Back in the Saddle

So I only got one Child Life application out, but the next deadline for internships and practicums is quickly approaching, January 5th.  I dragged my feet getting this first one out in part because I wasn't really getting anywhere with my Baclofen pump.  Things are still the same for the most part and PT/OT haven't gotten any easier.  If I was told in June I would be at virtually the same place come January even after multiple adjustments and PT/OT twice a week I would be in shock.  This isn't to say I wouldn't have gone forward, I just wouldn't have expected so much from the beginning.  That said, because I am still largely stuck in the land of appointments, it is hard for me to think of being able to do things on my own schedule when I'm spending so much of my time going back and forth to appointments.  PT/OT and frequent adjustments will come to an end, I just wish I knew when, so I could plan a life outside of a medical record number.

The one and only CL practicum application I got out was to Connecticut Children's Medical Center.  I have Cohen Children's in NY basically ready to go, but I need to figure out if I may need an official recommendation letter with a John Hancock on the envelope seal.  (I just have one copy of each of the original letters.)  I also need to call Boston Medical Center to see if they are offering a summer internship (I never heard from them in the fall).  I am working on the practicum application for Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, in NH.  (The key difference between practicums and internships is one is full-time.  While it would be great if I got a summer internship, my lease doesn't end until August 31st.  So getting an internship in Philadelphia is out of the question, but a practicum is not.)  CHaD requires three recommendation letters (at least for the internship) hopefully just two for the practicum.  They also require a CPR Certification which I will regardless at some point, I had just never seen it before on an application.

General Update and Maine Tomorrow

Today is August first which means the lease to my very first apartment ends in 30 days.  I received two leads from a wonderful realtor who finds roommates AND apartments.  The first was too far away, while the second had a weird layout and I didn't get a good vibe from it.  My expectations are much lower this year since time is not on my side and my budget is much lower.  I was going to meet with someone I found on Roommates.com today, but she had to work so we will have to meet when I return from my vacation.

Things have been slowly progressing on the Baclofen pump implantation front.  In Philly, we need to schedule the intake appointment at Jefferson (neurosurg, anesthesia, and pre-op tests).  I need to do the same in Boston at the Brigham, but I am rather hesitant since after multiple messages, I have yet to hear from Dr. L at Spaulding to get the OK to proceed with implantation surgery.

I have made progress in the Child Life practicum/internship department!  So far I have applications for and am planning to apply to the practicum at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, Alfred I duPont Children's Hospital (in Delaware), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children (in Philly).  I also have the internship applications for Bristol-Meyers Squibb Children's Hospital (in NJ) and Hershey Medical Center (in PA).  I am slowly and steadily working on these applications as I contact other hospitals for applications.

I leave for Maine tomorrow.  My mom and dad spent the night here in my apartment and I will sleep on my futon.  I have been going to Maine for about as long as I can remember and you can bet I will bring my laptop along so I can blog while I am there.

Practicum, Job Search, Online Course and Baclofen Trial

Yesterday I emailed the 12 institutions from Massachusetts to North Carolina that offer Child Life practicums.  So far, I have heard from two institutions.  Tufts Floating Hospital for Children in Massachusetts does not offer practicums/internships to students not affiliated with certain colleges.  I saw in that this was the case in The Child Life Council Directory of Child Life Programs but I thought it never huts to send an email to ask because the worst that could happen was they would say no.  Lehigh Vally Hospital in Pennsylvania also got back to me and they are not currently offering a Child Life practicum.

Today I applied to the full-time Administrative Service Representative II position in Urology at Children's Hospital Boston.  (This position essentially schedules outpatient appointments.)

My online Medical Terminology course through BCCC began on Tuesday.

