Day 8

Day Eight: Guacamole and Goodbyes

Today was sadly my last day with Ashley Perkinson! Over the course of the last two weeks I’ve had a wonderful time experiencing her day to day life, as well as getting to know her as a person.

Today, it was Advocacy Day for a women lawyer’s group that Mrs. Perkinson heads up. It was nice to see the perspective of other women in the field of law, and I was able to consult with them about the various options within it. I consulted with a family lawyer at length, and she was absolutely lovely! In addition, we sat in on a bunch of committee meetings and a house session as well. All in all, it was a relatively uneventful day in the grand scheme of things, yet it was one that I wouldn’t trade for the world! I will truly miss being downtown every day, as it is such a great place to be. I’ll also miss the company as well 🙂

Day Eight – Am I a Lobbyist Now?

No. I’m not a lobbyist now. lol. But it was a whole lot of fun learning how lobbyists operate and what I have learned will definitely help me later on in many different facets. After the day started with a hangout in the telephone room the gang headed over to representative Justin Burr’s office for a chat and some help with the car bill they’ve been working on. Then we talked with Senator Ralph Hise on the same issue and afterwards we met with a man from the NC Automotive Dealers Association. Before I left for good Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams were kind enough to show me the floor of the Senate. Because the Senate was about to be in session I had to have an official invite me in and take my photo. The whole experience was awesome. Then I had a fun talk with Senator Milton Fitch, Jr. A little bit after I exchanged goodbyes with both of my bosses and left for good.

Thank you guys! I promise I’ll be around the legislature to see y’all 🙂

Paco is beyond upset that I’m leaving Devivo and Sams Policy Partners.

French West Vaughn Day 8

Day 8 blog-

Today was the last day at French West Vaughn. To start out the day Colleen Riddler and Morgan Dougherty treated us to a coffee shop named bitter sweetness. We spent about a half hour at this shop talking about how we liked the program and providing feedback on what they can improve on. It was really nice of them and I really appreciated it. I don’t really like coffee so I got the lemonade. It was some of the best lemonade and I would 10/10 recommend. It’s not officially on the menu, it’s more like a secret menu product. After we had this nice bonding time we got back to work. The first thing we did was find public event calendars that we could put the O2 fitness grand opening on. After that we went to lunch at a place named Gravy. This place also had really good food and I would again recommend this place. I got pasta and I really appreciated that they had gluten free options. After lunch we went to an ice cream place called TREAT. Great ice cream there! I would suggest getting the flavor, turtle. After our long feast we set back to work. We were tasked with finding more influencers for the company J. Peterman. This is a clothing company that has vintage style products but are priced fairly high. We looked for micro influencers meaning they had to have under 3,000k followers. Micro influencers are easier to reach than big time instagrammers. We searched for micro influencers that were interested in vintage apparel and an appeal for cars and motorcycles. To the end the day we went to a meeting about their client J. Peterman. This internship has been quite an eventful learning experience.

Day 8 – Save the Best for Last

My last day at Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine was a strong finish to my work experience! The following are some of the patients I visited with…

