Wednesday the 25th , I had semi-emergency surgery. Semi, because we knew it would happen eventually, we just didn’t know it was going to happen then.

Many of you know that I had weight loss surgery, a lap-band named Oscar (the grouch) placed way back in 2008. It was a last ditch effort to get the weight off that I had battled for my entire life. The first 18 months were wonderful. I lost 70+ pounds, was 6 pounds from goal, had only very minor issues twice, was running races and loved life.

Fast forward to our move here when all heck broke loose. I have had issue after issue, days and days of not being able to eat real food, pain that surpasses passing a gallstone, crying on the floor begging Bryan to get it out and ultimately gaining all my weight back, because slider foods are the only things that went down. I wrote a blog post about a particularly bad day back in November. My band had been completely empty for MONTHS and even though an upper GI said everything was a-okay, it was not.

Tuesday the 24th, was the last straw.  I talked my surgeon and asked what to do. He was super concerned with the pain I was still having, the intensity and how much damage it might be doing, so he told me to go to the ER, it needed to come out.

Okay. Can we wait till Bryan gets back in April?

No.

Umm…..

So, I went to the ER and eventually got a time slot for the OR. In and out of surgery and then home with a pain pump. The doctor told Bryan that the band was sitting really high on my esophagus which could be the result of a slip but he wasn’t 100% sure. Regardless, it was not where it should have been.

My surgeon used the same incisions as my original surgery, so no new scars and my nursing staff at the hospital was absolutely fabulous. All in all, it was okay.

This is my 5th surgery since July 2008 and my 3rd in the last 11 months though. I am done. Done. Tired of being a medical pin cushion.

I ate soup that first night to take it easy on my stomach. I had chicken and broccoli the next night (thanks to a fabulous neighbor and friend) and almost cried because it actually went down. Good for me foods went down with no issues and no pain.

You don’t realize how much that matters until you have dealt with 18 months of not being able to eat meat or veggies.

I’m now a week post-op and I have eaten chicken, broccoli, asparagus, broccolini, cauliflower, rice and a real sandwich with no problems. A real sandwich with real bread…that is something I haven’t had since July 2008.

I have my 2 week post-op check up next week, but so far healing is going great. We pulled the pain pump out Saturday, a day early because I could no longer stand being attached to tubes and I am done with all oral painkillers. My biggest incision is still a bit tender but I don’t feel any of the others. My stomach muscles where my port was removed do pull and tug a bit but I am already able to sleep on my stomach, so all is right in the world again. I drove today and no problems there. I was a little worried about the fact that Bryan TDY’s this weekend but that shouldn’t be an issue with the way recovery is going.

I had a few “band” friends ask me if I planned to do a revision (another surgery) and I can wholeheartedly say no. I never wanted anything permanent to begin with and can’t risk more possible complications on top of already being a cancer patient. I KNOW I can get the weight back off, now that I can eat healthy foods again. With the band, I always said it was 75% me and 25% the band (because I always kept it super loose)…now it just has to be 100% me.

Family & Friends,

As we say goodbye to 2011 and ring in 2012, I pray this finds you happy, healthy and fulfilled. Attached you will find our year in review letter, an alternative to the mentally labor intensive Christmas letter that we opted to forgo this year. We hope you enjoy reading about a few highlights from our 2011. Our website http://www.buchorn.com/ has also had all the pictures and videos updated if you care to take a gander.

Here’s to a wonderful 2012!

Blessings,

Bryan, Lacey & Jacey

I was inspired by YIR letters here and here but actually spent a few hours designing the letter from the ground up in CS5.  It’s been a while since I have done that and didn’t realize how much I missed it :).

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to 2012. I don’t set resolutions because what is the point? I ALWAYS break them. So instead, I am going to attempt to focus on a word each year. Something to set my sights on, something to wrap my brain around and something to meditate on.

This year, I chose…

“Turn your back on sin; do something good.
Embrace peace–don’t let it get away!”
Psalms 34:14 MSG

According to Webster’s, peace is…

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

This last year has been rough, I am not going to lie. I have been putting on a happy face and smiling, all the while dying inside. Why? Mainly, my own stubbornness and failure to adapt to change and thrive.

