Reaction?

They believe that Logan had another delayed reaction to platelets today.  He felt like he couldn't breathe and started wheezing.  They gave him more benedryl and steroids along with oxygen and sent everything out to the lab for testing.  After Logan calmed down and fell asleep his blood oxygen saturation dropped and stayed lower than usual.  They ordered a chest x-ray to see if they could identify the source of the problem.  So far no news, but Logan is resting comfortably.  His blood oxygen saturation is still low, but not dangerously so.  We have failed to keep it boring today!

T-Shirts!

Logan received a care package yesterday from his great aunt and uncle.  I guess she heard that Logan likes funny t-shirts because she sent him 12 shirts!  

Posted below are a few of the shirts...

Thanks for the shirts!  They made him smile.  : )

Logan had a jump in his blood counts overnight due primarily to a G-csf (Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) infusion.  His hemoglobin was up a bit to 7.4 (yesterday was 7.2); total white blood cells jumped to 390 (at zero yesterday); and ANC of 50 today (also zero yesterday). 

He is still on IV pain medication as his sores in his mouth and throat have not healed yet.  He is also vomiting occasionally and getting frequent nose bleeds so they are watching him closely and keeping his platelets above 50.  (He is getting yet another platelet transfusion now in fact).  He is still not eating, but may try a few bites later this afternoon to see how it goes.  

The road to recovery is a long bumpy ride.  

Hair Gone

Logan is still continuing to improve.  They took away one of his IV anti-nausea meds and he is doing great.  His pain is at a manageable level but the hair was falling out in clumps so off with the hair today.

Out and About

Logan has been out and about from the room for a good chunk of the day.  He did some walking and some wheeling and the wheeling is by far his favorite.

Star Wars Cheer Up

Some Star Wars characters came to the hospital today to cheer up the kids.  Logan was delighted to see them.  Look at the smile on my boy's face!  I haven't seen that beautiful smile for weeks!  

Logan is hanging in there and doing a little better every day.  Today they reduced one of his anti-nausea meds by half.  If he continues to do well tomorrow they will reduce again.  While his nausea is improving, his pain is on the rise.  They increased his pain medicine to hopefully keep him comfortable.  He did get out of the room for a little while today and walked the halls but he is still sleeping the majority of the time.  

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy came to get Logan moving a bit this afternoon.  He sat up in bed to play a little ball and he was a trooper!  He really didn't want to sit up, but he did it.  

He had a rough morning starting with a 6am nosebleed.  We didn't get the bleeding stopped until almost 9am.  Because of the active bleeding the doctors gave him another platelet transfusion.  He has also had 3 vomiting episodes due, in my opinion, to the blood he swallowed during the nosebleed ordeal.  

He is still pushing the pain button on a regular basis to control the pain he has from the mucositis but the medicine is keeping him comfortable.  He is still not eating or drinking but the IV nutrition takes care of that so he has not lost any weight.

He is also sleeping most of the time which is fine by me!  Rest and healing is what he needs the most right now.

Baby Steps

A tiny bet better today than yesterday.  Getting better one tiny baby step at a time.

Trying to Get It Right

Logan's nausea, while much much better, is still coming and going.  He is also getting sores in his mouth and throat now.  While this is an expected side effect of the chemo we are trying to manage his pain and keep him comfortable.  There has been a lot of tweaking of the medicines today and I'm hoping we got it right.  He is now comfortable and enjoying a favorite movie.  

Double Pumps

More vomiting over night and again this morning has Logan (and us) looking at alternative medicines.  Unfortunately he is already using both his lumens on his hickman catheter and needs a third access point if more meds are to be infused.  He has consented to a midline IV so he can have a slow drip of propofol to (hopefully) control his nausea.  The line has been placed and the propofol is now being infused.

Update:  The propofol is making the boy feel good.  Hallelujah!!!!

His is what his new midline IV looks like.

We are definitely having a better day today!

Roller Coaster Day

Logan has had so many ups and downs today I can't keep up.  He had a terrible night.  Vomiting every 2 hours like clockwork.  This morning he woke up feeling okay and able to sit up for a few hours.  Then the vomiting started again.  

He is also low on red blood cells and platelets and got one bag of red blood cells transfusion but they had to wait until this afternoon for the platelets (too many things running on his pump and not enough room).  After the platelets were finished they started right in on the second bag of red blood cells and that's when we noticed the rash and hives.  They suspect it was another reaction to the platelets (he has had a reaction before) but since they were giving him blood at the time they stopped the transfusion and sent both bags out for testing.  After a double dose of benedryl for the reaction Logan's vomiting has picked up again.  Then a little bit ago his nose starting pouring blood for no apparent reason.  With only one bag of blood transfused he can't afford to lose any more and it took 35 minutes (and more meds) to get his nose to stop bleeding.  I'm ready for this day to be O.V.E.R!

