Sorta big news...

I recently sent this email to close family/friends. I thought I would post it here in case someone was missed on email who happens to follow my blog. I also want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has responded to my email. I have gotten nothing but love and support from all of you. I can't begin to express how much that really means. Having an excellent support system in place is important for my long term success. Thank you!

Hi everyone. This is brand new news to some of you, old news to others but important for me to share regardless. As all of you know, my weight has been a serious struggle for quite some time. I'm capable of losing weight but have never been a success at maintaining weight loss. While I have been lucky thus far and avoided comorbidities such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes etc, it is impossible to remain at my current weight and not have these issues arise eventually. About a year ago my endocrinologist(doctor who manages my thyroid levels since it has been removed) and I had a conversation about my weight as I was looking for advice on long term success with weight control. While it IS possible for me to lose weight through diet and exercise, it is hard. I have a couple of issues working against me. One is insulin resistance related to my PCOS and the other is that we've had a hard time regulating my thyroid levels since surgery. He basically told me that this is going to be an uphill battle for the rest of my life. Yay me! *I'm totally rolling my eyes here* At that time, and with his encouragement, I began looking into gastric bypass surgery. This has been a very long process. I attended 6 months of classes through the weight management center at Alegent Health. I've met with a psychiatrist(a couple of times) who had to declare me "mentally fit" to make the decision to go ahead with type of life altering surgery. I've met with a pharmacist, bariatric nutritionist and patients who have already undergone this surgery(some who have been successful and some who have not). Along with Darren, my endocrinologist, my GP and the bariatric surgeon, I have decided to go ahead with gastric bypass surgery. They are all supportive of my decision and feel that I am well informed, as do I. The surgery itself is a BIG surgery. They will create a 2 oz pouch of stomach that will be my "new" stomach. The other portion of my stomach will remain inside and continue functioning and making gastric juices, it just won't get contact with food. The next step in the surgery is to reroute a portion of my small intestines. They will bypass about 3 feet of small intestines, and connect the jejunum to my new pouch. My intestines will also remain inside and functioning. It will reconnect further down in my intestines and meet back up so that all of the appropriate juices still get to the food....just a bit further along in the digestive process. This creates two new processes. One, I will be restricted in the amount of food I can take in(approx 1-1 1/2 cups after a year out from surgery) and two, because of the rerouting of intestines, I will be absorbing less fat/sugar. Thus....weight loss. Crazy, huh!? The first 6 months after surgery are the hardest. In the beginning, while my new pouch is learning to work, I will be on a liquid diet...usually this lasts for about two weeks. I will then move to soft foods(mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese etc) for a couple of weeks, it will continue to progress as tolerated and by about 6-8 weeks out I'll be on a pretty normal diet. I will have to avoid tough or dry meat, tough skins(such as apples, grapes), super fibrous foods(pineapple, oranges), seeds(strawberries, nuts) for a bit longer. I may or may not tolerate those foods in the future...it's luck of the draw basically. I may also struggle with breads, pasta, rice etc. Those foods will be limited anyway due to the carb content. I will be in the hospital for three days. I will have an On-Q pain pump placed inside my belly that will provide local pain control and will also be hooked up to a morphine pump for a couple of days. The surgery is laproscopic, I will have 5-8 small incisions and one 3-4 inch incision. The larger incision will be left open to heal from the inside out. They say it usually takes about 10 days. I will be really restricted in lifting and some physical activities for about 4 weeks. I will be doing LOTS of walking however, speeds up the recovery. Darren will be off the week of surgery and Emily will be here the following week. The third week Darren will be home again. Emily is "on-call" for the 4th week but I hope to be very much back to normal by then. My mom has offered to be available if we need help as well. Here is the kicker....my surgery is scheduled for 0730am, next Wednesday, the 18th! Only 5 days away! It will be at Immanuel and I expect to be there until Saturday the 21st. I know that all of you probably know the friend of a friend, or someone who had this surgery and regrets it, had complications or has not been successful with it. I know. What I am really asking for though, is your support and your prayers. Prayers for an uncomplicated, easy recovery. Prayers for this surgery to be a success and for me to be back in control of my weight and health. I am excited and a little bit anxious. My surgeon is top of the line and I have great faith in him!
I am in the process of a 7 day pre-op diet of protein shakes, sugar free jello and chicken broth. It sucks but will totally be worth it in the end. Thank you for loving me and for being supportive. It means a lot to both Darren and I!!

