A Year Out Of School, Again

So, it’s been a year… nearly to the day, that I graduated. Again. LOL!

What has happened? Well… EVERYTHING.

Graduating with my MBA to tag onto my other graduate degree, the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree… I sought to re-enter the world of healthcare at the business/operations beat of the realm. I was only to find that everyone and their neighbor’s uncle’s friend’s cousin’s roommate’s bartender wanted me to do what???

Return as a Director of Rehab.

Yay……..

I mean, if I wanted to be that, I would stayed that. I wanted to DO SO MUCH MORE. I wanted to be around my family more. I wanted to effect change at greater scales. I didn’t want to go back to where I started… it was ridiculous.

Well… as things turned out, I joined a startup company (as you know)… UpDoc Media!

Things are going well. We’ve been growing steadily, quickly, and things are getting very exciting. I’m hoping to be able to share things later on as the dust settles.

Before things got good… well, I basically applied to every corporate job imaginable, in the scope of non-clinical management. Annnnnnnnnd…. #Bust. Yup. No one wanted me. They wanted me to do my old job. #Irony

I also continued my work to be a big advocate for students and developing professionals. Personally, this is a huge driving factor — setting up the future generations for success. I just love it.

All to say, looking back at how I got here, I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s been nearly 2 years since I’ve been a work at home dad, full time. A year since I’ve graduated with the MBA. And, 6 months since my company launched. Things are happening!

#ThatIsAll

Back On The Mat

So, maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago I got my thumb “popped” in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). In all honestly, it was an accident / mostly my own stupid fault. I was wearing my looser gi and my hand got stuck. While address that and not actually paying attention to the match, my hand finally got free. However, in doing this and being all distracted… I allowed my partner to take mount. But, I was a dumb dumb and let him kinda sling shot into mount.

In English, I was keeping him at bay from establishing a top position where he basically sits on top of my torso. However, by doing all that nonsense with getting my hand free out of my gi and not paying attention… he suddenly launched into that position at the exact same time my hand came out.

Result: His knee/thigh slide over my torso and straight onto my left thumb.

POP!

I exclaimed for a sec… but, decided to finish the last minute of the match. No harm done… I thought.

Well, I thought…

It appeared to be a typical hyperextension sprain. I’ve had these before from basketball in my faaaaaaar younger days. I thought things were going great 24hrs post injury. That was, until my son heel kicked… more or less like this:

Yeahhhhhhh….. suffice to say. IT HURT A LOT. I mean, it hurt SO BAD… I don’t remember such pain except for when I broke my arm… that one moment when my nerves still worked before I broke my arm.

I didn’t think my thumb was broken. But, if it wasn’t before… it was SURE TO BE after Nathan flipping axe kicked it. *sighs* Diaper changes… it’s as dirty as it is dangerous.

In any case, the whole next day… it hurt like hell. I mean it just kept hurting. I finally set up an appointment, got it x-rayed… and, had an office visit with a savvy DO. Films were clear. We agreed on a ligamentous injury. And, he was pleasantly respectful of me being a DPT.

He came into the room with me reading some sports med journal that was in the magazine pile. The DO never knew it was there. Ironically, it was his subscription! *LOL*

In any case… super pleasant visit. I was glad to know there was no fracture. I got hooked up with some braces via a family member… and… tonight, I was brave enough to finally hit the mat again.

Thanks to some awesome training partners who are beyond respectful of each other and that much more cognizant of their training partner’s safety, I felt comfortable enough to spar. When rolling, I realized that I could still survive with just 1.5 arms available. It was a pretty cool experience to the fact that I was still able to hold my own and even sink some armlocks. #ThankYouFundamentals

In any case… it’s nice to be back on the mat 🙂

Joy And Sadness

So, as you can imagine, the 1st week away from home… working in clinic full time (for just that week) was rather “life changing” for my family. Rather, it was changing in terms of the fact that my being gone shuffled EVERYTHING around. And, it accentuated certain parenting patterns.

