Thoughts On Being a "Lowly" First Year Pharm Student... (PLUS MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!)

So I did end up starting my own new YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/pharmlifepeyton where I will be sharing periodic vlogs of my days as a pharmacy student as well as whatever beauty, lifestyle, or sit-down/advice videos I feel like posting.  I am so thrilled to have a new outlet for my creative juices, and I'm sure they will be fun to rewatch years down the road.  I'm really pleased with the videos I've posted so far...thinking of it sort of as my personal "video scrapbook."

And can I just address how annoying it is having to admit I'm a PY1 (first-year pharmacy student) to students who are already well into the pharmacy program?  I've ended up meeting quite a few of them already through my job because so many of them work there as well.  These individuals may all have unique facial features, but the look of pity and condescension that spreads across those features after they hear this piece of information about me is pretty much identical.  We haven't even started classes yet and I'm already sick of it.  (I'm sure my annoyance with this phenomenon will be comical to reflect back upon years from now.)

I just hope when I am in their shoes in the years to come that I still remember how discouraging it is to hear some of their negative remarks about the impending workload, and it will keep me from making future newbies feel this way before they've even started.  And not all of them have been discouraging with their comments, but the few who have are certainly not my favorites to be around so far.

In spite of the "gloom and doom" warnings I've been fed, I have to admit I was SO ECSTATIC when my first Chegg box of the semester arrived at my door on Tuesday - a Medical Terminology text for the "summer studying" we are supposed to do before classes start on August 18th.  Call me nerdy/crazy/masochistic/etc., but I have missed taking notes and digesting information on the topics that are most exciting to me.

I'm also getting antsy about school supply shopping, but I'm probably going to wait on that for a bit so that I'm still excited about the fresh new supplies when classes actually start.  And I'm potentially considering purchasing my very first iPad just to have as a pocket resource (yes, the iPad mini fits inside our white coat pocket) larger than my phone for easy access to Powerpoints, medical resource apps, and other tools I'm sure I'll be needing constantly over the next 4 years.  We shall see...

Needless to say, I am READY for classes to start!

One Month Left Before Pharmacy School + Vlogging Channel?

So I have about one month of freedom left before my life becomes fully immersed in all things pharmacy.  Now that I have moved and settled into my new apartment in a new city, the nerves are starting to really multiply (as expected.)  Loan applications have been settled (UGH), classes have been registered, and I've even started my position as an intern at a new pharmacy location close to my school.  I have to pinch myself sometimes to be reminded that this is all finally happening, and I get to experience it at one of the top pharmacy schools in the nation.  Here is a look at my list of classes for the fall semester:

- Physiological Chemistry and Molecular Biology I

- Physiological Basis for Therapeutics I

- Basic Principles of Pharmaceutical Science I

- Introduction to Pharmacy Practice

- Patient Care Lab I

- Pharmacological Basis for Therapeutics: Antibiotics

- Nonprescription Pharmaceuticals and Supplies I

for a grand total of 19 hours, which is more than I ever had during undergrad.

Needless to say, I'm prepping myself for boatloads of stress, coffee, and junk food in my near future.

After watching the Shaytards' rewind videos they've been posting over the past several months, I've discovered I really envy their ability to go back and watch every week of their lives since they started vlogging and to watch the progress they have all made as a family and as individuals.  Because of this newfound jealousy, I've contemplated starting my own vlogging channel just so I have something to look back on and remember this pivotal time in my life.  If I did happen to do this, it would be with as minimal editing as possible and I would probably post one per week or every other week if I am able.  Now that I'm living a little further from my hometown, I feel like my family would enjoy being able to keep up with me better in this way, and I think it would neat to have for posterity as well.  Again, this may be overly ambitious of me to expect myself to have time for this, but who knows?  I think it would be worth the extra effort.

I'd like to do some pharmacy school Q&A videos along the way as well since there doesn't seem to be a huge wealth of them on YouTube just yet.  If I do embark on this YouTube adventure, the channel I will do this on is: https://www.youtube.com/c/pharmlifepeyton.

On a more personal note, my boyfriend and I had brunch with one of his college friends and the guy's girlfriend this morning, and I had the most BOMB deep fried french toast I'll probably ever taste.  If you're ever in Lexington, don't avoid The Village Idiot downtown just because of their name!  I am trying to enjoy eating out frivolously now before I am a slave to pharmacy school loans and debt.  I sure am thankful to not have any loan debt from undergrad though, lemme tell ya.

