i knew it was gonna be stressful today when i looked through my diary before i left the surgery yesterday; but i just didnt expect it to be THAT stressful. no. awful is the word.
four patients were booked in for extractions in one morning. im starting to think my receptionist probably doesnt like me much. the extractions themselves were enough to pump my adrenaline
and work my flabby arms. i realli didnt need more drama:
Drama 1:the first patient was so paranoid. she starting shaking after the injections. so i thought ok just take a deep deep breath. then she was getting pale and was realli realli shaky. apparently she didnt have anytin to eat before coming in. oh great. so i had to ask my nurse to bring her a glucose drink. and guess what, it ran out in the emergency kit, and another nurse had to run to the store nearby to get a box of ribena. then she started being a bit...mmm... annoying.
patient: how long is it goin to take?
me: about 10mins
patient: what?? 10mins?! that long?!
me: well i mean the whole thing will take about 10mins. i will want to make sure u stop bleeding and ok before i let u leave.
patient: i mean how long will it take?? the part u take out my tooth?
me: well about a minute for one maybe. you have 3 to come out so maybe a couple of minutes.
patient: how many minutes?????
well i guess i should have said 1 minute and 22.3 seconds or somtin.
then the first tooth came out in like mayb 45seconds. n then
patient: is it going to take THAT long for the remaining two??? THIS long????
i guess the answer should have been Im not taking part in dental extraction Olympic games.
Drama 2:after the first drama i decided im just a VT. i should have the right to ask my boss to cover for my freaking-out. so i went to tell him i have a Q of extractions lining up in my diary and i needed a break.
me: hiya, i have fours extractions booked in this morning. the first patient was realli nervous. i think i m freaking out a bit. will u pls take this patient from me?
boss: well just dont do 4 then. just take out 1 or 2 today.
me: no i mean 4 patients are booked in for extractions. not 4 teeth.
boss: oh..well i think it will be a good practice for you. good learning curve.
me: i think the first patient freaked me out a bit.
boss: welcome to the real world ai ling. you are having a good training.
me: no. no. cos in a real world i will not let the receptionist book in a diary like this for me.
boss: ok ok. at least numb the patient up first. i have to see 2 patients then i will see yours.
a 13 year-old kid with a grossly carious tooth. managed to give the injections. then when i put in the forcep she started saying to her mom she didnt want to have it done anymore. and mom said pls pls pls. and she said no no no. it took a while. i decided i didnt wanna sit and wait for my boss to come back i would js yank out the tooth myself. so i managed to convince her to let me have a go. she burst out in tears. tooth came out anyway. at this point, boss came in and gave me a wink, like telling me "see this is exactly how u learn". ok thanks.
Drama 3:i took the xray. then i had no idea where my nurse went to. so the film was lying there for a while before she came back to develop it. the picture came out fussy, i couldnt see very clearly. then i thought ok its just routine extraction. patient was cooperative at least he wasnt paranoid or crying. then i spent a good 10mins trying to luxate it. it just wasnt happening. so i asked my boss to come give me a hand. he was struggling. then we heard a crack. the tooth came out with a big chunk of bone fragment. ouch. proper ankylosis. bone was well fused to the mesiodistal root.
this is what i needed. a bad xray when an xray was most needed.
Drama 4. schizophrenia.
The morning was fully fully booked. by the end of the session i wanted to roll into a ball and just rot.
my receptionist decided to give me her humours in the afternoon too. this time it was all fillings and a root canal treatment on a nervous 13-year-old. the nervous kid was from my colleague dentist who had flown away to a 5-star skiing hotel in austria. margaret, while u r enjoying the spa and jacuzzi in austria, pls remember poor ai-ling is enduring partly bcos of you.
Drama 5:the 13 years old kid couldnt realli open his mouth. i was struggling to put a film holder in the take xray. then i was struggling to inject. then i was struggling to drill. he started crying and kept saying he wanted to spit out. i couldnt realli see what i was doing bcos of his very very limited mouth opening and his extra-activities. so i had to dress the tooth and tell the mom the magic of happy gas. referral.
the whole day i thought i could have a panic attack any minute.
lets hope this will be the worst possible day ever ever in my life.
