27-2-12

Sannu! (Hausa for hello!)

I woke up last night at 1am Niger time which was about 6pm MN time.i was starving! Almost like I was craving dinner :) apparently sleep and food cycles take a while to adjust! So I ate a granola bar but couldn't fall back asleep for another 2 hours.

The 615 alarm clock rolled around way to quickly. I actually didn't even hear the alarm go off, or Jill say the alarm went off, or Alison getting ready. Instead I heard the rooster that hangs around the compound cock-a-doodle doo! Haha. I was so tired it took a rooster to wake me up!

We ended up leaving Niamey at 8am. The trip was long but very interesting. We saw a bunch of giant termite hills, handmade huts built off the ground on stilts to store grain (it stays clean and the animals can't eat it if it's off the ground), tons and tons of African villages, each with their own Mosque, goats were everywhere! The cutest ones would stand on their hind legs to eat the leaves off the trees (yes... There are trees here! Who knew), camels and baby camels just roaming around. They hobble them by tying their front legs together so they can't run away too fast. Homes made of clay that look like Hershey kisses, donkeys pulling water up from the well, little kids like 3 years old playing with each other... No sign of parents anywhere, markets selling everything and anything... Red onions are a big crop here so they sell them by the bag which weighs 100 kilos!, they also sell black market gasoline in old whiskey or run bottles which people actually buy because they don't trust they are getting the amount told at gas stations. We saw women and even young girls walking around carrying anything from a pile of wood to bowls or trays on top of their heads and making it look easy. They can even turn their head and look around without it even wavering!

We accidentally hit a goat with the suv going very slowly, but fast enough to break his leg in half... It was sad. But he will most likely be dinner tonight:(

We also had some car trouble, which I am not surprised by at all considering the roads are either paved (close to Niamey), partially paved and partially dirt or all dirt! Makes for a bumpy trip. Anyway, our belt for the alternator broke but thankfully for some reason there were 2 on there so we still made it.

Traffic again was a nightmare. People drive however they want. Our driver, Aiyumba, kept honking his horn to warn people a fast vehicle was coming.

We checked into our brand new guest house in Danja at about 7pm (11hr trip total). Alison and I are sharing a room. After tossing our bags into our room we went to eat dinner at another missionary who teaches a bible camp, Tom and his families home. Dinner was really good.

After a long day, I am exhausted and planning on sleeping well tonight. I will write again soon about my first day in the clinic!

Sai Angema (see you later in Hausa)

Love,

Kaitlin

We Made It!

After a long 2 days... which actually felt like 1 day, we finally made it into Niamey, Niger and MAN IS IT HOT! It was actually a little cooler when we arrived at 91 degrees, but it should get up into the low 100's the whole time we are here. 

It's 900pm here and I am exhausted so I won't be doing a complete email, but I am working on a written journal entry for the past 2 days and then I will try to send another email out to you.

Alison, Greg and I will be leaving for Danja tomorrow at 7am in a SUV that has some chilly air that blows out but nothing like AC in the states. There is also a girl here who has been volunteering all over Niger and her brother and mom are visiting her now. They will be traveling to Danja with us tomorrow. 

We were welcomed warmly today by the Nigerians and a family of missionaries who have been here for quite a while. Susan is a doctor and her and her husband Jeremey have 3 adorable daughters, 8, 6 and 2 years old. They are all extremely bright. There is a clinic outside of the guest house where people can come and get treatment for anything and everything. Jill will be staying here while Alison and I head out to the bush. 

My favorite part so far.... there are goats everywhere! They just hang out on the street. I may or may not come back with a baby goat in my trunk. :)

I miss you all! Will update as soon as possible!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers as this journey begins!

Love, Kaitlin

Cherry Mish Mish!

**********************************

Oh little town of Fargo

How much I learned from thee. 

And each day at Sanford Health,

My patient's passed me by.

Yet in thy dark street shineth,

My sister and I bonded.

The 9 weeks past so quickly,

And now I'm home tonight.

***********************************

Silent night, not quite,

Wagner house, is very bright.

Round yon cards and games each night,

Puzzles, jokes and plays so wild.

