HOCKEY!

Canucks play their first season game tonight! WOO! So what do I do?

Eat. Study. Watch 1st period. Study. Watch 2nd period. Study. Watch 3rd period. Study. Sleep

Hockey season is back! Yay! Justin comes over tomorrow. Double Yay!

Changes

Like everything in life, things change and the massage therapy profession is facing some really exciting times. Sure there will most likely be some bumps along the way but in the long run I think this will be for the better.
As it stands, students who study massage therapy in British Columbia get 3 000 hours of education (or more depending on the place of learning...), students in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador - which are the only other regulated provinces - have around 2 200 hours of education. When a student who has studied in an other regulated province comes to BC and wants to work, they are granted a temporary license and have 18 months to do some upgrading and then they have to take an board exam on their newly acquired knowledge.
With the growth and aging of the population the demand for massage therapists is increasing. So much so that we are not capable to keep up. Especially here in BC where there are 2099 Registered Massage Therapists (one of which is Darla who passed her board exams and is now an RMT! Congratulations Darla :)). There are 8250 in Ontario alone. So what the government wants to do is that they want to make things even across the country. They want people who have studied in Ontario* to be able to come and work in BC without any trouble.
This is great because that would allow the public to have a larger choice of RMT's to chose from and it would allow the RMT's to move without having to worry about upgrading.
This may also change things for the unregulated provinces such as Alberta. There, massage therapists have an education of 1 000 hours.
So what do we do about the difference in education? What would prevent someone from going to Ontario to do their education then come back to BC to practice? Now this is where things are going to change. I don't know what they changes are going to be but I will be very interested in watching the progression.
On October 26th the powers that be (schools, college of massage therapy - which is the regulatory board for massage therapy here in BC... etc.) will get together to try to find suggestions for change. As the general public, students or even massage therapists, we are not allowed to be present at this meeting. We will just have to wait and see what they come up with.
Am I at all upset or frustrated that this shift is happening while in school? I mean I could have paid less for my education and may have gone to school for less then 3 000 plus hours. Nope. I am happy the way I have it. I really like the way the program that I am in is structured (despite the headaches, sleepless nights, hours of stress... it's all part of being a student) and feel that I am really fortunate to be going to school in such an exciting time.
By April 2009, massage therapists from Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador will be able to come and practice here in BC so the changes in the profession will have to happen quickly. It'll be interesting to see what's on the horizon.

*and Newfoundland and Labrador as well.

Today's morning study time was brought to you by the muscle Levator Labii Superioris Alaeque Nasi

Damn! That just happened to be a muscle with a long name... they're really not all that complicated. This muscle just lifts the upper lip and flares the nostrils, nothing complicated.

Anyways I am back to watching the sunrise from my desk in the morning. So far I've managed to stay in the good habit of studying 3 muscles before leaving for school. I then review them before bed. Last night I rocked my 3 muscles! Remembered everything about them! Even innervation and arterial supply! Woo go me :)

Oaf hands

Getting back into routine was easy this morning. When the alarm went off at 5:45, my body knew what to do. I went through the motions and did it well. Sure I am a little less sharp but I still managed to get ready, make lunch and go over 3 muscles in my Musculoskeletal Anatomy Colouring book. When I was leaving the house, my heart ached because I am used to finding Minette, laying on the floor with her for a quick moment while I give her a quick pet and tell her that I love her. Instead when I left the room that her ashes were in, I said "Bye Minette, I love you." which is something I would also do every time I left the house. For some strange reason this never hit me before as hard as it did today.
School itself was like I never left. Our first class was mixed in with the level 600, Dea, the class I was previously in. So Pam, Maja and myself were together. It was great to be with the girls again, when we greeted each other with was with huge hugs that almost knocked each other off our feet. I sure am glad to be in class with Maja. Pam will be with us for an other 11 weeks then it's her turn to graduate!
My new class is awesome... though I already knew that I'd be going into an awesome class. They are very welcoming and their energy is very positive. I am finding that I am having to make a switch from a somewhat negative energy towards this whole process of going back to a positive one. I don't want to be a downer and I know that it is my choice as to whether this is a positive experience or a negative one.
During muscle energy technique class today I was pleasantly surprised to have Annette as an instructor. Yay! That made my first class much easier. She can hold my attention at the worst of times so it was good. She kept me on the ball. Half way through class I felt my brain become all charged... I could feel it working really hard, something I hadn't felt since I left back in May. When it came time to the practical work, I found that my rookie healing hands had transformed back into "big oaf hands" and my sense of touch and palpation skills had reduced significantly. This is unsurprising. In a couple of days we start fascial classes. This is a series of 6 classes geared towards a very subtle modality. I predict a bit of frustration on my part because I was pretty good at fascial before I left now my oaf hands and I will be nothing short of a disaster. Hopefully it will come back quickly.
Orientation for OnSite was great. It was nice to get an orientation, last term I was thrown in as a filler which was fantastic but I didn't really know how it all worked. Now I do and it's great to have a better understanding as to why individuals are there and where they can go from the detox program. George Pearson still has me nervous. More so now then ever. I am hoping that as I regain my confidence as a therapist I will feel more comfortable with this outreach. However I am nothing short of petrified. The place gives me the anxiety that I thought I had got rid of. I have 6 weeks of OnSite work before I go there to hopefully I can figure things out before then.
For now, I am going to continue my review of the male reproductive system. Where's Justin when I need him? *grin*

