Keira is doing great

I've been so bad about updating the blog because things have been going well and there isn't much to report. Keira was able to start school on April 28. She went for a week and then a teacher had Shingles so she missed last week. She'll be back again on Monday. Overall she is doing very well. Her hair is growing in and looks so cute. She has gained all of her weight back and a little "cushion". She was in the hospital in February and March for short periods while she was sick but they didn't have to keep her for weeks like they did before she was in maintenance.

In April we got to take Keira and Brendan to Disney for 5 days. They had an absolute blast. We didn't say anything for the months leading up to going because we wanted to get a Disney surprise video and well, we were surprised. This video cracks me up. 

Christmas was incredible.

Keira attended 7 holiday parties this year! She has been feeling good and not much has changed. I learned last week that the medicines she is on will be repeated over and over again for the next 16 months while she is in maintenance. That will make it easy for us to dispense (she takes 7 or 8 meds daily depending on the time of the month). I'm a little stressed because the steroids are still causing sleeplessness and mood swings hopefully the side effects will dwindle the longer she is on them. We had an amazing Christmas thanks to Kisses for Kyle and St. Christopher's. We are looking forward to 2014!!!!

One year ago today our lives changed forever

 I used to wonder all the time when I would feel like an adult. Having a career, getting married, having children, none of that ever made me feel like an adult. I've always been responsible but I also always felt like I was still a kid. Until I heard Keira's diagnosis and had to sign paperwork for my baby to have her first blood transfusion. That was it, the day that I was unmistakably an adult. It seems impossible that a whole year has gone by. Our family has been changed forever. We now know how precious every moment is, how nothing can be taken for granted and how absolutely amazing people can be to one another.

We've had a tough year for sure. We know that there are many others who have it much worse and many who would have given anything to hold to their babies for 365 days after their diagnosis. I'd like to think that we have something to do with why Keira is coming through all of this so well but really I know that we're getting through this because our daughter is so incredible. I know with every fiber of my being that Keira will beat this and go on to get nothing less than the best that the world has to offer. She simply has to.

It's the holiday season......

Thanksgiving was awesome! We had such a wonderful time at my cousin's new house. Keira enjoyed the turkey enough to have seconds. Her appetite has been wonderful without steroids or an appetite stimulant so we are thrilled. One of the drugs she is taking (not sure which) is causing sleeplessness. Since last week she has been getting up at 4 a.m and cannot get back to sleep. It has been tough on us because she gets up several times during the night and then is ready to go at 4. We haven't been this tired since we had infants. Last night she work up at 4 but went back to sleep until 7 so I'm really hoping she is going to get back to a normal sleep schedule.

We are so very thankful for how wonderful Keira is doing. We have now been through three consecutive months without a hospitalization. There isn't much to blog about because she is simply doing great!!!!

We tried to take a picture for our Holiday cards today but my camera decided to stay at my cousins and help with leftovers and I don't love the ones from the iphone so we'll try again tomorrow but here is a sneak preview.

Keira's last chemo treatment is scheduled for April 4, 2015

It is good to know there is an end in sight and they are predicting that Keira will finish six months sooner than they thought she would  when they gave us an update in January.  Keira continues to respond well to treatment and overall is doing really well. She has gained weight and looks much healthier. She is back on steroids so she is eating everything in sight.

Last week Keira and Brendan got to model ins a fashion show at a Kisses for Kyle event they had so much fun. Halloween was wonderful and they are so excited for Christmas. Being back to work is tougher than I imagined it would be, it is really hard sometimes to focus when in my heart I want to be with Keira. I'm beyond grateful for my job and the ability to keep it but I underestimated how tough it would be to juggle so much.

A tough part about having a child with cancer is that you get to know a lot of other kids and families battling cancer. Last week we learned that a young man that we knew lost his battle. He had gone through treatment once and then relapsed. He was a teenager so Keira didn't spend much time with him but his younger brother is her age and she played with him all the time at clinic. Keria also loved his mom, she was always sitting in her lap and playing with them.

Hearing about a loss stirs up so many emotions, my heart aches for his family, I am comforted that he is finally at peace and as horrible as it is to admit thankful that it wasn't my baby. Every day with Keira is a blessing!

The kids asked me to tape them "making a show" it is pretty cute and you can see how well Keira is doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPzXBUODCXU&feature=youtu.be

Feeling good!

Keira is doing really well. She will begin the maintenance phase of her treatment on October 29. During maintenance her chemo will be delivered in lower doses and she will have to go to the clinic about once a week. She will continue this treatment for the next 2.5 to 3 years. We are really getting into our new routine, Keira's teacher is here three days a week and she is doing very well. We are still able to get out a lot but soon with flu season we will have to be a lot more selective about where and when we go out. The good thing about maintenance is that she should have good white blood counts unless she gets sick. Unlike the earlier phases of treatment when the chemo caused her white blood cells to drop all the time. 

Keira's hair is coming back in. She can still lose it anytime she gets a certain medication that she will need periodically for the duration of her treatment but for now I think we might actually see some hair for the winter. 

We are still having a hard time getting calories into Keira. Even with Pediasure and an appetite stimulant it is tough because she wants to eat cucumbers and apples all day long. I have to actually tell her "no more cucumbers unless you dip them in dressing" or "no more apples until you eat some ice cream". 

She is in good spirits. This morning when she woke up she told me "I must have overslept" I asked her why she said that and she said "you were already up". "I know, there was someone using a chain saw or something this morning before 7:15 on my day off" I told her. "Why" she asked. "I don't know maybe they were cutting down a tree but it wasn't very nice for them to be out there that early". Her response.... "Poor tree, I hope it will be ok. I love trees".... honestly I don't think there is a kinder kid in the whole world. 

Oh yeah an entire month with no hospitalizations!

Keira was not in the hospital overnight for the entire month of September. Quite amazing! Hopefully October goes this well!