Thank you all for reading and if you ever have questions about jaw surgery, remember I will always more than happy to continue answering those as well.

xoxo Peyton

Almost FOUR Years Post-Op: Now A College Grad & Future PharmD

I have no idea why I feel inclined to post again on this blog, but here I am.  It might be helpful for people to see how my face has changed since my last post a couple of years ago, because I believe it has.  I graduated from college with my Bachelor's degree last week and will be starting pharmacy school in August. CRAZY. It's easy to forget about the drama of the jaw surgery this far down the road, but every time I decide to look back on my old videos and posts, the emotions all come flooding back.  Four years ago, I was prepping for this life-changing surgery and about to start college with my jaws wired shut?!  I still can't wrap my mind around it now.  And in what seemed like the blink of an eye, I now have my degree and am prepping for another life-changing transition...this time into professional school.

So just as a reminder, here is how I looked before surgery (I'm on the right, sister Camdyn on the left):

And a few more cringeworthy old ones:

And here I am now!  Four years, jaw surgery, and the discovery of brow products can work wonders in a person's life:

         

Also here's an awkward picture of me from graduation. I'm saying, "Thank you," in response to his "Congratulations," so that's why I wasn't perfectly prepared for the photo. Oh well!  I'll get it right next time when I am at last Dr. Peyton... :)

Honestly the only thing on my mind at this point was, "DO. NOT. TRIP. ON. STAGE."

And another (courtesy of Camdyn):

Big shout-out to this incredible lady and all she has done for me over the past twenty-two years, especially concerning my braces and surgery.  Words in general are an understatement for the love I harbor for my amazing mother.

Looking back now, I regret deciding not to blog all throughout my four undergraduate years, because it seems like it would be so enjoyable to read through those posts now.  Here's to hoping I can get back to regular posting now that a new chapter is opening in my life.  Right now the main concern is figuring out where exactly I'm going to be living in less than a month and a half.  Apartment hunting is a NIGHTMARE...can I get an amen?!

Thank you again for reading, and I will always enjoy answering any questions you may have about jaw surgery, preparation, recovery, or heck even the pharmacy school application process!

Take care!

Peyton

Braces Free for 5 Months Now!

It's been a long time since I've updated here, but I wanted to make one final jaw update post with proof of my finalized smile!  Here is the final vlog I uploaded a few months ago. :) And feel free to contact me on here, YouTube, or Twitter @peyton_michelle with any questions!  Thank you all for reading.

8 Months Post-Op - Removal of Braces?! + Hospital Vid

So it's been a very long time and I'll just start off by saying...yes...I am still in my braces. And yes I feel as though my teeth are basically perfect underneath them but I'M NOT THE EXPERT. Yet. Sigh.

Fantastic news is at my last ortho appointment, I was told they could come off not at the next appointment but the one after that, which means early June hopefully. Happy happy times. I have pledged not to make another vlog until that time comes BUT! I did remember this little gem. It's the last pre-surgery video footage of me ever and it was taken on my mom's phone in the pre-op room about an hour before they wheeled me off. My head is even wrapped for surgery already. It's very brief and relatively frightening seeing as I still have that underbite and am wearing zero makeup along with that glamorous surgical gown but I wanted to share it anyway because it's kind of special to me.

If I seem overtly calm, it's because I miraculously was as far as I can remember. There is also this photo of my profile taken the day after surgery I believe and as you can see, I was hardly swollen at all for it being less than 24 hours post-op. Keep in mind, I'd been up the night before vomiting blood through wired-shut teeth and also hadn't taken a shower or received any sustenance aside from the IV fluids, so I wasn't exactly in a presentable state.

My face is red because of the constant wearing of the ice packs, but see...no swollen lips and my cheeks aren't bulging all that much. Based on results of people I had researched beforehand, I was expecting WAY WORSE than this. This photo was also my first opportunity to see the newly-adjusted profile which is what makes it very special indeed.
I'll post this again just so the before surgery/after recovery comparison is also here:

I'm overall still sooooooo thankful for the entire journey and finally being able to enjoy the fruits of a perfect bite. Now if I could just get these braces off so the bite would be somewhat more visually appealing...I mean I've had them since the week before my senior year of high school and here I am less than a month away from completing my first year in college.


Can't go without saying a huge congratulations to my Louisville Cardinal men's basketball team for making it to the NCAA Final Four. I can honestly say I've never been so proud of a group of individuals. And though we fell short in the game yesterday, I'd venture to say we exemplified the most tenacity and endurance of any team in the country this season after the neverending string of injuries and setbacks. Proud era to be a Cardinal, that's for sure.
And to any family members reading, I do not desire your pity or sympathy because I know you're only trying to reach out because your precious NBA-primed team - who has been expected to advance to the championship all along and therefore does not impress me in the slightest - actually made it through and you have nothing to mourn yet. The fact that we tied the game in the second half should be enough to warrant your chagrin given that everyone and their second cousin twice removed in the sports world picked your team to stomp us, no questions asked. And no, I still will not root for them tomorrow. Go Kansas.