On Sunday I will go home for my Baclofen trial in Philly.  I will be admitted to MossRehab at 12noon on Monday assess my baseline functioning.  Tuesday I will have a test dose of 50mcg of liquid Baclofen administered in the OR.  The rest of the day will be spent doing the tasks I have difficulty with.  Wednesday I will go home.  If the test dose yields no effect, I will likely return later in the summer to try 75mcg or 100mcg.  If the test dose (aka trial) goes well, I may elect to have a permanent pump implanted which would involve Neurosurgery at either Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia or at Brigham and Women's in Boston.  

Career Fair, Books and Upcoming Events

One of my first stops at the career fair was Children's Hospital Boston's table.  (I thought this would be a good start since it's hard to feel intimidated when one of my "employers" on my resume matches one out of the many institutions represented at the fair.)  After approaching the table, I greeted one of the representatives and explained that I had been a volunteer at CHB for close to 5 years, and my goal was to become a Child Life Specialist.  He learned through my responses to various questions that I had applied twice to the Master's Child Life program at Wheelock, but was denied.  I also told him how I was advised by the career education center at Simmons to gain some administrative skills because that would help me a great deal in the job market.  (I forget the sequence of events exactly because I was rather nervous since this was my first career fair.)  He asked me more questions and inquired about my roles and responsibilities as a seasoned volunteer on the inpatient unit.  When he asked if I had applied to jobs at CHB before, I told him I had, but never got further as far as an interview was concerned.  He offered to look over my resume even though they were not accepting them to see if he could offer me any suggestions.   After a careful look over, he handed it back and told me it looked very strong, strong enough in fact for an Administrative Associate I position, a step or two above an Administrative Assistant I.

I was pleasantly surprised.  After submitting so many resumes and applications to CHB without response, I thought I was worthless as far as employment goes.  It took a lot for me to contain myself and not cheer, but only smile and and say thank you.  I felt like I had been hired on the spot.  After learning the physical location of CHB HR, I made a mental note to visit tomorrow.  (I have always called, assuming they were in the main hospital.  I have also never had a real reason to visit the department in person until now.)  

I called my supervisor at CHB yesterday and left a message on her cell hoping to meet with her sometime this week, but it looks like it will have to be next week because she will not be in on Friday when I volunteer.  I really need to talk to her and pick her brain about Child Life practicums/internships and if I could do something independently at CHB.  


Also, another section was created for the online Medical Terminology course at BCCC so I am now registered.  Initially I though it began on the 1st (today), but thankfully it begins on the 6th so I have some more time.  I have the book from the last time I attempted to take it so I don't need to worry about rush delivery of a textbook.  


Speaking of books, I just received Child Life in Hospitals: Theory and Practice and Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro.  I ordered Child Life because I have heard it is the "bible" for Child Life Specialists.  I also ordered Blog because I really want to make the most out of this.  I could have ordered the Kindle format, but when it comes to textbooks and manuals, I prefer to have the actual book so I can highlight and tab to my heart's content.  I also recently started Eat, Pray, Love although I have yet to finish The Female Brain.  I guess I really need to step up the reading if I hope to hit my goal of 10 books before summer's end. 

On Sunday, the UMDF (United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation is having a float at the 4th of July parade in Chelmsford.  I have a voice lesson on Monday and hope to meet a mito friend friend from Ohio who is seeing a doctor at Tufts.  I will be going home on Wednesday because Allie will be in NC July 8th-15th.  I also need to stay infection and Advil/Motrin free from Wednesday on in preparation for the Baclofen trial on the 12th.  Technically, the trial is the 13th, but I will be admitted on the 12th for baseline observation, and then I should be discharged on the 14th after the trial works its way through.  I will receive 50mcg of liquid Baclofen and the idea is it will relax my muscles better than oral Baclofen ever could without making me sleepy.  However, Baclofen delivered through the spinal fluid can cause other problems since it does not exclusively target my muscles.  It can affect other organs like my bladder and intestines, but obviously there is no way to know what the effects will be until we do it.  If there is no response whatsoever, my doctor and I will try 100mcg at a later date.    

