Wow...It's been a while!!!

I know its been a while since I last updated. I apologize for being slack. Anyways, not much has changed since the last post. I guess the statement "No News is Good News" is correct. Keely has progressed so much in the last 2 months. I have seen a big difference since she is now an independant sitter. She is patty-caking, peek-a-booing, finding her nose and mommy's nose, and know where her feet are. She is truly a mess. These days, she weighs 31lbs. The dietician may be cutting her calories back in February. We have to be careful to not get her overweight. Other than that, no major changes for Keely. We have been hospital free for going on 7 months now. This is the longest time out since she was born. That is something to brag about right there. Brandon, is also doing well. He is now in the maitenance part of Chemo. He will continue on for another year and then hopefully will be done. At least we are praying hard that he will be. When I get more news, I will update. Hope everyone had a great holiday! Our's was great considering last year we were in Charleston.

Continued Blessings!!

I just realized that I am falling completely down on this blogging thing. I was suppose to update everyone as soon as Keely's surgery was done 2 weeks ago. I guess better than never! Anyways, Keely's surgery went fine, despite the obstacles that we had to go through to get her to the surgery day. Lets just say we went down on Monday and didn't get home until Thursday. She had her tear ducts unclogged, her Broviac removed, and she had a broch. They ended up keeping her overnight in the PICU so that they could watch her due to her past history and removed the Broviac the morning after surgery because they couldn't get another IV access while she was asleep after attempting numerous times in surgery. But, all is well now and she is loving the broviac being gone and so is mama. For one, she has the luxery now of enjoying a nice tub bath instead of a sponge bath. Who wouldn't??? Keely had a follow-up with Dr. Bonnett yesterday for the thrush and to get her H1N1 vaccination. I was also a little worried that she may be coming down with something due to a cough and increased amount of secretions. So, I suggested before the H1N1 was given that they swab her for RSV just to rule out. Thankfully, that came back negative and the thrush is gone. They also took some cultures of Keely's stool because she has had diarrhea of and on for about 2 weeks now. So, with her history of C-Diff, they want to rule it out and also checking for a bacteria infection in the intestional tract. If they come back positive, she will have to start some antibiotics. For now, that is about all that is going on with Keely. Brandon, on the otherhand, is still doing remarkable. He is currently on the maintenace rounds of chemo which will last for another year or so. He has lost his hair for the 2nd time since he started back in March. No worries for him though, because he likes to shave his head anyways. As we approach Thanksgiving, we remind ourselves everyday that we have so much to be thankful for in our lives. God has truly blessed our family the past year and a half and he continues to bless us each and everyday. OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!!!!

As Halloween is fast approaching, I decided that today, would be a perfect day to try on Keely's First Halloween costume. Although last year was her first Halloween, she was unable to go out due to the serious medical issues she was battling. I thank God that she is healthy at the moment. Hoping that she is going to prove medical history wrong and stay that way. She is already against the odds. Anyways, back to the costume.....I decided on a Duck for this years costume. When I seen it, I immediately fell in love with it. For one, yellow always tends to look nice on Keely. And two, its just too cute. We are still unsure of rather or not we are going to take her out on Halloween night. She really does not need to be in the cold night air. We will see!
On another note, we ask that all of you keep Keely in your prayers while we travel to Charleston Monday for doctor appointments and Tuesday morning when she has surgery. She will be having her broviac (IV access) in her chest removed, along with a Lacrimal Duct Probing. (to unclog her tear ducts) We are scheduled for outpatient surgery so lets hope that she does well with these 2 minor procedures which shouldn't take but 30 minutes start to finish for both. If so, then we will be home tuesday night. I will update as soon as we get home. I hope that everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. Take Care! With Love!

Praying for Stellan!!!!

A Very Eventful Day!!!

Today was a rather eventful day for "little Miss Keely". She started the day out by going to the Pulmonologist at Richland to get her RSV shot that she will have to get for the next couple of months while the RSV season is in. After that, we took her to the Fair for the very first time. Eventhough, she could not get on any of the rides, she had a great time riding in her stroller taking in all of the excitement. I will not leave out the one thing that she got to do. She got to pet the tame rabbit at the Magic Farm Show. We are beginning to see that she is going to be an animal lover. Anyways, after a couple hours at the fair, we left to return home but we had one last stop to make. Might I add, that Keely's day was filled with ALOT of firsts, because she got to go grocery shopping for the first time today. When we got home, she was so pooped that she crashed at 7 pm and slept for the night. She was worn out from all the moving around we had to do, but she was a GREAT trooper. I have to say myself, that I am so proud that she got to experience the fair eventhough she didn't really know what was going on.

I know that its been a while since I last posted, but I seem to get caught in the daily grind of things around here. Although, I still find time to Facebook. LOL! Anyways, my little angel is 19 months old now and still just a growing. Not only is she growing in weight and length (26lbs 11oz and 29 1/4 inches) she is growing with learning new skills. I am the pround mama of a "New Sitter". Finally!!!!! She is still a little wobbly, but that is wearing off rather quickly. Also, she is getting sillier and sillier by the day. It still amazes me how happy she is with ALL that she has been through. I can't wait to wake up in the mornings to see her smiling face. I wanted to share this picture with ya'll because it is one of my most recent favorites. This picture was taken last weekend at my parent's house. We were getting her ready to ride on the golf cart which she absolutely LOVED. She spent more time outdoors this weekend than she has her entire life. I can tell that she is going to be an outside girl!!!! I can't wait until she is up and running outside playing in the dirt like most kids. Anyways, I am currently trying to peice together a Halloween costume for Keely. She didn't get to dress up her 1st Halloween, because she was in and out of the hospital, but I am going to dress her up this year and I can't wait to post pictures of her in her costume. I am so excited! Stay Tuned!!!!!

Sorry that I am just now getting around to updating from Keely's recent doctor's visits. First of all, she is completely over the RSV and doing well. The pulmonologist says that Keely looks really good to her and her lungs sounded clear. Also, we have a consult with the Pediatric Surgeon so that we can get her Broviac taken out. The reason being, is that "Miss Priss" is starting to pull on things now and I am terrified that she is going to pull that thing out and bleed to death. She has already come close in the middle of the night when she decides that she wants to wake up and play. .Something just told me to get up and look at her. So thankful that I went with my instinct. Anyways, the most exciting news that we got was that Keely's heart function has returned completely to normal and the pulmonary pressures are normal. This is the first time since birth that they have been normal. The Cardiologist says that this is a miracle and I honestly believe that God is showing favoritism to her. I thank him everyday for that. We are in the process of trying something new with Keely. She has not had anything in her stomach besides the one medicine that she gets via the g-tube in 12 months. We are trying to bolus feed her so that we can get a g-tube button and not have the dangling tube that she has now. Since she is j-tube fed which means fed in the intestines, we will have to be completely sure that she is tolerating this before we make the switch. So, it is my guess that it will be a while before we make the switch. Anyways, this is all the news I have for now. Please continue to pray for her that she stays healthy and event free. Love you guys!!!