Bitterness aside, this semester and a half since I last updated the blog has been crazy and mostly in a positive way. With the exception of one or two, every professor I've had so far has been placed in my "lifelong heroes" category and I could not be more certain that I made the perfect choice in university.


Last time I said I was going to post my top 10 "current" favorite songs on every following post, and that I shall.


1. "The Flood" - Take That → blame Liam Payne's twitcams
2. "If You're Not the One" - Daniel Bedingfield → I know it's kind of old, but it started playing when I was on hold with a Kroger pharmacy the other day at work so my love for it has been rekindled. hahahaha
3. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida → because Harry Styles.
4. "Climax" - Usher
5. "Be Here" - Parachute
6. "Under Control" - Parachute
7. "The Remedy" - Jason Mraz → because of the fan fic I'm writing...don't judge
8. "Autumn Leaves" - Ed Sheeran (seeing him in concert April 4th)
9. "Ready to Go" - Panic! At The Disco → I listened to this a lot in the weeks leading up to surgery
10. "Fields of Gold" - Sting → blame my mother


Thanks for reading and please don't have nightmares about my pre-op video. haha
xo Peyton


PS - I survived the One Direction VIP ticket apocalypse and came out victorious. Come at me, June 26th.

Long time, no post. Brief update.

Well hi there. If the app on my phone is correct, it has now been exactly 107 days since surgery.  And to think, I never thought I'd survive the first 10...unbelievable.  I may no longer be suffering through the hardships associated with post-surgery turmoil, but that doesn't mean I go a single day without reflecting back on the miraculousness of the transformation, thanking God for granting me the privilege of going through it.  If enduring the rocky road of recovery was what I needed to build a framework of empathy for future patients as I pursue a career in this field, then it was by all means worth the struggle.

Not having to be self-conscious about people at my side seeing my profile when I smile? Miracle.
Biting cleanly through a slice of pizza or a sandwich? Miracle.
Speaking more confidently and with better enunciation than ever before? Miracle.

The only significantly negative aspect of it all is the fact that I honestly can't bear to look at pictures from before. I was dissatisfied with my appearance then, but somehow it's even worse now that I have a "better version" of me with which I can compare it.  I hate that I let it bother me so much, but I can't help myself.

Now for some webcam pictures with my precious little brother, Blaine, who has just started walking back home.  Miss you, buddy!!!!

And by the 20th take or so, he was done. haha

So what has happened in the life of Peyton since I last posted? Well, I have a job now. Pharmacy technician...not the most glamorous position by any means, but my certification guarantees more than minimum wage which was why I pursued it in the first place. It's not too shabby for an on-the-side desperate college student position.

I may or may not have also become a tad more obsessed with a certain British/Irish boy band from last year's X Factor UK. Ahem, ahem, NO they are not constantly on my mind. No I don't tweet about them incessantly to the point of driving my followers mad (I'm sure.) But by some miracle, they ARE coming to America in March and Nashville happens to be on the list. Nashville...where I saw 2 of my favorite bands for the first time, met Nick Jonas, and underwent the life-changing surgery that has been a major turning point in my life. And now where I'll see the 5 gentlemen from a foreign boy band who I never dreamed of being able to see live. Pretty pivotal city in my life, I must say.

I also saw Owl City and Days Difference in concert a week ago, and it was without a doubt one of the most brilliant concert and post-concert experiences I've had. I, along with the four friends I went with, made a pact to just remain enigmatic about sharing the details, but here. Have a nice picture of Adam from the show.

We were front row against the barrier!

He is precious and adorable and bubbling with enthusiasm for his music. I was very impressed by how much more enjoyable his songs are live than they are on the albums.

A conclusion I came to recently was how exactly to differentiate between my "all time favorite" songs and my "current song obsessions." The all-time favorites are those that I may not listen to every single day but when I do, I feel just as exhilarated and musically-stimulated (??? lol) as I was when I very first heard them. Coming up with a list of these would be really challenging, by maybe I will tackle that task in a future post.

For now, my top 10 current song obsessions! Because these are [obviously] much easier to pinpoint. (Some may be repeats from last time. And yes, I am from the USA, much to my dismay.)

1. "What Makes You Beautiful" - One Direction
2. "Say You Don't Want It" - One Night Only
3. "All Time Low" - The Wanted
4. "Kiss the Stars" - Pixie Lott
5. "End Up Here" - Cher Lloyd
6. "Gotta Be You" - One Direction
7. "Another World" - One Direction
8. "This Woman's Work" - Greg Laswell
9. "Some Days" - The Maine
10. "Fight for You" - Jason Derulo

One Direction's first album will also be released in 2 days in Ireland and next week in the UK. I preordered my copy from Amazon UK, but you know I'll be finding the tracks online before that arrives. I am so feverishly enlivened by the idea of having a selection of fresh new legitimate studio tracks from them, I can hardly stand it.

