Healing

I had tissue graft yesterday due to receding gum tissue on numbers 24 and 25. Even though I'm terrified of needles and surgery and pretty much anything that can readily enflict pain, the surgery really wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had the potential to be. Yesterday I was actually very happy. I came home and slept for a few hours and then when I woke up I ate dinner and hung out with my friend Britney. Everything was absolutely perfect until I tried to go to sleep last night. To help protect the site where the graft was taken from, I have to wear a special retainer that is very similar to invisalign that makes it awkward to talk and swallow so after the halcion wore off, I just couldn't get back to sleep. It felt like having one of those annoying head colds when the stuff from your nose is trying to drain and it feels like you can't breathe all day. I seriously can't stand this feeling, so everytime I'd get close to falling asleep, I'd have to swallow which instantly woke me up due to the claustrophobic feeling. I'm hoping that my lack of sleep last night will help with my sleep tonight. With any luck I'll just be way too tired to even care. Good news at least is that I seriously haven't felt ANY pain through all of this, it's just uncomfortable and doesn't taste very good.

Starting Strong

Well, everything seems to be going well, other than the computer problems we've all been having with accessing and printing some of the modules it's all been running smoothly. Classes seem to be straight forward, challenging, yet definitely manageable! Yesterday after class, I was trying to print stuff on in the computer lab when Debbie the secretary downstairs came up and asked me to be a Supplemental Instructor again this semester but this time for Biomedical Core 1110. Last spring I was the SI for Pathophysiology which was a lot of fun and helped me relearn all of the cool stuff I learned while taking the class in the fall. It's been a while since I've had Biomed and I'm not so sure how it'll go with my busy schedule in the program but I'm up for it. Hopefully this will help me remember the information I'll need for the boards next year.
Clinic today was good, I passed off two PE's (personal protection equipment and eaglesoft) which is a relief to finally know what that's actually like. ...not as scary as I thought it would be thank goodness! Working with the typodonts in the chair was fun today too, it got me way excited to actually start working on each other and eventually work up to patients! It was just a taste for now but it's a taste of the dream we're all chasing right now and I can't wait!!! After clinic, i got my teeth cleaned to help me through the two weeks of not brushing the bottom teeth that will come after my surgery on Friday and it was very interesting to revisit a private practice and see the rules and techniques that they do and don't follow. Like Professor Costley said, the clinic here at Weber is very conservative which is the way we should be learning so we can more easily adjust to working in any private practice.

First Day

And there it was, the big first day of clinic! Not as scary as I thought it would be, I had fun getting acquainted with the procedures in the hygiene and radiology clinics. It was interesting today at lunch, I went down to the Union to get a sandwich with Jess, Hailey, and Ashley. I didn't realize how sheltered we are up there in the dental hygiene rooms. Walking across campus all in scrubs on the first day of classes was weird because everyone was looking at us, and in the Union Building we were overwhelmed with the number of people! ...and we thought the clinic was crowded! hehe, it was fun but it's definitely a very different, more controlled and comfortable environment that we have in the dental hygiene program. We were all glad to get back to our nice small groups!

Looking Forward with a Glance at the Past

Well, it's finally here... the weekend before school! This is the time where the excitement is temporarily masked with the feelings of regret and realization that I didn't actually do any of the exciting things I had planned on doing this summer. It's also when I run around like crazy trying to get everything ready for school while spending as much time doing things that will help me feel like I had an exciting and fullfilling summer! I also get to look ahead and think about what I hope this year will hold for me and make goals and plans to make it as fun as possible. School is exciting and I'm really hoping to be active and have lots of fun with the friends I have and the friends I hope to make both in and outside of this program. This will be the first year in college that I won't be working so I've got to make it great! Good luck to everyone! Let's have an amazing year!

Here Goes! The first blog!