So much fun together

So much fun together

**********************************

My time in Fargo was awesome, mainly because I got to spend time with Laura. I did enjoy the setting I was in but am not sure if the Rehab setting is right for me, but I did enjoy all of patients. They included:

1. A Latino goofball with a stroke and the most contagious laugh
2. A quiet clever guy with an anoxic brain injury who never laughed at my jokes
3. A giggly, smiley lady with a subdural hematoma who baked delicious treats
4. A guy who thought his leg was put on backwards but worked really hard
5. A cute old lady with a stroke who was always sleeping
6. A boy with a rare condition who made fun of me for being a Chelsea FC fan (Kyle's favorite patient, of course)
7. A crazy yet kind guy with a cerebellar stroke who required a lot of redirection from his talks about elicit drugs
8. A self proclaimed piss and moaner with an above knee amputation who could talk your ear off
9. A tiny woman with a stroke and her uncontrollable left arm who she named Fido
10. A hard working woman with a stroke who had corrective lenses that looked like toilet bowls
11. An adorable woman with a subdural hematoma who was always cold
12. A farmer with a freak Spinal Cord Injury with indescribable motivation

It has been nice to be home with our entire family here. Ashley flew in from Seattle last Sunday and as the song above describes, all we have been doing is playing card games, board games, watching TV and movies and completing a 2000 piece puzzle of the Neuschwanstein Castle. We went to the play Cinerella at the Ordway in St. Paul last night. It was fun to dress up, go out to dinner and experience some culture. The play wasn't the best, but we still had fun. I also got to see the Lettenberger's. They were at the same place for dinner last night. Seeing them made me miss my U-14 team a lot!

It's Christmas Eve and as one of us girls used to say as a kid.... Cherry Mish Mish! 

I pray that you all have a blessed holiday season. 

soooo my life is lame

i honestly had to ponder for a while what i was going to write today. i will say this... i feel like in the picture on my title screen i should at least be at the pole down there by now. i mean its like im standing still!

although time is creeping by this past week, i am one week closer to being half way done with my rotations.

One of my favorite photos from Elena and my Europe trip. Totally didn't
see the guys in the background

my clinic has actually been pretty fun. we get a huge variety of diagnoses and each patient presents with their own quirks that make them exciting or weird to spend time with.

1. i have a young patient who is a soccer fan believe it or not, so therapy has revolved around dribbling a ball around cones, passing, kicking and discussing soccer. he is also a manchester united fan and i'm a chelsea fan so he likes to make fun of me. i let him because i have to... after all i don't think my CI would appreciate me arguing with a patient. 
2. i have another gentleman who is really goofy. he likes to giggle all the time. he wears a lot of silly t-shirts: one that has McLovin's driver's licence on it and my favorite one that says-- 'have you seen my zombie?' and then you flip the shirt over your head and its a zombie face. its pretty neat.
3. i have an ADORABLE elderly patient who is honestly the sweetest woman ever. she is always cold and wears a pink crocheted shawl to therapy every day. when we walk she hums music and when i ask her what song she is humming she says 'ooooo i don't know'
4. i have another older woman with stroke who is sooooo tired and sleeps through therapy :) she also sneezed on me today during the 2 minutes she was awake haha. but shes awesome



Seesters

5. my last patient is an amputee patient. shes super chatty but it will help the time pass. plus, its cool to see something different!

laura and i have hung out a couple of times this week... well pretty much everyday. monday we went to the coffee shop. i studied my new boards review book while laura did some schoolwork. tuesday we played indoor soccer. it was a blast. i scored and also had to stop and catch my breath numerous times. wednesday night we went out to dinner, to the advent service at church, then went back to my place to watch survivor and modern family. tonight we are at the coffee shop again together listening to live music. 

im excited to have a weekend with nothing planned. i am exhausted.

what happens in vegas.....

