Trying To Stay Motivated

Well, here I am, at the VA for the last time this semester, I've finished most of my requirements and I know that the last requirements will all be fulfilled on Tuesday (busy day) but the past two weeks in clinic and here at the VA have been basically pressure free. I don't have any vital patients so if they don't show it's not a big deal and I'm having fun talking to them and trying new things to treat them. I got to irrigate on Tuesday and pass of that PE that's due in the spring which was really enjoyable. Other than that, it's just been the typical class V patients and today I saw something rare for me this year: a 1B! Whoa! Hold on! I never thought a 1B would be a rare commodity after how last year went... Either way, I'm trying to continue to be a productive motivated hygiene student. I saw two patients this morning (a class V and then Diane Rosner let me have her 1B patient for the experience). Here's to the semester ending already. PS: I miss Ben (my boyfriend) the end of the semester is always hard on relationships I haven't seen him hardly at all this week because he has about 4 exams and work and he's always busy studying, working, or practicing in the CLS Lab... lame.

Class III with some new challenges.

So in clinic on Tuesday, my class III came who can't hear nor speak. She communicates with her mom in a made up form of sign language and her mom only speaks spanish. I only cleaned one quad on her and completed my exams for the semester, but the more valuable experience with this patient was what I learned from her. She's so positive and nice despite her disabilities. I learned from her mom at this appointment that she was born with perfect hearing and then she got really sick and was put on some pretty strong medications that destroyed her hearing at a very young age (like 7 months). She learned to speak Spanish Sign Language in Mexico and had some friends that were also hearing impaired with whom she could communicate freely. She moved to Utah about 10 years ago and she still doesn't really have anyone she can really talk to. She has kids and is able to raise them will with a lot of help from her mom. Her mom goes with her to all the appointments for her and her children to help translate to doctors, dentists, and other people of importance. Through all this extra work in their lives, her and her mom seem very happy and positive. They're willing to do what it takes to survive and thrive in their lives. I don't know how they do it but they manage. I'm excited to have her back in the beginning of next semester to learn more about her life and how she copes. It truly is inspiring for me.

The Day of the Cute Older Gentlemen

Well, this morning I saw two class V patients (8 quads) and it went very well. My first patient had a lot of crowns that didn't really collect calculus and only really had deposit on the six anterior mandibular teeth. My second patient literally only had one random little spot of calculus and lots of plaque. I hate cleaning plaque because it's gross and all you really do is push it around, it doesn't really scale off like calculus. Either way, I got him done, the cute 94 year old man. He couldn't hear really well but he was so sweet and he said to me as I walked him out front: "you know what you've got going for you? ...your laugh." it made me smile.

We went to lunch and I actually bought food this time because my mom told me she'd make pork chops for me to take to school and when I woke up at 5:30 this morning I found the pork chops: RAW! yeah, we went to a restaurant called Au Natural and I had a turkey burger with yam fries and then Staci shared a cherry vanilla creme soda with me (thank you!!!)

My afternoon patient was a very cute 87 year old man who was very easy to clean and didn't take long so while we waited for the doctor to come look at him, he told me the story of his wife who died 8 years ago which he said was already 8 years too many. He had been married three times before so his friend told him she wanted to set him up with a new companion. They met at a dance in December and then in the middle of May he went to see her and go to her sons graduation with her. When he knocked on the door she answered it and said "have you come here to marry me?" to which he nervously replied "no?" then she said "alright, then go home." He couldn't believe that after driving over 100 miles she would turn him away without even spending a few minutes with him. She opened the door again and said "if you want to marry me, you'll do it today, and if you don't want to, then please go on your way." Then he said "let's do it". So they went and got married and then that night, at the graduation, they ran into her bishop who said they should have told him they were getting married because he had their temple recommends all ready but now they'd have to wait a year before they could go through the temple. My patient replied: "yeah, but it was so worth it!"

I love my VA patients, they're so much fun and it's fascinating to me to hear their life stories. I really do love getting to know the amazing men and women that come into our clinic out here. I'm learning to truly appreciate the veterans more and more every time I come out here.

Our Halloween party was so much fun this year, we had two costume parades (Jr's and Sr's) and lots of funny prizes for the best costumes. Everyone was so creative and funny and it was really nice to just relax, play around, laugh, and eat really good food!

The cool first years came and joined us goofy seniors for some fun... Burke's son was definitely the hero of the day!

Me (the furcation, complete with amalgum headband), Abby (the snowboarder), and Staci (the 50's girl) goofing around in the lobby.

Our whole crazy class of 2010!!! Oh what fun we have!

Candace in her Kiss outfit winning her awesome scented candle for having the best costume in the senior class.

Lindsay unaware of the flamboyant clown lurking behind her... duhn duhn duhn!!!

The best actress in the class (Natalie) of course, dressed as Napoleon Dynamite.

Julie as little bo peep with our class mascot (her daughter, Abigail) as the sheep! Abby was born last summer so we got to experience the whole pregnancy with Julie. She had such a cute pregnant belly!

Shaylee is definitely a force to be reckoned with, despite what Professor Hanson thinks!

It was so funny how surprised she was that "quiet Shaylee" would dress up in such a rebellious costume.

The infamous duo: Professor Kami Hanson (the Queen of Hearts) and her partner in crime Dr. Carol Naylor (Alice in Wonderland) at it again~

This was so funny! It's a rap Kami made up when she was in hygiene school to help her remember the pharmacokinetics of local anesthetics and she performs it each year with Dr. Naylor as her back up. This year the rap happened to fall on Halloween ...and Kami's final tenure peer review! Her coworkers were all in the back watching her while she performed the days lecture. She's so awesome we all just love her!!!

Desensitization is a Breeze! hehe... yeah I'm weird

Well, after waiting until 9:50 my patient showed up and I was able to complete 1 quad of a III and 1 quad of a II AND my desensitization PE. Hooray for completing the process evaluations I don't need until next semester! BLAH!!! Now I just need to find a Diagnodent patient. Go team!

My afternoon patient was my very favorite again! I got to see him last year too and he's so much fun to work on. It's also fun to see my skills improve and my scaling time decrease with each time I bring him back. He was just a class V but he was a very refreshing break from all the rough class III's and exams and whatnot. He also told me about a position opening up next semester as a lab instructor for Biomed which I'm way excited about because I've been wanting a job that won't take up all my time, just give me a little extra money! Yay for jobs! Anyway, it was a good day and I finished up by 2:15 and it seems like everyone else is pretty much done for the day. Nice work Tuesday clinic group! We totally rocked it!

If my patient is late, why can't I be???

Well, my 8:00 cancelled and I called my 10:00 to move her up and she said she'd be here at 9:00, yep, so now it's 9:36 and I'm running out of clinic time and patience. So far I've helped my classmates with charting, adjusted my schedule, looked for free stuff on KSL.com and now I'm studying for the National Boards (what else am I going to do???) Well, hopefully she comes soon... she's one of my class III exam quads. Please, please, PLEASE come!!!!