I’m Alive!

That’s right…I survived my surgery!

I go back in next Friday to have the stitches removed. They are also going to send this sample to the lab to make sure they removed all the abnormal cells.

Thanks for your support.

More White Coat Ceremony Pics

Here are some more pictures of the UK COP 2009 White Coat Ceremony, courtesy of the UK COP Website. Click the link below.

http://www.mc.uky.edu/pharmacy/news/py3_whitecoat.html

White Coat Ceremony

Here are some pictures of yesterday’s White Coat Ceremony for the UK College of Pharmacy Class of 2009

In other news…I met with my Pharmacy District Manager yesterday and he offered me a job…and the terms were much better than I had anticipated. I won’t disclose the exact salary, but it is very good (better than I was expecting–if you really want to know, ask me and I will probably tell you) and the benefits are excellent, including medical, dental, vision, company-paid and supplemental life insurance, 401(k) with company matching, short and long-term disability, and employee stock purchase plan. You also start off with 3 weeks vacation. You must take 1 week, but you can cash out the other 2 weeks if you want. He said he didn’t want to rush me into anything, but he would like for me to make a decision within the next couple months. We didn’t really discuss a sign-on bonus, but he did offer me a “commitment bonus” if I sign on now. I would get that money now (within the next couple of months) and would have to commit to one year with the company. Sounds pretty good, huh? I think it is great that I already have a job offer when I don’t even graduate for another year. It is very exciting. I am afraid to commit, though, without talking to a few other companies. I guess we will see what happens!

Update

I called the doctor’s office this morning to get more details on the biopsy. The report said I had an Atypical Melanocytic Nevus with Dysplasia. So basically an abnormal mole with cells that are abnormal and changing. So it is precancerous but not cancerous now–so I caught it early. I scheduled surgery for Monday afternoon. They will go in and remove more tissue, wider and deeper, under local anesthesia and I will need stitches. Thanks to all who have shown support. Thank you for your thoughts and prayer. I’ll let you know how it goes!

The Results Are In…

Well, after 4 weeks, I called again to see if my biopsy results were in. The message said “We received your pathology report today and you need to call our office to schedule an appointment for treatment.”

So I am pretty sure the tissue was cancerous and I have Malignant Melanoma. Not certain, but pretty sure. I plan to call the nurse in the morning and get some more detail and schedule an appointment. If it is, in fact, Melanoma, hopefully I caught it soon enough that it hasn’t spread and they can just cut some more tissue out. Hopefully the treatment wont be too extensive (or expensive) and my prognosis is good, which I am pretty sure of.

The moral of the story is…DON’T LAY IN THE TANNING BED! And if you have a mole anywhere on your body that has changed shape, color, size, or appearance, don’t be afraid to see a dermatologist and have it checked out. Take care of your body, protect yourself from the sun, and don’t lay in the tanning bed.

I will update you on the specifics when I find out more details.

Lots to talk about…

Ok, since I rarely post anything, I thought I would give you an update on everything that is going on right now. I have successfully completed my PharmD. coursework and have two exams left to take this week. Yes, I said successfully completed. I failed to make the grades I had anticipated, but nonetheless passed all my courses and remained above average. Friday evening the Doctor of Pharmacy Class of 2009 will mark their transition from didactic coursework to clinical application with a White Coat Ceremony. It seems a little overrated to me, but during the ceremony two faculty members will cloak each student with their very own fancy white lab coat, with embroidered name and school logo. Fancy, huh? Amanda plans to take me out to celebrate afterward, although I’m not sure where.

I also have good news regarding my employment. I get a yearly raise after I complete each year of school. It is usually only a dollar or two, but I found out yesterday that I will actually get a $5 raise. That’s not bad, huh? I won’t disclose my actual hourly rate, but I’m sure it’s more than yours. The only bad part about this is that I won’t actually have the time to work enough to really bring in the cash, except for my months off from school.

More good news… I have been with the same company for about 4 years and I like to think that I am a pretty big asset (considering both of my bosses, as well as pharmacists from other stores, often rely on me to complete certain tasks because they lack the knowledge). Anyway, the pharmacy district manager (who oversees the entire state of Kentucky and part of Ohio) had mentioned to my pharmacy manager that he wanted to sit down and talk to me about a job. Well, yesterday he was in the pharmacy and told me personally that we wants to meet with me–our meeting is this Friday. I will definitely post another blog and let you know how that goes. I am extremely excited that I will might have a job offer and don’t even graduate for another year or so.

