Finals Week...

Well today is the beginning of Finals week! I can't believe how fast it came. I also cannot believe that there is only ONE semester left of this program! The next few months are going to be insanely stressful and busy, but this will make the time go by even faster! Before you know it I will be writing about graduation! Wow. I have four finals to take this week, plus check out. I feel out of the loop since I was not at school Thursday and Friday! I just want to be done and be able to finally relax and enjoy Christmas break... in between studying for BOARDS! Lame. Well to my Hygiene girls... I love you, enjoy your month off, and see you in 2012! Life is good! :)

Fierce Winds... WTH???

Well, I am alive. What a crazy last 24 hrs. I have slept only 2 hours. Went to bed at midnight. Woke up at 2 am due to a LOUD Bang! Went to find out what it was... my back door had slammed open and hit my washer and dryer. Crazy winds were coming into the house! Got the door shut and secured, climbed back into bed. Could not go back to sleep the winds were so strong, it literally sounded like my house was going to fall over. I have a very old home, the walls are thin, the windows are original to the house... I can feel the breeze from outside because the windows are not good. So it sounded as though I was outside, even though I was in my warm bed. 2:30 am LOUD banging from outside on my bedroom wall, I peer out the window, Trampoline is being lifted off the ground and thrown back down! It is seriously about to go OVER the fence into the neighbors yard! I start freaking out! I run out side, barefoot to hold the tramp down while I think of what to do. I am standing on the legs of the tramp and throwing my body across the tramp using all my weight... and PRAYING!!! Please Heavenly Father, don't take my tramp into the neighbors yard! This is all I could think to do as my body is pushed up against the tramp, hair blowing all around like crazy and shivering because of how cold it was!!! I start thinking, what can I weigh the tramp down with? I find a cinder-block, put that on, the tramp still lifts up!! What am I going to do? At 3 am I call my brother who lives a mile away. Ask him what I should do? After we talked for a minute and he was finally awake, he decided to come over to help me secure the tramp. He brought over 3 bags of rock salt. We put that on the tramp to weigh it down, yet the wind is still picking it up. So we head to Walmart at 3:30 am to buy SIX more bags of rock salt. We put those on the tramp and decide its not going anywhere. The rest of the evening I lied in bed, comforting Taylee because she was scared to death, praying, and freaked out listening to the wind storm. I got up at 6 am to start getting ready for clinic! Get ready, go to the kitchen, look out the window... my fence on 3 sides has blown over! Are your kidding me??? I am totally shocked. I turn on the TV, the freeway is closed due to Semis being blown over! How am I going to get to school??? I call Alexander at 7 am! She was so awesome and understanding! Totally told me to stay home and not risk the weather! Thank goodness! But here it is almost 11 pm on Thursday night, still awake, still in shock, and completely exhausted! I am grateful that we are safe. My prayers were answered... the tramp stayed in the backyard, yes it is bent and ruined, but it stayed! Life is still good even after a traumatic day!

Numb Thumb Update...

So tomorrow is TWO weeks... and the Thumb is STILL numb! Are you kidding me? I will be working on a patient for the first time since this happened tomorrow, I just wonder if I will be able to apply the necessary pressure for scaling because of my numbness.... Seriously, is this ever going to go away? I am scared. It feels so weird, and permanent! Anyway, just wanted to give the update. I will post when it is no longer Numb! Life is still good though!

Last VA day for 2011

Well today concluded my 5 week run at the VA... I feel like I live there, seriously! I had my rotation, then CA, then rotation, then CA, then final rotation! Way to end the semester! I seriously LOVE my VA group of girls! We have gotten so close, and it has been so fun getting to know each of them better! I have enjoyed the LONG lunches, to chat and laugh about life! I really have ended up enjoying the VA. I have learned a lot there, and have met a ton of great veterans. It is however nice to have a break from it! Lol. I am excited for my next group of girls that I get to hang out with... although Kelsey gets to be my friend all year at the VA! Lucky girl! Lol. Jamie, Jodie, Tori, and Kelsey I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you for being such amazing VA buddies and friends! You are all incredible women and hygienists! Life is good!

