Somehow I survived not having the internet all weekend and finishing my paper on time. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that my friend Helen was gracious enough to share her apartment and internet with me for the weekend. Thanks Helen! I don’t know how I would have gotten it done otherwise. I just can’t imagine having spent all day Saturday and Sunday in the library….boo

So what’s up for me this week? I’m excited to say that this is the second last week of the term, so despite the impending tests and OSCE, it will all be over soon. J This week will be filled with finishing up our last pbt problem, which I have to say is very interesting. We’re learning about HIV – what it is, the pathophysiology, the natural Hx, the complications, the stigma, all of the psychosocial aspects that surround the disease and what kind of role of physiotherapist takes in it all. I have to admit, although I’d heard the term “HIV/AIDS” many times and I knew it was a terrible disease, and how it was transmitted, I didn’t really know a lot else about it. Did you know that there are two types of HIV? HIV type 1 and type 2 – eventually they both become AIDS, but they have different pathogenicities, disease progressions, and even different responses to retroviral therapy. One is most common in West Africa (type 2) and relatively rare in other parts of the world, and type 1 is the strain that most of us know about and hear about on the news. But isn’t that interesting? There are a lot of things about this disease that I never knew. And I wasn’t really sure where a PT could fit in helping a patient with HIV, but as I learn about it I realize there are areas that PTs could help. I like my profession, there is so much to learn!

Anyway, besides finishing up PBT, I have an educational group assignment to do, we’re making up an education package to address low back pain in pregnant women. It should be pretty neat. We’re even going to make a DVD of exercises to include in the package, and my friend Alexis is going to wear a pregnant belly and act out the exercises for the DVD. Should be pretty great. I just hope we can make it look professional. :P Other than that, I’m just keeping up with schoolwork – this week should actually be probably the most interesting one of the term; we’re also looking at breast cancer, and what a PT’s role would be for patients with breast cancer. We’ll be seeing HIV and breast cancer patients, and I’m really looking forward to all I’m going to learn. I’m such a geek. :)

I’m counting down the days, in less than 2 weeks this unit is done, and I get to have a week off. We’re definitely going snowboarding! I can’t wait. :)