Now that I have finished my coursework, it’s off to clinical rotations. I have 10 rotations in the next 12 months, starting May 1st. May through December I will be in Lexington working at various pharmacies for free (and paying tuition, mind you). I will be at several community pharmacies, institutional pharmacies, and even a prison. I have September and December off and I have my last 4 rotations in Bowling Green (Jan. thru April). I am excited about starting rotations, but a little nervous too. I just have to remind myself that I will probably do better than most people and remember that no matter how big a fool I make of myself, someone else is probably making an even bigger fool. Then, once I finish all my rotations, I will receive my Doctor of Pharmacy and then I’ll have a month or so until I have to take the board exams. Once I pass the Boards, I will be a Licensed Pharmacist. I can’t wait–it has been a long haul.

In other news…If you have read Amanda’s Blog, then you already know that I went to a Dermatologist about 3 and 1/2 weeks ago and had a biopsy done. I had a mole that had changed appearances and look a lot like this. Or maybe like this. Anyway, it didn’t look good. So I went to the dermatologist and he looked at it and immediately said “Yeah, that needs to come off there.” So they took a picture, numbed me up, and sliced it off. They sent it off to the lab and gave me a number to call to get the results. They told me it would be 5-7 business days before I would have the results. It’s been 3 & 1/2 weeks and still no results. I called the office and the nurse said that the cells were abnormal and they had to send it out to a specialist for a “special procedure.” So I don’t think it’s very good. Hopefully I will find something out soon. Amanda is more worried about it than I am. They should be calling us soon.

Well, I guess that’s about all I have to say right now. So leave me a comment and check back soon to see what’s new!

Time For A Change

Almost 3 years ago I moved away from my family and friends in Virginia and came to Lexington, KY to start Pharmacy School at UK. Immediately following this transition, I quickly and efficiently started packing on the pounds. No, I wasn’t preparing for a famine, but merely making horrible choices regarding what I ate and how much. So now, here I am, 3 years older and about 30 pounds heavier. Yes, I have gained around 30 pounds since moving here. I am pretty sure that it all started with Totino’s Frozen Pizzas and half-gallons of Cookies & Cream Ice Cream–both of which are delicious, mind you. Then steadily over the last couple years my portions have gotten larger and my food choices have worsened. Nevertheless, I am now ready, at about 205 pounds, to make a change and shed these unwanted pounds. My goal is to lose at least 20 pounds and get down to 185 in 6 weeks (May 5).

So, last week I started to diet and exercise. My dad donated about 10 days worth of Nutrisystem meals. I was a little concerned about this food at first, as I thought it would be the most disgusting food that has ever touched my lips. But I’ve actually been quite pleased with most of the food (although Amanda would disagree). In fact, I would probably even buy 4 more weeks worth of it if it didn’t cost about $350. The lunch and dinner meals are decent, but the breakfast and snacks are lacking, most notably the Scrambled Eggs with Veggie Sausage (that begins as yellow flakes mixed with hot water and magically turns into Scrambled eggs and sausage) and Honey Mustard Pretzel sticks (do I have to say anything else?). But for lunch & dinner I’ve ate such meals as Vegetable Beef soup, Spicy Cajun Chicken and rice, lasagna, and even pizza. Even though the food may not look that good when prepared, it honestly doesn’t taste that bad. With Nutrisystem, you have 5 meals per day, mixing in fruits, vegetables, diary, and salads with the prepared meals, and drink at least 8 glasses of water. In addition to this, I have also been supplementing these meals with SlimFast Protein Snack Bars (which are tiny but actually pretty good) and sensible meals/snacks.

As far as exercise, I have been running about a mile everyday on the elliptical–sometimes I run further and sometimes twice a day. I also occasionally lift weights on the weight bench, something I need to start doing more often.

So over the last 10 days, I have done a pretty good job eating the required meals, including fruit (which I despise), drinking plenty of water, and exercising. Amanda also started dieting and exercising, so we are able to motivate one another and keeps tabs on each other’s progress and pitfalls. I lost 5 pounds in the first 5 days, and 8 pounds all together. If I can maintain this progress, I should be able to easily reach my goal. I am very proud of myself for sticking with this diet and actually getting results and am especially proud of Amanda for her motivation and weight loss. If you have any tips or suggestions, please let me know. I will keep you updated on my progress.