Boards

BOARDS!!!!!

Today in class we discussed boards! It literally made me sick! Every time we discuss it, or Alexander brings out all the board review books, I get really, really sick to my stomach. I think a lot of it is... that I truly do not feel EVEN the slightest bit prepared to complete these HUGE, life-changing exams! I KNOW my brain has been crammed full of TONS of information in such a short period of time, but trying to REMEMBER all that info is really scaring me! I honestly don't know if I am going to physically be able to handle the stress that is headed my way here in the next few months! My whole education, career, and future rides on these next few months ahead! Will I fail? Will I succeed? Please LET ME PASS!!! That is all I ask! And let me survive to walk on graduation day on APRIL 20th!!! Please! Fall semester is almost over, exciting as a break sounds, I realized today that I will be studying during the whole break. Merry Christmas to me! Oh and not to mention the hefty fees to take these exams... another Merry Christmas to me! BUT... I know this WILL ALL BE WORTH IT! Life is good friends, and being a hygienist is going to be EVEN better! :)

Numb Thumb...

Today in clinic this morning I saw a Class III that Tori so generously gave to me to finish up. She had done the OD and one Quad and let me finish the last 3 Quads. Well, let me tell you, now I know why she gave her away! She was SOOOOO hard! The calculus was so tenacious. I was literally sweating as I was working on removing the lovely black build-up. I was using more lateral pressure than I have used all year! So... the result, a few areas missed, new instrument techniques learned, and a NUMB THUMB! What the crap is that all about? Well I asked several people if this is normal... Marcy informed me that she had it happen to her several times last year and was so concerned because she would have the numbness for a couple weeks at a time! A couple weeks? Are you kidding me? But according to Costley, via Marcy, this is totally normal. Great. Awesome. This is the thumb I use to text. It feels weird now. Do I seriously have to deal with this for a couple of weeks? Wow, I must have been using some SERIOUS lateral pressure! Thanks Tori for the 3 Quads, I love you! :) And I will update in a couple weeks about the numbness of my thumb. Life is good... even with a numb thumb! :)

Productive Day at the VA

I am enjoying the VA more each time I go. Yesterday was a very productive day for me! I had two patients that each had 2 Quads of Class III to be finished. I passed off 2 PE's! And I gave my first 4 injections on an actual patient! That was fun and a little scary! I gave an IA, PSA, MSA, and ASA. I did realize that I need to review my technique for the PSA! Man that is a hard injection to get right! But it was a great day! My afternoon patient was awesome and hilarious!
I love our VA group... you girls are all amazing and really great friends! Thank you for always making me laugh!
I cannot believe the semester is almost over! My goal is to accomplish the last 4 required PE's that I have for the semester! Another goal I have is to start studying for Boards... time to start reviewing! Boy that is scary! It will be here before we know it! Either way... Life is GOOD!!!!

Finished...

Today I FINISHED required qualifications for Fall Semester. I had to get just one more 1B... which is surprising to some because I have only seen 3 1B patients this semester so far. I have seen about 70 quads of class II/V... which is crazy! I do not want any more! That seems to be all that I get at the VA. I need class III's. I just really do not know how I will get the required 36 Quads for the year in. Especially when I have only done 4 quads this semester. Alexander says it will happen. So I will have faith, since she does. :) We are almost done with our Fall semester. I cannot believe how fast it went. I have really enjoyed this semester and have not felt the stress that I felt last year. I know that next semester will be stressful due to boards. So I am enjoying this stress free time. Anyway... Life is Good! :)

Pimps in the House....

