January 2014 – Chronically Human, Practically Healing

Elevation

Well, my busy weekend was a bust.

Since Saturday’s super fun physics experiment, and resultant hilarious evening spent in Seven Oaks triage surrounded by paramedics- I have been waging a war with gravity and inflammation. Oh, and crutches. Those things are the worst. I thought I was in shape, until using them for 5 minutes.

Needless to say, the horse I was showing probably won’t be bought by those particular viewers.

This was definitely one of those things in the sport that could have happened on any day to any rider and any horse. While there was somewhat of a “perfect storm” on Saturday (horse hadn’t been worked in a while due to weather, weather was changing, lights in arena weren’t working, the arena was creaky due to weather changes)- there really isn’t anyone at fault. And thinking back, I probably was thrown in the best way possible. If I had stayed on any longer, it would have been my head/neck hitting the top of the door at full speed, and if the horse had stopped at the wall instead of turning and running out the door I would have A)gone head first into the wall or B)stayed on (this probably would have been best case, but you get the point). Physics is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

Funnily enough, the scariest part of all of it for me was not the actual flying through the air towards a solid wall. All that was going through my mind when the horse took off was a nonchalant “this is going to be a bad fall. I hope I don’t hit my head..”. You can always tell before they happen which ones are going to be nothing, and which ones are going to be bad. That mid air realisation was confirmed when I recognised from where I landed that there was no way I was moving my leg, and that something was wrong.

Fear didn’t really kick in until much later, just before Lauren showed up and I had sent the girls who were there viewing the horse to find him and untack him; I was completely alone supporting my leg and I felt shock starting to set in (ignorance might have been bliss in this situation). My face went numb, nausea set in, my ears began to tingle, and my vision started to go. Thankfully I was able to reverse all those really nice feelings with recognising what was happening and focusing on my breathing. It maybe lasted for a minute, but it was one of the scariest minutes of my life. After that, besides pain, I was fine.

Slowly, but surely, the icing every hour and elevating as much as humanly possible during the day (while still attending classes) is starting to make gains against the swelling in my leg. I have some pretty nice bruises scattered, and some even nicer strained muscles in my thigh and shoulder. I haven’t gotten much farther on assessing the actual damage yet, other then the hospital’s “it’s not broken, you can leave now”, as currently every single movement is an issue due to inflammation in the confined spaces of my lower leg. The past couple days have been more about preventing compartment syndrome from cutting off circulation to my lower leg while inflammation runs it’s course. Thursday, now that my WCB claim is in place, I will be for real assessed to see what the damage is. Yay more poking and prodding.

I’ve been attending school for two reasons, 1- no way am I falling behind, and 2- I feel the safest there, surrounded by numerous ATs 8hrs a day and having full access to ice and someone to check my foot’s circulation in the clinic whenever I need. Work is another story, obviously HC is put on hold and I definitely wasn’t able to work at MORfit Sunday or tonight (wasn’t able to teach either :() due to being horribly intimidated by stairs and 110% useless. Which means I’ve also been staying outside of the city, as my place as three terrifying flights (thank you to the Korstrom family, and my dad/Tesia for putting up with me!)

I am definitely glad that last week I felt the need to get as caught up with everything as I could (premonition much?), because this week not much catching up is possible.

Today I have been able to weight bear, a little. I have been able to make it around the house at a awkward shuffle- I can’t really move my leg out from directly under my hip (so heck no to any extension or flexion while moving) unless I want to experience full on muscle spasms. But this is leaps and bounds compared to Saturday night/sunday when I couldn’t move from the hip down, let alone even consider putting weight on the leg. Woooo progress. Even since yesterday, when we discovered that my right (injured) foot was quite a few degrees colder then my left, a few shades paler as well, and my ability to control movement at my ankle was next to zero (holla at me compartment syndrome)- I’ve regained decent circulation and can make movement happen when I want it to. Thank goodness for compression socks.

I’ve quickly discovered that most of the handicap doors throughout UW are dysfunctional, and pretty much everyone outside of the Duckworth seems to enjoy watching the girl with crutches struggle to open, hold, and go through doors herself.

