My Last Post.

Well tonight I am finishing up all my last minute details for dental hygiene school. I sit here and ponder all the things I have learned, experienced and the friends I have made. This really has been two of the best years of my life. It has also been two of the hardest years of my life. But what I have learned and gained in these past two years, will be with me always. I am leaving dental hygiene school confident. I know I have been taught well. I have had the privilege of working with the best instructors and professors. They have prepared me and my friends to go out in the world and be amazing hygienists. I am so grateful for this opportunity. I have changed so much over these two years. I am a better friend, person, and mom because of the struggles and challenges I have been faced with. I know I will be a great hygienist. I am excited to go out in the field and use my skills and knowledge as a registered dental hygienist! Wahoo! Class of 2012... You rock! I am so go glad I was accepted into this year. I will cherish our memories and friendships forever. Remember.... LIFE IS GOOD! :)

Results

Well today in the mail came my results for the written national exam. I was so freaking scared to open this letter. But I did. And wouldn't you know it... I PASSED! Wow. I was really surprised. But so very happy to know that I do NOT ever have to take another 7 hour exam again!!! Now I have one more result to get, and then I am golden. The semester is pretty much over. I am getting really sad. I love these girls. This has been my life for 2 years, what am I going to do without all the laughs everyday! Thank you friends for making me smile and laugh every single day! I love all of you! Life is good!

I PASSED!!!!

Today I found out that I passed my clinical exam! And not only did I pass... I got 100%! I am completely stunned! Especially since I failed two of the mockboards, and passed one by the skin of my teeth! I am so freaking happy today! A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I now know I can and will be a dental hygienist! LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!

Written National Board

So last week was when I took the written National Board! Boy that was sure fun! I really had not study much, because I was planning on studying a lot over spring break, but due to stress that did not happen! So I studied mainly for two days, crammed would be a better term. I took the test, It took me 7 hours! It was Hell. I never want to have to take a test that long again. It just feels so good to have all the boards done and out of the way! Now I just wait for the results on three of them! Life is good!

Spring Break???? Yeah Right!

So last week was our Spring Break! Isn't that supposed to be a break? Be relaxing or something? Well it was PURE HELL!!! I don't think I have ever felt so much stress in one week! I was a nervous wreck Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all worried about LA board. Thursday was the day, I was seriously freaked out! But I got in there, I did it, and I passed first time! I was a little shocked, but it was a great confidence booster! Once Thursday was over, I immediately started freaking out for Sunday morning! I knew this exam was by far the biggest and would be the hardest to retake if I failed. That is a lot of pressure going in. But Sunday morning came, and by far the worst part of the whole day was waiting to see if your patient qualified! Me and Kayla were both having anxiety attacks while waiting. But I have to say, I am truly grateful for our incredible instructors at WSU! They made sure each of us had a patient that would definitely qualify! Every single one of us had our first submission accepted! That is pretty incredible! Now that the day is over, we wait... nervously and second guessing every single thing we did, until we get our results. But life is still good and only one board left to go!

Board Patients

Well today I saw my board patient. Took his xrays and cleaned a quad. I was very grateful to be able to do this going into boards knowing what I am up against. I missed two areas cleaning him today, so hopefully I will do better during the real deal! I also got to clean Heather's patient for boards too. He is such a nice guy. I am hoping he will be a good quality patient for Heather. I enjoyed this day, knowing that I have a dependable board patient is a really good feeling! Life is good! :)

Mom

My mom was my patient today. That was fun for her and I to see my improvement from the last time she came in. She was my first official patient. And I was slow and not very confident. Well today she came in and I was able to do her whole OD and cleaning in around 30 minutes, which was a vast improvement from two full days of the first time. So that was fun. I was also able to pass off a few needed PE's on my mom, so I am glad she was willing to do that for me. It was a good day. And life is good!

SERIOUSLY...

All I want to do is get healthy and lose some weight... therefore I workout! Well this morning I was working out and lucky me... sprained my ankle! BAD!!! The pain was incredible... I have never felt that sort of pain ever before... and I have had TWO children!!! Lol. This was not a great way to start out the day... especially since I had my Process of Care Exam (Board #2) scheduled. So I did my best to shower and get myself ready to take the exam. Luckily my sister had the day off, so she was able to drive me to the exam and help me into the building, and then drive me home. I had no time to be nervous today for this exam... my mind was else where. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. If I do not pass... I have a good excuse, RIGHT?? Anyway... only time will tell. Even though I can't walk and my foot hurts like HELL, life is still good! :)

MockBoard #3

Well girls.... I FINALLY PASSED a mockboard! Today was a good day! It was nice to know that I can actually pass one of these exams, now lets just hope I can do even better on the real board! I also found out that I passed my FIRST board exam! LA written! I was so worried about the results of this exam... Hardest exam I have EVER taken! But the board Gods were kind to me and I passed! Wahooo!!! Life is good and getting a bit stressful! :)

Happy Love Day

I really am not a HUGE fan of Valentine's day! Never have been. But Happy Love day to all my girls! I love you all!!! Today I did some screenings, in hopes of finding a board/mockboard patient! I did find a mockboard... but she did not qualify for real boards! But glad to have a mockboard. I am going to PASS this one! I hope anyway! I need the confidence going into the real one here in a couple weeks! This patient is a class II and NOT going to be as hard as my past 2 mockboard patients!!! This is good news! So I am happy and looking forward to next week, gonna rock this one! Life is good! :)

