Keep Kira Smiling: December 2015

It's been a whirlwind since The last update, we are surprised it has been 2 months since the last one!! Where to begin...about 2 weeks before Kira was diagnosed with cancer we had booked flights to Palm Springs for Easter. Since we were unable to go in April due to chemo treatments we re-booked our flights for early November, it was time for some relaxation. While we were there we surprised Kira and Jace with 3 nights in Disneyland! They have both earned some happy, carefree fun time!! While in Palm Springs Kira spent 1 - 2 hours swimming in the pool each day. She really missed swimming!!! Disney was hectic however Kira really enjoyed herself, meeting the disney characters and princesses! We flew out of Calgary on a Sunday afternoon flight to Palm Springs, that morning Jon (Kira's leg guy) made one last adjustment on Kira's leg. Prior to this Kira would only wear her leg for about 2 hours at a time and just did not look comfortable. This last adjustment made a big difference and Kira was able to wear her leg all day!! While in Disney we used Kira's wheel chair a lot to get her around, she still wore her leg but got tired and sore quickly! Will take some time to build up her strength and stamina!

Following the Disney/Palm Springs trip Kira's next trip back to Calgary at the end of November was for the first round of her follow up tests. These consisted of an ECG and Echo to monitor her heart, Bone Scan and CT scan looking for Cancer. These test will be done every 3 months for 2 years, then will become less frequent but will continue for the next 10 years. Two weeks later Kira went back for the test results and another ECG and Echo on her heart. It appears the decreased heart function mentioned in previous updates is back. While the decrease is considered minor, the Cardiologist wants to stay on top of this and monitor closely! During this visit we were given the awesome news that Kira is currently Cancer FREE! This was a huge relief to hear and we are hoping future follow up tests are the same!!!

During this visit the Calgary Flames were visiting the Alberta Childrens Hospital. Kira and Jace got to spend some time with the players, crafting, chatting and got lots of autographs!! They were even on the jumbo tron at the Flames game and the news the next nite!

Kira and Jace also attended a Montreal Canadians Alumni game in Stettler where Kira dropped the puck. The game was very entertaining and Kira was presented with a game stick signed by all the players.

Kira has also been attending school more regular and performed with her class in their Christmas Concert....she has not lost her love of performing on stage!! Through all of this Kira has continued to wear and walk on her leg. She no longer takes crutches to school and the wheel chair has not been used since Disneyland in early November!!!

During the many days and nights spent in the hospital there was a lot of talk about puppies, looking at puppy pictures and watching puppy videos. When we were home Kira liked to visit the local Home Hardware store which is also a pet store to see what they had for puppies. We agreed to get a puppy once Kira's treatments were done. During a visit in early December we found Kira's puppy!!

On December 18th, the day after Kira's birthday she went to the Alberta Childrens Hospital to finally have the port in her chest removed! This was a day surgery and for Kira and all of us, marked the end of this leg of Kira's journey! Everything went really well and 3 hours after waking up, Kira was dancing and has not slowed down since!!!! We spent Christmas at home, happy that the Cancer is gone and that Kira is feeling great, and realizing that puppies are a lot of work!