One of the things that’s surprised me the most about this whole ordeal is how I’ve been handling it. In the past, injuries that withhold my ability to continue living my life at high speed tend to put me in a bad place. Maybe it was the overwhelmingly hilarious experience Lauren and I had with some pretty great paramedics on Saturday, but as much as it sucks that everything is being put on hold (again)- it’s not really phasing me like it used to. I guess maybe I’m finally learning to not fight what the Universe throws my way as much, especially when I can’t change the situation anyway. I do think I should start getting bonus marks for going above and beyond in understanding injuries, the healing process, and all that. Because, c’mon… It’s obvious I take my education quite seriously. So far this idea has just gotten me the esteemed position of class example for lectures this week.

I’m truly hoping that in the next few days I can master a decent walking ability so I can ditch the crutches. I truly am a complete circus on those things, and my arms are so dang tired! Wish me luck, and I will keep you updated!

No more acceleration?

Tonight’s events: Something spooked a horse I was riding, it bolted, ran straight for a wall, then veered left and out a door at an angle, where I was then thrown and my leg got crushed between the horse and the door corner/wall as I fell. No fracture, just super unhappy soft tissue/bone bruising. Major swelling and any form of movement is pretty much impossible.
Plus side? Probably one of the funnest Saturday nights I’ve had in a while- ambulance ride, good looking paramedics treating me like one of their own (“you’re an AT?! Yes, finally, someone who knows their stuff!!”), hanging out for 6 more hrs with the same hilarious paramedics, and all the while having the godsend of Lauren by my side.

Now to figure out how to manage my life on crutches……

Acceleration

Heeey there.

Been a while. I know. My bad. Forgive me? Okay.

The past two weeks have kind of been scheduling insanity. I know this, because I found myself using the phrase “I have scheduled relaxation time” today. Does that even make sense? If I’m not in class, I’m working. If I’m not working, I’m studying. If I’m not studying, I’m researching/working on training ideas for my class, eating, or sleeping. My “scheduled” chill time is the new tradition of “wine and dine” nights with Emily, and Wednesday evenings (except for this week, where I was studying and in work meetings most of the night), and I try to take most of Fridays off (try being the key phrase…).

Okay. So what’s my scheduled filled with lately? Well, MORfit has a number of new clients, and so does Claude. Which makes my shifts pretty hectic right now, trying to balance desk/admin work and clinic work. I’m gaining a tonne of experience! My class has been a great success so far, and I’ve had some great feedback after the first few weeks. Even some interest in bringing my program out to different areas of the province, turning it more into monthly clinics rather then weekly classes in that case- doing focused presentations on topics like rider biomechanics, injury prevention, and fitness for the rider alongside a training session.

My course load this year is pretty heavy, and definitely not getting lighter. So far, though, I’ve been able to manage my time pretty efficiently- finding time to study everything I feel I need to. Somehow.

Horse Connection is still in transition mode, and as they’ve began to advertise some of their horses- my workload for them has increased again as I deal with potential buyers and show horses. The past two weeks I’ve somehow fit in 30hr work weeks (b/t all four jobs), a full course load.. and squeaked in time to be in the gym myself, eat, and sleep. How? A lot of making phone calls, sending emails, and doing admin work on bus rides, and in between classes- studying before/after meetings and eating somewhere in between all that.

It’s safe to say that I’ve been somewhat run off my feet the last little while.. however, I am kind of loving all of it. Even if I have to schedule down time. I’m really seeing all that I’ve learned this year being applied in real life. Updating my resume recently, I’ve almost doubled my experiences in the past 4 months just through the opportunities I’ve had through school and work. The feedback and growth I’ve seen in the training program I designed after just two weeks has been way more then I expected, and very encouraging. Through all the absolute insanity, and the hiccups here and there, I’m getting the opportunities to challenge myself in new ways all the time.

This weekend will be some of my busiest few days yet, with work (various jobs) anywhere from 8-12hrs each day, teaching, showing horses, a friend’s birthday, visiting someone close to me in the hospital, hopefully studying, and hopefully working on some writing projects and applications. It’s for sure going to be another couple of hectic days.

