WSU January 31st...

Well, my morning pt cancelled last night....flaky people! Luckily, my family has been so wonderful to bail me out in situations like this since i started school. My 20 yr old brother Bridger made the drive from Salt Lake for me. He was a 1B, so that finished those requirements. I completed the Diagnodent PE hoping to be able to get a couple sealants out of the way as well, but his "suspicious areas" are going to need more than a sealant! Oh well, i tried!

This afternoon i had a spanish pt that one of my previous pts had referred to me! YAY for people who don't know what floss is! Well, not really....but he'll be a good class III and a possible mockboard. I think his probe depths might be a little too risky to call him a board pt, but i can't wait to get started on him. All i completed today was xrays, OHI and all his OD junk. Just like Maryann said...Stop Lying to ME! My pt said he brushes 3-4x/day...maybe he meant brushes his hair?? and when i asked him if he flossed, he looked confused and then when i pick up a piece of floss he said oh yeah, 1-2 times/ day! MY EYE!!! His gum tisses looked so sore. I did a VERY thorough OHI with him and showed him correct brushing and flossing and he seemed interested and asked questions. It felt good to know that he seemed interested...i told him to make sure he let me know if there was anything i said that he didn't understand because of the whole language barrier. I only had about 20 minutes left in clinic after all that so i decided just to start his cleaning at the next appt... these are the kind of pt's i enjoy seeing. They are hard and really test my skills, but it's nice to see improvement in the tissue when they come back after each quad scale. I'm excited to get started!

I asked if his wife would want to come in so he gave me her # as well and i'm glad somebody will be able to see her. I think that pt referrals are great. That seems to be where i am getting most of my pts. I think if anyone is having a hard time finding pts they should ask those who they are treating if they might know of anyone else who would want to come in. I think they are more than happy to give you referrals when they've enjoyed their experience with you and where else can they find such a bang for their buck?

VA #3

Well, today started off a little different....i had another class II in my chair, which wasn't anything different, but kami switched melissa and i so we could get needed requirements. I ended up working on this ornery man who was very ready to be gone the second he got there! Yikes, that makes me sweat on the spot. He wasn't way friendly, so i just hurried to do my job and be done with him. He was 2 quads of a cl.III. Much needed! I felt so bad, the pt who melissa ended up with was this 28 yr old who was scared to death of everything. She could barely even get him to open his mouth. That can be so frustrating, and time consuming trying to convince a pt that they will be fine.
We had a long lunch and i was feeling a little groggy from just sitting around. I was glad to get going on my afternoon cl. V pt. Also, a needed requirement. This week I've really focused on indirect vision and it's coming along and my back doesn't ache like it did last week! yay! Afternoon flew by and i was glad to be gone. It makes me so happy when we get out of the VA a little before work traffic hits...4th south gets pretty ugly around 4:30pm.

WSU January 24th....

Today was a hard day...or at least i worked hard! Thanks tons you girls who cleaned me up TWICE today! I saw that cute little giggly spanish class 4 again today. I fine scaled the quad i worked on last week and finished another quad. I feel bad that i have to ask him to come back again, but he is super nice so it wasn't too hard! It was neat to see his tissue healing from last week that i worked on. I have never seen so much buildup on a facial molar...after i ultrasoniced it his tissue was still sticking clear out like there was still a mound of buildup there, but today his tissues had tightened back up around those teeth, so that was rewarding! Plus, he has the calculus that we all (hygiene students) salivate over! I know, that sounds really sick, but you all know your are just picturing cranking on the ultrasonic and blasting it off and watching it being sucked down into the depths of your high speed suction!! ha ha

Afternoon pt was my older brother Kade. I did his OD last year, then i handed him off to a classmate, because i was done with that requirement...so today it was nice to tx him and get ANOTHER CL. II and especially pound him with the OHI. THen it kinda hit home when we started discussing some of his habits. We talked about the risks of smoking and chew tobacco. Today was the time where i REALLY wish i was well versed about all of this stuff. I just wanted to get out all of my articles and read them to him. So, that is something i will really brush up on so i can hopefully impact his habits! ANywho, it was a long day and my back is killing me! Crystal, this working out thing might kill me before it does me good! ha ha ha

