I've reached the almost-end

*I wrote this for myself/future self. If you don’t care about my skoo, don’t read it. Also, if you don’t know what I’m studying in skoo, don’t read it.

Now that the semester has ended, I will write about it! It turned out to be another crazy one, complete with classes, clinic, and eval team. Wha-whaat? Eval team, round three, that is. Enjoy the interlaced cacti photographed in Tucson by yours truly. That seems right. I'm lds and blogging, so it is only fitting that I love photography. JK, I only love photography twice, maybe thrice a year. 

I took Aphasia (and other adult language disorders, like right hemisphere disorders), Voice, and Professional Issues. Aphasia was a really interesting class. I think it's kind of intriguing to think about the potential effects on language based on the lesion area of the brain. Dr. Beeson was the bomb.com. She always shared current findings from her research, which I must say, is choice of all research. Check me out PS- Didn't you hear? She just got a 2mil dollar grant. I was really excited for my voice class, but it turned out being very different from what I expected. Looking back, I’m not sure what I expected, haha. I will be forever grateful for each week I go without looking at vocal folds, healthy or unhealthy (actually, especially unhealthy). Robin got a new scope the last week of class and I wanted to get scoped so badly, but alas, strep attacked me. I’m totally excited to look at my own vocal folds though. I think they’re going to look pretty snazzy. Maybe in January I will be so lucky. My professional issues class was awesome, and that is a fact. Dr. Hoit does that to a class- makes it awesome.  

When we first came to UA I was really thrown off by my every decision having to now revolve around current research. I hated all research. I hated journals, articles, scientists, article dissections, levels of evidence, and any other thing ‘research.’ Each treatment session had to be based off research (that’s a bumload a lot of research) and every sentence in every written paper had to be behind research. Now, after being brutally slapped in the face daily by the field’s leading professionals, I can say “Women! And a few men! I get it!”

Now I kind of like it. So weird.

My clinical placement was so coolio this semester. Working with Sara and all the dolphs was amazing. I learned so much over the past few months with her. I worked in the cross categorical room three of the four days each week. Holy smoly I loved these kids! They’re so cute! And even though I read them the same story and sang the same song with them for at least a three week block they still loved it! They will surely be missed.

Round three eval team turned out be quite the party. We got handed some wild cards, wi-l-d cards. Some of our evals went four hours! And some came again because those four hours were too short! One of our reports ended up being 15 pages! Our diagnosis? Severe apraxia, severe mixed dysarthria- flaccid and spastic, severe cognitive impairment, and possible aphasia. Shnikes. All of our evals were different, which was a great experience for me. We saw some dementia, TBI, aphasia, apraxia, psychogenic dyspnea, apraxia, etc. The list doesn’t end, and probably never will. This, my friend, is what happens when yo brain don’t get no oxygen and says “peace” to yo skull.      

All in all, it was a good time. I can say that now since I’m done. If you’d asked me how things were during Thanksgiving I’d say something along the lines of “don’t talk to me you fool! Can’t you see I’m studying (in my brain during this social occasion)?”