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Friday, December 5, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Pedodontists are special people
I was just thinking of funny things that have happened to me recently and I thought I would record one for the ages, just for fun. In the not to distant past I was fulfilling my rotation in our school's pediatric dentistry clinic. Each time I performed my rotation I have had a blast. Usually the kids are great, the staff is great, and the I enjoy all the faculty in the department as well.
Anyway, the other day on my rotation everything was going normal and great as always. Shortly after I arrived I was assigned to a patient and an assistant, after which I logged onto the computer to review all the important information regarding my patient. I was quick to notice a note in the history that this particular child was wiggly and began to cry while they placed a couple sealants. With his age and history I began to wonder how this visit would unfold.
The child was brought back to the chair and I tried my best to help the child feel comfortable by performing the tell show do technique. The child seemed to be Ok for the most part. As I talked with the child I noticed something in his mouth, a piece of candy. I explained the need to take it out. Of course the child didn't want to do that, but after some persuasion (you'll get it back when we're done) it came out. We placed the child back in the correct position and started to get the final things ready. I turned back to the child and once again there was something in the mouth. Yep, another piece of candy. Again, we convinced him, after some persuasion to take it out and sit back again. I think that happened one more time. We tried to keep the child's hands out of his pockets so no more candy would appear. We placed protective sunglasses on and started the nitrous protocol. Both of which we had to keep repositioning because the child would only sit still for short periods of time. As soon as the nitrous started working the patient was anesthatised and a rubber dam was placed. Knowing that our time was limited we tried performing the procedure as quickly as possible. With all our efforts the child ended up pulling the rubber dam off the mouth three different times, two of which there appeared another piece of candy. Needless to say by the final stages of the appointment the child started to whimper and squirm more than before. To our relief the simple filling was complete and restored after about 20 minutes, which seemed like eternity. It was an experience that re-enforced my decision to not persue a specialty in pedo. I love kids and most of the time they can be the best patients, but experiences like this one remind me why I prefer adults.
Anyway, the other day on my rotation everything was going normal and great as always. Shortly after I arrived I was assigned to a patient and an assistant, after which I logged onto the computer to review all the important information regarding my patient. I was quick to notice a note in the history that this particular child was wiggly and began to cry while they placed a couple sealants. With his age and history I began to wonder how this visit would unfold.
The child was brought back to the chair and I tried my best to help the child feel comfortable by performing the tell show do technique. The child seemed to be Ok for the most part. As I talked with the child I noticed something in his mouth, a piece of candy. I explained the need to take it out. Of course the child didn't want to do that, but after some persuasion (you'll get it back when we're done) it came out. We placed the child back in the correct position and started to get the final things ready. I turned back to the child and once again there was something in the mouth. Yep, another piece of candy. Again, we convinced him, after some persuasion to take it out and sit back again. I think that happened one more time. We tried to keep the child's hands out of his pockets so no more candy would appear. We placed protective sunglasses on and started the nitrous protocol. Both of which we had to keep repositioning because the child would only sit still for short periods of time. As soon as the nitrous started working the patient was anesthatised and a rubber dam was placed. Knowing that our time was limited we tried performing the procedure as quickly as possible. With all our efforts the child ended up pulling the rubber dam off the mouth three different times, two of which there appeared another piece of candy. Needless to say by the final stages of the appointment the child started to whimper and squirm more than before. To our relief the simple filling was complete and restored after about 20 minutes, which seemed like eternity. It was an experience that re-enforced my decision to not persue a specialty in pedo. I love kids and most of the time they can be the best patients, but experiences like this one remind me why I prefer adults.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Second Annual Conestoga Branch Pinewood Derby!
Well, I can't believe it's been a year since the last Conestoga Branch Pinewood Derby. I got the idea from Brad Belcher, my father in law, last year as an idea to help all men in the ward have an activity. He said from his experiences with an adult pinewood derby it worked great. So, we tried it last year and it went pretty well. Thus, we tried it again this year and I have to say it was a great success. We had lots of people out to participate and quite a few less actives as well. I think the best part of it all was getting to work on the cars with my boys and others.
One evening while I was helping a group get started on their cars Porter asked me if he could make on. I said, "Of course!" He then decided he wanted a ninja turtle car. At first that kind of worried me because Porter has a tendency to get upset if something (art work) doesn't turn out the way he thinks it should; but I agreed and started by just drawing a ninja turtle outline on the block of wood. That passed his approval; I passed the first test. I put off the carving part for a couple of days because I wasn't sure how I was going to pull off making a block of wood look like a turtle that Porter would actually like. Finally, a couple days later after Porter continued to ask if we were going to work on his car I decided to give it a try. After a couple hours in the garage a turtle emerged from the wood and I thought it looked pretty good. I quickly cleaned up my mess then ran upstairs back into the apartment. I excitedly showed the car to Porter and to my relief and excitement he thought it was awesome. We then spent the next hour working together on the paint job. One might not believe it, but Porter painted probably 80% of the car. He did a great job. I was impressed. He has a good eye for detail and an relentless desire for perfection.
It was pretty fun to listen to Porter and his excitement for his car. For the next couple of days he kept asking me when the derby was going to be followed by "My turtles going to win!" I was excited for him too, but then the thought came to me; "what if he doesn't win? How's he going to handle it?" We had some great talks about winning isn't everything and how he might act if his car doesn't win. He seemed to understand that it would be ok if he didn't win.