VA #2

It was SOOO hard to get out of bed for the VA yesterday for some reason...maybe because it was zero degrees and i didn't want to go outside! My AM was a class II. I really like the digital xrays at the VA. They save so much time! Lunch was great...Spaghetti Factory never tasted so good as it did yesterday! We had to go out in the "raunchy" blizzard of a storm! Oh, how i wished i was on the ski lift!! My PM Pt was another class II. Well, that about does it for me and that requirement for the semester! I hope some 3's and 4's come my way! Oh, my pt bit down on his xray before my finger was out of his mouth and i about screamed! It was right on my fingernail! YOWZA! I've been bit by a little kid before, but never this hard! Until next week...

Jan. 17th...

AM: Well, i had my first positive aspiration this morning....i guess that's some kind of accomplishment, right? ha ha Actually, mt pt was a class IV and so i finished 1 quad, well kind of. I ran out of time (waiting on other people's 30 min. scale cks), so i get to fine scale a couple areas next week when he comes back. He's very nice, and very scared of needles. NOT GOOD!

PM: My aunt brought in her 4 kids! Good afternoon. Got a sealant experience, my cousin gagged all over while i was trying for xrays, which i was prepared for! Got a 1A out of the way! Whoopee! I never knew a scale ck on a 1A took 15 minutes. Frustration. I'll get over it!

FRIDAY THE 13th...

Well, the day started off pretty interesting....Friday the 13th and there was a full moon, and dang-it we had to leave before the sun came up! Oh only 6 more weeks of this VA business! Well, as usual we were laughing from the get-go! Crystal was all in a jumble as she told us how she had to go dumpster diving for her car keys this morning at 6:30....It sucks when those keys latch on to the gargage bag as you fling it in the dumpster! What's that smell Crystal?!?! And, i'm so glad we waited for you to go back home to find your binder next to the dumpster...right where you dropped it just before you dove in! ha ha I just love you!

The morning was lookin a little sketch...8:00 rolled around and only 1 pt was there! So, the little intro to the digi-xrays was entertaining...ok, not really. I must admit...a wheelchair transfer is A LOT trickier than it would seem to be! It's a dang good thing there were 3 of us! Hmmm....the 3 we picked may have been the original problem! ha I finally got a pt from dr. gupta at about 9:45. He didn't even know what he was in my chair for! We were desperate for pt's! He was the hippest dad ever! He had his 18 yr old daughter there to keep him company. I'm jealous of the awesome relationship they have. Anyway...got a class II out of the way! yeehaw.

Lunch...always a good time! We are poor, so we accompanied Kami with our sack lunches in hand !

PM Pt: VERY GOOD EXPERIENCE. Another class II, somewhat harder calculus than that of my AM pt. Healthy mouth, just needed a good scrub down! Kami was very helpful to show me how to use the H6/7 on the linguals of 30 and 31 and also the distal of 15. It's nice to feel like i am learning something useful. I am excited for what Kami has in store for me! Right away she realized how bad i hate indirect vision, so i will be working on that as well. My back is going to hate me if i don't....and it kinda already does. It turned out to be kinda a marathon day, so that sucked for a friday night. I was too dead to do anything when i got home!

Not a good day...

Well, I WAS ready to get back into the swing of things until my pt. called just before clinic to tell Mrs. Campbell she could not make her appointment. WHAT? I just talked to her 2 days ago. She was my mockboard from last semester, so i was excited to get her all finished up before she moves back to Mexico. I thought she was a reliable pt, but she cancelled on me once before also. Luckily my good friend Brieanne had the day off work and was willing to come in for me. Afternoon was looking good...confimed my pt on sunday night. 12:45 rolled around and he was still not in my chair. I called to find him and as soon as i said who it was he said "OH CRAP! I am so sorry, i am at work...i forgot." That amazes me seeing that i just talked to him 36 hours ago. Luckily (again), Brett was able to save my butt. So, there goes my 1B requirements for the semester! I'm glad i was able to fill my schedule on NO notice, but i just hope that Tuesday was not a sign of things that are to come. I was so bummed, i've never had pt's just no-show me without, but 2 in one day! Geez! C'mon people!