Life goes on...

Hmmm..... what can I say? I had a good week #3 at my clinical... none of my patients were harmed (thankfully) and I got to spend a wonderful weekend watching the Aliens trilogy with my incredible husband. Aside from that, I am growing tired of not seeing Lucas everyday, driving every weekend, the numbness in my toe (and calf), and today on my drive back to Greensville my "permanant" crown fell off... less than a year after I got it put on.... WTF?!?! *sigh* life is good.... but still stressful.

A little bit about where I'm at now...

My current clinical is in Greenville, NC (about 2 1/2 hours away from where we live) and I am doing inpatient rehab which means that I work with patients in the hospital who are medically stable but need to work on building up their strength before they can go home. Most of my patients are neurological patients, meaning they have some sort of brain or spinal cord injury. I also work with patients who may just have a lot of medical problems and need a lot of assistance, such as people with multiple injuries from a car accident. So we do fairly basic things like practicing walking, climbing stairs, working on balance, and sometimes learning to use and maneuver a wheelchair. So far it is going really well but I've had some rough days... there is so much to learn about being safe and not hurting your patients while trying to challenge them to do something that is difficult too. On Monday I had my first patient fall; that is never a good feeling. Everyone assures me that I did everything I could have, but that it just sometimes happens... but it is still hard not to feel responsible or like I should have done something different somehow. Despite that incident, I love the hospital and the facility in which I get to work.. there is so much equipment to work with, and the people are really friendly and wonderful to work with. If this hospital was in Greensboro I would be applying there for sure!
Outside of clinical life is going well too. We got our tickets to go up to Alaska for Rachel and Jordan's wedding today... I am glad we will get to be there for this special event! Lucas and I are handling the distance well, I think better this time since being together for 2 weeks in Italy and my being able to come home on the weekends helps a lot too. Otherwise, I'm keeping busy trying to exercise daily and I'm currently reading a book called "Love life for every Married Couple" by a chrisitian doctor about how God has designed every marriage to be a love affair... So far I don't think some of the priniciples really apply to us (it's geared towards couples who are struggling) but it still has some really good points and lessons to be applied to our marriage. That's all I've got for now...

The Inevitable

Well, it finally happened. I dropped my first patient. I knew it had to happen eventually but I think that part of me was really hoping that it never would. Honestly, the thing that annoys me the most is that I'm pretty sure the patient did it on purpose. So there you go; I feel like crap. That's what's new in the life of Rachel.

Transitions...

It's weird to think that we've already been back over a week and that I've moved to Greenville and have already finished a week at my new clinical site; man does time fly! Our last day in Rome was very relaxing... in fact, other than seeing the San Calisto cattacombs, we pretty much didn't do anything; probably the perfect way to end a busy trip. In the meantime I have moved to Greenville, NC to complete my 3rd clinical rotation at Pitt Memorial Hospital. So far, I love it. The hospital is massive, the rehab gym is phenomenal, and my CI (clinical instructor) is a lot of fun. I also love that Greenville is only 2 1/2 hours from home so I can go home on the weekends without much hassle and see Lucas and all our friends. This weekend I went home and we went to a charity event to benefit Multiple Sclerosis. I got to catch up with the Morgans and the Tishlers, so it was a good time.
As I reflect upon our trip to Italy I find that I am surprised at which moments I remember with the most fondness. For example, especially after visiting the cappucian crypt, I did not anticipate the overwhelming sense of faith and peace that I felt while visiting the catacombs of San Calisto, where archaeologists estimate around half a million Christians from 140AD to 350AD were buried, nor did I expect to remember eating dinner sitting on a curb watching a turd float by as one of my favorite moments. Lying on the grass in the field of miracles, gazing up at the Sistine chapel, listening to music watching the sun go down over St. Mark’s basilica at the Café Florian, dancing with Lucas in San Marco square, sleeping every afternoon in Rome, sitting on a curb eating a goat cheese and prosciutto sandwich with local workers, and realizing how much Lucas loves me after he lost my laptop are some of my favorite memories of Italy. It’s interesting that while seeing the Coloseum, the Pantheon, and so many other sites were amazing, they don’t compare in my memory to the moments I shared with Lucas. :) I have almost completed uploading photos to our shutterfly account, if you would like to see all of the pictures I took, click the link here: http://lucasandracheldargis.shutterfly.com/

Rome: Day 4

It was a good day. We began by sleeping in… oh glorious sleep how I have missed you! We had a leisurely breakfast and then meandered over to view the pyramid followed by St. Paul’s basilica. Compared to some of the other sights we’ve seen on this vacation, neither one were jaw dropping, although St Paul’s was an incredibly beautiful church. The pyramid, which was built as Gaius Cestius’ tomb and is now part of the Aurelian wall, had a protestant cemetery behind it which we also visited. The cemetery is also a cat sanctuary/shelter so I had fun petting the kitties (I miss mine!) Next, we attempted to see the Cappuccian crypt, a crypt decorated entirely from the bones of more than 4,000 monks, but it was closed so we retreated to our hotel for a picnic lunch in our air conditioned room. After lunch (and a quick siesta) we headed back to the crypt which Lucas found fascinating and I found very disturbing. Afterwards we hopped on the metro to return to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s basilica and marvel at its monstrosity. The truth is that while it is breathtaking and vast we both felt that it was rather over the top. However, that is apparently the style of the Baroque period in which the majority of the church was constructed. The sheer size of the church is incredible with the letters on the wall standing over 7 feet tall! The real highlight was also seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta, the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus’ crucified body; Michelangelo sculpted this when he was 24 years old… incredible! To end the day we visited the Borghese gardens and then found dinner in a quaint, but tasty, pizzeria.

Rome; the Eternal City

Where do I start? So much has happened in the last 3 days that I don’t even know where to begin. Rome is slightly overwhelming and definitely awe-inspiring. In a city with 2.6 million people and a 2,000 year history it’s easy to feel small and insignificant. In the last 3 days I have seen things I have only dreamed about including the Coloseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Palantine hill, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, the Vatican museum, and the Sistine chapel. Today I stood at the very place where Julius Cesar was burned, yesterday I stood in front of the tomb of Raphael in the Pantheon, and on Sunday I stood beneath Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel. Each day has been special and memorable and there is still more to see! Tomorrow we are going back to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s basilica; the largest church in the world, and later the cappuccian crypt, the villa Borghese gardens, and St Paul’s basilica.

We have been trying to take things slower in Rome since we have more time here. We have been doing only one or two sites in the morning and then retreating to our hotel room for a nap and to escape the grueling heat; it is truly unbearable. Then we head out again to see something else, have dinner, and explore some other corner of Rome. Last night we hired a local artist to sketch my portrait, something I have always wanted to have done. It was very intense being the focal point of an artist, and Lucas videotaped his sketching so later I got to see how he did it also. We think he did a very good job, but made my chin more pointed than it is ;) You are welcome to judge for yourself the next time you come over. Well, I think that’s all for now…