At some point though, enough is enough.

The last few weeks, I have been consciously making different choices, appreciating what I have and smiling real smiles.

I plan to keep it up in 2012.

So, what’s your word?

Click the picture to get your own newsletter full of silliness.

Today is the last day! Come join us (click the graphic for details)! It isn’t too late!

Day 5: You Might Be a Military Spouse at Christmas If . . .

…..your Christmas card list includes 12 states and 4 countries.

…..you go to set up your Christmas tree only to discover somehow, half your tree was left at the last base (true story:).

…..your tree has ornaments from around the world “literally”.

…..you have a yellow ribbon instead of an angel up top.

…..your tree stays up for 5 months until you can celebrate with your spouse.

…..you wear shorts one year and snowsuits the next.

…..you make enough cookies to feed a small army…and do.

…..you have strangers at your table and never bat an eye.

…..you have the computer out and Skype open on Christmas morning, so your spouse/family/friends can participate in the opening of presents.

…..your tree skirt is camo.

…..you know what is truly important. It is not the gifts, but love, family, friends and faith.

It’s that time of year again! Come join us (click the graphic for details)!

Day 4: The Best Non-Material Christmas Gift Ever

This is a toss up. I could take the easy way out and say my daughter, since she was born a month before Christmas. We prayed for her for what seemed like forever, “tried” for her, battled infertility, took meds and cried many tears, so when she finally arrived healthy and perfect, it was a huge blessing.

I’ll dig deeper though.

There is a certain family that was such a huge blessing to me in the UK and even more so, the Christmas of 2003. Bryan was deployed and this family was there for Jacey and I every step of the way. They took us in like we were “real” family and shared their hearts and home with us. Never once did they treat us like we were an inconvenience or an obligation. They’ll probably never know what it meant to me, because I am not good with words, but I hope that someday they do.

It’s that time of year again! Come join us (click the graphic for details)!

Day 3: Your Favorite Childhood Christmas Memory

Hmm….this is a tough one. Christmas as a child was rough for me, try as my Mom might to make it wonderful. I was a child of divorce and my biological father and his family tended to be quite difficult.

I think one of my favorite memories was going to see our church’s pageant every year. It was just a fun and touching reminder of what Christmas truly was about. Not all the gifts, food, hectic-ness, craziness. Just true love and sacrifice. I still to this day cannot go through a Christmas season without seeing something related to the true reason for the season. Last year it was a play at a local church and a live nativity, This year, so far the live nativity is on the calendar again and we are looking for more.

It’s that time of year again! Come join us (click the graphic for details)!

Day 2: Your Favorite Delicious Christmas Dessert–With Recipe!

Every year for Christmas, we make an assortment of cookies, fudges, candy, etc. It is a tradition that we do as a family, everyone gets involved and usually ends up covered in flour :). We keep some, some goes to work with Bryan and we take a basket of goodies to the SF’s (Air Force police) working the gate after Christmas Eve service. Normally  my fav would be the white chocolate cranberry fudge, but last year I tried a new recipe…butter toffee with sea salt topping. Oh my gracious….absolutely divine! The perfect mix of rich, sweet, salty, crunchy…yum.

I originally found the recipe on Pioneer Woman’s blog here.

Recipe: Lia’s Butter Toffee

Prep Time: 10 Minutes |  Cook Time: 30 Minutes |  Difficulty: Intermediate |  Servings: 18

Ingredients

• 16 ounces, weight Butter, Melted
• 16 ounces, weight Granulated Sugar
• 3 ounces, fluid Water
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 16 ounces, weight Chopped Topping: Toasted Nuts, Candy Canes, Sea Salt, Etc.
• 24 ounces, weight Tempered Dark Chocolate For Coating, Melted

Preparation Instructions

It’s that time of year again! Come join us (click the graphic for details)!

Day 1:  Your Favorite Christmas Movie

My ALL time favorite is….drumroll please….