SIR REAL and D-LISH came to the Halloween party today! And let me tell you... they were stylin'... to say the least! I have never laughed so HARD in my whole entire life! Every time I would just look at Kelsey I would bust up laughing, she was hilarious and the perfect MACK-DADDY pimp! Hanson did not even recognize who we were, which really made it even better! I will never forget how freaking hot it was in those costume, with the fake mustache and goatee, chest hair and purple velvet suit! Thanks Kelsey for being my partner in crime and for making this years Halloween the BOMB! I love you girl, and I am so glad to call you my friend! It is awesome that we can take time to have fun and relax in such a time consuming, stressful program! Life is good... especially as a Pimp! :)

It's Almost HALLOWEEN.....

HALLOWEEN is coming in a few days... and let me just tell you, it is one of my favorite holidays! I love it... I think I like it so much because this is also my favorite time of year! I love FALL! So me and Kelsey are dressing up this year together and we have been planning our costumes for weeks now! I am excited to finally put it all together and actually dress up! It is a pain however when you have an idea for something, yet you cannot figure out how to do it, or you have to go to TEN stores to find a specific item! But it will all be worth it in the end! Can't wait!
Today I had my mid-semester meeting with Alexander... I think it went pretty well. I just cannot believe how fast the semester is going! Time sure does fly when you are having FUN!!! Anyway, life is good... Trick or Treat!

Mockboards

So Mockboards were a couple weeks ago... but since I have forgotten about this blog, I feel that I should still write about it. Mockboards was a very interesting, educational and confidence stealer! So if you haven't seen my mockboards patients x-rays... you are missing out! There were HUGE chunks of calculus! I have done pretty well all semester and have been feeling pretty good about myself. So I had the confidence I needed going into this mockboard... however it was taken away, because I obviously did not have the skill level required to remove those huge chunks of calculus! I did not do nearly as well as I wanted or thought I would. BUT... I learned a lot from this experience. I WILL NOT have calculus like that ever again for mockboards or boards for that matter... it is not necessary! Someone will smaller clicks will qualify and not set me up for another disappointing day! I also learned that I am still not sure how calculus feels! What the crap??? I really thought I got it all! Oh well... I can only go up from here! I learned what is expected of me, how the paper work works, and what kind of patient NOT to get! I still believe life is good... :)

Blogging...

So I seem to have forgotten about my blog. But then again, I have been forgetting a lot of things this semester! What is wrong with my BRAIN???? Last week, totally almost lost my Americorps money due to not completing my Exit Packet! What the crap? How did I forget to do that? Luckily I filled it out in time, so I will receive my much needed money! Then today I was at the VA, my last patient I finished right before the Doctor came in to do the exam... well I am used to having to wait for the Doctors for quite a long time, so it kind of threw me when he was there right after I was done flossing. So he did the exam, I went ahead and placed the fluoride and walked my patient out to leave. I walked back, started talking to instructor Katie and all of the sudden realized... I DIDN'T GET MY FINAL SCALE CHECK!!! What am I doing??? Well my patient was gone by this point, and therefore a scale check was not going to be happening. Pretty stupid of me. Luckily my patient was a VERY easy class V, and the doctor said "Everything looked really good!" Anyway I feel like an airhead lately!!! Seriously. Then tonight I started preparing for my mid-semester meeting with Alexander tomorrow morning... all of the sudden realized... I have only TWO blog entries for the year! For REAL???? What is wrong with me? Then I proceed to look at emails, and wouldn't you know it... Alexander sent an email just about the blogs! I am dead tomorrow! Haha. I am making a goal right now... I will finish my blog entries before the last two weeks of the semester. I will pass the required total of 14 and I will make an honest effort to really get out of the blogging what is intended... critical thinking! :)
I am however REALLY enjoying Senior year! And life is good... even without a brain! :)