During one our play times last week, I realized from tussling with him along with a reaffirming conversation with my wife… that I am truly Joy & Sadness to my boy.

Whenever I get a chance, I try to play and be as happy as possible. So, whenever I’m stern… it MEANS something. My wife takes the brunt of the disciplinary presence… remorse comes from me… she get’s anger and resentment from our son.

*sighs*

I suppose that’s just how it kind of “is.” It’s a bit emotionally tragic as Nathan basically gets the “best” and “worst” emotions from me. It’s a huge responsibility. When I rebuke him, it basically shatters his soul. But, if I don’t, then we reinforce bad behaviors. For the moment, I guess this is how things are going to go down. Hopefully… it’s just a phase & these toddler emotions will even out.

Until then… I remain yours, emotionally dynamic…

Joy/Sad/Dad–dyInTheRaw

Product Review: The Pelvic Clock™

Today’s product review is sponsored by The Pelvic Clock™.
While some of you may read my professional audience Blog @DrBenFung, I know many of you come from the parenting audience. And, if you’re like me… kiddo is HEAVY. AND, picking up heavy all throughout the day = sore back. So, I thought to share this product with you guys. I’ve messed around with it a good deal; and honestly, it’s a LOT of fun. What’s more, it’s one of those simple solutions where it’s hard to cheat, easy to get results, and no where near dangerous for babies/kiddos to be messing around with. Safety First!

As with many inventions, the Pelvic Clock came out of personal necessity. Founder & CEO Yana Blinova created the Pelvic Clock during a time when she was told her spine was so of whack, that her only hope was spine surgery. Being an olympic coach, she knew the power of Physical Therapy… both professionally and personally. Both her parents were olympic coaches; and, one of her twin brothers — being born with clubfeet — experienced transformative improvements through Physical Therapy.

 

Refusing to give up, she looked around her house for ANYTHING she could use to augment therapeutic exercises and alleviate her low back pain. Fashioning a broken pot lid & a towel for padding, she performed the popular Pelvic Clock exercises and felt immediate relief across her sacroiliac joint & low back.Not thinking much about it until far later when her many clients urged her to produce the Pelvic Clock as formal product, she went to work on design and production. After numerous revision and manufacturing intensities two years in the making…

The Pelvic Clock™ is proudly made in the USA!

It’s a rather intuitive device with a truly comfortable material texture. It isn’t too hard, nor is the height of it impossible to appreciate in terms of spinal extension. It is also more intuitive (to me at least!) with the explanation of the Pelvic Clock exercises as well as the proper muscle engagement in performing the pelvic clock exercises as a whole.

Yana and I had a wonderful conversation together and remarked on both the portability (for home health), the ease of use and simple patient education, and of course, the fact that it can be utilize in the clinic as ther-ex. The Pelvic Clock can be used on a hard surface, a soft surface such as a mattress, and even against a wall… which was, as Yana recalled, how a pregnant Physical Therapist used it the first time she was introduced to the product.

Through personal use of the Pelvic Clock, I was truly impressed by how HARD it was to cheat. Typically, with supine core exercises, it’s easy to engage with the lower extremities to feign substitute and compensatory movements. However, I tried… I mean, I REALLY TRIED to perform a posterior pelvic tilt with the lower extremities… No Go. However, *BOOM* with core engagement… PPT #Done.

The Pelvic Clock is highly rated on Amazon — and — I agree! It’s a solid product. Feels really nice. Is quality material. And, is made in the USA! I can see this useful in the clinic as a foundational exercise for low back concerns. And, since the exercise is rather self regulating, it can also be used much like most warm up exercises are in the clinic in terms of maximizing time management & productivity. Of course, that’s after a patient has demonstrated proper exercise technique 😉

I’m very pleased to present the Pelvic Clock with my recommendations. While the price may be seemingly high; the quality it presents with, the ease of use, and the fact that is made in America earns it my thumbs up!