Time is sure flying, so that must mean I’m having fun!

No running, no hiding from concussions (AT student blog term 2)

See below for my “I haven’t had time to write anything so here is a copy and pasted school blog post to fill time until I actually write…” Post. Enjoy that.

“So far my winter term has began with more concussions then my stint with football in the fall term did. And I’m only working in clinic…?

Over the holidays I did some work with my alumni varsity basketball team (Carman Collegiate), the coach had me design a few conditioning programs for the girls- which was a blast! The girls soon grew to love/hate me, it seems I have a fantastic imagination when it comes to designing sport specific work-outs to compliment practices. I attended one pre-season tournament with them in January, in which the coaches got confused as to what to call me (trainer? assistant coach? therapist? old player?) and at one point were planning on throwing a jersey on me and seeing if I could still play. However, I did come in somewhat handy with a couple small injuries. One player came up to me after the first game complaining of pain just inferior to her lateral malleoulus. She had no history of trauma (hadn’t rolled or landed funny on that foot in the last game) except for she had sprained that ankle a few years ago. After my assessment, I came up with a mild strain to the peroneals. She didn’t have any laxity in the joint, and didn’t really want tape (besides I wasn’t sure how I was going to tape to help that anyway– and the med kit there is pretty lacking). She was just happy to have some sort of reason as to why her foot kinda hurt.

After her, athletes started to get a little more liberal with actually coming to talk to me. Later on that day, conveniently 15 minutes before the start time of their second game in the day, the star player came to me complaining of knee pain (that she’d been experiencing for the last 4 months or so, but didn’t know what to do about it- so she just continued to train on it). I soon learned that during soccer season she had been hit with a valgus force and the knee had been “weird” since then. Okie dokie. So after running a quick assessment, I was slightly confused. While her MOI from soccer would suggest the medial aspect of her knee to be the problem, all of her pain and positive tests were on the lateral side. With ligament tests, there was no laxity, but the end feel was extremely painful. She only experience pain during play after she became fatigued and during lay-ups or jump-shots. She had a positive Ober’s and Nobel’s. So I came up with the possibility of the lateral ligaments still being a bit upset from the soccer incident, plus a little bit of ITB friction happening now during basketball. She, too, was quite happy just to know what was wrong and I said I could try taping for a little extra support (again, no laxity so wasn’t really worried about her going back to play if she was okay with it). At first, she said no to the tape (in my head I was going “thank god” as the game was due to start in about 5 minutes now). I ran through my warm-up with the team, and then, of course, said player comes back requesting I try tape. Of course!

So I slapped on a collateral ligament support (what else could I do for that??), had her do some functional testing which got a: “wow! my knee feels so amazing! Like, it doesn’t hurt at all anymore!”. Wasn’t expecting that response, but okay. I should mention that our med kit at Carman Collegiate only really has zinc oxide tape in it (and a few other necessary first aide supplies). No pro-wrap (unless it’s in the players’ hair), no toughener, no leuko tape or elasticon, legitimately only white tape. Thumbs up. This was the first time this player had ever been taped, so I wasn’t too surprised when I noticed she wasn’t playing as aggressively in the first quarter. After the buzzer rang for that quarter, I found her getting tangled in a mess of sweaty tape trying to get it off. I helped her take it off, and found that as soon as she started playing again she was back to her old self. Until she got elbowed in the face and I had to go onto the court (FIRST TIME GOING ONTO A FIELD/COURT AS A THERAPIST!!!) as she stayed down for a while. Not an injury I could real do much for, except for check her teeth. Just a nice cut on the inside of her lip, to which I advised rinsing with salt water later to prevent infection. She was back on the court in a few minutes.