Friday Sept. 9, 2011

This day was a special day! I gave my very first FOUR injections! And I LOVED IT!!! We did Maxillary injections, two of which were on the palate! I was really nervous because.... Kelsey was nervous to have me administer because she has never gotten shots before in the mouth, and lets face it... she had a newbie coming towards her with a needle! It was scary, cool, exciting, entertaining, educational, and a rush ALL at the same time! According to Kelsey... I did a really good job, and she could barely even feel it! So I felt happy and proud of that! I will remember this day always! Giving anesthesia is something that I truly thought I would struggle with... but it turns out I really enjoy it, and wanted to do it again after I was done! Next Friday... Mandibular injections! Life is Good! :)

Senior Year

So I am now into my Fourth week of Senior Year! I am really enjoying this year so far! So much more relaxing and less stressful than last year! I am actually LOVING clinic! I look forward to going and cleaning teeth. I am a lot faster so far this year, which I am thankful for. I was worried that I would have forgotten EVERYTHING I had learned over the summer! But as soon as I picked up my first instrument and went into the mouth, it all came back to me!
We have done some rotations at the VA. It is a very interesting place, to say the least. I was REALLY nervous for my first patient there, just ask Karen (Hahaha). But it all turned out, and I am actually enjoying the experiences there. I am so happy to be in this program! I feel so blessed to have such amazing girls to learn from, work with, and to call friends! Our senior Instructors are Incredible, and I know I will learn so many vital skills from them this year! So... I am happy and enjoying this dental hygiene ride! LIFE IS GOOD! :)

Whoops...

So I was a little behind on my blog posts... Didn't realize I had done so few! I think when you are stressed and just grateful you survived a clinic day, the last thing you want to do is blog! Even though I had some great things to blog about, I just never got around to it. So I have done a few posts today to make up for those missed days and to make sure I don't get docked points! :) I really feel that this posts are some of my best work... so enjoy reading, I think you might get a laugh or two! I am glad school is almost over, I need a summer VACATION! Bring on the sunscreen, sun, pool and an Ice Cold Diet Coke! Life is good! :)

The Tongue...

So I have noticed that ALMOST every patient I have seen this semester does not brush their tongue... and if they do, they do not get back far enough! This my friends leads to a coated gross tongue, and Halitosis! I have been using the tongue scrapper, the ORABRUSH and LOVE it. It is the greatest tongue scraper ever invented, in my opinion. It works like a charm, and I have referred all these patients with coated tongues to Walmart to go buy one. I think the tongue gets overlooked by many, and as hygienists, it is our job to educate on the importance of tongue cleaning! Plus who wants to kiss someone that has a gross coated tongue, not me! Life is good, brush your tongues! :)

The EX....

So... I had the EX husband come in to be a patient... Well he didn't really have a choice. I said to him... "Good news I need A LOT of PA's to pass clinic, so you my friend are coming in and getting a FMX done." I figure he owed me at least that! Good thing we are somewhat civil and friends. I was also hoping that he would classify as at least a Class II and that was going to be perfect for my requirements! Unfortunately he was a Class 1B. Good for him, sucks for me! It was quite stressful when he came back the second time for me to actually clean his teeth. We actually got in a fight in the clinic. It is funny now, but I was mad at him when it was happening. Ex husbands can be dumb sometimes! Anyway I was not able to finish him and I was fine with that. I got the 3 Quads out of him that I needed. It actually worked out well because Heather needed one quad of a 1B, and so I pawned the Ex off on her! Haha. It all worked out! Life is good, even with an Ex! :)

Pano's

So I pretty much suck at taking Pano's. I blame it on the machine, the daylight loaders, that I have never done Scan-x film until school, and that we didn't do an actual Pano in radiology lab, just pretended like we did. So my first Pano I had to take 3 times... yes, you heard right, THREE times. That is how bad I suck. I did Scan-X film. The first time I took it, I assumed the film was in there and all was good, took the pano, went to put it in to develop it... and I had the sleeve for conventional film. Lovely. So I go get the CORRECT sleeve, make sure the film is in there, re-take the film, develop it and... the lead apron is down the center of the film... Lovely again! By the way, I had forgotten that there was a special collarless apron for the pano... Yes I rock. The third film I took, I did not PUSH the plate all the way in, so one side was cut off leaving the joint not on the film, luckily and THANKFULLY all the teeth were there! That was a BAD day! The second Pano day, supposedly while loading the conventional film, light leaked in on the daylight loader... So that film was not perfect! All I can say... I HATE the daylight loaders and I suck at taking Pano's! But life is still good! :)

Last Clinic Day of Year One....