Guess that's all for now. I will attempt to update more consistently from now on.
Thanks for reading! And don't forget to send me messages or tweets if you have any questions or want some surgery advice/encouragement!
http://www.twitter.com/peyton_michelle
http://www.youtube.com/purplescheerchic


Peyton

64 Days Post-Op: Because I felt like posting.

I have found myself with 2 hours of time to waste here on campus since my Philosophy class was cancelled, so blogging is naturally what I have chosen to do with some of this precious free time.  Smooth sailing in the surgery recovery portion of my life - it's hard to believe just a few weeks ago, all of my nutrition came from a rubber tube.  The misery accompanying that level of desperate longing and hunger will haunt me for the rest of my life, I'm sure.  I literally remember looking at other people and nearly hating them for their ability to eat solid food and speak clearly.  It was certainly not healthy emotionally or physically.  And while I was feeling so sorry for myself, I also despised seeing other people pity me as if I had some sort of handicap.  Confusing and contradictory, I know.  BUT...thankfully that bleak period of my life was short-lived and, as much as I hated to admit it at the time, totally survivable.

Profile Shots:

There are still times when I look in the mirror and almost don't recognize myself, especially if I've just seen some of the pictures of the former "me" I have hanging up in my room.  I wonder how long it's going to be before I always know what to expect when I see my reflection...

Also - I will probably be uploading a new video blog tonight if I can find time.  My channel is: http://www.youtube.com/purplescheerchic.

As far as the college scene goes, one major thing I'm realizing is just how innocent and non-rebellious I seem to be in comparison to a large percentage of my peers.  My aversion to the idea of partying with drugs and alcohol makes me an anomaly in this environment.  We've recently begun studying the genetics of psychology in Psych 201 as well, which has triggered me to wonder if I'm genetically predisposed to be this way.   Because I've had plenty of opportunities to experiment, but there is absolutely no appeal to any of it from my perspective. I can not for the life of me decipher why having "fun" that you won't even fully remember the next day is such a popular pursuit among college [and high school] students, especially when novelties like Facebook and YouTube can end up making you look like a complete imbecile because of these habits.

On to more non-ranty subjects.  My fantasy football team is sucking majorly this year...as in I haven't won a single matchup so far.  No matter who I have on the bench, that bench always scores more points than my actual lineup...EVERY TIME.  If I didn't know it to be completely absurd, I'd say the gods of football are completely hardcore trolling me on a weekly basis.  But I've decided to look at this season from a positive perspective: having an inconsistent, imperfect team has made me more open and willing to observe and analyze other specific players constantly -- something I never really had to do last year since my team went undefeated until the very end.  This way I'm not complacently confining my observations to my own team, but instead soaking up information and attaining a broader awareness of a large variety of players.
Also, JP Rosenbaum (winner of Ashley's season of Bachelorette) tweeted this morning that his fantasy team has also yet to win a matchup, so I don't feel TOO bad. :)

I can't go without mentioning the book I'm currently reading as well.  It was so graciously lent to me by my mother and it's called Before I Go To Sleep.  Thus far it has been one of those that toys with your mind and challenges you to put the hidden pieces of the puzzle together before the main character does.  So basically it has been keeping me up at night and overall just driving me up the wall.  I'm convinced there are shady details being kept in the dark and if you've read the book, you understand.  If you haven't, I would highly recommend it.  Definitely a page-turner that I have to force myself to put down at night.

One thing I'm going to start adding to these posts is a list of 10 songs I'm currently addicted to, and they may stay relatively the same from post to post since I tend to obsess over certain songs for long periods of time. Haha, so here's my very first "current song addiction" list (in no particular order):

1. "Fight for You"- Jason Derulo
2. "Do It 2 Me" - Allstar Weekend
3. "What Makes You Beautiful" - One Direction
4. Live "Grenade" cover by One Direction (There are many versions on YouTube, but this is the one I have on my iPod: youtu.be/-ucSyZ8IvOo)
5. "Unbroken" - Demi Lovato
6. "Paradise" - Coldplay
7. "Just In Love" - Joe Jonas
8. "Two Shots" - Lil Wayne
9. "Mirror" - Lil Wayne & Bruno Mars
10. "Lovesick Fool" - The Cab

Ten might not even be enough actually, but I'll leave it at that for now.  I'm a sponge when it comes to music; always on the lookout for song/artist/album suggestions from anyone and anywhere.

Guess that's about all I have for now.  More updates soon! Thanks for reading.

Peyton