chris and celeste welcomed kyle and i last weekend into their las vegas home. they live about 20 minutes north of the strip in a nice neighborhood. the weather was a little chilly, but warmer than the north dakota wind and snow. i arrived on friday at 8:30am so we had the whole day for activities. we grabbed some breakfast then went hiking in one of the state parks. chris and celeste have 2 dogs, bandit and dudley. they LOVE to hike and proceeded to chase each other up and down the mountain discovering new paths and sliding down the huge rocks... talk about a manicure. dudley, a very clumsy dog, was pretty cute as he tried to coordinate his body. one time he tried to jump up onto a rock, about mid jump realized he wasn't going to make it, fell down and landed in a bush... right next to this prickly thing. thank goodness he didn't fall into it. hiking really made me want to live in a city where i  could hike more often. its really refreshing to be outside, absorbing all of God's indescribable creation and getting an excellent workout at the same time. 

the prickly bush

'mom... my paw hurts!'

wet willy :)

we vegged for a bit at home after getting inn and out burger (check that off the list) and then got ready to go out on the strip. we made a pit stop to make a couple of sports bets. celeste and i really didn't know what we were doing because we don't watch enough football to really make an educated guess. but kyle and chris had a blast. they bet on football and of course soccer. i wont discuss the 'winnings' :) we then went to XS (pronounced 'excess'... who knew i would sound so silly when i said each letter 'X' then 'S'). it was a ton of fun! it just so happened the had a famous DJ playing that night. Wolfgang Gartner. yeah... i had never heard of him either, but it turns out hes pretty good AND when kyle googled the name Wolfgang, he is the second name that comes up... i'd say that's pretty famous. i embedded one of his mixes. honestly, it was kind of like a show too, the lights were awesome the music was great and the dancing was even better!

the blue guy in the middle is Wolfgang
himself!!

saturday we slept in and literally laid around all day. we watched  college football to see how our bets were doing, flipping back and forth between dual survivor-- a show where a hippie and an ex-marine are placed into the wild and they survived (it's hilarious and awesome... i highly recommend it) while kyle practiced playing black jack and celeste and i took numerous naps. we got ready to go back to the strip for a nice dinner at fiamma, in the MGM Grand and catch a Cirque du Soleleil show, KA. dinner was fabulous. we each got something different and shared, ordered a couple bottles of wine and had a relaxing dinner. the KA show was unbelievable. its absolutely amazing to me the talented athletes that perform in these shows. they are so gifted. afterwards, kyle and chris played some black jack. i played $1 worth on the penny slots and lost $0.80 and decided to call it quits. :) but i am happy to say i have officially gambled now!

dudley

bandit

i left early sunday morning, slept all afternoon once i got home and then made the trek back to good 'ol fargo. 

apparently this is called 'tebowing' ...
its the new cool thing to do? this is chris btw

monday marked laura's 22nd birthday! she's so old! i took her out to dinner to her favorite sushi place and even though the service was sub par, the free birthday dessert made up for it! it was delicious. she and i watched the last Harry Potter movie (she got it for her bday from mom) and then grabbed a drink with some of her friends and her bf, casey. 

tuesday, i got to play soccer for the first time in..... longer than i can even remember, which is particularly sad. laura and her team play in a co-ed indoor league. my touch was a little off to start with but i think it found it eventually. i was a little sore afterwards.... a lot sore afterwards... it kind of felt like freshman year preseason all over. that's a little embarrassing. 

laura and i drove home on wednesday after work and it's been so great to be home. i have been spoiled these last 6 years of my life being so close to home for college and grad school. i originally was supposed to work on friday (the joys of working in a hospital) but my CI was really nice and gave me the day off. 

thanksgiving dinner was so delicious. it was just mom, dad, laura and i. ashley had to work so she could come home over Christmas, but we skyped her. we stuffed ourselves and then laid on the couch. unfortunately the lions lost their game to non other than the stupid packers. we played some cards and then went to target at midnight to get some deals! holy smokes. the line was around the entire building to get in. mom got a kick of the constant stream of TV's that kept coming out the doors. i also ran into former Wayzata High School soccer star, Molly Kurth and her mom, at Target. it was so great to see her! we got home at about 2am, went to bed and then mom and i went to the mall again at about 10am. we shopped until about 2pm and after saving tons of money, went home. 

i am planning on getting together with anna (PT friend) and then elena and some other friends tomorrow. then church on sunday and back to fargo for my last 3 weeks  of my rotation. can you believe it?! i graduate in June and then FINALLY get to make a little money instead of giving it all to school.

dinner....