So tomorrow is my last clinic day of my first year! And can I say.... I am nervous!!!! I have A LOT on my plate tomorrow. I pray I can accomplish it and finish what I have planned. So due to a few patients not showing here the last few weeks, I had to postpone a few PE's and a few patients. So with that being said, tomorrow, the last day of clinic, I have THREE PE's to pass off: Instrument Sharpening, Air/Powder Polish and Area Specific Instrumentation. On top of those three PE's is the real kicker... I have THREE QUADS OF A CLASS III to clean... IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???? I freakin hope so, because I need it for requirements. SOOOOO tomorrow... I am going to turn into WONDER WOMAN and finish the year out right... It will be a sight to see I am sure... So please pray for me, I will need it! Even though my life is going to pretty much suck tomorrow, Life is still GOOD! :)

First 2 Finals

Today we had our first 2 Finals for the semester... In Patho and Perio. Glad they are over and that the week is half way over! I meet with Costley in the morning for my end of year check out! I think I have everything that I need and I cannot believe our first year is OVER! It went by really fast. I feel like our first week was just last month. I have learned more than I ever thought I would, or that I ever thought was possible in these last two semesters. I never knew hygienists were expected and knew sooooo much. We are brilliant! :) I am glad that I am on the path to finally being a hygienist, a life long dream. I still love the field and I am grateful that I am in the program, even though it is very stressful at times, well.... most the time. I think in the end it will be well worth it. Life is good, and I am glad I am going to be a hygienists! :)

Last Clinic Week

Today is the beginning of the LAST clinic week for FIRST year!!!! NEVER thought I would make it. It has been stressful to say the least! But I have survived. Wednesday will be my hardest day I believe. I have 3 Quads of a Class III and 3 PE'S. Don't even know if this is going to be possible. I pray I can do this! Last Week SUCKED!!!! I got really sick Sunday night, came to school Monday with a fever, sore throat, and achy body! Then to top it off, MY PATIENT WAS A NO SHOW!!!! Even after I confirmed with her on Saturday! She would not answer my calls or texts! I was so upset! I proceeded to call 15 other patients TRYING to get someone in my chair. I succeeded at 10:15am giving me a half hour to do an OD. What a crappy day! I went to the Dr after clinic, had a fever of 101 and a bacterial throat infection. Awesome. At least I got some antibiotics! Tuesday I felt like crap. Got a lovely FEVER BLISTER on my lip that day! That was awesome, at least Kelsey and I were miserable together in the department of Herpes! Haha. Wednesday was a better clinic day, however still felt bad. Thursday was a much better day, felt better and the week was almost over! This week I still have my lovely Cold Sore, but it is on the mend. Clinic today was great! And life is still good. I cannot believe I can SEE the end! :)

Been A While....

So, it has been quite some time since I have blogged. So I am still alive, and barely surviving! This has been one crazy roller coaster of emotions this semester. Up and Down, Up, UP, Down, Way Down, and up again! Will I EVER survive??? Seriously! I am so glad the semester is winding down. I believe I have all my patients scheduled for the rest of the clinic days! Now I just pray they show up and everything runs how I want it! Which most likely it won't, but I need it to! I am just happy to have what I need and to be able to at least get the minimum requirements in! Please Pray for me! 4 more clinic days... I can do this! I have no choice really! Haha. Life is good! Stressful, but good! :)

