#Loganstrong

Another day in the books and Logan is doing great. Aunt Kristi has been staying with him last night and tonight and they play hard. Kelly went up to the hospital to give Logan a bath and he was riding bikes and running non stop. She said he was sweating up a storm. They are slowly backing off the morphine and hope to stop giving it to him by early next week. If this is the case he may be able to go home then! The house is just not the same without him.

Next step in the process of beating this nasty cancer is the radiation part. After that Kelly and I need to make a decision on an experimental treatment for Logan. Without boring everyone w/ all the details we are really struggling with what to do. The medicine they would be giving him would put him in more pain than what he went through for stem cell. In fact some kids have so much pain they stop the 5 month treatment after only one of five treatments and also kids end up in Intensive Care because of the pain. We of course want what’s best for Logan…..if we did it and he is cured AMEN….if we did not do it and the cancer comes back we second guess ourselves forever……

Good Saturday morning to all! Logan is doing much better today. He has not had any fevers for two days & he does not need the nausea medicine as much. His pain is still there w/ the mouth & tummy so we are still on the morphine. His mouth is still very swollen and there is dead skin on the roof of it that we need to wash out & brush off.
Are you ready for the amazing part…..Loagan’s ANC counts are at a remarkable 7000! Yes 7000! The doctors this morning were amazed. They are so amazed that they are taking him off certain medicines early. Normal ANC for a kid w/ no cancer is 1800 to 7900….you are awesome Logan.
This morning he has already been out riding bikes and is playing the Wii right now.

Imagine your worst sore throat ever, sores so bad in your mouth that your cheeks are swollen to twice their size, & on top of all that you have constant cramps in your tummy that bring you to tears…..this is what Logan is dealing with. Mucositis is nasty! Yes we are controlling it w/ pain medicine but Logan is still pretty uncomfortable. We can do more medicine if needed…and we do but the current amount pretty much “snowballs” Logan. He still smiles and such but he is pretty distant.

The good news is it is getting better hour by hour. His counts shot up to over 1000 last night! The healing process takes time though. His mouth is so sore and numb that he just drools all the time and that drives him crazy. We have suction set-up to suction his mouth (like the dentist) and that seems to help a little.

Yesterday Logan’s Mom & Aunt Kim (Kelly’s sister from N.Y. is here helping for two weeks….THANK YOU KIM) brought Logan a remote control fart machine. Yesterday Logan & Peyton went for a ride in a wagon and we hid the machine under some blankets….every time he went by a doctor or nurse Logan would push the button……the nurse and doctor would look down and do a double take not knowing to laugh or what. Then we explained what Logan had and everyone loved it.

Logan’s army is getting larger! His ANC count is now 84 and rising! Last night was still an eventful night w/ low blood pressure and high temps but hopefully that is in the past as we continue to go forward. I am so proud of my little guy!
Something somewhat personal that a lot of people do not know about me…I have pretty bad anxiety. When I was married I awoke that morning not knowing if I could get through the day…when Logan was born I ended up being admitted into the hospital because it got so bad…for a whole week (thank God I have an amazing wife, family, & friends that helped w/ Logan & Kelly). When Logan was diagnosed w/ this nasty disease I had it but I knew I had to fight through it for him. He has taught me to a lot about the little things. I did have some attacks that first week and lost about 15 pounds but since then have been doing fine (thanks also to Lexapro). In the past the medication was a temporary fix…I think Logan has helped me overcome it mentally. I know he needs me here and I need him. Another small way Logan has affected someone…his dad, by being so brave & amazing during his fight. Thank You Logan I love you the most in the world…Daddy!

GOOD NEWS! Logan had to have an emergency blood draw because he was spitting up more blood than usual. It was what they thought….his platlet count was way down. Platlets help clot blood. He is going to get a platlet transfusion here very soon. The GOOD NEWS is that his report showed a trace of white blood cells for the first time. I hope we saw rock bottom last night/today and we will start seeing him get better. I explained it to Logan why I was so happy w/ the report. I told him his body has started building an army of good guys today and they are going to start attacking the yucky sores. His army will get very big and kick the sores butt and he will feel better soon. He smiled!

Another day…..more pain. We have increased his constant dose of morphine. We are half way through the worst part. We hope his counts start coming up by the weekend in turn that will help fight the infections. His mouth has sores in it that cause him to spit up blood. With all the pain he is still amazing us all. He does his hourly mouthwash by himself. It is a saline solution that helps keep his mouth clean. With a little bribery he also takes his Tylenol when needed. He has a white board in his room and anytime he takes his medicine he gets a dollar sign on the board which in the end he wants to exchange for a video game(s). When Grandma stayed w/ him the other night he bartered w/ her on taking the medicine and it cost me $4.00 for one dose……thanks Mom;) Logan’s temperature have been staying around 103-104 degrees which amazingly is common.

All of you that follow Ben Townes site as well your prayers are working! Ben’s test results all game back good for Phase one…this is great news! He now will start the Phase two process and meet the SCCA team and hopefully start stem cell around 2/11. Great Job Ben!