't pretend that the ramifications of that gift aren't huge...the ability to communicate with those around us are of incredible importance and can make a vast difference in a person's life and well-being. What affected me more was the subtle meaning hidden in that line, perhaps so well hidden that the person saying it didn't even realize what it could mean. We as a culture continue to espouse and promote the idea that people only have worth when they are able to do and contribute. We are raised from a young age to believe that it's all about doing it ourselves, being number one, being independent. Then, when that ability is taken away, we find ourselves at a loss and we feel we are no longer worth anything. This is vastly different from other cultures in which we contribute to the well being of the group (family, kin, friends) and know that the group is there for us when we are no longer able to help ourselves.

I find that I struggle with this myself..as a student of physical therapy, my future career will depend on helping people regain their independence, and I do think that is incredibly important. This can be a gift too, however, because it helps you see that no matter what has happened to a person, they are still a person who usually wants nothing more than to live a full life again. The deeper realization we must come to is in understanding that our worth doesn't ever come from anything we can ever do.

"So God created humankind in his image,in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

We are made in God's image and that gives us an inherent dignity that can never be stripped from us. However, that understanding is under attack and is being danced around and glossed over. Sadly, I live in a state that just became the second in the nation to allow Physician-Assisted Suicide, by the vote of the people, and I fear we are headed down the slippery slope. We must never be afraid to know that life is life always, and a person's humanity is a beautiful gift from God that we must cherish, and that nothing that we do, or that happens can take it away.

Never Thought I'd See the Day

I was surprised a couple of weeks ago, while reading my local newspaper to discover the following editorial

Other Catholics that I know have long been saying that it seems that anti-Catholicism is that last acceptable prejudice. It seems like jokes and jibes against different races, most religions and physical and mental differences are unacceptable...and rightly so. Most of these jokes attempt to strip away the inherent dignity of the people they attack. And yet.... below the belt blows at Catholics and Catholicism are often the order of the day. Now I'm not talking about the benign jokes that often poke fun at the quirkiness of Catholic culture and life. I have a fun sense of humor and love those as much as anyone else. Instead it's the constant messages about the priest abuse scandals, about Catholic adherence to its moral teachings that often fall against the grain of the culture. It's okay to rip into the church and degrade its many members who have done nothing more than live a good life and try to follow as best they can the teachings and mandates of Christ and His Church.

As a Catholic I truly believe that my church was founded by Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago. But I am very aware that this Church is run on earth by human beings, and we are all fallen creatures. We make mistakes, we fall down, we try to get back up and keep going...one look at the Bible stretching back to through the Old Testament, makes witness to the fact that even those who were once held in God's high esteem, often fell and made grave mistakes. David killing one of his soldiers to take his wife, Solomon who asked for wisdom and then didn't seem to always pay it much heed, even St. Peter who denied Christ three times. The important thing to remember is that individual people make mistakes but the Church as an institution continues to stand up for people and their dignity, even if this is often miscontrued by society.

I don't know Mr. Connolly's religious affiliation, or what his views are on other issues, save that he seems to be opposed to I-1000, the so-called "Death with Dignity" act that is trying to be passed in Washington State. What I do know, is that I thank him for bring forth the other point of view in a rational way and hopefully make people think about what really is or is not acceptable.

Schooltime again...

I was planning on updating my blog a little bit more during my break but found myself a very busy girl despite not having any classes! The three weeks I had between my clinical and the start of school were actually a very relaxing time and a great chance to reconnect with some old friends that I hadn't had a chance to hang with for a long time. Among them a dear friend that just moved back from Colorado...we went to one year of junior high together and clicked, we called ourselves kindred spirits after "Anne of Green Gables" and just have one of those friendships that can go years without talking then start back right where they'd left off. Life took us in different directions and to different states...she has since gotten her masters and gotten married, so it was nice to catch up over lunch! Another friend, who I go to church with recently got married and is expecting her first baby! We lost touch after she moved to Ellensberg to go to college but were able to enjoy a lunch together and reconnect. I also had coffee with the girl I sponsored for Confirmation a couple of years back and had great conversation about faith, life and everything else!

But like all breaks, they are just that...a break between the busyness of life that sandwiches them on either end. Classes started back up on Wednesday! I am very excited about this quarter, my classes look challenging but very interesting. I am already foreseeing this to be a very reading intensive quarter, but luckily this material facinates me so it makes all the reading at least a little more pleasurable. I have a fabulous set of professors who are passionate about their field and areas of expertise, I am especially looking forward to my applied neuroscience course. Neuro is an area that I love and now we're tying all the information we learned last year into real patient problems, and we'll be evaluating and treating real patients as well...can't wait!

Summer Break...in September

Finally getting a break which I am thoroughly enjoying...and even though Fall was threatening to show up a little early last week here in the Northwest we've had a surprisingly beautiful week and it is sunny and warm outside now.

I made through my clinical alive and well! It was an amazing experience and I learned so much. It was amazing to me that in only 4 weeks I was able to go from observation to running therapy sessions and largely doing an evaluation by myself. My CI (clinical instructor) was great and gave me freedom to do as much as I could but was readily available for those "help!" moments where her experience came in very helpful. It was also my first real experience in an outpatient orthopedic clinic...barring my on-call status as an aide at a clinic about 3 years ago where I never stayed long enough at a time to really observe or get to know patients. I learned quite a bit about exercise progression and appropriate exercises for different body regions and injuries. I can't wait to take my advanced orthopedic classes this fall...but am especially excited for our neuro and pediatrics courses since that's what really interests me.

I'm hoping to keep the blog a little more updated now that I've finally figured out what was wrong with my computer. As is usually the case there's good news and bad news on this front. The good news: I know what was wrong and my computer is still under warrenty. The bad news: My hard drive failed, bleh. Luckily most of my data is backed up and there was nothing of huge importance I may have lost. I am not, however, looking forward to beginning to add my ridiculously large music collection back onto my computer. That'll take awhile, but we'll get there :)