...and a show

belated

well, apparently i have been a bit lazy and haven't updated this in over a week. i know you guys have been aching for another entry ;)

kyle, hiking in portland

let's see.... not this past weekend, but the weekend before that... kyle and dexter came to fargo to visit. he was only able to stay for about 24 hours because he had a flight to portland, oregon on sunday morning to play as a trialist in a Portland Timbers mini camp - which he did very well at :) read this article to see what the head coach had to say! he got in after work on friday and we were both famished. i had asked the girls at work for a couple of suggestions on local cuisine and had an entire list of restaurants. and guess where we went.... Texas Roadhouse. we were on our way to another restaurant (recommended to us by a PT at work) and saw Texas Roadhouse. we both secretly wanted to go there and pulled the..." if YOU really want to go there then that's fine with me" to test the water and see if the other had the same thing in mind :) we decided to at least look at the menu at this other place before going back to Texas Roadhouse.

jenista and i at the FLL game 10/22

well, after kyle's wonderful navigation app on his Droid took us PAST the restaurant... yeah PAST... this is actually quite funny and deserves a side note... we turned off the main road in fargo (yes THE one and only main road) and the restaurant is pretty much right on the corner in the shopping area. i was looking out the window and physically saw the restaurant. kyle on the other hand was looking down at his phone which ended up navigating him past the turn and was taking us an entire block farther than the restaurant. as we pass the turn i said 'KYLE! the restaurant was right there!' he said 'oh! my phone said it was a block up ahead.' hahaha so anyway after we drove past the restaurant, peeked in the windows and made a couple of pretty lame excuses why not to go there, we went to Texas Roadhouse, devoured some peanuts during our 45 minute wait, snarfed down a basket of rolls each and enjoyed a meal together.

the rest of our time together consisted of watching movies and being lazy. oh.. we did take dexter to the dog park and decided north dakota dog parks aren't as good as minnesota ones. the dogs are just better in minnesota :)

we snatched kyle before pregame vs FLL at home. his parents, kyle and i

unfortunately, laura wasn't in town when kyle and the dex were. she was at her conference tournament in (believe it or not) detroit, michigan. it's just my luck that she would go to detroit as soon as i leave :) her team ended up losing in the championship game and sadly their season is over and laura's career is over. although she was sad that it is over, she has also been very busy with nursing school and is grateful for a little extra study time in the evenings. i, on the other hand, am enjoying her having a little extra time as well. last week we ate out at Granite City, and it just so happened to be wine night! we shared a bottle of wine, a flatbread and a couple of apps and enjoyed each others company, then went back to the house im staying in and watched TV and played my dragon village game on my iPhone. ----- don't laugh----- the game involves raising and breeding dragons to live in my dragon park. regardless if you think im a nerd or not, laura and i like it and that't that!

tailgating at alumni weekend

things in the clinic have been fun and challenging. my CI, leah, continues to 'leave me hanging' every once in a while... and although i hate feeling like i don't know what im doing in front of our her and our patient, it has been a good learning experience to 1.) plan more therapy activities than time allows... just in case and 2.) to think on my feet and problem solve. after all, i am still a student and i learn better through my own problem solving than by being told. i will admit that coaching soccer has definitely benefited me in planning my sessions. it's kind of like having a bag of tricks and being able to pull one out as needed during a training session or therapy session. my therapy bag just isn't quite as big as my soccer bag yet.

just a sweetie pie

i had mentioned my favorite patient was being discharged home a couple weeks ago.... our last day with him was a lot of fun and we did a lot of education on safety at home, practicing various functional tasks and talking with his family. at the end of our day, we ran up to his room quickly to drop off the cane we were sending him with. before we left both leah and i gave him a hug and he started to cry. it was the sweetest thing and put tears in my own eyes. i am so thankful to have been a part of his recovery and life and was immediately reassured that physical therapy is the right profession for me.