What else did I do over the holidays? Well, about a week before Christmas my mom concussed herself by falling on the curling ice. I wasn’t home when this happened, so I got the stress inducing text saying “don’t panic,…. but your mom is in the emergency room because she hit her head on the ice…” WHAT. Tell me I’m not the only one out there who would go into full fledged OMG mode? Luckily, it wasn’t as serious as the scenarios my mind took me to. The emerg. doctor, unfortunately, obviously hadn’t done much continuing education on concussions- sending her home with a “mild” concussion, not checking her for fractures (the only thing that hit the ice was her head… the sound alone stopped every sheet of ice in the rink) with the reasoning “we only really see fractures in car accidents.. so you’re probably fine”, telling her that there was no need for someone to check on her throughout the night as “we don’t really do that anymore” (my mom was alone at this point, her husband was away and I was stuck in the city because of weather), and then sending her with two kinds of painkillers for the headache (isn’t this the one thing we’re never supposed to do??).

Sigh.

If anybody else out there has had the joyous experience of trying to give a injured family member advice.. you know how frustrating it can be. Having gone through the concussion experience first hand, and, you know, being educated on the matter- you’d think I’d have a little more influence with her. Thankfully, her husband sided with me, and over the next two weeks we managed to keep her laying low and mostly brain resting. She refused to not watch tv, and having a concussion over Christmas has to be the worst, because there is no avoiding busy social gatherings. Against my advice, she tried to go back to work after New Years- even after a sport med doctor I made her see told her to wait a couple weeks due to persisting symptoms. Can we guess what happened? More symptoms returned, and she started to get frustrated, irritable, and a little depressed. The back of her head (impact site) was still throbbing (3.5wks later) so I suggested she see another doctor. She listened, and this local doctor strictly told her to take another 2 weeks off before even thinking of working. My mom’s job consists of a lot of computer work, writing, editing, and thinking, interviewing, and critical analysis. Aka, a lot of brain work. This doctor also said that she had to come back to see her before she went back to work. (Btw, this is the exact same advice I gave her, the previous doctor gave her, and Robyn from the clinic at school gave her). Finally, she is listening. Somewhat. I woke up this morning to find her snow-blowing our driveway with a push blower. She comes inside saying “.. my head ache is back..”. WONDER WHY.

In rehab the other day we were talking about building a pts confidence back up to eventually return to play is a big part of it. I can see that now with my mom’s injury, she’s expressed many times that getting back onto the curling ice is terrifying to think about, and thinks that her fall was because of something she did wrong. She has been a curler for her entire life, many years as a competitive curler. She has even began to lose her nerve over small tasks that were once second nature to her (for example, working with our horses in the barn). As we know, a lack of confidence in one’s abilities often can cause more injury due to hesitation in actions. While the immediate challenge for her is just recovering from the actually injury, I can see down the road how there will be a lot of confidence building to do.

Okay so that covers my holidays…

I’m doing my clinic with Claude at MORfit, who I worked with before and throughout the holidays as well. The first thing he had me do once we both got back from holidays in the clinic was, wait for it…. a concussion assessment. His reason for having me do this (besides being his student)? “I haven’t done one in like 5 years…. so you have more experience with it then I do”. Inspiring. The next week I also did a full assessment for him on a new patient. He presented with pain just medial to his bicipital groove. He initially injured himself about a month ago when doing lateral DB raises, hearing a pop at end range and having severe pain around the insertion of pecs. Interesting. So I ran through my assessment, finding he had pain in all ranges of motion, except internal and external rotation. This changed when I went to IROM, internal caused great pain and external much the same. Definitely suspecting pec strain at this point. No weakness in any ranges though. I should also mention that during postural assessment, he had significantly anteriorly rotated shoulders. For special tests I did empty can (positive with pain), and speeds (positive with pain). Combined those with resisted cross flexion/extension (very painful) and I concluded a pec major strain likely because of the anteriorly rotated shoulders and the MOI.

What else have I done in clinic? A lot of pnf-ing, and massaging. Massaging was real fun after weeks off, the first time Claude had me do more then one in a shift, my hands were done for the rest of the day. I’ve also continued to work with the Older Adults program, and continue to love it.

I’ve noticed that I’m much more confident in my assessments now then I was last term, which is nice. I don’t panic anymore and as a result don’t forget what comes next. It’s much easier to come to some sort of conclusion when your brain isn’t experiencing stage fright!

To summarize, working with family members is frustrating, I have a knack for designing conditioning programs that make teenagers dislike me, my assessment skills are improving, and my hands are out of shape.