Every Pump In Use

Logan as had every pump on his IV pole in use for a number of days.  He is getting drugs for the side effects caused by the drugs and I can't keep up with what he is getting and when.  It seems that the nurses are in and out of his room every 30 to 45 minutes around the clock.  He still feels terrible, can't get out of bed without vomiting, and now has blood in his urine.   So, more drugs for that!  Pardon this angry Momma.  I can't help the rage I feel at the injustice of all this.  The doctors are telling me this is par for the course.  You ask me, this course sucks.

Cancer Sucks

Logan has been awake more today than yesterday.  He is still feeling rather poorly, however he was able to eat a few things today and so far has been able to keep them down.  He is running a fever so they have put him on a full spectrum IV antibiotic and have taken blood cultures.  Since he hasn't been eating for the past 4 days they also started him on IV nutrition last night.

A Little Better

Logan is still fighting the nausea today and while he has been sick a few times he feels better between episodes unlike yesterday.  His is resting comfortably now, napping on and off.

Rough Day

Logan has been battling the nausea on and off all day today.  The drugs available do not seem to be keeping it in check and the side effects from some of the anti-nausea medicines are undesirable, but we are hopeful that this is just lingering effects from the chemo and will clear up soon.

Transplant Complete

Logan's transplant went off without a hitch this morning.  Logan got his favorite nurse today for all the action.

He still feels sick from all the chemo but with all the anti-nausea meds on board he is at least comfortable now.  The doctors are telling us to expect the next 7 to 10 days to be rough on him.  Today, lots of movie watching and napping is in our future.  

Eric is Doing Well

Eric just sent me an update.  Apheresis is going.  No problems with the port placement.  He reports that he has plenty of stem cells for them to harvest.  

Logan sent him back a photo.  He is getting his last dose of chemo and is feeling good so far.

Officially 13 Years Old

Logan is woke up feeling sick again this morning.  He felt good enough for some birthday ice cream about 2:00.  The child life folks here at the hospital ordered an ice cream bar to be delivered to his room.  He had 6 different toppings to choose from and he choose the cookie crumbs, M & M bits, and chocolate syrup for his toppings.

They also gave him a gift!  A Kindle Fire tablet.  That was very sweet of them to go out of their way to make his birthday special, even in the hospital.  

He has eaten little else today except the ice cream and some donuts Eric brought him.  We have been snuggling in bed and watching movies all day.  He is feeling better now, but still not up for eating.  No chemo today, but tomorrow he has one more chemo dose... Melphalan.

Eric is still managing his bone pain from the stimulating shots.  He heads in early tomorrow morning to start his donation process.  

Nausea Caught Up With Him

This morning Logan woke up with nausea.  He tried fighting it off but finally succumbed to the sickness a little bit ago.  Lots of napping and movie watching for our Saturday I predict.

Puny Feeling Father

Eric woke up this morning with bone pain, just as we were told to expect.   He is on his way home from round two of shots and plans to curl up in bed with some pain meds and hope for a better day tomorrow.

Logan is still doing well.  He is eating and drinking like a champ and is in good spirits.

Chemo Strong

Day three of chemo and still strong.  We have a North view from this room but we still get to watch the helicopters come and go.

Logan had a caricature artist sketch his photo today too.

Lookin' good!

 Then grandma stopped by for a vist and cards.

Eric also received his first round of shots today.  He said it was a series of three shots in the stomach.  He also said the shots wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so ticklish.  It's hard for him to hold for the shots.  So far so good with the side effects, but the doctors at KU said it will take about 24 hours for him to feel the full effects.

Day Two Chemo

Day two of chemo is a success.  Logan is continuing to do well.  Tomorrow morning they will add a second chemo medicine.

Settled In

Logan is all settled in and has begun chemo as part of his pre-transplant preparation.  This first chemo drug he has had before and he is having no side effects or issues so far.  His freedom is drastically reduced now that he is here for transplant.  He is not allowed to leave this wing of the hospital so the teen room and pinball machine are off limits.  Logan is taking it all in stride.  He does get to visit with the therapy dog so I guess that makes it all better.  

Weekend Birthday Celebration

As promised we celebrated Logan's 13th birthday this weekend.  We shoved a whole bunch of fun into this last weekend home together.  Special meals, family games, and more in addition to the normal birthday trappings.  His cake of choice was the richest chocolate cake ever made.  This bad boy weighed 7 pounds!  

 YUM!

Each year we let the kids decide how/what their birthday will entail.  Some years we take a trip.  Other years we plan special events.  This year, Logan just wanted one thing, a motorized scooter.  After researching his request we discovered that you have to possess a drivers licence to operate a motorized scooter so we talked him into the next best thing.  A battery powered scooter that is designed for an adult.  It can easily take his weight, goes 18mph and can go up and down our hilly neighborhood with no problem.   

This morning we took advantage of the wonderful weather.  We loaded up our gear and headed to the park to do some field testing.  Logan raced his dad and Amanda... him on his scooter and them on their bikes.

 It was a no contest.  Logan smoked them both.

Then we took the puppies to the local dog park for some family fun.