It's the little things!

Keira went in for Chemo on Monday but we were pleasantly surprised when the doctor told us she only had to stay one night instead of five. She is home and doing ok but the side effects are definitely kicking in and we've been told that this combination is going to be tougher on her than anything she has had before. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she won't be in the hospital for her Birthday on August 8 or for her party on August 10 and that she feels well enough to enjoy it.

Yesterday Brendan Jr. painted a seashell for Keira and gave it to her as soon as he got home. He was so excited to give it to her and said he made it to make her feel better. She took it and said "Brendan this is so beautiful you're the best brother ever" and gave him a big hug than she told him "I will keep this with me all the time so I can think of you even when we aren't together". It was so awesome, I wish I got it on video. So cool to see that even with everything this little girl is going through she still takes pleasure in the littlest things. My daughter has already taught me more than I will ever teach her and she continues to amaze me everyday. I am so blessed to have such beautiful children inside and out.

I can't wait until the day when cancer is a distant memory until then, we'll continue to find joy in the little things because Keira wouldn't have it any other way.

Keira is home

Keira came home on Monday, she is doing well and eating a lot. Hopefully we can fatten her up. if she makes counts on Monday we are back in the hospital for five days but it is nice to be home for now.

Felling better but not ready to come home just yet

Keira is feeling much better. She had company yesterday which was absolutely wonderful! We are just waiting for her counts to come up at this point. Hopefully that will happen soon. Her doctors are seriously considering a feeding tube because she is down to 28 lbs. She is eating well so they are going to hold off to see if we can't get some weight on her. Of course, we are really hoping that she doesn't need a feeding tube but it will likely be very hard to get weight on her without one because she is so high energy when she feeling well. She lost the little bit of hair she had so she really looks sick which is hard to take. We need those thoughts and prayers.... this round of chemo isn't even half way over and she is already having a really hard time.

Back in the hospital but at least we know what is going on

This morning we found out that Keira has a condition called c diff. It is caused by the antibiotics she takes three days a week to prevent her from contracting a life threatening pneumonia. Apparently the "good bacteria" that your body needs to process waste have been depleted. We don't know how severe her case of c diff is yet or how they plan to treat her. I will update when we know more.

Update - Keira's case is mild. They will treat her with an oral medication that she can even take at home. She will be discharged when her counts recover. Last time it took 13 days, hopefully this time will be much sooner.

Our first time traveling

  We found out on Wednesday that Keira's counts were very low but Dr. Halligan told us we would be fine to visit my parents because the chief of Oncology at the local hospital studied under him. Luckily, we made it through the long weekend with no fevers so no hospital visits were necessary. We went to Knoebels on Thursday and Friday and Keira had a blast on the rides. She basically slept through an awesome fireworks show on Saturday but we got her to watch some and she seemed to enjoy them. 

 Unfortunately, The chemo is really taking a toll on her, she won't eat, gets sick frequently and is exhausted pretty much all the time. We have five more weeks of really intense Chemo to get through and I hope they go by fast. It is really tough on all of us to see Keira suffering. It especially takes a toll on her brother because he doesn't understand what is going on. He keeps getting frustrated with her because all she wants to do is sleep and he is quite jealous of all the attention she gets from us because we are so concerned about her. 

Crying happy tears!

The results of Keira's bone marrow biopsy are back and she is "within the normal range".... sounds so simple but it is proof that the Chemo is working and the cancer cells are being destroyed. If you've been following the blog you may recall that her doctor's expected her to be cancer free on Chemo in January but she wasn't and that changed her to a "high risk" patient. They were careful to point out to me when they shared the news that his doesn't change her treatment plan, she is still considered high risk. They also told me that her odds of being cured do not change. She still has an 80% chance of being cured and they won't consider her cured until she completes her treatment in two and half years and then stays cancer free without chemo for five years.

That being said, this is amazingly good news!!!! Now that we know the Chemo is working, it simply needs to stay that way...... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep thinking of and praying for our baby. She is one amazing little girl with an incredible spirit and a complete blessing to us. We know that all the positive energy being sent her way is helping to make her better.

I'm not sure how you are supposed to celebrate something like this.... I'm just so glad that we get to figure it out.