What are my goals for the upcoming couple weeks?

I’d really like to come up with a few new exercises for the older adults. I try to have new balance challenges for them every week, but I really need to think up some brand new ones. I also hope to do a few more assessments over the coming weeks, to continue to improve my skills in that area. I’m also hoping to give my mom some relief, by trying out my new christmas gift of a massage table, and working on her neck.

That’s all for now, folks!”

Lists and Superstore Salesman = life skills?

If you know me, you know I’m a fairly positive person by nature. I love planning, and I love setting goals. I have no problem setting a goal and working until I achieve it. I’m proud of my accomplishments, and appreciate all the people in my life that help me reach for greater things. The past year, and the year about to occur- have been /will be full of long days, overbooked schedules, amazing highs, rough lows, new and familiars, and time flying like never before. I’ve had many moments where time seems to pause for just long enough for me to realise that I am exactly where I want to be, and I am on the right path. Then the universe hits fast forward again.

I seem to lose my remote quite often, leaving me stuck in fast forward majority of the time. Which quite often causes me to get really pumped up about something, and then have a day or two where all of a sudden things just seem impossible and all my plans collide- leaving me surrounded by the carnage and wondering why I ever thought any of that was possible.

I’ve lived majority of my life this way; so whether it was the concussion I had last June- or just my life picking up speed in a new way, the past while has seemed to hold more of these “holy s*** what am I even doing right now” moments. Alongside many of the personal goals I’ve achieved, I’ve had equal parts anxiety, doubt, depressed moments, and mild terror. You can’t have highs without the lows, right? I usually get through these moments by repeating “everything will work out..” to myself for long enough to chill. Oddly enough, things usually do work out. Which only gives me the energy to get myself into more trouble…

Most recently the cue for that collision feeling was loosely deciding on pursuing graduate studies, something I’ve toyed with for a long time. Having this idea come up again during the first week back at school, around the same time as running my first functional training class, a 30hr work week, trying to figure out if I was going to be able to afford or have time to train and compete the horse I’m trying to market this year, and starting work on summer internship applications, would appear to be the perfect time to consider another couple years of education- right? It started out exciting and now has turned into having to remind myself over and over again to slow down (which I’ve gotten really good at).

Back in September, when I was going through many of the same feelings of being constantly overwhelmed- a friend suggested I make a list. A list to prioritize my time into sections: what I really needed/wanted to focus on, then things that would help me achieve those goals, and finally things that I didn’t necessarily need in my schedule. Okay, if I’m being honest, the middle section I added in because I didn’t want to give up some things. But still. I’ve never been a list-y type of person, but this actually helped me put things into perspective. At that point in the school year it was either learn how to prioritise things or have to listen to my doctor who was telling me I should be taking a year off school to recover from the concussion.

So how did a salesman in Superstore inspire this? Last Monday while I was perusing through the aisles, I was approached by said salesman who gave me the super riveting pitch on their mastercard. To which I politely listened to (seriously, I’m the worst person to get stuck with when someone is trying to sell something- I always end up listening..), and then politely told him that I had applied for that card a while back but had been declined (#storyofmystudentlife), to which he responded that this time Superstore was desperate so they were sure to accept me.

Okay, sure. So began his detailed intake of information, eventually leading to the career section and him asking what I do for a living. I replied that I worked at a gym.. “As a trainer?” he asked, “Well, training to be a trainer I guess”. Fast forward to him finishing my application and then pausing before leaving and asking some more details about what I was studying to be. Cue “what is athletic therapy” speech from me. The reply I got from him surprised me. After listening intently to what I was doing with my life, he looked me dead in the eye and said:

“You will be good at that. I know that sounds ridiculous coming from someone who has only talked to you for 5 minutes. But, that job will require you being able to communicate with people from all walks of life- and from our interaction I can tell you thrive on that. All you need to do is give yourself time. You will graduate, and have a great career and be happy. Its true. I know too many people who rush through their education to get jobs that only bring them down, and are never truly happy. But you, with time, will do well. Just give it time.”.

After that he wished me luck, with the credit card and with my life, nodded his head… and disappeared.

Seriously, that actually happened.

