October 28--Anesthesia Lab.

Thanks Jami for being the best patient ever. Even though I gave you a hemangioma. Ohhh! IA shots will good—after I do about 300 more of them! Jami is so good at giving shots! She is so calm and steady handed! One day I hope to be just like her! I feel like things are making more sense as far as the steps in giving an injection. But I still have a hard time telling if I am in the right spot, how far in I am, and how much I am giving—and if it is to fast. Jami is my little pin-cushion! Thanks Jami! The worst part was that half of my face was numb until 5:00 that day—the same time that I got off of work! All day I felt so lop-sided. I hope that I wasn’t drooling on anything this afternoon! I was out of control!

OCTOBER 27—Mock Boards.

Today was the day from HELL. That’s right—I might just swear like a sailor after taking Dr. Soderberg’s test. YIKES! Stressing out about mock boards and all of the freakin’ paper work, then having to take Dr. S’s test the same day is not a good combination.

I can’t imagine not having a day to run through how real boards are really going to be. There is no way that I would have been okay if today was the real thing. After everything, I don’t know that cleaning the teeth is the hardest part. I think that if I fail, it will probably be because I filled a form out in pen instead of pencil, or maybe I didn’t put the patient number in the right corner of the bib. Give me a break! It’s just like PBJ said—brain surgeon’s don’t have to do brain surgery to see if the patient dies and they fail then don’t get their license. Why are we having to do a clinical board. After two years of being under direct supervision—I would hope that we would know how to clean teeth!

Anyways, my patient was a 29 year old lady that hadn’t had her teeth cleaned in 8 years. She had come in a couple of weeks ago and I was able to get x-rays and probe her, but was advised to clean her on mock board day. So today she came back. After I sent her over to the “examiners” for the first check, Shane came over to me and said that we needed to talk. I thought that maybe I had done something wrong. But he wanted to tell me to wait until May to clean her for real boards. I was a little nervous to approach the patient about this because she really hadn’t been very nice to me on the phone. But Shane was able to help me talk to her about boards and after a while, she said that she would be my board patient! YEA! I felt kind of weird asking her to come back one more time to clean 1 quad, then saving the bottom 2 for May. She seemed a little put out—but was okay with it. Well after that big awkward talk, we actually had some good conversation. I think that when I can talk to my patient, it makes me feel so much more comfortable about what I am doing. So we talked about everything from her kids, to church, to Halloween, to her husband, etc. It seemed okay. She was numb so she really couldn’t feel me cleaning her teeth, but things were going well. Well, then I was finished and I looked around, and everyone else looked like they were just starting. So, I went over the teeth again—but I couldn’t find anything. So, I sent her back over to examiners. Everything went well and I found out that I would have passed if it were real board day. What a good confidence booster. When I walked her out, I was still telling her how grateful I was for her to be my board patient, etc. Then she reached out and gave me a hug. WOW. I guess we really connected. I just hope that she will remember this in May when I really need her. I couldn’t quit thinking about her. I just want everything to be so perfect. I want her to like me and I want to like her. I can’t quite figure her out. I wonder if she’s bi-polar. She was so mean to me on the phone, but so nice today! I want to do something nice for her.

Then Dr. S.’s test. YIKES. I can’t figure him out. His tests are so hard. I don’t think that it matters how much I study. So if I fail—I guess I might just get kicked out of DH! It’s been nice knowing ya!

OCTOBER 25, VA

So, today was our first official VA day. I didn’t really know what to expect, but was a excited for a change in the environment. The worst part of the VA day has to be waking up at the crack of dawn! I don’t know why it is so difficult. I am really only waking up an hour earlier than usual—but it seems like an eternity when my bed it so comfortable and it is cold and dark outside!

This morning I was able to do a class 3 exam. He was my first class 3 of the semester. This guy was a regular at the VA. He knew PBJ and all about the dental hygiene area. He was even telling me where and how to take his x-rays. What a pal! Things were going great. PBJ numbed him up—and even let me give two injections. They were my first ones on a real patient. YIKES! When PBJ was telling me what to do, the patient piped in to tell me that he could see the needle and that it was a good idea not to show the patient the needle. So—I told him to close his eyes. I was sick of him telling me how to do my job. I was happy to give the injections, and I was so glad for the experience.