Class III

Today I did my first class III. It was actually pretty easy, for the fact that there was only bone loss around tooth #30. Because of the lack of root left, I did not have to hand scale. I just used the ultra sonic and flushed the pocket out. It was an easy class III that's for sure! I lucked out. Next class III will probably be crazy! Oh well. I meet with Costley tomorrow for my Mid Term meeting. I am nervous about that. I don't feel that I have half of my requirements, so I am scared to see what she will say to me. I just hope I get faster and I am able to fulfil all my requirements! Today was a good day, another pt done and outta here! On to a FMX Wednesday. Should be interesting! Hope he is at least a Class II also! Life is good baby! :)

Finished First Class II Patient

Today I finished my first Class II patient! Thank goodness that I am done!!! Very hard patient! Had some crazy tenacious calculus! I am exhausted!!! I am glad that I got her done, now on to a Class III pt.! Clinic is going good. Life is good! :)

The Day of LOVE...

Happy Valentine's Day! To be honest I hate this day, always have! But probably more so because I don't have that special someone to share it with! One day... I will again! Ha Ha! :)
So today I finished another pt. It feels good to get someone done and complete and know you won't see them again for 6 months. I Passed of my Ultrasonic PE today. Realized I wasn't adapting it all the way. Learned a lot from Instructor Demings on how to use it and a few tricks! Hope the rest of the day is good! Get to spend the evening with my cute kids! Love them to pieces! Enjoy your day of LOVE... Life is great! :)

Sealants

Its been a while since I have blogged! Whoops. I have just been trying to get the swing of everything here in clinic. My charts are usually in late, so by the time I get done cleaning up, blogging is the last thing on my mind! I have been surviving these past few weeks, surprisingly. It has been quite the adjustment and I feel I am still inadequate to do what I am doing. But I just do what I am told, and do it with a smile! :) One day I will be fast and good and know what in the heck is going on around me!
So Today I am calling Sealant day! I did a total of TWELVE sealants on two different girls today! It was crazy! But I completed them and also passed off my Sealant PE. So I feel today was a great day! I have fulfilled all of my sealants for the semester also! So that too is good! Now I can focus on all the QUADS I am lacking in along with PA'S!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!! Will I ever get everything that is expected of me??? Only time will tell!
Life is good! :)

Wednesday

So today was a good day. Did another 1A and 4 BWX. Completed my pt, but was a little late on getting my chart in. Need to work on time managment a little bit! :) Not feeling so hot today, I hope I am not getting sick! At least it is a long weekend, we have Monday off! I am glad about that! Still have to schedule a few more patients so I am full this month and next. I am just hoping I can get all my requirements in, I am nervous about that! I just hope things work out for me! Life is good still! :)

2nd Patient day....

So today I started my 2nd real patient for the semester! It was my beautiful sister-in-law Emily! I am so glad she agreed to come in and let me work on her! It is nice to have someone that you know! I was able to get to the OHI today, and I will schedule to have her come back for her actual cleaning! I can't wait to do it! She had quite a few areas that I could see needed to be scaled! So I am excited! I have NOT be sleeping lately! I think I am really stressed about school and getting patients! Not sleeping is not good, pretty sure I got about 3 hours last night, so totally taking a nap when I get home before the kids get home and I have to be a mom!!! Anyway today has been a good day, got 4 BWX and a class 1B. So life is good! :)

New Year, New Semester

Today was my first day of Spring Semester to see a patient. I chose to do my daughter Taylee... One because I know her, and two because I knew she wouldn't judge me and my skills, OR SO I THOUGHT. She told me while I was scaling her, "You are not good at it at all!" And "you are hurting me!" Well that made me feel great! First of all I know I suck, but even a 9 year old could see that! So what is an adult patient going to think of me??? I am so scared! I have totally forgotten how to freaking scale! How is that possible? It has only been one month!!! So I will totally be practicing this weekend! Taylee also told me, "Your lab coats are ugly!" That was funny! I totally had the most HONEST patient I think I will have all semester! Pretty funny! But I was able to complete her, with even doing 2 sealants! So I am proud of myself for that! Life is good, and I am glad to be back in school! :)