January/February

Thought I would share some random goodness from the beginning of 2011. Pictures of our little peanut always make us smile... she is constantly busy and thinking of new ways to keep herself entertained.

If you don't believe me check out this video,



Also, be sure to check out the pictures below.

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Snow much fun!

Keira and I were able to convince Naveen to take a few days off and come play up in the snow with us. Ski Week was timed perfectly this year as we had LOTS of fresh snow to play in.



Our condo was right on the lake and there was a Keira-sized sledding hill right outside our back patio.



It was nice to just have a few days away just the 3 of us.



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Sleep Training a Cat!

I know everyone thought we were crazy, but the sleep training was semi-successful. Nip is much more tolerant of K and although he still cries occasionally at night, I think he knows his place in the family now. :)

Here is a video from Day 1

Hearing Evaluation

Keira went for a Hearing Evaluation this morning. After her Speech Evaluation it was suggested that we also get a baseline measure for where her hearing is at right now. Apparently, chemo can cause hearing loss, and although the amount of chemo she is receiving is low, we agreed that it couldn't hurt to get a baseline.

I was quite curious as to how they can test the hearing of such little children but the doctor certainly knew what she was doing. Everything was a game and Keira did surprisingly well following her directions. Basically, she had Keira wear little earbuds and hold a toy up to her cheek, then when she heard a noise, she put the toy into the container. The other test consisted of the doctor going into another room and speaking to Keira only through the earbuds. Keira was suppose to wait for her to give a direction, ie. point to the ice cream cone, etc. but Keira was a little more distracted without her right there. She then modified the activity and had Keira simple put a puzzle piece into a puzzle when she said she could... wait, wait, ok.

Overall the Evaluation went well. The doctor was impressed with how verbal Keira is and that she was able to play all her games with her since she usually waits until a child is 2 years old. In fact, she said that Keira would move the block to the alternate cheek before putting it in the container if the sound came from the opposite ear. Pretty smart if you ask me!

The good news is that K can hear just fine - which is good for us to know since we are getting to that age where she chooses to ignore us!

5th Treatment

We washed our Packer gear after the Superbowl so that we could represent at LPCH during K's Treatment Day.



We lucked out with a private room again this month and took full advantage of it. After her January cold we were a bit paranoid about leaving our room and exposing her to any germs.



Poornima and Abhi came down for a few hours while Naveen had to be on some calls. K was happy for the distraction and had fun playing with her little buddy.



Naveen also spent a good deal of time teaching Keira how to play Fruit Ninja. I'm not sure how much she actually got to play but Naveen has the new high score. :)



Keira continues to amaze the hospital staff with how well she tolerates the IV and frequent check-ins. She has still not figured out how to nap at the hospital so it is a very long day for all of us and she is exhausted by the time we are able to go home.

Superbowl

Everyone was wearing their green and gold on February 6th for the Superbowl!


Keira and Abhi were quite interested in the game and did a great job cheering for the winning team. Go Packers Go!


It was a bit chaotic watching the game with two little ones running around but we made the best of it and had a great time watching the Packers win!!


Check out the action with this video -


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Clinic Visit

Keira and I had our monthly visit to LPCH to visit Dr. Effinger. Thankfully, since she has recovered from her cold, there have been no new issues. Keira's walking/running continues to improve. We still do see her left foot turn inward and she has the occasional fall but it is not frequent enough for us to really worry at this point.

I do have to say that our routine has set in and Keira is more than comfortable at the hospital. While I was taking care of the paperwork/payment, she was walking around making friends with the other waiting patients and nurses. She even went with the nurse to get her vitals started without me! Imagine the look of surprise on my face when I found her sitting in the chair with the blood pressure cuff on all by herself.... and... she had already done her height and weight without me! It is hard to believe that only a few months ago we had to hold her down for this simple procedure and most of the time the readings were far from accurate since she wouldn't sit still.

When we finally got in to see Dr. Effinger she felt that Keira looked great. Keira was a little chatter box and filled the doctor in on all the important happenings at our house, including the fact that her daddy is home but now sick and has to blow his nose. :) Some of the other highlights of our visit this month include Keira and Dr. Effinger racing down the hallway, Keira being allowed to use Dr. Effinger's stethoscope to hear her own heartbeat, and Keira teaching the whole reception area some of her new ASL signs.

Dr. Effinger was pleased to see that going back to the daily steroids have helped suppress the OMS symptoms we saw flare up with her cold, and she told us that we would not try to wean for at least another month. Our treatment day is scheduled for next Monday where Keira will again receive her monthly dose of Cytoxin and IVIg.

One interesting thing to mention is that because Keira is on chemo we have to be very careful with live vaccines that her friends might be getting at their Well Baby Visits. MMR, Chicken Pox and the Nasal Flu Vaccine are all cause for concern and we were told that Keira should stay away for 7 days.

Just another thing for us to all keep in mind so that we can keep Little K as healthy and symptom free as possible!