8:45am patient (74 year old female): This patient came to the office for an urgent visit, concerning right shoulder pain. About a year a go, she tired to catch her husband when he fell and has had shoulder issues ever since. She was seen in the office in August for a cortisone shot and for some physical therapy. Dr. Bloom detailed that her diagnosis is chronic irritation of her rotator cuff tendon. Upon her visit today, she explained that she has no longer been doing the physical therapy exercises and has a constant aching sensation in her should; she rates her pain a frequent 4 out of 10. She also added that when she received the last cortisone shot, she was pain free and had a free range of motion. Now, she struggles to raise her arm above her head and bend it behind her back. Dr. Bloom decided to give her another cortisone shot, upon examining her shoulder with various stretches. To administer the injection, he first applied a jelly-like substance around the area of injection on her shoulder. He then sprayed a freeze-spray atop the area before inserting the needle. The shot was injected in an upward angle into the rotator cuff from the back of the patient’s shoulder. Dr. Bloom then ordered for the patient to pick-up her physical therapy exercises again after 3 days, to give the cortisone shot time to “kick-in”; he added that she should not perform any shoulder movements above her chest for the next 3 days. Aside from her shoulder problems, the patient also complained of left elbow pain along the bone. Dr. Bloom diagnosed this as tennis elbow and prescribed her Voltaren topical cream to be applied to her elbow 3-4 times a day. She then mentioned her left-cal pain and toe numbness from standing for long periods of time. Dr. Bloom explained to her that he expected these symptoms with a patient of her health, for she has minimal strength and has not performed any physical activity. He recommended that she perform some light-impact exercises, such as going for walks, for that is the best way to improve all of her health conditions.
10:45am patient (57 year old female): This patient was here for an office visit, regarding a follow-up from her visit with a specialist. She was last seen in April due to bilateral hand pain. Dr. Bloom gave her a brace to wear; however, she was still not improving. Thus, she was sent to a rheumatologist to check for arthritis. Mrs. Bridges explained to me that patients with lots of joint pain are often at risk for arthritis, which is why she was referred to there. The rheumatologist took some blood tests and x-rays, recommended that the patient continue to wear a splint at night, and prescribed her a new medication. The patient was here today to review what her specialist told her and to discuss a recovery plan with Dr. Bloom. She had received no definite diagnosis from the specialist and had been prescribed a medication that she was waiting to take. Upon her arrival, Dr. Bloom determined that she likely has seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, which is the result of some type of autoimmune disease rather than heredity. Her blood tests hadn’t shown any concerns, but her x-rays and symptoms did. He explained that the first step in the recovery process is anti-inflammatories, which are solely used to control the symptoms (they don’t “heal” her joints). The next step is to take disease modifying agents, which are used to slow the progression of her disease. Dr. Bloom recommended that the patient does indeed take the medication the rheumatologist prescribed, Plaquenil, for it is the simplest and most inexpensive agent. He also recommended that she continue to wear her splints. He said the last step would be biological agents, such as injections, which are incredibly effective. Dr. Bloom also declared that the patient has carpal tunnel syndrome, as demonstrated by her full-hand numbness.
11:45am patient (45 year old male): This patient came to the office for an urgent visit, concerning right elbow pain. About 6 weeks ago, he feel off a deck into a boat, landing on his elbow. Aside from the obvious pain he felt, there was also some purple bruising, slight inflammation, and tingling sensation from the elbow down. Upon his arrival, Dr. Bloom felt around the patient’s elbow, where he found a small bump. Dr. Bloom diagnosed the patient with ruptured bursa, which is a fluid-filled sac located between a bone and tendon. He said that the pain and tenderness will last indefinitely and his right elbow will always be asymmetric; however, the pain will lessen over time. He offered to prescribe the patient Prednisone to deal with the pain, but the patient said he was really fine, with a pain level of 2/3 out of 10.
1:15pm patient (73 year old female): This patient came to the office for an urgent visit, concerning a swollen left hand/wrist. Dr. Bloom felt around the swollen area, to which she she said was pain free. She also stated that the bump started more on the outside of her hand and then spread inward. Dr. Bloom diagnosed her condition as a large ganglion cyst. He said that she could have the cyst drained, but there is no need to if it is not causing any problems. Thus, he wrapped a 2inch wide ace bandage around the hand for compression and advised her to wear it for the next week. Dr. Bloom then said if there are any problems that arise, then the cyst can be drained at the next visit.
3:00pm patient (16 year old male): This patient came to the office for an urgent visit, concerning left ear pain. His pain started about a week ago, which was when he started swimming. He went to the minute-clinic 2 days ago and was prescribed amoxicillin; however, his pain is even worse today. The patient has pain even when he just touches his ear. Dr. Bloom diagnosed him with Swimmer’s ear, which is an external ear infection. He prescribed him ear drops: one drop should be put in the infected ear while the head is tilted sideways (allow the drop to be absorbed). Dr. Bloom said he should start to feel better within the next 48 hours. The patient’s dad asked how he could prevent this in the future, and Dr. Bloom answered with getting special drops to put in his ears before he goes swimming (the cause is water settling in the ear).

Day 8: Food Trucks and Goodbyes

Today I spent my day, in the morning at least, stalking people. Well, that sounds a lot worse than it actually was. Essentially, when a client/inventor of a design wants to get a patent for their design, they must sign all of the proper documents. However, sometimes the people themselves do not file/sign the documents for a variety of reasons; forgetting about it, ignored it, moved companies on bad terms, or even died. The latter is quite rare I am told. Anyways, after searching for around 3 hours to find 15 different people I managed to find 14 of them, something the paralegals at the firm were not able to do for quite some time J. The last of the 15 I could not find because he had essentially fallen off of the face of the earth. There was no record of him whatsoever. For lunch there was a food truck outside of the office and we all took great advantage of it. After lunch I sat with Ms. Emily Ashley and she walked me through an IDS, an “Information Disclosure Statement”. Essentially what it’s a massive bibliography, but slightly more extreme. By the end of the day I made my way around the office to say my goodbyes. It was sad, but also I could not have been more pleased with the experience. The firm was extraordinarily helpful with not only furthering my interest in IP law, but also helping me learn more about what it means to have a job in the real world.

