Tanked Up

Logan's blood count tanked just like we expected.  He will be getting blood and platelets this morning probably before he even wakes up.  Hopefully he is feeling good otherwise.

Multitasking

Logan had to find something to do today while they cleaned his room.  After kicking around here and there he ended up on the bike in the hallway.  He had me grabed his bedside table so he could bike and email at the same time.  This kid cracks me up!

So far so good with managing side effects.  He is currently maintaining weight and eating well.  Some foods and smells bother him but we are finding enough to eat without too much stress.   Grandma came by for a lunch visit and brought her special homemade cookies.   I think half the batch is already gone.  He is currently resting while devouring a new book.  We are embracing our boring days at the hospital. 

On The Way Down

This morning's CBC showed that Logan's blood count is on the way down.  Hemoglobin is 8.5 (anything below 8 is when they do a blood transfusion), Platelets are 21.  Absolute Neutrophils 420.   He is starting to feel the effects of low hemoglobin (no energy, headaches when he stands up, dizziness) and he is beginning to get mouth, stomach and esophagus sores as a side effect from the chemo.  Right now we are encouraging him to eat when he can and pushing fluids while managing his pain.

Last Day of Chemo

Today at 1:30 Logan will receive his last dose of chemo for this round.  He has been feeling good and enjoying visits from family and friends.  

This morning my sister helped Logan make a K'nex gun that Grandpa and Debbie brought yesterday.  They roamed the halls shooting random targets after building the weapon.

Then Logan had a visit from his homebound teacher and he did 2 hours of school work... now he is exercising on the bike outside our room while he waits for the chemo drug. 

He wanted to go to the bone marrow transplant side because their bike has a TV in front... I told him I could do better!  I took our portable DVD player and mounted it to the bike using some masking tape.  Red neck yes, but effective.  

Distraction

There was a recall on the mitoxantrone drug that has delayed Logan receiving this second chemo medicine.  The doctors here have located a supply from a different manufacture but it has delayed his treatment by a day and a half.  They should have the drug at the hospital today and administered to Logan at 1pm.  

Logan hasn't had much of an appetite (as per usual with chemo) but so far has been feeling fairly well.  He has been keeping busy with books, games, and movies between naps.  Distraction is the name of the game right now.  If he doesn't dwell on all that is happening he feels much better.

So Far So Good

Logan has been tolerating this round of chemo quite well so far.  Today is day 3 of AraC.  Tonight at 1:00am he will receive the new Mitoxantrone drug.  Hopefully he will sleep through the nasty side effects and be right as rain in the morning.  Keeping it boring as best we can.

Chemo Can't Stop This Kid From Growing!

We are back in the clinic today for a procedure before they admit Logan to the hospital for more chemo.  At the height and weigh station (they do this EVERY time he comes to clinic) the nurse said Logan is over 5 foot 7 inches in height.  I said "NO WAY!" He was 5'6" and change just a few weeks ago so I had them measure him again.  Same result.  Then I got under the same measuring device to double check.  My baby is taller than me!!!!  What the heck!!??!!  All these chemo drugs can't stop this kid from growing I guess!

Last night, Logan enjoyed racing his RC car around the cul de sac.  No action shots for that since that little car can MOVE but as you can see by the smile on his face Logan enjoyed his last night home before heading back to the hospital.

Today here in the clinic Logan received two chemo spinal injections and is currently recovering while waiting for a room upstairs in the hospital.  He will start the IV chemo here shortly.  For those of you keeping up, he is doing AraC twice daily for 4 days (starting today) and Mitoxantrone 4 days (doubling up on the last two days of the AraC) for a total of 6 days chemo.  They were concerned about his heart because the Mitozantrone can cause heart damage so he had a Echo and EKG yesterday.  All the chemo from the past 7 years has taken a toll on his heart already, but they determined that his heart is strong enough for the Mitozantrone.  Keeping our fingers crossed for no complications and a successful fight against this resistant cancer.  If this new drug knocks back the leukemic cells Logan can receive the bone marrow transplant sometime in November.

Not the News We Wanted to Hear

Logan's doctor called this morning to talk to us about the results from last week's bone marrow biopsy.  Logan is not in remission like we had hoped.  He will be admitted back to the hospital on Friday for more chemo and the bone marrow transplant is on hold for now.

Shaving and Tiny Places

I have been waiting for this day for over a year!  Logan has shaved off his Moustache!!!!  

Happy dance!!!

I have been telling him over and over again that if he shaves it off it will grow back thicker than before.  I don't know if he didn't believe me or just enjoyed tormenting me with the little caterpillar across his lip but then he read in a book that IF YOU SHAVE IT OFF IT WILL GROW BACK THICKER so NOW he believes it!  Whatever.

BEFORE 

 He used the electric shaver I got him for Christmas last year...  too pushy???  Well, it worked like a charm.  

 Here is my clean shaven little BIG guy!

Then, today I got a wild hair to reorganize the pantry.  This evening, Amanda decided that there was room in there now to climb inside.  It's not a big pantry so I didn't think she could do it... but where there's a will there's a way!

She made it!  Next game of hide and seek... check the pantry.

Biopsy and Update

Logan saw his doctors today for a bone marrow biopsy to determine if the chemo from round one knocked down the leukemic cells enough for a bone marrow transplant.  We should get the results from this test later this week... maybe early next week.

He also had another CBC and his body is taking it's time healing from the first round of chemo.  His hemoglobin was 8.6 (pretty much the same as last week) but his ANC was 160.  The doctors originally told us he needed an ANC of 200 to go home so if we were going by that we would still be in the hospital.  We are grateful for the little things because Logan is feeling great here at home.  He has been enjoying his precious freedom to the fullest (while avoiding germs at all costs)!

In other great news... they have located a bone marrow donor for Logan!  We don't know much about this person other than that the donor is a female and they needed the help from the National Bone Marrow Registry to find a match (so we are thinking international again).  She is a perfect 10 out of 10 match for Logan but due to scheduling conflicts his transplant will be pushed back a week.  I think his body could use the healing time anyway so we are planning radiation on September 28, 29, & 30 with 4 days of more chemo starting on October 1st and bone marrow transplant on October 5.

Meeting With The Bone Marrow Team

Today Eric, Logan, and I had a sit down meeting with the bone marrow team to hear their plan for Logan's second bone marrow transplant.  Since he relapsed with the first transplant, Logan will be doing 6 whole body radiation treatments spaced over 3 days.  Radiation will be out patient at a different facility.  After his last round of radiation he will be admitted to the hospital for an additional round of chemo to prepare his body for transplant.  We still don't have a definitive date for transplant but they are shooting for the last week of September which will put us back in the hospital on September 23.

Logan is doing great here at home.  Today's CBC showed that he is continuing to heal but he is not back to full strength just yet.  Next Wednesday we go in for a bone marrow biopsy to check for remission.  If that is clear then we are good to go for transplant.