PTA to HIT? Life is best taken one day at time...

I've made a major decision not to reapply to the Physical Therapist Assistant program. I dropped the Intro to PT course I was going to take this semester and decided to wash my hands of it. It's not that the field of work doesn't interest me, it's more that it doesn't interest me enough, and the job prospects aren't promising enough for me to devote two more years of my life to, particularly at this point in my life. Had I been accepted into the program this year, I would be devoted whole-heartedly and enthusiastically right now. But after the rug was pulled out from under my feet, and I got up and dusted myself off, I was forced to look around for something else to do with my academic time, and this coding direction I started taking has made me feel like I might have a knack for health information technology. It all seems to come fairly easily to me. Furthermore, I have to think of using my education as a means to secure skills that could lead to a type of employment that will carry me through traditional retirement age and beyond. As much as I have tried to deny it, my body being what it is - or isn't - is not going to want to perform physical therapy tasks on other people for that many years. I think I'm being sensible.

At the same time, I made a physically therapeutic re-discovery this week - kinesio-tape! My MRI of my foot didn't reveal anything more than plantar faciitis and a cyst on my ankle (Oh, and by the way, plantar faciitis is not something I should refer to as "nothing more than" - it hurts like hell, and takes forever to heal), and so the foot specialist told me to continue with the exercises (which produced more pain), and using the night splint (which produced more & different pains), and the heel cushions in my shoes (which produced some cushioning but no significant relief). But this week a co-worker told me about how she uses "magic tape" on her foot, that she gets at the running store she goes to. When she told me about it, I remembered that a chiropractor once tried using it on my back to relieve inflammation. She brought me a box of kt tape to try and I'm shocked, but my foot feels better! I actually had some relief the first day! I highly recommend kinesiotaping for whatever ails you. Maybe I could go to KinesioTape U. and get a bachelor of kinesiotaping arts degree? Maybe kinesiotape can eliminate all sorts of irritations - like an irritating boss or an irritating neighbor!

Don. That might be his name. Or it might not. But I'll call him Don for the purpose of this post. I've taken to going to one of the student lounges to study over the last couple of weekends. I've been getting over to school to concentrate on my homework a bit later in the day, so rather than set myself up in the library, only to pack it all up & move after a short time, I've set up in one of the lounges. It's not a silent study area, and I'm not surrounded by the walls of a study carrel, eliminating visual distraction. So for an adult with ADD, this isn't always the best spot for serious homework. But on the weekends, the people using the lounges are basically working just like I am, so they are relatively quiet. As is Don. I've seen him around campus. Being a college campus it's quite ordinary to see people carrying large bags full of books, laptops, water bottles & snacks. Don's probably a bit older than I am, and I noticed him in the corner of the lounge reading a book, his backpack & another bag by his side. Occasionally, he would get up & go for a walk, perhaps to smoke, and then he'd return & pick up his paperback again. Some time after the last of the other three students left the lounge for the evening, he opened his bag and took out two reusable plastic bowls and began to warm his dinner in the microwave. When I had seen him previously, sometimes he'd be in the library at one of the computers, other times watching television in the SRC, I'd suspected that he was homeless, but seeing him set up his dinner, I felt pretty sure about it. I hadn't made any conversation with him, even though we were the only ones in the room. I actually was concentrating on getting my work done, and know enough about myself that once I allow myself any verbal distraction, the work is doomed. A campus security officer came by and I wondered if he was going to send Don packing, but instead he greeted him in a friendly way and suggested they get a pizza next time - his treat - and said he'd come by later to talk for a while. Listening to the exchange and finally hearing his voice, I realized how Don was just like me or anyone else. A regular man who through some misfortune did not have a home of his own. It made me feel a little sad, but also respectful of his cheerfulness. I got to thinking about what life must be like for him and what might have landed him in the situation he was in. Did he have a job? He had money for his food and his own utensils that he brought with him, and he got an iced tea from the vending machine. I felt such an awareness of how fragile our life situations can be. We always think of life being fragile, as in life & death. But the realization that anyone could be an illness or a job loss away from loosing home and possessions overwhelmed me. Then I thought - no rent, no mortgage, no property tax - is that the up-side of the situation? A quiet place to read a book, a library with free use of a computer and lounge with a microwave to warm dinner. Yes, it was a crazy mix of thoughts & emotions as I finished the reading & work for my computer class & packed up to go home for the night. And Don curled up on the small couch. He was in the same lounge the next day when I came back and we said hello and talked briefly about the sunny weather before I started on my coding homework and he sat down with his book.