#Loganstrong

First of all thank you to all of our family and friends for your support and kind words this past 10+ days.  We are thankful and overwhelmed with support.  We feel starting up the blog again will help keep everyone updated with Logan’s symptoms.  

About 3 weeks ago Logan started limping.  He said his groin/hip hurt.  Kelly and I initially thought he had hurt it running and/or on a friends trampoline.  As a precaution Kelly took him to his local pediatrician and they did some blood work and agreed that he most likely had a groin pull and gave him some exercises to work on.  We also notified his survivor nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She asked if the local pediatrician ordered additional blood work to show any unusual triggers for tumors.  They had not.  I took Logan in to get more blood drawn.  The results would not be back for 10 days.  His survivor nurse also recommended an x-ray of his hip/knee.  We finally got what we thought was great news….the x-ray showed possible groin tear (most parents would not celebrate this news;)).  We enjoyed our weekend with family and friends.  On Monday his survivor nurse called me and said she had an additional doctor look at the x-ray and just to be safe wanted to do an MRI as well.  That Tuesday July 7th he had his MRI at 2 pm.  Just before 5 that night I received a call from his Neuroblastoma doctor, Julie Park, who I had not spoken with in many years.  My heart sank.  She said they were very concerned about a mass on Logan’s hip area and wanted to schedule surgery to do a biopsy as well as more testing to see if he had possibly relapsed with Neuroblastoma.  We spoke with Logan that night and of course he was very concerned and had a bit of anxiety (as we all did).  He was supposed to leave the next day on a 7 day east coast trip to Boston, NY, and DC.  Kelly, Peyton, & I  were heading to Lake Chelan with friends.  After talking with Logan he decided not to go back east but to come to Lake Chelan with us (Kelly & I were so thankful).  

Lake Chelan was a great distraction…sort of.  While there we received more troubling news regarding his blood work regarding tumors.  It was unusually high.  

So that takes us to today/this upcoming week.  Logan will be up at Seattle Children s Hospital Tuesday/Wednesday for an MIBG test (this test will show if Neuroblastoma is present).  On Thursday he will undergo surgery to do a biopsy on the mass/tumor n his left hip area.

I will once again work on keeping everyone updated via this blog.

This is another chapter in Logan’s fight.  He is an amazingly strong teenager and we have no doubt that he will once again prevail and come out even stronger in the end of all this.

Thank you all so much for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Please hug your kids tonight….

Jason, Kelly, Logan, & Peyton

Great news this week!!! Logan completed all of his scans and he remains cancer free! Even better news….we never have to do testing again! Logan officially is in the survivor program now. This program will now watch for any possible long term side effects from all the harsh medicine he received. Thank you all for you continued thoughts and prayers.

The fight is not over….LETS FIND A CURE! Please put all your efforts to supporting the Ben Towne foundation. Kelly and I have were privileged to attend the latest benefit this past week. Click here to be directed to the foundations website.

Thank you!

Wow it’s been a long time since I have updated (I know because my father-in-law reminds me all the time:)). Logan continues to do amazing! We have been very busy this summer….We bought a new camper so have been camping a lot, a week in Sunriver, OR and lots of swimming. Logan also did a week long baseball camp that focused on skills….he loved it.

We will be going in for what is deemed as his final check-up in September…..after that Logan will go in every six months as part of the survivor program. The team of doctors will then watch for possible long term side effects from all the harsh medicine he received.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!

Sorry we have not posted in awhile….especially since we received such great news last week! Logan had his sixth month check-up and all test/scans remain clear. Still in remission. Next check-up will be in September and then we will go to annual check-ups. He will also start the long term survivor program in which they will watch for the long term side affects of the harsh chemo/drugs he received. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Logan just finished a great season of basketball! This is a picture of him & his coach.

Merry Christmas Eve to all. Yesterday Logan, Peyton, & I had the fortune to meet an amazing family at Seattle Children’s Hospital. There son, John, is battling Neuroblastoma, his mom just gave birth…..sound familiar?

John’s Mom heard of Logan through the King 5 story Chris Egan did. She is not that big of a sports fan and was just flipping through channels on Wednesday night. Chris happened to be re-playing the story that night as one of the positive ones of 2010. John’s mom caught the end of the story, found me through Facebook & contacted me. I was so touched/moved by their story.

I told Logan how his story of surviving and bravery has inspired this family. A huge smile came to his face. When I told him that John would be at the hospital for Christmas he was worried that John would not get presents. I reassured him that Santa delivers everywhere. Logan & I also came up with the idea to drop a surprise off for him. We went to Toys r Us and picked up some small gifts and delivered them. As we know any small distraction from the long road to fighting this disease really helps.

This holiday season & beyond please put the Hartle family in your prayers.