Job Searching

On Thursday I meet with one of the career counselors at my alma matter, Simmons College.  The appointment was spent brainstorming and not actively job hunting online which caught me by surprise because I thought you could only be successful when you actively did something.  My career counselor advised me to talk to my supervisor Children's Hospital Boston, check Simmons College's job bank (jobs posted by employers who want Simmons Alums) daily, go onto Indeed.com and try Craigslist.  I also joined the Simmons College Alumni Group on LinkedIn.com and there is a career fair at The Seaport Hotel, Boston.  I pre-registered while writing this and plan on attending!  I am not moving back to PA with a stone unturned.

I applied to three jobs today: an entry-level temp receptionist position at a hotel in Cambridge, an entry-level temp Admin Assistant I position at a Boston non-profit, and a greeter at one of our Boston hospitals (all found on Indeed).  The temp positions are for 1 and 3 months, I just forget which position went to which time frame.  I emailed my supervisor at Children's Hospital Boston to see if we can get together for lunch this week so we can talk about my options in Child Life.  Simmons College's job bank, CareerLink is down for maintenance.  I found two Admin. Assist I jobs at Tufts, but it appears their website is having issues when I click on "yes" when asked if I want to apply as an external applicant.

The other issue at hand is housing.  My lease ends on 8/31 and I cannot renew because my rent is too expensive.  I applied to temp positions because it's better than nothing and like my career advisor said apply to anything, and so I did, but I'm not entirely sure how the timing will work should I get one of the temp jobs, especially the 3 month position.  It could start next month, or August, or even September.  What then?  Look for apartments with 2 or 3 month leases, if there are any?

I tried to register for the Medical Terminology at BCCC (my local community college in PA) and I am 8th out of 9 people on the waitlist.  If I can't get in by the July 1st start date, I may decide to postpone Child Life practicums until the next semester since the major reason for taking Medical Terminology is to strengthen my application.  I also want to take Child/Human Development again because the course I took while at Simmons wasn't as in-depth as I feel I need.  (Child/Human Development isn't offered through BCCC during Summer Session II and I couldn't find it online here in Massachusetts this late in the summer.

Productive Weekend

I was very productive this past weekend.  I updated my resume, organized the bottom of my closet, found 8 child life practicums, drafted an email to send to the child life directors of the programs, made several additions to my LinkedIn profile, updated my Monster.com profile, looked for jobs online (didn't have any luck and emailed Simmons College Career Education Center), did laundry, brushed Max, sent a text to one of the Child Life Specialists I met at the conference and likely did other things I cannot remember ;).  While I have had other productive weekends before, never have I had one that was so focused on my future.

This week I am meeting with someone at the Career Education Center at Simmons to discuss about how I can make the most of my job search since I already know what I want to do, but need to complete certain specific steps to get there.  I also need to email my supervisor at Children's Hospital Boston (the Child Life Specialist for the unit I volunteer on.  Lastly, I need to register for the Medical Terminology course at Bucks County Community College that I feel I should take to strengthen my application for child life practicums.

I am still just as unsure of my future as I was a few weeks ago, but I find that doing all I can to move further in any direction helps to empower and in a way distract me from all the uncertainties surrounding me.

Back in Boston

I returned to Boston last night after about two weeks at home in PA. While it was nice to be home, it was a reminder that I am not a suburbia type of girl. That said, I need to find a way for me to stay in Boston, which means a job. Finding a job is rather daunting, especially in these times and my lack of paid job experience. I have been volunteering and in school for the past five years.

Perhaps the first thing I should do is update my resume to include my new membership into the Child Life Council. I also need to pick up my degree from Simmons College. I feel rather lame for still not having my hard earned diploma after graduating over a year ago. I also need a copy of my unofficial transcript so I can look up my GPA and start looking at Child Life practicums/internships.