Jamie

P.S. If I have forgotten someone who you feel would like these details, feel free to share. While I am not screaming this information of the rooftops, because it is personal, I am not embarrassed about having this surgery. I am actually very proud of myself for taking the reigns and becoming in control of my health before significant problems arise.

Chary and Dailon

I guess I should also throw in a quick update of the CPS case. In October we met with the foster care review board. It was the regular 6 month review and they have now officially recommended that termination of parental rights be filed. Good gracious, it's about time. The FCRB is a group of volunteers who are educated in Nebraska law regarding foster care. They are often attorneys, casas, social workers, teachers, medical professionals etc who have some first hand experience with the system. They are not paid or connected to any current case in any way. Their opinions are taken seriously by the guardian ad lit em, prosecuting attorney and judge. We were relieved to hear that they have finally decided that mom and dad have had enough time and that these kids need stability in their lives. A few weeks later there was another hearing. Because dad had only been adjudicated a couple of months previous, they extended the case for another 6 months. It is frustrating but makes sense. If termination is going to happen, they need their ducks in a nice straight row! We do not want termination of parental rights overturned on appeal.

At this time mom and dad do not have appropriate housing. They do not have transportation other than the bus which they only agree to ride some of the time. They miss many of the kids therapy/doctor appointments. They cancel quite a few visits....minimum of one a week for the last few months, often times more. Dad has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was refused for surgery as his lungs are apparently not healthy enough for him to have the general anesthesia. He has had some other treatments in the meantime and hopefully will recover fully.

We go back to court in April. I guess we'll have to wait and see what April brings...

Hawaii, Dailon and Ayla's birthdays

More

All of the Splonskowski cousins at Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Nebraska City, picking apples at the orchard

Pictures!

Ayla's first friend birthday party.

Pumpkin patch!

GO BIG RED!!!

Mickey and Minnie

OMG....I'm back!

I have so much catching up to do. It's actually hard to decide where exactly to start. In September all three kids started school. Chary is going to Mother's Day Out one day a week at Westside Church. Dailon started going two mornings a week at Imagine and Explore as well as continuing with Behaven on Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Ayla started PreK at the Millard Education Foundation five afternoons a week. All are doing well and Dailon has actually since graduated from Behaven and is home with other than his Tuesday and Thursday classes at I&E.

October was a big month...we took all of the kids to Disney, Ayla lost her first tooth and Ayla also turned 5!

In November things slowed down a bit. Chary potty trained at 28 months which felt like a huge accomplishment as she was so behind and delayed when she came to us at 18 months. We enjoyed Thanksgiving and had most of our Christmas shopping done by the end of the month.

In December, Darren, Dailon and I all had birthdays. Dailon had his first birthday party ever and was so, so happy and grateful. It was amazing to share it with him. Darren, Ayla and I spent a week in Hawaii and it was hands down the BEST VACATION EVER! We snorkeled, sailed, swam, sun bathed, ate the best sushi and so many types of seafood, swam with dolphins, visited a pineapple plantation, went over one hundred feet down in a submarine....I could go on and on. It was hard to leave but we were very excited to come back to Chary and Dailon. Christmas was spent at home, we were blessed to have John and Carol here to celebrate with us. The kids had an amazing Christmas and there is nothing more that Darren and I wanted than just that.

Today is January 3rd. Not much to say about this month yet! Darren and have committed to do things for us. More date nights, healthier food choices, more exercise. In the year that we've had Chary and Dailon the focus has been on our children. It had to be and there are no regrets however, things are good now. Ayla has adjusted nicely, C&D are doing well and there is now time and energy left over to focus on ourselves and each other. I have high hopes for this year!