The best part of the day had to be lunch! Not only for the food—but for the great conversation. We had lunch with the dentists and were able to get the inside scoop on Dr. B and Lori. YEA! I can’t believe that things are really working. He seems really nice and interested. We had a good time telling him about Lori and finding out more about him. We had a lot of good laughs together. One thing that I can’t quite figure out if it is funny or just plain disturbing is that all of the single dentists (3/4) live at home with their parents. WEIRD! I guess Dr. B. won’t be taking Lori back to his place for some midnight action on their first date—because she would have to meet the future in-laws! I can’t wait to see what next week’s lunch break will bring! Ha ha ha

This afternoon I saw a class 2. He was a kid my age—but in much different shape! He was taking all kinds of medicine. He had every problem that these 70 year old patients have! He was telling me how he parachuted for the Army, but was injured on a jump and was asked to leave the Army. He seemed really nice, but I don’t think that he had ever brushed his teeth. I hate it when people lie and say that they are brushing at least 2 times a day and flossing every day—ya, right! On top of all of that, he had chewed tobacco since he was 15. So for 25 years he has been damaging his mouth! His gums looked like they were just flapping in the wind! He has a lot of work ahead of him. I had a hard time talking to this patient. Not because he was difficult to talk to, but because Crystals patient was coughing up lungs and other important organs into a cup. It was so thick and creamy! YUCK. I was having a hard time not loosing my lunch. But Crystal—oh, she’s a trooper—she survived the whole thing! I guess Jami’s patient was doing the same thing, but he was further down the line and it wasn’t so “in my face”. I’m glad that I didn’t have to look at that today because hearing it was bad enough!

One thing that I really enjoy about the VA is working with PBJ. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated in the beginning. But now that I have spend a couple of days with her, I really like her. She has been so helpful and encouraging to us. It makes a big difference when you feel like your professor is on your side.

Did this work???

These are pictures of us and our husbands when we went shooting.

p.s. I hope that this works...

Oh, that was fun...

This is another picture of me and my husband. This could be a bad thing for me to know how to put pictures on my blog. This is better than posting boring things about my patients. I'll try to put some other fun pictures on later.

OUCH...

SO, not only is my arm still sore--but now I have a sore finger! Thanks a lot Crystal! ha ha ha.

Today we had a lab in the morning and then saw a patient in the afternoon! Our lab consisted of extra oral fulcrums (thanks Shane), wheel chair transfer, sonic scaler, and the spit test! I can't really say that one was better than another. We laughed all morning. I love it! It doesn't really matter what we are doing--there is always something funny.

Shane taught us the "modified pen grasp" which consisted on clenching his fist around the instrument and popping out a tooth. I don't really think that this is a technique that I will be using--unless I want to do an extraction! ha ha ha

Kim (Inst. Pocock) taught us about wheelchair transfer. It was so funny. I couldn't quit laughing long enough to get the strength to pick up little 90 pound Jami. She actually ended up on my lab. Good times! We also got to push eachother around in the wheelchair. One pushed and the other three got to ride! We hit a few bumpy spots, but no one was injured! We also practiced taking impressions. I was glad to have a chance to do this again. I feel like I need a lot more practice in this, but I'm sure that it will get better.

Prof. Gall had us doing a glucose test by drawing a pool of blood on eachothers fingers. I was first. I was so nervous. Crystal told me that she was a "professional" but when I asked her what type of professional she was--she didn't know. So, basically my confidence went down the drain! ha ha ha. I did have a chance to get her back by poking her finger. She was so scared, I had to sit on her lap to keep her from freaking out! Oh, Crystal! This was followed by Kelsie and Crystal having a competition to see who could spit more spit in a cup. Sick! I think that they ended up the same in the end. As for myself, I couldn't even spit one little drop into my cup. I guess I just wasn't born to spit! Oh well! What can you do!

Our lunch was ruined by the instructors freaking us out about mock boards and real boards. I suddenly felt sick. I felt a huge weight on my shoulders and weak in my knees. How will I ever survive the real thing. Melissa Rees told me that she is planning on getting some drugs to make things better. Whatever floats your boat, eh?!