I also need to find an apartment because alas, my current made-for-me-studio was only a one time deal since it is too expensive for me to keep for another 12 months. My lease ends 8/31 and I will truly miss my first apartment because it is in the same area I lived in when I was at Simmons.

Yesterday I finished Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult. The ending was not as depressing as I thought it would be. I could have finished the book last week, but I thought I knew the ending based on her previous books and I did not want to finish it for fear the ending would depress and enrage me. I was pleasantly surprised and proud of the author for not ending it in the way she had My Sister's Keeper or in the way I thought. This book does not count toward the 10 I aim to read this summer since I started it long before summer began. This book was however the first of many I will read on my Kindle.

This afternoon I looked through The CLC Directory of Child Life Programs and found 8 Child Life practicums from Boston to DC.  The hospitals offering practicums are Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital (CT), Children's National Medical Center (DC), Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children (DE), Shriners Burn Hospital Boston (MA), Joslin Clinic (MA), Floating Hospital for Children (MA), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (PA) and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children (PA).  


Internships are more common than practicums because the hours count towards certification, but my plan is to    complete a practicum, then I will have a stronger resume and be more well rounded when I apply to internships the following "semester".  Unfortunately, I have to email most of the institutions because they don't provide enough if any information on their website.  


I also need to look at jobs at the same time, because I need to have a purpose if I am going to stay in Boston.    The deadline for the winter "semester" is September 5th so I need a job so I have something to do if I don't get into a practicum.  

Arizona, an Appointment and Child Life

Sorry for the delay, it has been a crazy past few days.

At last update I was getting ready for my trip to Arizona for the annual Child Life Conference. As I registered for the event, I saw that there was still room on tour of Phoenix Children's Hospital and I registered. As I prepared to get off the bus, I slipped, skipped three steps and smacked my head on the sidewalk. I felt a bit off after I hit, but was able to get up, walk to the nearest bathroom and survey the damage. I got a big hit to a forehead and another to my chin. I took 3 Motrin right there in the bathroom because I knew I was in for a MAJOR headache. I forget who, but someone there suggested I visit the ER just to be sure that everything was OK. I gave in, but knew in my heart it was the right thing to do.

Long story short, about an hour after getting settled in the ER, I started feeling sleepy and "out of it". I also vomited clots a couple times. I got an IV for Morphine, Zofran and fluids. They also put me on the monitor so everyone would know if I fainted or something. I don't remember much about the head CT except for shouting, "My head hurts, my head hurts" repeatedly. The child life specialist who accompanied me to the ER stayed with me until 6pm when another came to my side. I was surprised and relieved that a CLS stayed with me for so long even after my mom arrived ~3 hours post fall.

I was admitted to the PICU for the night. I had normal saline and D10 flowing through my veins. (I told them I had Mito at triage and told them I would need D10 after I vomited the third time, and they believed me!! I was so relieved. They also called my neuro/mito doc's office and spoke with my MD's fellow!! What a concept! Way to go Phoenix Children's.

I was feeling much better the following day and was discharged around noon. Thankfully, I was able to attend most of the conference the following day and one of the event coordinators registered me as a student member of the Child Life Council which enables me to use a lot of their exclusive member only features on their website, which is a BIG PLUS for getting all the guidance and support I need from the council.

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On Monday, I saw one on my doctors at MossRehab in Philly. I have had severe spasticity in my left foot and toes since my second stoke in 2001. I have tried three oral meds, Botox A and B as well as acupuncture, but none of these has provided adequate relief and so we are exploring the option of a baclofen pump which essentially delivers a liquid form of the oral med through a pacemaker sized pump in my belly or low back. Oral (tablet) Baclofen works OK, but not very well with my spasticity. Before going ahead and surgically implanting the pump, I need to get a test dose to figure out if this entire idea is even an option for me.

