March 18

I've obviously been beyond slacking on this blog. I somehow got behind in writing my March posts. So behind that it feels overwhelming to try and finish out the month of March at this point. But I have all the pictures nicely organized and ready to go, so I need to finish. I haven't wanted to write anything else until I finished these, so if not for any other I need to finish these March posts so I can write about other things that happen in our lives besides all those things from 2 months ago. Plus, what else is there to do when you're up all night with a new puppy.

March 18, 2013

 This was my first day of my mental health fieldwork. I was really excited about this one! I felt like I got a great placement, and I was really interested in the OT aspect of mental health care. There's a great housing program across the south (maybe the nation??) for health care students that's designed just for things like this. They have apartments that are reserved just for migrant students. So Lindsey calls them up, tells them will be coming, and they mail us a key. They great thing is that if you're a resident of the state you're doing your rotation in it's almost always FREE. Since we went to South Carolina, not our state of residence, we only paid $75 for the week. Not too shabby considering there's no way we could have gotten a hotel for this price AND we had a kitchen. I made freezer meals the Saturday before we left, so we not once had to eat out. It was great. Unfortunately, the apartment wasn't up to either of our cleanliness standards, the beds were uncomfortable and squeaked every time you moved, and our roommate was a weirdo. But really, it was $75. We couldn't complain.

Before we went into work the first day, we stopped and got our ID badges. Pretty exciting... 

That first day was a bit of a drag. They didn't have many patients, so there wasn't much for Lindsey and I to do. The OT we were shadowing took us a very unique tour of the hospital, to say the least. But at one point we found ourselves in the pediatric outpatient clinic, which had an AMAZING swing room. Seriously, what more could a kid need?!

 From hammocks to ziplines and tire swings. All themed fittingly for the jungle. I hope that if my kids ever need OT that they'll be able to go to a place with as many resources as this outpatient clinic.

Courtney