This just brings back memories of my childhood. There has never been a year go by that I can’t remember watching this show. I still watch it to this with my own daughter.

About a month ago, we brought home this cutie. Of course, now she looks much different in her Jacey approved puppy cut and snazzy sweaters. She was technically Jacey’s 10th birthday present, although she has already stolen a spot in all of our hearts.

“YOU got a dog?”

I can hear everyone who truly knows me asking that question.

Yes, we got a dog. :)

Jacey had been BEGGING for a dog for over 5 years now. She had done all the research on the best breed for our family due to allergies and the fact that I am a neat freak. She was also taking into consideration the fact that our backyard is small. I kept saying no. Too much responsibility, too expensive. I didn’t think she was old enough to take care of it, etc, etc.

But behind that “no” was also an immense amount of guilt. She is an only child and will always be an only child. An only child with a Dad in the military and a Mom with cancer. I wanted her to have “someone” there for her on bad days and good days. Someone besides Bryan and I to make memories with. Someone to cuddle with when we can’t.

Sigh..

Parent guilt stinks.

About 4 months ago I started looking at the local shelters every couple of weeks. I kept my “no” face on for Jacey, since I didn’t want her to get her hopes up in case it took a while to find what we were looking for. In early October, we thought we might have found the perfect pet. It was a 3 year old, housebroken, Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix. As soon as we picked up Jacey from school, we headed over. We missed the dog by 15 minutes. I believe everything happens for a reason, but we sure were disappointed. Thankfully, Jacey still had no clue (we parked away from the shelter and Bryan went in by himself first). On the way home, we finally decided to let her in on our plan. She was so happy, she immediately started crying.

More parent guilt.

After this, life went on as normal, only now Jacey was involved in the searching and every day she had about 5 more dogs to show me.

On October 19th, the Nevada SPCA posted a picture of “Chica” who was debuting for adoption on their Facebook page, a few hours before they opened for the day. She seemed perfect! Yorkie female, 4 years old, spayed, house-trained and crate-trained. Remembering the previous experience, I threw myself into the shower, checked Jacey out of school and rushed to the shelter. We met her and as you can see, the rest is history. Jacey fell in love immediately and even I couldn’t deny how adorable she was, so we adopted her.

Funniest part is, Bryan had no clue. He knew we were looking, but he was working that day and when he is out in the GCS flying, I can’t get a hold of him unless it is an emergency. I had sent him a text, so he saw it as soon as he started to head home. I am very thankful that my husband totally trusts my decisions in his absence or I might have been in the dog house :).

Jacey promptly renamed her Zoey and it is hard to imagine life without her now. She is a riot, full of personality (attitude) and really good. She is dealing with some separation anxiety, she freaks out anytime we leave her sight but it is slowly getting better. We don’t know if it is just the fact that Yorkies are prone to that in general or if her being abandoned at the shelter caused it. She loves to be brushed, handles baths pretty well, did fabulous at the groomers but hates to have her teeth brushed and bows put in her hair (much to J’s dismay). She had a great vet checkup, with her only issue being minor seasonal allergies. She LOVES to go for walks and about jumps out of her skin when she sees you get the harness out. She rides fairly well, definitely better in the harness seat belt as opposed to the crate. She is a bit bipolar at the dog park, doing great one day and getting riled up at the sight of the same 2 dogs on other days. Work in progress. She is learning some basic commands and we plan to get her into obedience training in January after the holidays.

She doesn’t bark much, except at the dog park, when our neighbor gets too close to our gate and she is in the backyard and oh…anytime I touch Bryan! She is SOOO jealous of him. We are working on that trigger, but it is so darn funny. I kiss him and she freaks out. I hug him and she freaks out. We aren’t quite sure what it is about him, but she sure is fond of him. She also gets super mad at him when she sees him put his flightsuit on to go to work and proceeds to pout. She will come curl up wherever I am and ignore him.

Total diva, but we can’t say we weren’t warned. That was the first thing out of the shelter volunteers mouth when we requested to see her :).