What a morning

I woke up every two hours last night dreading this morning....

6:30 AM: just putting on my makeup trying to wake up, my final board is in and hour and a half.
6:55 AM: phone call from my patient. "I have been up all night sick, can I come in at a later time?"
what?????? "I am super sick, I know this is a test, but I don't think I can make it." um uh speechless, uh let me call you back. (For those who remember my last mockboard when she was sick it was not the best experience ever, I knew that if she came today it would be awful, and believe me if I could have found someone else I'd be all over that) I get off the phone in tears and send a 7 AM mass text to my classmates trying to figure out if there was still a back up patient. Seriously is this even happening?? I have been preparing for this for two years.... I don't get a definite answer from anyone so I pack up and go to the school. LUCKILY there was a patient seen friday that was a possible back up. I call him up (it's 7:30, on a Sunday) and he agrees to be there by 8. He shows up, his x-rays were already complete, and he gets accepted on the first submission = AMAZING. I honestly do not know if I passed but I do believe a miracle has occurred. Thank you girls for helping me this morning and thanks for those who screened back ups, I am forever indebted to you... I am amazed at how many emotions you can feel in a span of a few hours, I am so glad that is over and I hope it was a success.

a little shaky is an understatement

I have to document this for the mere fact that I am in the process of blocking it out of my memory! Today was our local anesthesia board, this week I have been staying busy trying not think about it, although I read the candidate guide like three times. Last night I was super nervous and freaking out, I did a lot of praying and meditating, breathing, etc and then I was calm. This morning I was calm for the first little while and only got worried a few times before it was my turn. I walked in and started setting up but I swear I couldn't think, my mind was blank and my biggest dilemma was where I was going to put my "dirty" syringe after using it. I was seriously stressing over that because of the unit I was in, luckily Jamie helped me figure out what to do. I couldn't even get my gloves on my hands were sweating, Kayla was my patient and kept reassuring me that I'd do good. I got in there and hit osseous contact twice on the IA but managed to get through on my third attempt. I proceeded to the PSA and met some resistance but was able to get through. I really didn't know after the observers left whether I passed or not but Kayla said she felt good about it. Can I just throw out that my hand has never shook so bad, I really almost couldn't even get to the initial penetration! All in all I survived and passed, but boy I am glad it's over

Today I saw my dad and took a FMX on him, I didn't even have to retake any :) and then of course I did the caries risk assessment PE and the velescope PE so now I only have three PE's left, woo! I finished off my PA requirements so now all I need are 2 panos and I'm set for x-rays. In the afternoon I had two kids scheduled but they didn't show up, that's a drag I don't know who else to bring in! I need to see two kids and class III's from here on out, but we are all looking for the same thing, so good luck to us all... Today was our last clinic day until boards, boards are next week! I was able to get my instruments and things prepared in the afternoon, so it should be all set. I have a few meetings for the weekend and then I am heading to Logan for a few days, to somewhat relax (worry) and read my candidate guides. This is it people, I'm gonna survive it!

braces :/

Today at the VA my morning patient was an older guy with braces. Not just braces but bars, elastics and all the goods. That is the second patient at the VA I've seen with braces. Let me tell you you have to get creative with probing and using the ultrasonic. By creative I mean REAL creative because nothing fits anywhere with all of that stuff in the way. Once I got to scaling his linguals I was shouting for joy because they were unobstructed. Needless to say I got a pano, btws, 1 PA, perio chart, cleaning, and exam done! And then my afternoon patient didn't show up. I walked around to see if any doctors would let me anesthetize their patients but they didn't have patients coming until three. That would have been fine but we actually got done and out of the VA before 4! that NEVER happens so it was nice. By the way for those inquiring I got my book back (If you know what that is referring to) and to top it, he was the exam doctor, we were civil it was fine yada yada. We only have two more sessions at the VA, hooray!

Creep...

So this morning I saw a cute little old lady she was a class V and I was able to take some xrays and clean her teeth, things went good. This afternoon was a different story. So I had a cancellation last night and text brooke to see if she had any names, she gave me a name of a guy she saw last year that she didn't have time to see again.  When I talked to him on the phone he seemed normal and said he could come in for me. I bring him back introduce myself and he hands me a bag of uncooked cookie dough with two small oranges, "These were for brooke, but now they are for you." umm, thanks? So I sit him down and start the cleaning and he says something like "Your eye liner is so perfectly placed." okay... thanks again? So I continue on and I grab my instrument and he goes "I like the way you flick that." Alright mister you have gone too far, I speed up to get him finished and out of my chair, meanwhile I am ignoring his remarks trying not to vomit in my mask. When I finish he goes, "You should get an A+ you did great, and you should try golfing, it would be great with your intensity." Umm what? K we are REAL done. And then I mess up his walk out because I'm so flustered so I run and make Mr. Solomon help me fix it so I didn't have to sit with my patient any longer. Yikes, lets just say I am glad I'll be long gone and graduate for his next recall. And yes, I threw away his cookie dough, I mean thanks, but no thanks...

midtown dental screening

Today as part of a project a few of us went to the  midtown health center to do free oral cancer screenings in hopes of finding potential board patients. We got there to set up, little did we know that our examination room was an actual patient room and was super small! Luckily we got to use the room next to it. We had three girls and one patient in each room at a time. I was up at the front collecting paperwork and escorting the patients back and forth, it kind of felt like I was an employee, it was fun :) All together I think we screened about 10 people, so not nearly as many as we'd hoped for but I think there were a few people who might qualify for our boards. A lot of the patients didn't speak English so I was trying to freshen up on my Spanish speaking skills, I took Spanish in junior high but don't remember much of it. Boards are getting closer and I am pretty sure I will use the patient I've planned on, she is pretty reliable and I know she qualifies. I hope that everyone else can find theirs soon!

finally passed my mockboard!

So today was our third and final mockboard. I had the same patient as last time, who will probably be my actual board... lets just say it was interesting. I bring her back to take xrays and she says she isn't feeling well, she has stomach issues and today is bad. She starts grabbing wet paper towels and stuffs them down her shirt, weird, yes, but she decides to stay. I am constantly trying the whole time to make sure she is comfortable, and she endures the appointment  towards the end when I was fixing my errors she was having a hard time and got up to use the bathroom... 15 minutes later she wasn't out, I went to check on her and she said "Give me a minute I just have to poop" TMI... and then she told me afterward that she threw up. By this point I know that this day will, to say the least, make and interesting blog entry. (wait for it wait for it.... she also unzips her pants while in my chair, yep awkward.) Since a lot of time was taken I got the okay to fix my errors next time. I really did feel so bad for her so I payed for her portion so she could leave. Turns out her boyfriend has her car and up until about ten minutes ago she was still here waiting for him (around three hours of waiting, when she was sick too) The good news is that I finally passed a mockboard and I am hoping I can pass the actual board, I think she will be my board patient unless I find someone else. Hopefully things will work out!