7/17/2012

Alright today wasn't much better on the excitement front. We did have a seminar today. Our patient presented with ankylosing spondylitis. Which is a degenerative disease that affects all the joints in the body but predominately effects the back. It was really cool to see how well he dealt with his condition.
The rest of the day was just studying and preparing for tomorrow.
I did find a fun recipe that I made for Katie. She said it was interesting but I think that it was because she wanted ice cream. So feel free to put ice cream on top.

Blueberry Pudding for One

2 tablespoons rice flour 

1 tablespoon almond meal
2 teaspoons corn flour
2 teaspoons tapioca starch
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons softened butter, alternative spread, or oil
2 tablespoons milk, lactose free if required
¼ teaspoon vanilla
heaped ¼ cup frozen blueberries
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons water
½ teaspoon corn flour

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Rub in butter (if using) with fingertips until mixture looks like breadcrumbs.  Stir in milk and vanilla (and oil if using instead of butter) to form a thick batter.

Combine blueberries, maple syrup, water and cornflour in a large mug.  Heat in microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, then heat for another 20 seconds.  Spoon batter over the hot berries and cook on medium-high for 2 minutes.  Stand one minute before enjoying straight from the mug.

This is the website where I found the recipe http://www.lowfodmap.com/blueberry-pudding-one-maybe/  It has a bunch of good healthy foods and specific ideas for dietary concerns.  

7/16/2012

Hey it's Monday! That means that I'm back to being boring.
I went to class from 9-4:30 today if you add on an hour for transportation each direction that leaves me enough time for a smoothie and not much else.  I could have done a tad more but my pile of homework took me another 3 hours.
I started my homework at the gym where I rode the stationary bike 16K while reading evidence to support pre-surgical physiotherapy in abdominal surgery patients.  I've devoted Monday to gym work so I also did a good deal of shoulder work.  I can now do 1/10 of a pull-up!!!!(or 1 pull-up with a 90% assist).  But no progress on the pushups.
On my train ride home I finished the first Game of Thrones book.  Barnes and Noble is holding the next 3 books hostage.  I have tried begging them to send a copy to my iphone.  I hope it works.
Tomorrow will be more eventful(because it can't be less).  I wish that I could give tell you about an exciting new technique that I'm learning but we are just doing introduction to how to be an aide.  We are doing heat and ice they are being surprisingly specific about how to fold the towel over the hot pack appropriately but pay little attention to why we actually use hot packs.  Anyway tomorrow I will do something crazy exciting just so I can tell you about it.

7/15/2012

I had plenty to do today but I decided not to do most of it.  The footie club had a reverse draw raffle and luncheon today.  I wanted to go but I did not want the 3 hours of walking to get there and back. Because it was an event,  I would need to look nice.  That meant that running over was not an option.  I looked up public transit and there were so many detours that it would take me 2 hours and 4 changes each direction.  I can't wait to be back to riding my bike.  By the way, for those of you wondering when that might be, I am not to ride my bike until I can do 10 pushups.  Right now I can do 1/2.  As in once up and down with my feet on the floor and my hands on my bed frame.  I'll have to start listing my progress daily so you can follow along.
So what did I actually do today: I finished my paper on the economic implications of Obamacare. Then I cleaned my room, water-marbled my fingers, read Game of Thrones, assembled the carrot cake, and started on my problem set for this week.

At 4 the new student that Katie is housing came over with her mother and sister for a pre-move in visit.  We at carrot cake and drank tea while Katie was demeaning and borderline offensive to them.  Nova, the girl that will be moving in with us, is from a very prominent Indonesian Catholic family.  Her mother either did not understand the conversation or was particularly good at holding her tongue.  Katie is accepting 2 more students at the end of July to earn more money.  She doesn't seem to realize that having students means that she is suppose to take care of them.  She is supposed to cook for me once a day and these other two girls twice a day.  I don't care because I hate her cooking and am happier when she doesn't cook but the other girls are expecting meals to be prepared.  She has already said that she isn't cooking every day....but they are paying her to cook for them...twice a day.... This could get interesting.

On that note, I made dinner for Katie and Stan tonight.  After dinner I organized myself for tomorrow, did all of my pre-reading, made some organizational facebook groups(for up coming projects) and packed my bag.