So, after standing in that aisle completely confused as to what just happened for a few minutes, I proceeded about my shopping and pressed fast forward again for the rest of the week. After attending a graduate program open house Tuesday, running from one job to the next in between classes the rest of the week, and working/running/working/working out/studying all weekend- I was and am starting to feel pretty overwhelmed again. I have a lot going on. I’m still not very good at picking what I want to focus on, so instead try to do it all. Or at least combine it all somehow.

Those words from Monday came back to me in the middle of it all. My Superstore Buddha stuck in my brain, reminding me that I have time. Reminding me to make an informal list, even if I don’t make cuts to my schedule, that at least I know what I would cut if I wanted to. It doesn’t completely banish the overwhelmed feeling, but it does serve as a reminder that I’m at least considering patience instead of a meltdown. That’s a step in the right direction, right?

What kind of fuel are you using?

How much time and effort do you spend picking out your horses’ feed? Planning out their nutrition, making sure what they’re eating is going to give them the most benefit. If you’re like most riders/horse owners.. probably quite a bit. It’s important stuff, these animals do great things for you- and they rely on you to make good choices when it comes to care.

Next question. How much time and effort do you spend picking out what you’re going to eat? Are you as picky with what goes onto your plate as you are with what goes onto your four legged friend’s? If yes, then kudos! If you’re reading this and realizing that the amount of time and effort differs between the two- I hope I’m inspiring a positive thought process. I am by no mean passing judgement.

I should also mention that I am not a registered dietician, or nutritionist- and will not shove advice directly related to what you eat personally down your throat. Ever. It’s not what I believe. I do, however, believe in the power of the right foods. My exercise physiology professor started off a lecture the other day with this statement:

“95% of what you eat, your body absorbs..”

While this isn’t a new fact, it was a phrase that got me thinking. 95% is a lot! In the past year I’ve completely changed how I eat; at first only because I had two doctors telling me it was a good idea, if I didn’t want diagnostic surgeries- and then continued on because I just felt so damn good all the time. I truly saw how much better I was functioning.. physically, athletically (in and out of the saddle), mentally, and academically. The extra effort was more then worth the benefits!

We live in an society full of fad diets, weight loss tips, and people telling you their way is the best way. I live and breath evidence based practice at work and at school- and am skeptical of any claim I hear unless there is recreatable, realistic, and legitimate research behind it. Much of the research I’ve been reading lately is starting to catch onto the fact that the way we eat as a society in general is causing a myriad of health problems.

“Nutrition is not a mathematical equation in which two plus two is four. The food we put in our mouths doesn’t control our nutrition…not entirely. What our bodies do with that food does.” -T.Collins, Whole.

The body is an amazing machine that will absorb what it needs, when it needs it, from what you give it. However, if you don’t provide it with the option of the things it needs, it has to compensate by using less ideal substitutes from the options available. Each individual body needs different things, and functions it’s best on it’s own special kind of “fuel”. While I can’t say what’s best for you, I can say that no body will be it’s best version on processed, refined, “fast” foods.

You wouldn’t knowingly feed your equine partner(s) something that would give them less energy, cause inflammation within their body, decrease their immune function, or put them at higher risk for a variety of health problems- would you? That’s precisely why you think about what you are filling their feed tub with. Likely you want to give them a type of “fuel” that helps them function at their best.

What kind of “fuel” do you fill your own tank with? Have you made changes recently to that intake and noticed differences? How do you think spending just as much time planning your own nutrition might improve your daily life, in and out of the saddle?

Think about it.

Hibernation. Sort of.

Hard not to do in the -50 wind chills we’ve had lately….

I haven’t written a “what has katmah been up to lately” post since mid-december.. and figured I’d write a quick update and what I’m looking forward to with the beginning of a new semester.

So, what have I been up to since finishing off exams?

Hibernating.

Well.. trying to.. then getting bored and doing something else.

Since we talked last I’ve gotten 3/5 of my final grades back. I’m pretty happy with my results, so far:

Pathology in Sport Medicine: B (B+ on post-concussion review paper)

Assessment of the Upper and Lower Extremities: B+, with a 92% on the practical (#nailedit).

