March 2007

Dying kids last wish is to be on the Guiness world book of records...

March 30, 2007 18:58

Not violin related but still a post worth mentioning.

We've all received some sort of chain letter claiming a dying child needs desperately needs hour help. Now call me crazy...but this one seems legit and I'm going to actually do it.

Here's the youtube video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cM4EKmrdfY

Here's further evidence:
http://www.thecancerblog.com/2006/03/01/boy-with-cancer-and-best-friend-try-to-break-record-in-get-well

If you would like to take part as well here's the e-mail address:

Josh Adkins
124 Edgewood
Stanford KY 40484

or send it here:

JOSH ADKINS
c/o JADEN STEBERL
101 REBECCA LANE
STANFORD, KY 40484 USA

Crazy of me or now...at least i'll be sleeping better tonight.

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I love it!!!

March 21, 2007 22:42

So from my understanding the photo was from the perlman music camp...possibly a charity event.

Some one was kind enough to share another picture of Perlman which i find equally hilarious. Personally, I think it's wonderful that Perlman is such a great sport to do things like this and for a good cause. An inspiring teacher indeed.

Enjoy!

Before:

After:

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This totally made my day...

March 20, 2007 18:45

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I guess 22 units it too much...

March 3, 2007 23:47

Every time I would tell someone I was taking 22 units their response would be "Are you crazy? That's too many units!"

I've seen it done time after time so I thought I could handle it as well. However, I forgot to take into consideration that I also teach about 60+ students at three different places. In addition having time set aside for studying, doing homework, and if there's a spare minute practicing music. I was doing fine but up until this week when everything just caught up with me.

It all started when I was teaching a group of about 15-20 6th grade violinists. We were working on the Twinkle Variations and in the process my mouth started getting dry but I figured "Oh I'll get a drink of water after class." Eventually 10 more minutes pass and I simply couldn't wait...I told my students, "Wait here for a minute I’m going to get a drink of water." Soon as I went to the water fountain I noticed my heart beating at an alarming speed and I was trying to calm it down. Leaving the stuffy music room and getting fresh air helped a bit but every time I would open the door my pulse would go insane again. Eventually I went to down the stairs to the secretary to tell her about the problem and that I needed to see the nurse. Unfortunately, the nurse had already left so her response was, "Just breathe deeply and relax for a minute. But you can't leave those kids unattended so you have to go back in the room with them." I thought to myself, "If I go back in there I’ll pass out in front of those kids for sure." So I just told her that I’d let them go early cause I wasn't feeling good. This was one of the most traumatic afternoons I’ve ever had. When I let the kids go I tried to play it off in front of them like nothing was wrong. In reality I knew something was terribly wrong and I needed to get it checked out.

I couldn't event walk back to my car without feeling faint. So I used what strength I had to walk back into the elementary school and told the nurse I needed to lay down for a minute. That minute turned into 45 minutes. During that time I thought... “What could I have done that would cause this?” After talking to my friend I realized it must've been that red bull I had earlier and not eating didn't help. I rarely drink caffeine anymore so my body must’ve not liked the red bull. Eventually I told the secretary that I thought I was okay to leave now. So I drove to the nearest 7-11 bought a chicken sandwich and a bottle of water. On the way home I forced my self to eat the food and drink the water. I felt a little better but not much so by the time I got home I took a nap. A couple hours after waking up I decide to drive to SDSU to get checked out. While driving, I call my friend about what time the medical center closes at SDSU only to find out that they're already closed so my only option would be the E.R. I thought to myself "I don't need the E.R. I'll just wait it out until tomorrow," and so I drove back home. Only about 2 minutes later I started experiencing those familiar unpleasant sensations. My heart and pulse were beating fast, I felt dizziness, and as a bonus I started feeling some tingling in my hands and face. I called my friend up again and said "I'm feeling my heart beating fast again I think I need to go to the E.R. Can you drive me?" So she agrees. I use what's left of my strength to drive on two different freeways during rush hour, while in the process the tingling sensation were becoming much worse. I finally get to her apartment after what seems like an eternity and she graciously drives the rest of the way in my car while her bf follows her.

So I finally get to the ER around 6pm literally feeling like I’ll keel over any minute. After paper work and about an hour of waiting I finally have some doctors check me out. I had my blood pressure checked, blood drawn out of my arm, had about 20 little plastic things stuck all over my chest and hooked up to a heart machine, and can't forget the cup I had to pee into. After all that, I had to wear one of those gowns...you know what I’m talking about...the ones that expose your butt in all it's glory. Fortunately for both the nurses and me, I was able to keep my jeans on. Afterwards I just laid in one of those medical beds while they monitored my heart for about 1-2 hours. After about 5 hours I’m finally allowed to leave the E.R. and the doctor gives me a printout of what's wrong with me.

So apparently with all the stress and caffeine (even though I rarely drink it anymore) I now have heart palpitations. Apparently with heart palpitations there's no warning signs you're only aware of them once they start happening, which isn't too reassuring for me.

Basically 3 days after the trip to the E.R. I’ve just sleep and had taken it easy to prevent it from reoccurring. I e-mailed one of my professors reluctantly to tell him of what had happened and that I think I should drop his class and retake it in the fall to relieve some of this stress I’ve been having.

This past week has pretty much been a traumatic and chaotic experience and it's only the 6th week into the semester. I'm going to have to take it as easy as possible. Being a music teacher/ full time student we all know how inevitable stress will be. It's true what they say though...just because you're young doesn't mean that you're immortal...stress and reek havoc on our bodies as well... and I'm only 23.

I hope I can finish the semester successfully without any more episodes but only time will tell. I definitely learned my lesson, "Taking 22 units is too much for anyone to take." Just wish I didn’t have to find out the hard way.

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