7/14/2012

First day back to footie! Footie this time of year is all about mud and magpies.

It is so wet and muddy that even the ball gets saturated. It is exceptionally hard to bounce a water logged ball on a muddy field but somehow they manage to get by.

 Both clubs and the reserves won but the seniors lost. Ron, the club director/organizer/go to man, pointed out that we still haven't had a weekend where all 4 teams have won.
In other exciting news I ran for the first time since breaking my collar bone today. Easy 10k to get to work. I was going to run another 10 home but it was raining and Georgia offered me a ride so I took it.
When I got home Katie and her family decided that we were going out for dinner. I told then that I had a paper to write but they talked me into the free food. During dinner Katie told me that she had guests to entertain tomorrow and asked me to make her a carrot cake. She really doesn't listen sometimes. When I finished the cake she said that it looked too thin so I made a second layer, icing, and fondant carrots.

Then I quickly stormed off to my room to study. I am happy with my paper and got an A on my weekly quiz do all is good.

7/13/2012

Oh my Friday the 13th. I hope you don't have triskaidekaphobia. I love that word and I so seldom get to use it. I had one bout of bad luck but otherwise had a good day. I some how managed to break my nook this morning. I didn't do anything to it but when I picked it up the screen had lines in every direction indicated that it was broken. Bummer. Other than that I went for a real swim this morning. My arm did pretty well and then felt fantastic for the rest of the day. We had a cardio lecture this morning followed by a seminar. Our patient is a paraOlympian in javelin. She was pretty cool. She has only had one arm her entire life and manages pretty well but she has found the same thing that I did. It's almost impossible to tie your hair up one handed. Luckily her friends and family help her.
After the seminar I went to the market and did some homework at Melbourne central(the train station/shopping center). Since I couldn't read I got the paper for the train ride home.

This is what I have needed my whole life. Toe slimming surgery! Yes!

This evening I decided to cook polenta. I have never been a huge polenta fan but for some reason I wanted to cook it. I got out my handy Internet and made garlic tomato polenta tartlets with basil mayonnaise.



Tomorrow is back to footie! Yay! Happy Friday everyone.

7/12/2012

Incase it wasn't apparent yet, I am definitely back into intense studying. I started the morning with a 3 hour exam. It was a retake from the end of last semester. I had a B+(an H2A in Australian terms) but they gave me a chance to reclaim 2 points and get a top mark(H1). While taking the exam I missed a lecture and a practical. Luckily I was able to retake the practical this afternoon but I completely missed the lecture. The practical was on ultrasound a therapy that is surprisingly widely used despite the fact that there is so little evidence to support it. Even the lose support that I had found in the US is completely refuted in Australia. My favorite conundrum is ultrasound over fractures. Some evidence suggests that it increases healing other evidence suggests that it is detrimental. Both types of studies have questionable findings and have not been successfully duplicated. It was raining when I headed home. I have modified my route so that I have to walk about 2 miles(1 school to train station, 1 train station to home) so that I am more active. I can't wait to get back to riding but the school work is testing my shoulder to the point that I don't want to aggravate it more. I was so bored and annoyed with the train today that I zoned out and missed my stop. Oops. When I finally got home I had a light dinner because my stomach is being uncooperative. After that I started studying. By the time I was ready for bed I had completed 2 out of my 7 objectives for the evening.
Sorry for the boring day I tomorrow I promise pictures and maybe an adventure.

7/11/2012

Today we started on Cardiorespiratory physiotherapy. We discussed the respiratory complications of anesthesia especially as it is involved upper abdominal surgery. After a brief lunch break we had a practical on mobilization. I hope that today was just an introduction and that we go into more depth later because it was very brief followed by "figure it out for yourselves."
I have a good bit of homework already I need to review 2 articles, read for class tomorrow and finish my paper on Obama care. I also found out that I get to retake my exam from last semester tomorrow. The university is giving me a second chance to take my exam since I was hurt during the final exam. I have a good grade now but I have the chance to improve my grade with no risk. Right now I have the Australian version of a B but if I get 2 points higher I will have an A. I should study but instead I'm working on the assignments for tomorrow. Hopefully I remember everything from 3 weeks ago. Cross your fingers.