Taping and Splinting: A, ended up at the top of the class!

I received my First Responder results Friday, which are definitely a low point for me right now. I will be retaking the practical component of the exam soon, to finish my certification, as the first time around I didn’t “make the cut”, so to speak.

My three weeks of holidays ended being relatively productive. I started to get the usual end of exam cold the first week in, but fought it off by keeping just the right amount of busy. And sleeping. A lot. While at first I had planned to have two weeks off of work, that plan changed before it even begun as the program director at HC un-expectently resigned and I took on the position of Manager while the board figures out where they are going next.

Luckily this position doesn’t require too many hours (I work maybe 3hrs/day pretty much everyday), and they have given me the option to delegate out any hours I don’t want or can’t do. It’s been actually a fun experience, putting to use many skills and helping make some decisions throughout their transition.

Possibly half my time at HC is spent chasing the kittens….

Between HC, the horses at home, and riding at M&C’s where I could (and when it wasn’t -5billion)- I spent quite a lot of time in barns this holiday season.

I also spent quite a bit of time brainstorming on the class I am running at MORfit starting January 12. Finally, everything is falling into place and most of the fine details have been sorted out. Now it’s just actually doing it! I’m both excited and nervous for this opportunity. Nervous only because this will be a first for me, and a new thing for the MB equestrian community- so I have no reference material (other then, you know, my education). Also, exciting- because I’m starting something new. I really hope others get excited about it as I am!

Something cool that happened with the blog over the break, too! An article I submitted to the CATA (Canadian Athletic Therapists Association) newsletter got published, and AT’s throughout Canada read this post. It was very cool to see my writing on another venue, and to hear feedback from some of the therapists I know who read it (Claude at MORfit included, who’s biggest comment was “You could’ve used my name!!!”).

New Years was brought in with a few of my closest friends, the same group I’ve been celebrating New Years with since our high-school days (about 7-8 years now!). In my opinion, the best way to welcome a New Year!

And, so, here we are- the second semester of my second last year looming ahead. Looming is such a dark work. I am actually looking forward to it. On the course load this term is:

Ergonomics (applied biomechanics)- a course I’m really looking forward to. I really don’t think it’s going to be easy, the prof has already told me about the trigonometry component. But I know how interesting I found Biomechanics last year, so I’m hoping this class challenges me in the right ways.

Rehabilitation of Musculoskeletal Injuries- Now that I know how to assess and injury, I guess I should know how to rehab it!

Therapeutic Modalities

Exercise Physiology- some people love it, some people just get through it. I’m not sure which will be it for me, yet.

Practicum 1- which I’ve already completed half of- now to finish my 50 clinical hours.

I’m also a lab demo for Prevention and Care of Injuries this semester, which I’m very much looking forward to, and of course continuing with the Older Adults Fitness class from last term!

Over the holidays I’ve been able to do some reading, that isn’t a textbook- which has been really nice. I also acquired a juicer and a massage table, both of which I’m excited to put to action. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on Nutritional sciences, which is mostly confirming that habits I’ve gotten into the past year are the right ones. Currently I’m reading Whole by T. C. Campbell, which is based on his lifetime of research on nutrition and how it affects every aspect of our lives- taking on a very wholistic (or holistic) approach. Great read after spending 3 weeks living off chocolate, dainties, and other varieties of Christmas.

I’ve actually had a decently productive past week, between redecorating my apartment (some binge Ikea shopping occurred), finalizing the details of my Functional Training class, and designing my program (and testing it out on myself and a friend- I figured it would be unethical to put clients through a workout I couldn’t handle..). I even got about 30hrs of work in too! If the temperatures weren’t bordering antarctic levels, I would have been in the saddle as much as possible. Here’s hoping these temps break some time soon!

I’m sure this coming week is sure to be full of interesting things, I’m planning to attend an open house put on by the Kin graduate studies program at UofM early in the week, because why not! As well as being back at MORfit for my regular 21 hrs a week (plus ~10hrs at HC), and a full class schedule again. Its definitely going to be an adjustment after having close to 3 weeks running on next to no set schedule! Can’t wait!

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