Day +20

Today is a good day. 

Logan is feeling good, got to play a guitar during Music Therapy, and couldn't do school work via Skype because of technical problems.

But that's not why today is a good day....

It's a good day because today is the day the got unhooked from the IV pole!!!!!

That's right, folks! 

LOGAN IS FREE AGAIN!!!!

(happy dance)

For those of you keeping track, his ANC is at 150 today... the doctor expects Logan to go home the beginning of next week.  We'll do another happy dance then.

Crafty Aunt

 Logan's Aunt came for a visit over the weekend and brought some crafting supplies!  She had a vision of making a monsters to add to his decorated room, and Logan was on board 100%.  He was having a bad day, so this help distract him from his pain for a few hours. 

 We had a great time cracking jokes and playing with hot glue.

 When we took our final photos in front of our creations, Logan said "Smell my armpit!" - Stinky

 Then for the retake - he put his fingers in my mouth...

 ... so I ATE THEM!

 And here are some closeups of our cute little Halloween Monsters.

Today, Logan is doing much better.  He hasn't had any pain today, is eating like a horse, and is making more and more blood. 

GO LOGAN, GO!!!!

How Do YOU Read?

This is how Amanda read her book last night...

That girl could be the poster child for the "I Did It My Way" song.

Making Some Blood!!!

Logan's blood count this morning showed some white blood cells which means his transplant is engrafting!  

Happy Day!!!!

Step two complete.  He needs to have an ANC above 500 for two consecutive days and no infections or other complications before we can be released from the hospital.  His ANC today was 70.  (Zero to 70 in 24 hours!?!)  If Logan continues to be a rock star through this transplant he may be released as soon as next weekend.  This journey is far from over, but this is a major milestone on his road to recovery.  

GREAT JOB LOGAN!!!!

A Minute of Freedom

Logan got unhooked from his IV pole for a few minutes today.  Logan took full advantage for being free for the first time in 2 weeks. 

This small room couldn't contain him so I let him do laps around the nurses station and hallways... 

As you can tell from the video, Logan is feeling good today. : )

Trial and Error

This morning Logan was having pain from some of the sores that chemo causes.  He was mistakenly given IV pain medication instead of the oral pill he usually gets.  Through trial and error we have discovered that Logan does not respond well to IV pain medication.  It causes abdominal pain and vomiting.  He is now sleeping off the remnants of the pain medicine, thanks to some powerful anti-nausea medicine. 

Medicine to counteract the medicine to counteract the medicine!

He said; "Next time I think I'll just deal with the pain, thank you."

So Long, Fun Hair

Today we shaved off the rest of Logan's hair.  This morning his hair was littering his pillow and bed, falling down the back of his shirt, and making his life scratchy and miserable.  The hair seems to be falling out in patches, so to keep the short stubble for irritating him further, we are using a lint roller on his head every few hours to grab any lose hairs.  

He is continuing to feel good even though his bone marrow is not making blood yet.  Over the weekend he got a red blood cell and platelet transfusion and that seemed to perk him up quite a bit.  

Logan and his father also devised a new game with his R/C helicopter.  It's called "buzz the nurses station".  He has taken to flying his helicopter in the hallway and seems to take great joy in making the nurses duck for cover.  I'll have to get some video next time they play.  

New 'Doo

Here are the pomised pictures of Logan's new 'doo.  We were having some fun with it, but Logan decided he liked how it turned out and has left it with the mohawk for now.

 Then Logan got ahold of the clippers himself and did some more cutting...

L is for LOGAN!

He's had a rough couple of days since the hair cut, but we are hoping that he is on the mend.  This afternoon has been better (which it why I now have the time to update the blog!)

Amazing

The bone marrow doctor came to see Logan yesterday and said that he is doing "amazing".  We don't know why Logan is responding to the treatment so well, but we'll take it!

Still no fevers, mouth sores, or complications from the chemo.  His ANC is zero (where it should be)... The ANC is how they measure his white blood count so at zero he has no ability to fight off an infection.  

Tomorrow or Friday he will need a blood transfusion, and we should start to see engraftment some time early next week... Engraftment is when the donated bone marrow starts to take up residence in his bones and begin making blood.  The doctors warn us that a fever often precedes engraftment.  

Logan is doing a great job motivating himself to stay active and healthy.  He lost a few pounds and the nutritionist starting talking about a feeding tube... this motivated my little monkey to eat, eat EAT!  He has snacks on hand all day long and he has made enough progress to stop the feeding tube talk.

His hair has started to fall out, and it annoys him to have the scratchy locks littering his bed, so the picture above will be the last one you will see of him with hair for a while.  This afternoon the hair comes off.

Today's CRAFTY Craft

Each day I try to have something different for Logan to do, play, watch, whatever.  It helps keep the boredom at bay.  Today was Halloween banner that required sewing.  My sewing machine is still in Wichita, but I found this cool little Singer at Wal-Mart and Logan quickly became a pro at working it.


We used four dollar store Halloween ribbon spools, cut to various lengths.

After stringing the ribbon onto the black cord we hung it across his bed. 

 He loves it, I love it, and we spent a good 2 hours working on it today.  Project: Successful.

Surprisingly Well

Logan has been surprising the doctors here with how well he is doing.  He is doing a great job keeping active, he is trying to eat and drink everyday, and his pain is still manageable.

Yesterday, he enjoyed some cake with his sister to celebrate her 8th birthday.

Today he is keeping busy with school work, crafting, and driving around the halls.

We are being told that the worst is coming soon... keeping our fingers crossed that Logan's worst won't be that bad.

A's Birthday Weekend

This Sunday my baby girl turns 8 years old.  Eric and I are trying to make her birthday special, even though she only gets half her family... Friday night I took her to an open gym event at a local gymnastic place.

 She hung, swung, balanced, and slid all over that gym.

Then today I took her to a really cool place in Lees Summit... Paradise Park.  My gift to her was a year long membership to climb, drive, explore and play.  We were there for almost 6 hours and it still wasn't enough.   It's a good thing she can go back whenever the mood strikes or else I don't think I could have gotten her back out the door!

 We also saw the airplanes practicing their Fly By for the Chiefs game tomorrow... WAY  COOL!

Sorry about all the crappy photos... again!  I still can't find my good camera so we'll have to make do with the phone photos.

Eric gets to spend the night with her tonight and play all day with her tomorrow on her BIG DAY!

Transplant Complete!

Logan did great and is feeling good!

Step 2 complete!

First Hour

Logan is getting his bone marrow transplant right now.  The first hour has been blissfully uneventful.  They will continue to run the transfusion over the next 4 hours.  

He has been given various preparatory meds to prevent a reaction, and he is now chillin' in bed watching The Lorax and fighting back sleep. 

Fingers crossed that this will continue to be uneventful.

Exciting Ride

Yesterday Logan got to ride in an ambulance to the cancer facility  for radiation therapy.  He was very excited about the ride, and was pumped when he got in and found a TV! 

 

He was a trooper through the radiation and is still holding strong.  He is still battling nausea, but we have found the right combo of meds to keep him comfortable. Tomorrow is the much anticipated transplant day so we'll keep you updated.

Feeling Better...

Logan woke up feeling sick again this morning, but a dose of stronger anti-nausea medicine did the trick.  He felt much better afterwards and was up out of bed the rest of the day.

We went to the playroom for a competitive game of Cootie then Uno with a fellow patient, entertained ourselves with crafts and games in the room, and was able to do some school work.  The best part of today, though, was that he was finally interested in food!  : )