kyle was on the poster... his mom and i were having fun

last week was a long week for me as i worked 6 days. leah had to work last saturday, and she was gracious enough to let me work on saturday to take this upcoming friday off of work. kyle and i are going to visit his childhood friend, chris, who is in the Air Force and his wife, celeste. they just so happen to live in las vegas which isn't a bad place to go visit. although i haven't ever gambled, kyle has promised to teach me and hopefully win a little bit of money to pay back some of the trip. we are hoping to catch a show and a stop at In and Out Burger is most definitely a priority.

until thursday evening when i drive back to my parents house to leave out of the MPLS airport on friday morning, i will be forcing myself to workout, fighting through the soreness in all of my muscles as i have just started to get back into lifting... gross, watching Top Shot - the search for the best marksman (a reality show on Netflix), working on my mid semester evaluation of myself, breeding dragons (currently i'm working towards a blue fire dragon) and just being lazy.

Campeones! Campeones! Ole Ole Ole!!!

If the title or above picture wasn't enough of a clue, Kyle's team, the NSC Minnesota Stars won the NASL (North American Soccer League) Championship! 

My flight from Minneapolis left at 7:00am on Saturday morning, arriving in Fort Lauderdale, FL at 2:41pm, with a stop in Atlanta, GA. Although lay over usually is a burden, this one wasn't. Kyle's middle brother, Kelly, whom I haven't met yet, had the same lay over to get to Fort Lauderdale to see Kyle. The catch is, I didn't know he was coming and neither did Kyle. It was kind of funny how we met actually. Kelly had walked by me waiting at the gate and saw my suitcase which had the Big Ten Women's Soccer logo. He found out from Kathy (mama Altman) that I was in Atlanta and sent me a Facebook message to call him. We chatted until our flight took off and then met Al and Kathy at our final destination.

How cute

We had a little bit of time to meet Kyle at his hotel and say hi before he had to leave for his game. He looked very focused. It was so exciting to see him in that setting. We checked into our room, in the same hotel and grabbed a bite to eat with Kelly and some of Kyle and his friends from Trinity University. Then, off to the game. Thankfully I brought my rain boots and Kathy made these personalized ponchos for all of us! She made them for us because our Altman jersey's wouldn't show with rain gear on. 

The game was thankfully pretty uneventful. Kyle played awesome. The final score was 0-0, but with the aggregate, The Stars won 3-1! 

Woo Hoo!

We had a fun time celebrating with the team and fans after the game at Champps. After Champps kicked us out, we went to some bars, where everyone was dressed up in their Halloween costumes. We all decided we were in costume as Champions!

Unfortunately my flight was at 6:00am the next morning, so I actually didn't even get a wink of sleep before Kyle got me a cab for the airport. I originally thought I would be able to fly standby on one of the six flights later in the day. But, just my luck, there was a boat show in Ft. Lauderdale last weekend too. So, all the flights were overbooked :(

This one is for you, Dirt

I pretty much slept all morning on my flights, slept when I got home, drove back to Fargo, and fell asleep. Monday was a good day at work, despite being pretty tired. I started to feel a little sore throat on Monday night and went to bed a little early. Well, if anyone remembers my blog update for my first 2 weeks in Detroit where I woke up late 2 Tuesday's in a row. Yeah.... that happened again. I woke up 10 minutes before I needed to be at work. I ended up being late, and then felt really sick the whole day. But I fought through the day because I already felt bad for being late. I got home at about 5:00pm and went to bed until 7:00pm when Laura brought me some soup. Then hopped back into bed at 8:30pm and slept until my alarm went off this morning. I woke up, wishing I didn't have to and went to work. 

Celebrating with a 7/7 in memory of Grandpa
Had an extra one for you Dad!

On another note, my favorite patient is getting discharged on Friday. He is a Latino American who suffered from a stroke, leading to right sided weakness. He has progressed so much and he is so motivated to get better, always pushing himself the extra inch. Not to mention he is hilarious and every time he laughs its contagious. I will miss him a lot and am blessed to have had such a fun and persevering patient as one of my first experiences in the rehabilitation setting.