Our Story

Ryan and I met while working at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse back in 2004. He worked in Hardware and I was a team leader over the cashiers. We dated for 3 years before he proposed on a dreary October evening. I was at home sitting at the computer looking for houses in Elkhart County. He comes in all antsy and wants to go to dinner that minute. I hurriedly put the dogs in their kennels and headed out to the Jeep. Once I got in I barley had a chance to get into my seat before a beautiful princess cut diamond was in front of me. I of coarse said YES and the wedding planning started.

Ryan and I were married on March 29th 2008 in Nappanee Indiana.  It was a beautiful cermony in the Round Barn Theater at Amish Acres, the reception followed at the Red Barn Restaurant. All of our closest family and friends were there to celebrate with us. We continued our celebration on our honeymoon. We drove from Nappanee home to Evansville, where we stayed for a couple of hours before departing to St. Pete Beach Florida. We had a blast visiting local zoos, citrus groves and restaurants.

In March of 2009 we found out we were pregnant with our first child and were due on November 2nd 2009 Although the pregnancy was not "planned" per sei, we were not preventing and were surprised that it only took a month to conceive. My pregnancy went relatively well till the gender scan around 19 weeks. At this ultrasound they found an abnormality in the right upper quadrant and we were referred to a high risk OB. Upon further study it was determined that Baby Keegan had a duplicate gallbladder.  My pregnancy continued to get more and more odd. I was monitored every 4 weeks with a growth ultrasound and began to swell like you wouldn't believe. Keegan's head and belly kept measuring about 4 weeks bigger than his gestational age. Nothing was ever really mentioned about this and I just thought that maybe we conceived sooner than we had originally thought. Toward the beginning of September I began to develop some pretty bad headaches and come to find out my BP was going through the roof. I had developed Pre-Eclampsia.

Keegan was delivered 6 weeks premature due to the Pre-E and was hospitalized in the NICU for 2 weeks after birth. At birth we found he had 2 extra digits, one on each hand and 1 extra toe. They also found out that he had a stroke in utero and possiably has an overgrowth syndrome callled Simpson-Golobi-Behmel Syndrome. He has had many test since birth and will be monitored with bi-yearly CT/Ultrasounds to check for tumors. Most recently he had a shunt place in April for Hydrocephalus. After the shunt was placed we went home and came back for our weekly checkup to make sure the shunt was functioning and healing properly. Everything was fine. Within a week Keegan began vomiting when in the upright position and he has stopped stooling. We went to see an Opthamologist on Thursday May 6th and on the way home from the appointment projectile vomited 6 times and went unconscious. I called 911, then came out to the parking lot I was in and brought us saftely to the hospital. After tests and scans the hospital released us saying it was just a virus. When this continued until Saturday the 8th, we decided it was in Keegan's best intrest to bring him back to the ER because he was barely taking any food and he was still throwing up/dry heaving. We went around 5 at night, by 2 am on the 9th (Mother's Day) Deaconess told us it was a bowel obstruction and per our neruosurgeon we needed to get to Riley. Around 2:30 am or so I boarded a life flight plane with my infant son to be taken to Indy (a 3 hour drive away).

To make a long story short (and you can read it all in the blog from May/June anyway), Keegan was diagnosed at 7 and a half months with Medulloblastoma (brain cancer). His, like most, was found growing in the 4th ventricle of his brain putting pressure on his brain stem and cerebellum thus causing the vomiting and his systems begining to shut down.

After a 19 month battle, our sweet Keegan went to the arms of Jesus on December 6, 2011. He passed quietly in bed with mommy and daddy. He took his last earthly breath at 5:46 am and entered into the glorious gates of heaven leaving all his pain behind only to be set free.

He is missed beyond measure. This blog has turned into a place for us to talk about how we are trying to "Live Life After Karing for Keegan".