This afternoon I saw a class 1B. Yea! My first one! He was really nice. I took him back to get his x-rays and I was just trying to make conversation with him by asking him about Halloween. I asked him if he was excited for Halloween. He said no. Then I asked if he was dressing up for Halloween. That is when he told me that in his religion he doesn't celebrate any holiday's. Oops. I guess we kind of got off on the wrong foot! Things did get much better. He was really nice. He was gagging on the ultrasonic, but he survived. I told him that he could complain to me if he wanted, but when my instructor (Kim) came over, he needed to act like everything was going good. We both laughed--I was totally kidding. Then next thing you know, he was telling Kim how great I was, that I was better than any one that he had ever seen, and that his teeth felt so good, etc. I was laughing because I knew that he was just saying that because I basically told him to. After Kim left, I told him that he said way to much, but we both laughed. He was really nice and liked to laugh at all of my stupid jokes. He got clean and we both had a good time.

I can't wait to see what is next. There is always something exciting around the corner. I think that next week could be a lot more stressful than today. I hope that the mock boards go well.

OH, I want a picture on my blog...

I feel like I haven't posted anything on my blog in forever. I spend so much time reading Jami's and Crystal's blogs, that I forget to blog on my own. I guess I could just cut and paste everythng that they write, because it is happening to all three of us. We always seem to be in the same place, laughing about the same things. I have never laughed so hard in my life. These girls are so funny!

So, I guess I could go back all the way to last Friday. We learned how to give injections. It was a bit scarry at first. Dr. S. was telling us how to do the injections by demonstrating in Crystals mouth. Crystal said something funny and basically it put us all in a good mood for the rest of the morning. Jami and I were partners. Jami went first. She was so good. I couldn't believe how steady her hands were. I think that she is just a natural at this. We gave all of the max. injections to eachother. I guess it was a little bit easier than I thought that it would be. Jami was numb--so I guess I did a good job, eh?!

On Tuesday we got to go to the VA for the first time together. It was me, Jami, Crystal, Kelsie, and Rachelle. We started the morning early--but soon forgot how tired we were because we were laughing so hard. I am so excited that I am in their group. If I have to wake up early--I'm glad that it is with them. "PBJ" was really nice. I think that she will be great at the VA. She was taking us on a tour and it seemed like she knew everyone we saw. There were a lot of funny old guys that were trying to hit us with their power wheelchairs. Then there were these airport carts that were being drivin by very unqualified old men. It was like we were in a haunted house. The halls were small and they were trying to run us over. It was a bit scarry. ha ha ha.

After a long day of touring, we went to get our free flu shots. I was so scared. Let me just say that again--I was so scared! I didn't want to get some needle stabbed in my arm--but I just did it. It hurt like burning. I don't know what she did different for me--but I was the only one complaining about how bad my arm hurt. Basically, I complained for the rest of the day. My arm was killing. I couldn't even move it. When I got home I took a warm shower--then when I got out, I realized that there was a huge red circle on the back part of my arm--basically on my shoulder. I think that this lady must have jabbed that 3 inch needle right into my bone! My arm was on fire and puffy and red! What was I thinking getting a flu shot. This pain was way worse than getting the flu! I think that next year I'll just risk it. I'll take the flu over this. p.s. I am still hurting today! And I don't care what Crystal says--my arms are not gangly!

So, when we were learning how to use the computers, we had a chance to talk to Dr. Gupta. We had heard so much about his muscles from the other students. Then there he was in a white t-shirt and muscles bulging. I can see why Mary Ann is in love with his arms. They are nice! We gave him a hard time about working out and drinking protein shakes, etc. He was wondering if his little brown face was red. He said he was embarassed--but we know that he liked it. Why else was he making up dumb excuses to come back into that room and interrupt us! ha ha ha

We also got to see Dr. ??? (dang-it, I can't remember his name right now). We are wanting to hook Lori up with him. I think that it might just work. I can't wait to line them up. We'll have to plan a fun first date for them to go on! Oh, VA love! ha ha ha

