anonemouse

Yep! There's Stonehaus Winery and Chestnut Hill Winery. Stonehaus is off of exit 320 and Chestnut Hill is off of exit 322.

I am from Crossville, which is about an hour west of Knoxville. I am actually living and going to grad school in Richmond, KY now.

The last few times I've come to LBT, I've had to log in. I always click the "remember me" box, but it doesn't work for some reason.

Not really stamina, I just know that if I take a break, I probably wouldn't go back. Plus, a Master's is just enough for entry-level positions in my field. If you want to move up, you have to have either a ton of experience or a doctorate. I'd love to see Alaska. Just seeing the scenery on TV is awesome. I'm just wary of the weather because I'm from Tennessee. We don't DO cold weather here. When I was in elementary and high school, we would have classes canceled if they even THOUGHT we might get snow or ice.

I've thought about visiting Alaska (heck, I've even thought of applying to a PhD program there), but then I think about the winters. I hate cold weather.

I looked on Art.com, but the only Bles that was there was Herri Bles.

I am looking forward to: being able to apply to any internship/PhD position that I want to, without worrying that I physically won't be able to do the fieldwork being able to climb over wire fences without worrying that they'll break when I'm doing my thesis fieldwork not having to turn sideways and walk on the tips of my toes to walk between desks when I'm at school going hiking with a group of friends and not wheeze too hard to talk being able to climb back on the tube when I fall off after tubing behind a boat finding an attractive swimsuit actually having fun when I go clothes shopping, instead of thinking it's torture

We're all pulling for you, Alexandra!

Plus, it apparently logged me out after a period of no activity. I had to run to the store and post office just now (gone for maybe 45 minutes) and when I refreshed LBT when I got back, I had to log in again.

VERY pretty. Is that a bird-of-paradise in your bouquet?

I just looked at some of her stuff at the link that Marimaru posted, and some of them are really nice.

I haven't had it yet. I am scheduled to have it on July 3rd at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, TN. My surgeon is Dr. Virginia McGrath-Weaver.

Yeah, I vote for S Vassileva, too.

My BMI isn't much higher than yours, and I was approved easily. As long as you have the co-morbidities, I don't see any problem with you being approved.

Lee, were you in the office around 1:00, with two small boys? If you were, I think I saw you!

I just looked up fructose online, and I would personally go with it, rather than sucralose. Here is part of the Wikipedia entry for fructose: To me, fructose has less of an "artificial sweetener" taste than sucralose.

I wish my doctor didn't require one. That's the only thing that I don't like about her program. Oh well, I can follow any diet for two weeks. It's long-term diets that I don't do well with. I just got back from shopping for the diet. I have a lot of dried fruit on hand, so I didn't need to get any fresh fruit to eat. I got some chicken tenders and some lean pieces of beef, plus some eggs that I could make for my dinner. I also got a lot of frozen vegetables. To give some variety, I figure that I can probably substitute some low-cal yogurt for one of the protein drinks/bars with no problem, as long as I stay below the 220 cal and 10 g fat limit, since yogurt is pretty high in protein. I also got a big case of bottled water and some decaf tea bags for iced tea. I am going to be meeting with the nutritionist on the 27th, so I'll post the diet after that. I don't think it is going to be bad, though, because from the way the surgeon talked, the pre-op diet was the worst part. I think I am basically going to be restricted to pureed foods for two weeks, and then I'll be able to start regular foods.

Well, guys, I have to start my pre-op liver shrink diet tomorrow. Here's what I get to eat for the next two weeks: Breakfast: Protein shake or bar (less than 220 cal and 10 g fat) Snack: Small piece of fruit Lunch: Protein shake or bar (less than 220 cal and 10 g fat) Snack: Small piece of fruit Dinner: Small piece of lean protein, small salad with fat-free dressing or a non-starchy vegetable, a serving of carbs (several salt-free crackers or two slices of low-cal bread or a starchy vegetable), and a serving of fruit Snack: Small piece of fruit. I can also drink low-cal or no-cal drinks and eat all the non-starchy veggies that I want. I think I am going to get sick of fruit, though, by the end of the two weeks. I'll probably be happy to go on liquids.

Heh, that's okay. My first though when I first saw people talking about the Magic Bullet was, "Why in the world is everyone talking about a vibrator?" If you didn't know, there is (or used to be) a vibrator by that name that was heavily advertised.

Well, I just called the nutritionist about the 2-week diet that I have to start tomorrow, and she's faxing me the information packet on it. Apparently, I have to replace 2 meals with protein shakes or bars, and eat a low-fat/low-cal dinner. I get to have a piece of fruit between each meal, and pretty much as many low-carb veggies as I want. I have to be on clear liquids the day before the surgery, and nothing after midnight the day of surgery.

I can't wait! I saw the surgeon on Wednesday, and I am SO glad that I changed surgeons. Dr. Weaver has a much better bedside manner than my old surgeon (Dr. Olsen from Centennial in Nashville) did, and she's much more positive about the band. When I saw the old surgeon, he made comments about "people getting the band are less committed than people having RNY," which absolutely burned me up. Now I think that his attitude was because he has very little band experience. Most of his patients are having RNY. Anyway, the meeting with my new surgeon went very well. I'm very comfortable with her, and she seemed to be very positive about the band. I knew everything she talked about, which made me grateful that I had done my research beforehand. I have to go back on the 26th/27th to have pre-op blood work done and to attend nutrition classes. I also have to do a liver shrink diet for two weeks before surgery, which means this coming Tuesday is the last time I'll get to eat normally for 4 weeks! This surgeon has a much more user-friendly diet afterwards than the first surgeon had, too. The old one used a very RNY-centric diet (600-800 calories, three ounces Protein, 2 T each of two veggies). This surgeon has nothing like that. In fact, I was just told that I would be on pureed foods for two weeks after surgery, and then I can eat regular foods. I'll probably get more detail in the nutrition class, but it seems to be much more band-friendly than my old surgeon's plan.

Seriously, I think I'm a cheese addict. I've been looking at all the different cheeses on the gourmet foods section of Amazon and thinking about how many of them I'd like to try. All the different cheddars and Italian cheeses and English cheeses and Irish cheeses and South American cheeses. Yum. It's probably a good thing that my local grocery store doesn't carry any of the really good cheeses. Just Kraft and other mass-produced crap.

Hi, Michelle! Dr. Olsen was going to be my surgeon. His office had even submitted all my stuff for insurance approval, but my insurance company told me that they wouldn't cover the surgery if I had it with him. Apparently, they only cover two bariatric surgeons in Tennessee, Dr. Boyce in Knoxville and Dr. McGrath-Weaver in Memphis. I wound up going with Dr. Weaver because she seemed much more experiences with banding.

If someone asks about my weight loss, I'll tell them about the surgery. After all, you never know if knowing about the surgery could help someone else. Personally, I think that not telling them about the surgery if I was asked what I did seems to further the idea that we should be ashamed of taking "the easy way out." I wouldn't volunteer the information unless I was asked about what I did, but I'll tell anyone who asks.

It's going to be absolutely insane. I wouldn't want to go anywhere near Graceland during that week.