Wow

I honestly can't believe that the semester is almost over!! It seems like I just got started!!

So I've been working dayshift in CT this whole week and I'm feeling pretty good about things. The more I work, the more confidence I gain. (Duh!) Yesterday I got to do an AIF which is something that I hadn't done in probably 3 months (at least) and I remembered everything I needed to do and had a great study! Earlier in the week I did a dreaded head angio and got a compliment from the vitrea tech who does the reconstructions about how great it was! Yay me!! Today I got to do a chest angio which I think is probably my favorite exam. It's the only angio study that we get to reconstruct ourselves and I love to do it!! All the other angios are sent to the vitrea and there are only 4 people in our department trained on that equipment. Thanks goodness I'm not one of them!

We also have a new protocol that started this week concerning a soft tissue neck with contrast. We are supposed to start the scan above the ear and end it at approx. the level of the carina. Well, when I trained in CT over the summer the protocol was that the scan ended at the sternal notch. I will remember that for the rest of my days because the very first soft tissue neck I did, I did not get all the way to the sternal notch, a fact which the two techs supervising me did not notice, and our head radiologist called to point it out to me. I was so embarassed and wanted to crawl in a hole. You would have to know and work with this doctor in order to understand just how small and insignificant he can make you feel! Though technically it wasn't my fault since at the time I didn't really know what I was doing anyway! Anyway, back to the new protocol, I did a neck with contrast today and luckily just happened to get down far enough because I thought I only had to go to the sternal notch! Sternal notch is forever drilled into my head and it's gonna be hard to change! Oh well... live and learn I guess! The study was beautiful though!

I am loving dayshift because there is such a huge variety of exams being done. It seems like the last few times I worked in CT on seconds that all I ever did was stone protocols and heads! Not that I mind those, just gets a little monotonous sometimes!

Well, hope everyone has had a great semester!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!