The Lesson

Hello faithful readers!

This weeks lesson:

PATIENTS DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW,

UNTIL THEY KNOW THAT YOU CARE.

A professor my first year of grad school spoke those words to us, and I've never forgotten them.

These words continue to be the way I try treat patients (and players) every day. It is easy sometimes to get into a routine, where work is work, and another tommy john surgery is just

another tommy john surgery. But if I could point out one big lesson from this week, it would be that sometimes (most the time actually) the best way to get a patient better is to show them that you care.

My greatest downfall as a therapist seems to be my inability to not take it personally if a patient (or player) is not getting better. In past clinical rotations, as well as this one, I find myself restless at night over certain patients. Its typical for me to come home and spend an hour or two studying and looking up the best ways to treat my patients. But I tend to beat myself up and I can't sleep because I feel like its my fault if they aren't progressing. This has been a struggle for me, especially this week. I have one guy in particular that has been through a lot in the last two years, including seeing multiple specialists, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and trainers. He has had too many MRIs/Xrays/CTs to count and more cortisone injections than should be possible. And after all this, he still can hardly even hold a baseball bat.

And then I show up. A not-even-brand-new-therapist that wants to take on the world and change the lives of every patient I have. So even though this player in particular has been through the ringer, and seen many people with far more knowledge and experience than me, I went in with full confidence that I could find the missing piece and have him playing baseball again in no time. Unfortunately this has not gone as planned, and I, like a lot of people in his life, feel a little stumped, and nothing I try seems to work. However, I have not given up, and until I have exhausted all options, I probably won't be sleeping anytime soon. On the bright side of all of this, I did come op with something that may possibly help him. When explaining to him why I was doing what I was doing, what I thought was causing his pain, and how I planned on fixing it, I even pulled out an anatomy book and showed him all the different nerves, muscles and bones we were working with. He looked me in the eyes and said, "what I want to know is...why in the last two years has nobody brought this up to me or even mentioned it to me." My response was that either they diidn't take the time to really dig into what the problem was, or that I was completely wrong. We both got a laugh. He said, "either way, thanks for taking the time." Somehow it makes the sleepless nights all worth it. People need to know that firstly we care for them, before we can even start to try and heal them.

Lastly, I threw a picture of the stadium in here. This is pretty much what I see every night when heading out to a game. Beautiful huh? Well also keep in mind its 105 degrees, and then you won't be so jealous.

To Him be the glory,

Katy

Making Strides

Hello Everyone,

Per the request of my grandma this morning on the phone, I'm writing a new update. I first off wanted to thank you all for the encouragement and prayers that you have been sending my way. The last couple of days have been great, and I've added a picture of the training room so you can see where I work everyday. There are a few guys here that just continue to encourage me with their trust in me and their willingness to do whatever it is I suggest or ask them to do. They have no idea what their trust does for my confidence.

The one player in particular that I spoke about in my last entry has been making great strides. Today he was able to swing the bat pain free for the first time in over a year. He is a player I would love to see succeed because I see how deeply he loves the sport of baseball and how much he cares about everyone in that clubhouse. I told him today that the feeling he gets when he knocks a ball out of the park is the same feeling I get when I see people get better and return to what they love. The smile on his face when he told me he swung with no pain was worth every hellish second I have spent in grad school. However, he then went on to tell me how well he hits against Matt Cain and it took every ounce of me not to scream at him. Haha but I'm sure if he goes against Cain again I will be rooting for him.

My Spanish is greatly improving these days as well. Baseball is so saturated with Spanish speaking players, i'm getting a lot of good spanish in. The guys seem to really like that I can speak with them, they are used to their teammates just yelling at them to learn english. Haha, one of the guys nicknamed me "gorda" which means fatty, and started calling me that all day long. One of the pitching coaches heard him call me that and chewed him out. I explained to him that in the States, its not nice to call girls fat. It was kinda funny.

Not much else going on besides work. The schedule is so nuts I have to ask Dom what day it is every morning as we are driving to work. I went to the Christ Church of the Valley out here in peoria on Sunday, and felt right at home. I already scooped out their youth program in case I end up staying a little while. My roomies and I are headed to the Giants/Dimondbacks game on friday which I'm super excited about. Never been to Chase Field, and it will nice to finally be able to wear a Giants shirt and not a Padres shirt.