LA MOCKBOARD

Well today was our first and only LA mockboard. I was a little nervous... but ready to pass a mockboard. I proceeded with my IA... got to site of deposition, aspirated, and got my FIRST positive aspiration! Awesome! So that kind of threw me for a loop, but I went with it, did what I thought was correct and moved on to the PSA. Site of penetration... I see... I see... proceed, and then I hit BONE! Seriously??? So needless to say, everything that could go wrong did. I finished and was unsure if I passed or not. After everyone was complete, Alexander and Naylor call me over... I sit down, look at the paper and I PASSED both of them!!! I was shocked! They said I handled both situations perfectly! Today was a gooooood day girls! Life is good, I passed a mockboard! :)

Ryker

Today in clinic this morning I saw a Class III. Which I was happy about! I really hope I will get all the class III's needed to graduate! Then this afternoon I had my son Ryker come in! I was in desperate need in passing off some PE's, plus my afternoon patient had cancelled... so seeing him was a last minute decision, and it worked out because he got out of school early today! I was able to pass off the diagnodent PE (by the way I have set that damn thing up I believe 4 times to use it, and have never been able to for a variety of reasons) VERY glad to have that PE done. Kelsey didn't have an afternoon patient either, so I told her we could both pass off the Air/Powder polish on Ryker! Lucky him! I did bribe him... told him I would take him to buy a toy, if he was really good, didn't complain, and held really still. So Kelsey and I both did air/powder polish and sealants on him! It was nice to get those PE's out the way too! Ryker was a really good patient, and showed amazing patience as we had a very LONG pod wrap! :)
Life is good!!!

LA Written Board Exam

Well today was HELL!!! I took my first board exam! I cannot believe how nervous I was! I was seriously about to have an anxiety attack before I went in there. I went to the bathroom, and as I was washing my hands, I noticed that my whole chest and neck was flushed... oh boy!
I start taking the exam and honestly there were questions that were fairly straight forward and easy... then there were other questions that were just off the wall hard! I feel like this exam was an out of body experience! The hour went by SOOOOO fast, I used up every last second! As soon as I was done... I just sat there and thought... "What in the HELL just happened??" I am so glad it is over... however I have NO CLUE where I stand or how I did...
Now I get to just worry and wait! One board down... four more to go! Life is good. :)

Week Four...

Wow this semester is flying by... I cannot believe that it is the end of January! Where are the days going? Today was another clinic day... Pretty easy day. Saw a class V this morning, sweet lady, second time I have seen her. She always says "God Bless You" and I kept thinking today... I sure hope HE does this week! Haha. I am planning on taking my written LA board Saturday... if I don't chicken out and change my appointment! I do not feel ready at all, so I will study the next two days straight, and we will see how I feel Thursday! But I am literally sick about it! This afternoon was pretty easy also. Saw a mom and son. The Mom was an easy 1B and the son was 4 years old. Last time he came in he got really scared and didn't let them do anything on him... Well I am proud to say that I got him in the chair and actually polished and flossed his whole mouth! Even went over tooth brushing with him and put fluoride on! He loved it, and I felt I had made quite the accomplishment! So I am exhausted to say the least... worked out at 5:45 this morning, start my 3rd week of working out tomorrow! I have had sore muscles daily... but feel a lot better already! I also feel that the workouts are helping with my stress release! Life is good! :)

Mockboard #2

Well today was Mockboard #2... and boy was it fun!! NOT.
Why do I get so STRESSED out on these days? Honestly, I am really scared to see how I will be on the actual Board Clinical! I may need to take some Valium! (Kelsey... got any left? HaHa!) I will say that I did improve from the last experience... but I swear these hard patients are drawn to me on these days! I have had VERY HARD patients at both mockboards! I was thinking to myself today as I was cleaning my patients quad... "Why in the Hell have you done this to yourself AGAIN?" I guess when you are desperate for a mockboard patient, you will take the first one that Alexander says will qualify! I should have really thought about it when Alexander said, "this will be a hard patient!" Wow, she was right! I am however grateful for the experience of these hard patients, but I need confidence going into the real board that I will actually PASS! So girls... please pray for me, that my next mockboard and board patient will be easy, perfect patients (does that even exist?) so that my confidence can come back! Because after today... I wonder if I am destined to be a hygienist! Life is good because today is over! :)

Class II...???????

Class II where are you all? I am kind of struggling today due to anxiety and stress that is filling my heart and soul! I need a mockboard patient! SO far no luck! What is the deal? Also it is so frustrating because there are no names on the recall list... therefore no one to call to see and screen! I am scared! I did not do well on my last mockboard, so I really need to do well on this next one. But I am afraid that I will not have a qualifying patient. I am hopefully going to have a few people to screen on Friday, and by the grace of God I hope to find a patient! So today I am bummed to say the least. PLEASE LET ME FIND A MOCKBOARD PATIENT!!! Life is good, therefore one will come through! :)

First Week of LAST Semester!!!

I cannot believe we are in our last semester of the program! It really has gone by pretty fast! I tried to enjoy Christmas break and relax, knowing that the next few months are going to be BRUTAL!!! I am really nervous for all our Boards that are quickly approaching! I feel like the days and weeks are cruising by and I am going to be sitting in my first board exam... SICK! It will be nice to have them over... all I can do is take each day one at a time! I am excited to be nearing the end and to really take my skills to the next level in these last few months! Life is good and I am close to being a full blown DENTAL HYGIENIST!!!! :)