Thank you for coming by our family blog.

My name is Mae, I'm 25 years old and the proud mother to 3 amazing children!

My oldest child, was born in September of 2007. She is an amazing child! Kami loves to be outside. she loves to watch birds, and can pedal her 2 wheeled bike with training wheels, she also loves to roller skate (she's getting pretty good!) She is also learning how to play T-ball and is doing a great job! She loves to do arts and crafts activities, enjoys painting, "writing", and watching Dora, Diego, Umi Zoomi, and Clifford. She thinks books are wonderful and her favorite books are "I Spy" books along with several others! She has an amazing imagination, and is Mommy's big helper. She loves to be in the kitchen helping to cook up stuff! She has been such an amazing child through all we've been through.

In April 2009 I gave birth to amazing twin boys, Marshall and Keegan. They are the most hilarious and silly boys I've ever met! Having twins is no easy task, but it is so worth it! Always something new and never a dull moment! They were born at 38.5 weeks so they were full term and both over 5lbs a piece.

Marshall is 2 minutes older and is my "big boy". He loves food, and he has the best sense of humor! He's always smiling and giggling and doing something silly to make everyone laugh. I have a feeling he'll be the class clown, if he can ever get over his shyness. He's one of those slow to warm children when he's around new people. He is totally a Mama's boy. He is a huge snuggler! He is also one of those children who goes "FULL FORCE" into everything he does. We call him the little bull dozer. He loves to be outside and running or following his big sister around (he adores his big sister!). Because of his brothers illness, I've always been concerned that Marshall would come down ill, but thankfully he has not! I just pray to God he stays healthy! Marshall is such a cuddly joy!

Keegan is our little "tough guy". At 3 months old Keegan was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma a type of cancer that affects the nervous system, and usually starts in the Adrenal gland. July 31st is a day that changed our world. For 2 months we fought with his pedi to get answers on what was wrong with the little guy. It was hard for him to eat, he cried all the time, spit up, had problems going poo, his tummy was huge and hard (it looked like someone shoved a basketball in his stomach). He refused to be on his tummy, and his belly button was sticking out (it was a hernia). And he wasn't growing well.

His pedi refused to listen to us and so on July 11th we took him to the local ER and they did an xray and a CT scan and then sent us directly to University of Missouri Children's Hospital, we were there for several days while they ran test after test. They couldn't find out what was wrong and sent us home for a bit and we came back as out patient to do more and more tests. On July 31st they did a liver biopsy and found he had Neuroblastoma 4s.

Neuroblastoma is the "right cancer at the right age" (Although I still say there IS NO such thing as a "right cancer at any age". In newborns Neuroblastoma can go away on it's own with no treatment. Keegan's tumors had started in his liver, he had a primary tumor on the external area of his liver, and then the inside of his liver was filled with tumors. His liver was had grown to the size of an adults, if not a little bigger. It had taken up almost all the room in his tummy and his stomach and intestines were all squished up, making movement, eating, and bowel movements uncomfy for him.

So we came back in August and September for urine tests to monitor his HVN1 levels. Everything was looking great.

Until October. October, things took a turn for the worst. He had scans that month and the primary tumor had grown. It was growing up his back bone and in between his vertebrae and was starting to press against his spinal sac. We had noticed in September that his right leg was starting to kick all the time like a nervous tick. At first we just thought he was figuring out he could move more comfy, but then we were told the tumor had grown and this was more than likely the cause of his leg twitch.

They couldn't remove the part of the tumor that was growing in his abdomen has it was wrapped around major blood vessels and would have been an extremely dangerous surgery that could have killed him had they hit one wrong vessel. So they could only remove the part that was growing up his back. This was still a very long, and still a pretty dangerous surgery.

Keegan had just turned 6 months old when they operated on Oct. 30th. So his first Halloween was spent in the hospital, but he recuperated well! During the several hours long surgery they placed in his port (a hickman port). They had to drill away a tiny bit of his back bone on the left side to get to the tumor. So we worry about long term affects of back issues as he gets older, but for now he is doing well!