The Derby day came and Porter, Craig, Erin, Peyton, and I all went to the church early to get everything set up. We set up the gym but we couldn't find the track. We made some calls and found out the track was in a closet on the stage. To our surprise the closet was locked. I was pretty worried, because the only key I had was to the clerks office and it didn't even work because they changed all the locks on the doors recently. We started to worry a little. I thought I better at least try my key, just in case. To my surprise the door unlocked and we were able to get the track out. I tried my key in other doors and sure enought it didn't work in any lock I tried. I felt pretty blessed.
We got everything ready to go; track, food, awards, etc. People began to show and Craig became our MC. The races began and to my surprise Porter's car did really well. He won his pool without a loss. So, his car moved onto the championship bracket. He made it all the way to the finals without a loss. I began to think that he might have a chance of winning. He was pretty proud of his car too. He raced his good friends car in the semi finals and won. It was so cute to see his friend come up and congratulate Porter and tell him he did a good job. (Of course that won Kane the sportmanship award. Well deserved!) Anyway, Porter's car ended up getting second place and to my relief Porter was still very happy and went and cogratulated Mark Stewart. I was pretty proud of him. He still won a award...the most creative design. It was a ton of fun and everyone had a great time. The car is below.
One evening while I was helping a group get started on their cars Porter asked me if he could make on. I said, "Of course!" He then decided he wanted a ninja turtle car. At first that kind of worried me because Porter has a tendency to get upset if something (art work) doesn't turn out the way he thinks it should; but I agreed and started by just drawing a ninja turtle outline on the block of wood. That passed his approval; I passed the first test. I put off the carving part for a couple of days because I wasn't sure how I was going to pull off making a block of wood look like a turtle that Porter would actually like. Finally, a couple days later after Porter continued to ask if we were going to work on his car I decided to give it a try. After a couple hours in the garage a turtle emerged from the wood and I thought it looked pretty good. I quickly cleaned up my mess then ran upstairs back into the apartment. I excitedly showed the car to Porter and to my relief and excitement he thought it was awesome. We then spent the next hour working together on the paint job. One might not believe it, but Porter painted probably 80% of the car. He did a great job. I was impressed. He has a good eye for detail and an relentless desire for perfection.
It was pretty fun to listen to Porter and his excitement for his car. For the next couple of days he kept asking me when the derby was going to be followed by "My turtles going to win!" I was excited for him too, but then the thought came to me; "what if he doesn't win? How's he going to handle it?" We had some great talks about winning isn't everything and how he might act if his car doesn't win. He seemed to understand that it would be ok if he didn't win.
The Derby day came and Porter, Craig, Erin, Peyton, and I all went to the church early to get everything set up. We set up the gym but we couldn't find the track. We made some calls and found out the track was in a closet on the stage. To our surprise the closet was locked. I was pretty worried, because the only key I had was to the clerks office and it didn't even work because they changed all the locks on the doors recently. We started to worry a little. I thought I better at least try my key, just in case. To my surprise the door unlocked and we were able to get the track out. I tried my key in other doors and sure enought it didn't work in any lock I tried. I felt pretty blessed.
We got everything ready to go; track, food, awards, etc. People began to show and Craig became our MC. The races began and to my surprise Porter's car did really well. He won his pool without a loss. So, his car moved onto the championship bracket. He made it all the way to the finals without a loss. I began to think that he might have a chance of winning. He was pretty proud of his car too. He raced his good friends car in the semi finals and won. It was so cute to see his friend come up and congratulate Porter and tell him he did a good job. (Of course that won Kane the sportmanship award. Well deserved!) Anyway, Porter's car ended up getting second place and to my relief Porter was still very happy and went and cogratulated Mark Stewart. I was pretty proud of him. He still won a award...the most creative design. It was a ton of fun and everyone had a great time. The car is below.
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Cookie Monsters!
Our boys love making cookies. Porter loves to help measure the ingredients and placing them in the mixing bowl. He actually gets upset if I try to sneak an ingredient in before he has a chance. Peyton loves to find the bag of chocolate chips and eat as many as he can before Mom or Dad decide he's had enough. All in all we just have a great time being together. Oh course eating the cookies when they're done isn't to shabby either.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Flag Football, what's next?
Well, this coming Tuesday night we play UNO's flag football intramural champion for the Omaha University's cup. It's at 8:30 PM on the UNO football field. I guess UNO has won the last two meetings. We'll see how we fair on Tuesday. It should be fun. Then on Saturday we head to Lincoln for the Flag Football regional tournament. It too should be fun with a lot of great competition. I was surprised to find out how involved this flag football affair here in the midwest. I had no idea. As long as everyone stay healthy it should be a good time.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
We Finally Did It!
Brundo's Dean Team won the Creighton All-University Flag Football tournament. It's been one of my dreams and goals since my freshman year of undergrad at Rick's college (back in 1998). Now, ten years later the dream and goal finally became a reality. I wrote the goal down about a year ago and got some guys together that had the same dreams and goals. It took most of the season to get all of us playing well together. The last three games our team really started to gell. In fact we beat the only undefeated team (Pacman Jones) tonight 20 - 0 in the championship game. It was incredible. Big thanks to Dean Brundo who sponsored our team (he paid our entry fee and our bought our t-shirts we designed). Great playing by James Boone, Justing Frandsen, Tyler Boss, Matt Larson, Matt Godfrey, Brady Powell, Mark, Spencer, Devin Matsumori, and I guess I have to throw my name in there too. Last year I was our go to guy on offense. This year it didn't work out that way, I became the go to guy on the defensive line. I started rushing the quarterback in the last game and did pretty well and loved it. Now, that's pretty much all I play. Anyway, it was a blast and the goal was accomplished. Everyone played great and had a great time. The best part about it was Erin as able to come and watch the last two games. Porter got to watch our game yesterday and Andrew came tonight. It is always nice to have family and friends around to support you.
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