Wednesday, October 6, 2010

i'll tell you what

I just need to vent.

I am reallll behind on getting my PEs passed off (which are skills we have to know and pass of with instructors while seeing our patients). I even got called into my Professors office because I'm so behind. I have to defend myself a bit before everyone starts thinking I'm a slacker, bad student, lazy, or whatever else. I have done assessment after assessment after assessment. Good? No, since there literally is nothing I can get passed off while doing assessments. Why have I been doing assessments you ask? Because almost every one of my patient's have cancelled, and I get assigned a front desk patient, who is inevitably a case type 1. Good? No, since I don't even get any credit for the 12 case type 1 quads I've cleaned. Here comes the venting part.

I'm sick of working so hard, doing these assessments, cleaning type 1 quads, and literally having nothing to show for it. I'm sick of calling and calling and calling patients to schedule and confirm them, only to have them cancel or no show. I'm sick of loosing all my core points over things I have absolutely no control over. I'm sick of feeling like I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up. I'm sick of feeling like my life is out. of. control.

This morning I woke early so I could get to school early, because I FINALLY had a case type 3 calculus challenge patient coming at 8. I planned the night before and read over 2 PE's and an LE I would FINALLY be able to pass off. I was excited that I would get to do 6 injections, and FINALLY get to CLEAN the teeth instead of just assessing. I was pumped and ready to start getting these things passed off.

Get to my car, nice and early, turn the key. Silence. Turn the key. Silence. This cannot be happening right now. My car won't start and I NEED to get to school. I NEED to be on my A game today, because I NEED to pass this stuff off. I realize that the only way to get to school now is to drive the scooter. I've never driven the scooter because it scares me, especially now that B just had a little wreck. Sick to my stomach, off I go, wobbling around on the scooter. And now I'm late. Don't worry, its drizzling outside...and ridiculously windy.

Somehow I don't die on my way to school. FRANTIC, I try to get my op set up as fast as possible. I'm already off my A game now. As fate would have it, my patient cancels. Now I'm FRANTICALLY trying to call every person on my patient list. Half don't answer, the other half can't come in. This means I will loose basically all my points for the day, and I won't be passing anything off that I SO DESPERATELY needed too.

Time to go home. I pump myself up to drive the dreaded scooter home, and wouldn't you know it, there was a giant bee sitting on the handle. I know everyone is laughing at how ridiculous I am, but if you know me, you know I'm terrified of bees. TERRIFIED. Now I have to pump myself up just to get this bee off my scooter, so I call B for moral support and do the deed. Drive the scoot home, no drizzling, just windy. Again, I don't die. Yay.

Good things about today:
My sister brought her son in so I didn't loose all my points (even though my CI tried to take them all, I fought her for them).
I didn't die.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh Tare....I AM SO SORRY!!!! What kind of patients do you need and how can I help? I am so sorry.
Love, Debi :)

Kathleen said...

Taryn,

Would any of our mouths help you out? There are quite a few of us...let me know! Jen, Jord Jeff, Jacey, Riley Joc and me...

think about it...

Laura Dunford said...

Man, that day stinks. I wish you lived closer so I could buy some of both our favorite treats and we could have a pity party. Your schooling sounds just about as dumb as mine with assessments. I hope your day goes better tomorrow. I would even sacrifice my day and have a double crappy day if it meant yours could be better. Hang in there.. we will BOTH survive. At least you have a cute kid and husband to come home.. and of course.. your alive. The world is still a good place because you are in it! haha

Dave and Jessica said...

Taryn...

I am so sorry you had a rough day, I did too! I ALSO got called in to Pierce's office because I am not getting things accomplished, so I feel your pain. On top of it today, I worked on quad 4 on my patient the entire time (which I had also worked on the entire time last appointment) and still had 10 or 12 definite subclicks, so there went my ENTIRE grade....so I am with ya! I just pray we live through the semester! Let me know if I can do anything to help!

Miranda Thompson said...

Taryn, you poor thing. I'm so sorry you had a tough day. I'm saying a prayer right now that God will bring you patients that will NOT cancel and that He will take away the anxiety you're feeling right now about school. I wish I lived closer. I definitely let you work on my mouth! I have terrible teeth though, so you might not want to :) Love you girl!

Erin said...

Babe! What a crappy day, I'm so sorry. I wish I was in Utah and could come in, cause well I haven't been to the dentist in like 4 years, I'm sure there would be something good in my mouth! (PS I am making an appt right now cause that sounded so bad while I was writing it...) Feel better, you WILL get everything done and it WILL be so worth it. And I'm so glad you're not dead :)

Kendra said...

I'm so glad you didn't die. And what a great way to face a fear of driving the scooter! But how crappy is that, that you have no control over passing these thing-a-ma-jigs. That seems messed up that you are at the mercy of whether or not other people show up. How is that your fault if they fail?! I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?

BradyH said...

A little shout out to Ryan for helping jump the car early this morning...we are so glad for such good family help!!!

Thanks man

taryn said...

Thank you for all your nice comments! Just reading them makes me feel better :) Thanks for offering your mouths, but I need people who haven't been to the dentist in over 9 years (which is kind of hard to find). If you know anyone that fit this criteria, send them my way! Only 10 dollars!

And yes, thanks Ryan for jumping the car!!! and Carrie for letting me clean Griff's teeth on short notice!!!

taryn said...

Thank you for all your nice comments! Just reading them makes me feel better :) Thanks for offering your mouths, but I need people who haven't been to the dentist in over 9 years (which is kind of hard to find). If you know anyone that fit this criteria, send them my way! Only 10 dollars!

And yes, thanks Ryan for jumping the car!!! and Carrie for letting me clean Griff's teeth on short notice!!!

Megan Marie said...

haha i love this post!!!!! we'll both laugh together in remeadation because our infractions= boo

Anonymous said...

This is so hard! How I wish I could fly out and pass out flyers or something to find you some class 3 or 4 patients! Just tell all your friends to pass the word in their wards and for all of them to pass the word and eventually it has to reach the just right patient! Thank you to anyone who can help my sweet daughter who is working so hard and I can't stand to hear that people don't show up and make her lose all her points and she can't fullfil her credits! I love you tons, Taryn! This too shall pass!
~mom

Erin said...

Hey Taryn... you don't know me... I'm blog stalking you. :) (I have a little girl who was born at 30 weeks because I had HELLP Syndrome, so I connected with Steph that way...) Anyway, I'm a dental hygienist. And, reading your post brought back so much anxiety and worry. But, let me tell you something: It WILL work out. There are days when it seems like no patients are ever going to show up for their appointments, and you're never going to pass off all of your skills. But, you WILL. And, soon enough, you'll be freaking out because boards are coming up. And, if you're anything like me, you'll go home immediately after boards and cry yourself to sleep. If you need any support, feel free to email me... I can give you some! Keep your chin up and just keep on plugging away...
-Erin
eguymonrdh@yahoo.com