Merry Christmas To All From the Lewis Family!
Merry Christmas Eve to all. Today has been a great day for Logan. We went up to the hospital this morning to get Logan’s counts checked. He is at 400 and climbing so they said he can stop his antibiotics as well as have family over tonight to open some presents.
We also met w/ Dr. Julie Park about the spot discovered during Logan’s MIBG earlier this week and also about what to expect during stem cell.
First w/ the spot. Dr. Park is not concerned with it. She said 10 years ago they would not of even seen it because it is so small (5mm). They will however during the radiation therapy phase (spring 2008) zap that area w/ a double dose of radiation. The sight where the original tumor was they will also zap that entire area. The side effects is Logan could lose one of his kidneys as well as a small possibility of growth problems because they will be doing radiation close to the spine.
As for the stem cell we will meet w/ the team at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Center on January 10th, 2008. About a week later (Logan’s 6th Birthday on 1/19) Logan will be admitted and given a very high dose chemotherapy…stronger than all he has received so far. This chemo will wipe out all cells and bone marrow. They will then transplant the cells from Logan’s own body that they harvested after the second chemotherapy. It will then take about 2-4 weeks for his body to show signs of cells again. During this time he will be in isolation and be limited to only very healthy visitors. It is a very dangerous time because he will not have an immune system. This chemo can also do damage to other organs so they will watch that close as well. And yes she is required to tell us, even on Christmas Eve, that in a very small amount of cases this process can be fatal. They said to plan on being in the hospital for 4 to 5 weeks for the entire process.
With all that being said we (family & staff) are very pleased w/ the progress so far. We could not express enough how proud we are of Logan. He is the true Super Hero! Also thank you to all who have supported us these last five months. We could not have made it this far without your kind thoughts and prayers. As you can see from above we will still need your continued support, thoughts, & prayers!
Guess who surprised Logan this morning at our house…..Santa & Mrs. Claus! As you can see in the picture(s) Logan was so excited (Thank you to the Casello’s as well as Gary & Pam for setting this up. You have made an impact on Logan and our family that will last a lifetime).
They are sending us home tonight….the catch we have to come back Monday morning for blood work. Even though Logan has zero white blood cells they will send us home w/ antibiotics since he has not had a fever. We will come back Monday and meet w/ the Neuroblastoma Doctor as well as have a clinic for Logan.
Good Saturday morning to all. Not much to report. Logan is doing well this morning. Last night he did not get to sleep until 11pm. He was wound-up. He built a fort on his bed w/ his blankets. His ANC counts are still at zero. The good news w/ counts is his hematocrit stayed at 22 from yesterday. They will transfuse blood when it goes below 20. This means his marrow is starting to produce/maintain cells.
Yesterday his MIBG test (one of four tests) showed a very small spot near where the tumor was. They are not sure if this is that tissue that was left behind during surgery. We are told treatment as usual and they will keep watch on that spot. They plan on hitting that area with radiation later in treatment as well.
Tests went well today. Logan did a great job. One test he has to lie still for over an hour. He watched the movie Star Wars and fell asleep. Enjoy the picture of the Gingerbread house Logan & I built.
Oh the sounds of the hospital…..every five minutes at least a door bell sound of a patient pushing the button to page the nurse, a child screaming in the middle of the night, your roommate throwing-up every couple hours, the speakers everywhere with someone saying “code blue giraffe entrance, code blue giraffe entrance” (someone stopped breathing). Then your own child….everything drowns out, all those horrific sounds, your child needs you because of tummy pain that is so severe it brings him to tears. You are the one who pushes the nurse button. The amazing nurse comes in and within minutes gets your child pain medicine to help.
Logan is doing pretty good this morning. They upped his pain medicine because of stomach pain. He slept through the night last night. Our room we are in is for four beds but they only have two in here so we get a little extra room. My bed is a roll-a-way bed which is a little bigger than what I usually get. It was nice except you roll to the middle….it’s no dream bed like at the Westin:) Well I have to end this Logan is calling me over to join him in Lego Star Wars video game. Today we have some tests and then hopefully we will be done by 3pm so we can make gingerbread houses on the cancer floor with everyone else.
Well we finally are in our room. We are on the cancer floor which is a great thing so we have our favorite nurses. Dad is a hero (for a minute) because I found the Game Cube System & Mario Golf. Logan has had a pretty long day. A lot of stomach pain and ear pain. Also while getting his transfusion his temperature spike to 102 degrees and his blood pressure dropped so he get a lot of immediate attention from the doctors. They watch his pretty close and got him stabilized. They cancelled his hearing test today but will still do the other tests tomorrow. I told Logan that the students at Kalles Jr. High tomorrow get to wear pajamas to school in his honor and he thought that was really cool. LEAD FOR LOGAN TYEES!
Well we almost made it….Logan went up to get his transfusion today and while he was there he spiked a fever. Since his counts are at zero they will be admitting him until he does not have a fever for 24 hours and counts are above 500. Pray that we will be out by Sunday! Last night he continued to have his jaw pain/ear aches. He is getting the blood transfusion right now and this usually will give him back some energy. He also has some tests tomorrow where they will be putting under w/ anesthesia. We will keep every one updated & thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.