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!!!!