In Memory

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/democratandchronicle/obituary.aspx?n=kenneth-jackman-van&pid=144906589

The above link is for my orthopaedic surgeon in Rochester when I was younger. He basically oversaw all of my care when I was younger. Dr. Jackman was a really great man and basically was a huge part of my family's life (considering I was there almost every week for a check up or follow up from an operation). When I was four-years-old, Dr. Jackman could tell that the operations that he was performing were not making me better, but had done some research into a revolutionary surgery that had been used, and continues to be used, for lengthening the limbs of dwarfs. It could also be used to treat my condition because the pins that were inserted in my leg would, when turned, put new layers of bone on the existing, weak bone. He actually went down for my first surgery in Baltimore with me and my family and was present in the operating room during the surgery. After my medical care was turned over to my ortho in Baltimore, I didn't see Dr. Jackman on a regular basis anymore (except for when I injured my right knee and I needed to get a follow up from that). I had not seen him in years.

I did write an essay about him my senior year of high school for a contest for HSBC where I had to write about someone who had changed New York State in the past 150 years (for their 150th anniversary). I wrote about how he changed New York because he made the best possible decision for me and my health and how hard it probably was for him because he realized what he was doing was not helping me get better. I ended up being one of the finalists and sent him a copy of the essay. I wish that I still had a copy of the essay for his wife but unfortunately, the computer that it was on is long since gone and I don't think my parents saved it.

Updating the focus of this

It really isn't going to be so much of a change, but I figure that I could add a couple of more things to the mix.

I start school again on Thursday. The good news is, I'm only in school one day a week (Thursdays). However, I need to do a large scale research project during the fall semester and during the spring semester, I need to finish that off and maybe present it (I'm not 100% sure). However, I am planning on doing a thesis in place of the final research project. It gets me out of taking the class and I just need to periodically meet with a professor about what I am doing for guidance. Last semester, I wrote a research project on different educational programs for children with autism, so I am going to continue with that, except probably focus on a couple of specific programs and weigh the benefits, as well as the minuses, of both. It will be an undertaking, but it will also free up my time so that I can work more. I need a new car in the next couple of years, so I need to start saving up for that. In addition, I don't always want to be living in my apartment, and I do want to get married and start a family at some point, so I need to start saving up for a house (I've already got some money put away for that).

That being said, I'm probably going to lose my mind at some point this year with reading nothing but journal articles and books about educational programs. I do intend to try to read for enjoyment as often as possible so while I am going to continue to use this as my platform to vent and just talk about what is on my mind, I am also going to blog about the books I read. It will help keep me sane and it will also help me keep track of what I read.