The funniest part of the day was when we were driving home! Some dork was riding his 1980's motorcycle right next to us. He looked like that red-head kid from American Idol. I don't remember his name, but he didn't make it far and he wasn't cute. Basically red hair and ugly everywhere else! Ohhh. The nerdiest thing was when he rode past my car, he kind of gave us a pouty (?spelling) look. What a poser! Then we started laughing. So then when he drove past us again, we all waved. We totally made that kids day. 5 hot girls in a BMW--he must have been dreaming! ha ha ha. So, we were laughing our heads off as we passed him again. Then he pulled into a gas station and went to the red light facing the other direction. When we drove by, we were laughing that we should blow him a kiss. Well, right then--he blew us a kiss! I'm surprised that we didn't get in a wreck. We were laughing so hard! I bet that guy had sweet dreams that night!

I can tell that we are going to have a great time at the VA. I guess it doesn't really matter where we are, we can all have a good laugh! I only wish that I had a picture of us on my blog the way that Jami and Crystal do. What's up with that?!

Tomorrow we are learning extra oral fulcrums, wheelchair transfer, etc. Then we get to see a patient in the afternoon. I would give anything to just sleep in. I am so freakin' tired. Then when it comes to the weekend, I feel to guilty if I sleep in. Whatever happened to the days of sleeping in til' noon then staying up past midnight. I am early to bed and early to rise--it's supposed to make me healthy, wealthy, and wise (per my mom and dad).

I hate setting up for sealants!

So, today I am going to try to be a little bit more positive. You probably didn't think that I had it in me after reading my last few posts. ha ha ha. Well, today you're in for a treat!

This morning I saw the cutest 12 year old girl. She was really nice and easy to talk to. I saw her little sister last week and was excited to see another member of the Tawzer family. She was pretty clean--but had a few areas that she needed to work on. She seemed really interested in the information that I was giving her. I was able to do 5 sealants on her (Melissa Rees did 2 of them). It seemed like I hadn't done sealants in forever! It kind of shook me up for a minute--but then I was back on course! It was good experience. It takes longer to get everything set up and taken down than to just do the sealants.

This afternoon I saw the sweetest lady. Her name is Maria Rico. She didn't have a mean bone in her whole body. Even when her face was dripping wet from ultrasonic--she was still very nice and said that it didn't bother her. Why can't more patients be like her?! She was a class 5 and was very concerned about her oral hygiene. I felt like things went really smooth. We finished about an hour early and still got everything done. I was happy to have a good/semi-easy patient for this afternoon. Things went great and I was actually able to schedule her son and maybe her husband for the following weeks. She already showed me a family pictures and high school dance pictures, so I feel like I already know the whole family. ha ha ha.

Bzzzz….Thanks Shane for waking me up! My hand and arm are still throbbing. You crack me up!

Today flew by! I had two very nice people today. This morning I saw my first 1A. I don’t know why kids scare me so much—but they do. Some people say-“I love working on kids—they’re so easy!”—but I haven’t quite figured this out yet. I guess there really isn’t to much to scale—but kids kind of scare me for some reason. They wiggle and are impatient and don’t listen to a thing that I say. What am I going to do when I am a mother!? Yikes!

This afternoon I saw a class 2 patient. She was really nice—but had some mean calculus. She was telling me all about how she flosses 4 times a day and brushes 2 times a day, blah, blah, blah. I don’t really think that any of this is true after looking in her mouth! She had some tough calculus. It was really hard to get off! I think that my fulcrum finger is still numb. I finally finished and she was happy. I’m just glad that it is over.

I guess the biggest lesson that I learned today is to keep my mouth closed. I sit there all day telling people to open their mouths, but in real life—people should keep their mouths shut! What I mean by this is that clinic is like the game telephone. You know how it goes—you tell someone one thing—then it totally gets turned around and passed on. Everyone looses even though they think that they knew the right thing that was said.

Some of the things that I really admire in others is honesty. Nothing drives me more crazy than people who are not honest. I don’t care how much the dishonest person thinks that they are telling the truth—they are still dishonest. Believing your own lies doesn’t make you an honest person!

So, have a nice day—unless you already have other plans.