Continue to pray that I can be a light in the clubhouse everyday.

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." 1 Tim 1:15-17

To Him Be the Glory,

Katy

Having Something to Prove

Hello All,

Well I am starting to settle in a little bit here in Arizona and with the Padres. However, there have definitely been some hard days and players that have challenged me mentally and emotionally. Thankfully there are a lot of really players that make up for the few jerks.

I wanted to share with you about one guy in particular who has really made me feel like I could be good at this, and that the last three years of my life have not been wasted. Without saying any names, this guy was a first round draft pic for the padres a few years back, and has already spent some time up in the big leagues. However, he has been plagued with an injury in his hand that has prevented him from becoming the starting second baseman for the padres. After having pain for over a year, he finally had surgery on the hand 10 weeks ago, but his recovery has been slower than expected, and with every day that goes by his frustration grows. In the last week, my classmate and I have been able to try all kinds of new stuff on him, and he is loving it. He is the kind of patient every PT dreams of; he works hard, hes very interesting in learning why we are doing what we are doing, and he genuinely wants to get better. He does nothing but express his gratitude for our desire to get him better and the energy we have been putting in to really getting to the reason he isn't healing as quickly as he would like. Plus, he is one of the nicest guys here, and it puts some faith back into me that there are some nice athletes out there.

Some days haven't been as fun though, as being somewhat of a small girl makes guys think that I'm not strong enough to work on them. I even had one guy asked to measure my power on a machine we have before he would let me treat him. I kind joked around with him, but I was pretty hurt. However, the next day, after I treated him, he was telling all the guys how he really had no idea I was as strong as I was. I guess thats what I have to do here, continue to prove to them that I am here for a reason. Nobody said change was easy, but I really hope to make the guys understand that I am just as capable of taking care of them and aiding their rehab as any other guy here.

As for life outside of work, I haven't had time for much. Dom and I went golfing the other morning for only 25 bucks because we told them we worked for the padres. I suck at golf, but it was fun to get out and not be around baseball for a bit. We also made it to church sunday morning before we had to work. It was pretty weird for me to be at a different church, and it made me miss CCV and all my youth kids there a lot. Life is changing and I continue to pray that God guides me to the plans He has for me in the near future.

Thats all for now, thanks for reading.

In His Hands,

Katy

The First Days

Well Hello All !!

So I have officially been in AZ for a week, and let me first tell you it is freaking hot!!! However, its kinda like people told me "its really not that bad." The temp may be 100+, but it really doesn't feel the way it would feel in Cali.

I wanted to give you guys a quick run down on what my daily life has been like here. I get to the padres complex at around 12. The players start coming in around 1 to be treated and they basically just put their name on a white board in the order they come in. There are about 18 guys rehabbing for the padres right now. Mostly we are seeing elbow and shoulder surgeries, a few knee surgeries and a couple hand injuries. After a couple hours of treating, the guys go out to stretch and practice, while we chart. Then if we are done with everything and everybody has been seen we go out and watch the game. Here are some quick highlights from week 1:

1. My first day one of the pitchers told me he didn't think I was strong enough to work on him. I told him I was stronger than I looked and in the middle of treating him he tapped out and said "ok ok I think you are stronger that I am!" I loved it.

2. In being the only girl surrounded by 40 boys I've learned even the most innocent of things can be taken the wrong way. I was asking some of the guys about restaurants in az and I said, "do you guys have BJs in AZ?" This comment caused quite a commotion and now they are all calling me, in a most loving manner, BJ. So thats my nickname.

3. After watching a few of our rehab guys throw bullpens the other day, we stayed and watched PFPs (Pitchers Fielding Practice). This has probably been the most fun thing for me to watch. Basically the pitchers stand on the mound and the pitching coaches hit balls right back at them....probably very scary for them, but amusing to watch.

Although I'm the only girl, and I have to take a mile hike to get to a women's restroom, I feel right at home. Its like hanging with my brothers and talking baseball all day. That's the update for the week...today is my day off and "Mam" is coming to town, which I'm really excited about. I'm just trying to take in every day and be grateful that I have my dream internship.

In His Hands,

Katy