In the Blink of an Eye: Last Day at KW Elite

Last Day, Last Commute, Last Trenta Black Tea Lemonade from Starbucks ((((from the Starbucks at Parkside)))))

In the blink of an eye, this incredible experience was over. I knew it would go by fast, but I didn’t think that fast. Natalie and I went in this morning and showed Kristi our projects, all of which she really liked! Afterwards, we had a good conversation about her duties as an admin. As an admin, she is in charge of everything from keeping track of attorney’s files about mortgages to thank you gifts to clients. One thing she echoed (we had heard it ALOT) was the importance of getting our real estate license as a young age, because in the end it does make us more attractive to agents. Afterwards, we warned her about all the fun facets of 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, yeah you get the idea, grade. We had a heartfelt goodbye, all agreed to keep in touch, and left. It was really a great experience and gave me great insights into development, sales, administration work, and leading a team. Thank you to Kristi and all of Keller Williams Elite for helping me realize that real estate is truly where I belong!

I began my eighth and final day at Field2Base by attending my last development teams stand-up meeting. After the meeting, I talked to Howard. Howard showed me the xml code for the workflow that companies can use with their forms to determine how final forms get directed to supervisors or their final destination for storage or use. I spent the morning working with Howard to not only learn how this system works but also to QA a form that uses this feature to help identify a bug to be fixed by the developers. This workflow feature is interesting because it also allows supervisors to approve or deny forms and send them back to the original source to be revised to be filled correctly. This can be useful in companies where there are lots of forms being produced and no one checking their validity, it can make mistakes occur less often. After lunch, the employees had an all-company meeting so I had a chance to say goodbye one last time to everyone.

Day 8 – Goodbyes

On my last day at the courthouse, Judge Davidian sent me to Jerry Springer court. Courtroom 4C is always full of special cases, and today was no different. I got to observe the crazy happenings. Mostly it was people trying to get temporary restraining orders on their spouses. In one case, the defendant thought having a restraining order placed on him made it so that his wife couldn’t contact him. He willfully accepted the restraining order, even after being informed of the reality. In the afternoon, I watched cases in 5C. This was one ongoing case that involved a Termination of Parental Rights. In TPR cases, the county intervenes with a child’s life because they believe there was wrongdoing. In these cases, there are three parties instead of two: County, Defendant, and a Guardian ad Litem. The latter is a child advocate who helps articulate what would be the best for the child in that situation.

DAY 8: A Day in the Life of the Cardiologist

Today I got to shadow Dr. Deepak Pasi from North Carolina Heart and Vascular at Wakefield. I had an amazing time overall, but the most interesting thing that I got to learn about was a procedure called angioplasty, which helps remove blockages in the arteries. I got to watch a catheterization (through a monitor) LIVE, as the different movements of the catheter were happening! It was probably the next best thing to being in the cath lab! Dr. Pasi walked me through the technical aspects of the procedure, and how stents are used to clear arteries.

Another really special experience was getting to watch as Dr. Pasi saw patients in the different exam rooms. I got to listen to the lung and heart sounds of different patients, including a patient with a heart murmur (which is when blood flow is extremely turbulent, sometimes indicating valve problems). I also got to hear a patient’s lungs, but instead of hearing the normal air whooshing in and out, I heard a faint crackling noise because the patient’s lungs were filled with fluid.

Image result for rex heart and vascular wakefield

Day 8

On my last day at LS3P, I was given the opportunity to visit the construction site for Building Q at SAS. I was able to sit down in a meeting filled with construction workers, interior designers, and other architects. I learned that there’s a huge process that goes into building a building as large as the SAS one. They went through a list of things they needed to check up on but it consisted of 15-20 things. Do keep in mind that these are weekly meetings. After the meeting, I was able to go through the construction site and up and down the training center. It was very eye opening because I got a new perspective of how long and tedious it takes to build a building.