24 hours of no sleep
This city is everything I could have imagined and more. To kick start our trip, Dr. O’Neil kept all eleven of us travelers running on 24 hours of no sleep on our feet with a walk around the city. We began by dropping our bags off at the Gilmore Guest house: our new home for the next four weeks. The accommodation is nice, cozy, and after a day of fixing livable in (due to the doomed malfunctioning of the wifi router, dreaded for the data-limited traveler). Once we were settled, we were off to walk around the city on our own and make our way to the “Times Square” of Edinburgh called The Royal Mile. We walked, laid down and relaxed in a beautiful green and flowering park, then spend the afternoon on a walking tour of Old Edinburgh. On this tour our hilarious, cheerful guide Angus spent almost three hours filling our heads with the history of Edinburgh. We learned about how Scotland prosecuted thieves by nailing their ears to the central statue, how Maggie Dickson was executed and “rose from the dead” to open her own pub, and even visited The Elephant House cafe where J.K Rowling began writing the infamous first Harry Potter novel. Despite all the history and information I have already absorbed, I think I will begin to learn more and more every corner I take in this city. From the brick roads to the elegant gardens to the glorious castles and landscape, I am more than grateful to be here.
Our first day, we traveled a bit outside the city for our first day meeting the traumatic brain injury team we were going to be continuously working with throughout this dialogue. This team, Case Management Services LTD, greeted us with open arms and smiles. We spent the day in a conference room together receiving multiple presentations by different staff members giving us a brief introduction of the company and their compromising three pillars: case management and rehab services, treatment services, and expert medico-legal report services. We learned what exactly a case manager does and the role they play in patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. We also watched a touching video of a patient the case manager, Lynn, has worked with for the past four years and how he has progressed tremendously despite all odds based on the environment he was in. We also learned how multiple professionals (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech language therapists, and neuropsychologists) each play an individual role in the treatment of TBI survivors as well as how they work together as an integrated whole at this facility. Lastly, our TA for the trip Gemma gave us a full detailed itinerary and described to us what we were going to be doing throughout this dialogue and I am safe to say that what she put together for us I cannot be more excited for. Today was the first step in a once in a lifetime experience and judging by what we have planned, I know it is going to fully exceed my expectations.