I will be admitted for pre-test dose festivities ;) on July 12 and go into the OR for the actual administration of the test dose on July 13. On the 14th, the test dose will work it's way out of my body and I will be back to baseline by the 15th. Depending on how the Baclofen test dose makes me feel, I may or may not decide to progress to the next step which is neurosurgery, yes neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to implant the device.

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If you recall from my last post, I was going to meet with the Director of Child Life today from St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. The meeting went alright, but I did not gain anything from the experience apart from meeting another Child Life Specialist. What was echoed perhaps silently during the meeting with her was that my next step will be to apply to practicums. I am not sure how many I will apply to but I'm guessing between 5 and 10. I also feel it is important to visit the hospital I am interested in so I can attach a mental image to the institution. I will have a better idea of how many practicums I will apply to once I return to Boston and look through The Directory of Child Life Programs published by the CLC. Unfortunately ther is no uniform curriculum for practicums/internships set by the council. Each hospital has their own program.

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Every summer I set a goal for myself to read 10 books from start to finish. My first book is The Female Brain.

Arizona Day 2

Mom and I arrived here in Phoenix AZ yesterday at 4pm (7pm Boston time). The temperature was 109. Soon after we arrived, we got settled into our room, went out for dinner, and went to bed soon after.

This morning I registered for the Child Life conference, became a member of the CLC (Child Life Council) and now I am eating lunch after checking my email, facebook, etc. Soon I will board a shuttle to tour Phoenix Children's Hospital and tonight I will sit to join a group of child life students and learn if the appropriate next step for me is a child life practicum.

Tomorrow is the first day full of learning!! After the keynote address I will go to Hit the Ground Running: A Panel Discussion with First Year Child Life Specialists, Lunch, and finally. Everything I Learned in Play Spaces I Learned in Preschool. Each "lecture" is an hour and a half. The keynote address is two hours.

I am so happy to be here for my second child life conference. I am so excited about my own journey towards certification that I have already marked my calendar for next year's conference in Chicago!!

Arizona Tomorrow...

Today was spent mostly lying around the house with a rather large knot in my intestines. Tomorrow my mom and I are flying to Arizona for the Child Life Conference and for whatever reason, I am nervous. I attended the conference last year when it was held in Boston and had a great time, but I guess perhaps it is the circumstances surrounding this conference that make it more important than it was last year. This year, I hope to get my name around and distribute some resumes. Depending upon who I meet and come in contact with could, in essence. define my plans for next year.

My mother called a friend of hers, which led her to call and speak with the Child Life Director at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. After a brief conversation with the director about my educational background, the director decided a good next step for me would be a practicum, which as far as I understood it, between a volunteer and an intern. Unfortunately, practicum hours not count towards certification, only internship hours count. Eh, I'm not complaining as long as I am stepping foreword and in the right direction. My mother and I will meet in person with the Child Life Director at St. Chris's next Tuesday. In Boston, I have the CLC's Directory of Child Life Programs which is essentially the bible if you are looking for practicums or internships and are not currently involved with an educational program for Child Life. The next deadline for practicum applications is Sept 5th for January start. I will likely at the very least apply to the child life practicum program at St. Chris's and CHOP (The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). As far as I know, Children's Hospital Boston (CHB), where I have volunteered for nearly five years does not offer internships/practicums to those not in an educational program, but I will learn soon enough.

Tonight, I went to my best friend Allie's house to watch Glee with a bunch of friends I went to elementary and middle school with. It was so nice to hangout with them because it seems like no matter how much time has passed between when we last saw each other it is really easy to pick up right where we left off :). About four of them, Allie included, will be moving to Boulder CO in August and I am really considering joing them, provided I can find some sort of work/child life related activity for me to do out there. If I have success in that realm, I will then need to investigate the medical care and the feasibility of obtaining it out there since I will obviously need to uproot 90% of my care should I move. Oh, the complications of having something chronic...

I am feeling the winds of change... I just wish they were blowing me more strongly up north back to Boston instead of swirling around my home town... Only time can tell....