Nov. 9th-11th Keegan began his first cycle of chemo. He did really well!
Nov. 30th-Dec. 1st Keegan began his send cycle of chemo. He experienced a little bit of tummy upset, but not too bad.
Dec. 13th we ended up in the hospital with Keegan due to a fever spike (101.5 or higher is an automatic hospital stay for Keegan). While we were there they did the scans that were scheduled, and things looked a lot better.
Dec. 21st-23rd Keegan began his third cycle of chemo.
Dec. 25th Keegan was back in the hospital with another fever spike and pneumonia.
Jan. 11th-13th Keegan did his fourth cycle of chemo.
Feb. 2nd and 4th Keegan had more scans and things were still looking great, and they decided not to do oral chemo with him.
March's urine test looked great
April's urine test looked great too! (And the boys turned a year old)
May 4th and 6th brought more scans that gave us great news! He showed up negative for any active Neuroblastoma cells, and the tumors were shrinking and showing signs of calcification which is great! They informed us that on June 21st Keegan can have his port removed. Yay! Those ports are just another worry! They can cause infections.

He is still on Bactrim 3x a week 2x a day and will be until August. But this is the only med he is still on.

For awhile we wondered if Keegan was going to have issues with mobility as he had gotten quite a ways behind his brother in physical development, but he has caught up quick!!

Keegan is a very tough little boy! Always smiling and showing off, and not afraid to fight back against his brother and sister.

Both boys are amazing and I am so happy they are in my life! It was hard being away from Kami and Marshall while we were at the hospital with Keegan but I knew they were in good hands.

The Ronald McDonald House also helped us keep our family together during this time and we're so grateful for all their support and help! We also thank our church, Heritage Baptist, for all the prayer, and help during this time as well.

I'm so proud to say I have 3 beautiful, happy, healthy children! (Yes Keegan is healthy other than having Cancer but he is KICKING CANCER'S BUTT!!!)

We have our own monthly email news letter "Super Heroes United", if you would like to sign up or send us an email please email us at: Super_Heroes_United@yahoo.com with subject being NEWSLETTER if you'd like to join the newsletter. We started this newsletter to get out information about Neuroblastoma, childhood cancer, and organizations, and fundraisers that are out there doing amazing things!

We are also participating in Relay For Life in our area this year. Keegan is the youngest participating survivor in the Survivor's walk this year!

You can find Keegan on Twitter, just search for TeamSuperKeegan, and you can find Keegan on facebook by searching for Team Super Keegan - Super Heroes United.

And he has his own web page at Caring Bridge: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/SuperKeeganRay

Other than having 3 kids under 3 and one is battling cancer, we're a fairly normal family.

My husband is at the moment going through a lot of health issues and we're hoping they get sorted out soon.

I am enjoying staying at home with my children right now until they tell us Keegan is NED (No Evidence of Disease) and he can go to Day Care with the other two while I go back to work. I Tot School Kami at home as much as I can, and work with the boys as much as they'll let me, they are all 3 head strong and have minds of their own! They are all very smart and curious about their world.

Things I enjoy: Sewing, crocheting, arts and crafts, reading, blogging, photography, photo editing, being outside, swimming, walking, cooking and baking, spending time with my kids, yard selling, trying to decorate my home and yes...talking on the phone LOL.

I like to watch American Idol, Cake Boss, and whatever cartoons the kids are watching, and I love CNN and the Weather channel. Yep. I love shoes and purses and cute clothes! Just wish I could go shopping more LOL But I'd much rather by things for my kids instead of myself.

I have done 3 years of college, and plan on going back when Keegan is declared NED. I will be focusing on Journalism and public relations this time.

I've been married to my husband for 3 and a half years but we've been together since 2001.

I am trying to do what I can to raise awareness about Childhood Cancer and all of the amazing children that are fighting this battle! Let's not let them fight it alone!

We just ask that people pray for our son, you can never have enough prayer, and prayers do get answered! God has a plan for each and every one of us.

I love my family and I thank God every day for the 3 amazing children in my life, the husband I have, the roof over our heads, the food on our plates, and the clothes on our backs. My children aren't spoiled with things, they are spoiled with lots of love! They are great kiddos.

Thanks again for stopping by our family blog!

God Bless

(and sorry this was long...I take every chance I can to talk about Childhood Cancer!)