"Mom, just make sure it doesn't rain on our birthday, okay"

Keira continues to respond very well to treatment. We now have eight months left of chemo. She has adjusted pretty well to the maintenance regimen. She has to take steroids for the first five days of every month which can be really tough. She can't sleep and is hungry all the time. The side effects from her various medications include mood swings, paranoia, irritability, anxiety and a host of others. She has tantrums sometimes like a toddler which is embarrassing when it happens in public. The first two weeks of each treatment cycle are the toughest. We just started this cycle on Monday.

These side effects are insignificant in the grand scheme of things but they can be tough to deal with from day to day. The worst is when she gets very upset because she will scream at me that she hates me or I am the worst mother and then ten minutes later she is hysterical and apologizing because she feels terrible and can't control herself. I am getting a glimpse of what it will be like to have a teenager  and quite honestly.... I'm scared.

Other than the side effects, everything is going great. Keira and Brendan are enjoying the summer very much but really can't wait for their birthday so they keep wishing it away. The other day in the car she said "Mom, just make sure it doesn't rain on our birthday, okay" she was so matter of fact that for a minute I had to remind myself (and then her) that I have no control over the weather.

The twins are taking swimming lessons and we were able to spend a day in Ocean City courtesy of Kisses for Kyle. We had a really great time. Then we went to visit mom-mom and pop-pop and of course went to Knoebel's for a couple days and she had an absolute blast. She loves the rides even the really scary adult rides that make me feel sick just watching.

This picture was taken over the weekend.... you can see how incredibly healthy she looks and how nice her hair is coming back. I'm going to try to post more to the blog. I know everyone is still very concerned about Keira and it means so very much to us.