Smarter with every word

Did you know?
The testes develop near the kidneys and they usually being their descent into the scrotum during the latter half of the seventh month of fetal development?

Bet ya didn't. I found this out an hour ago. I also studied for an other hour before taking a quick blog break before hitting the books again in a couple of minutes. School is 16 hours away and I guess I am kind of nervous. I must be. Last night I dreamt that I was being followed by this half dead person that happened to resemble a certain staff member. This was no short dream too... it lasted all night! As soon as I closed my eyes again, there he was. I am sure going back won't be as bad as I think it is but for now it's got me nervous. Anyways I am quite ready and as the hours progress I will only become more so. Today I studied my three muscles, got my binders ready, found out what the mysterious MET (muscle energy technique) class was (first class tomorrow, I want to show up prepared) and so far have spent 3 hours studying the reproductive chapter. I get to take a nice long break in an hour when I head off for an hour and a half of yoga.... yay!
The weekend was awesome. Justin and I spent it together, going for a walk around Lynn Valley on Friday after work, doing some yoga on Saturday and celebrating Mom's birthday on Sunday. We also managed to fit in a lot of cuddle time which was great. The following 15 weekends will be interesting as I will have clinic on Saturday nights which means I am not out of school until 6 then I have Sunday and Monday off... Justin has Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Rats! We will figure something out!
I was quite stoked to find out that I actually get a Christmas break! WOO! Sure it's also our reading break but at least we get some time off. They also lengthened the term by a week. Ew. Unfortunately Student Loans hasn't come through for me this time so I am going to have to manage school, clinic, work and a long distance relationship. The next 8 months might be a bit of a challenge. I am up for it though! I've signed up for yoga to help me though all of this too. Gotta stay calm and focused. Speaking of calm and focused, I should hit the books again.

**Mt. Baker photos are up**

Totally Tronchular Man!

My sweetie surprised me today after work!!! It was so wonderful. I was going to send him a text message to see who was going to visit who this weekend when he showed up! His reasoning... it's our last weekend together, we may as well make it a long one. Great thinking sweetheart!Well I still hadn't started studying yet so we did a bit of studying together. He helped me review my 3 muscles. The arterial supply of the frontalis portion of occipitofrontalis is the supraorital and supratrochlear branches of the opthalamic artery... this transformed into the tronchlear branch which became our new expression "Totally tronchular man!" Studying with Justin is great :)

One week.

It has been one week since Minette has been gone. The week has gone by quickly. Tonight was the first night where I was able to read a comment from someone about Minette's death without crying. My eyes stung but they didn't spring a leak. I did not stop them either. Less crying is good. I'm dehydrated as it is.
I am working shorter shifts and getting more done. No studying yet. Tomorrow. I promise. Have I mentioned that I am the queen of procrastination?
I feel terribly exhausted. I don't know if it's because my health has been bothering me (this is an other story in itself... it almost deserves it's own blog... don't want to write about it because it would just be one giant bitch fest) or if it's because I am still feeling down about Minette.
Early to bed again tonight. Maybe I'll go now so that I can read an extra bit more (trying to finish some non school related stuff before school starts... this will prevent procrastination while in school.). I also have to read Darkness Visible by William Styron before professional development 500 begins. PD 500 will be all about death and how to cope as a therapist when one of our clients pass away. I am looking forward to PD 500 but it might bring up some things that are quite raw. I'll bring tissues.