Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Logan! Despite having a cough and runny nose, it was a great day for Logan. He came downstairs to see that Santa had left the remote control car that he had requested. Logan then proceeded to open many gifts including Thor's hammer, a Hulk mask and smashing hands, a Spiderman hoodie, a Giant Ironman Fathead (that came with several other smaller Fatheads), two more Avengers night lights for his room (Ironman's hand and Spiderman's hand), some Avengers clothes, and Thor, Wolverine, and Spiderman action figures. There were also quite a few more Avengers and non-Avengers themed gifts. Overall it was a wonderful day to connect with family both here and afar.

Eventful day

Today was a big day all around. We woke up to find our final 12th day of Christmas mystery gift on the front porch from our Secret Santa. It was hot cocoa mix and many baked goodies along with a card. Our Secret Santa is...Cindy! The registrar/Principal's secretary/organizer extraordinaire/all around amazing lady from our daughter's school. We get to see Cindy when in the school, and I also had the great fortune of working with her last year as part of this amazing school when they had a preschool. As I had said earlier, I wanted to be able to say thank you. I was afraid that we would not eventually know the identity, so I devised a plan. We wrote our thank you notes to leave out on the porch along with a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls ready to pop into the oven along with some icing. It was fun to leave out something ourselves to give back and express our gratitude.

We had to take Logan to the clinic today because he has a nasty cough, and they just checked him out to make sure all was fine. They sent us home with no medicine, but at least we know his counts are good. He is doing pretty well, and we just put him in a steamy bathroom a few times each day.

Also today, Alexis, Logan's sister made a big move: she donated her very long hair to Childhood Leukemia Foundation/Wigs for Kids. We originally talked about it about a month ago (when her hair was in her plate yet again). But we gave her a long time to think about it, and she brought it back up on her own and said she wanted to do it. Here are some before and after pictures:

Befuddled

Logan has been doing well. You would not know that he had chemo on Tuesday, and we are definitely happy that he is in this new phase of treatment. I know that it is still hard on him, but it does not get to him like the last one did. He is still playing, with no sickness. Yeah!

So, now to the befuddled part: We have been receiving gifts from a Secret Santa (this is what I named him/her/them). I have mentioned it before, but not in depth. Each morning we find a gift sitting on our front steps, often with the newspaper sitting next to it. It started ten days ago, with "On the first day of Christmas, a good friend gave to me...A bright and shiny Christmas tree." In the package was a sparkly green tree ornament with all of our names on it. Then next day it was "Two small toys for good girls and boys." Then "Three books to read, with mom you'll plead," "Four items to share, one each to wear (they were winter hats)," "Something to toast this bright morn. Only eight more days till Christ is born. (this time it was sparkling apple juice with goblets to drink from)" Then "Six pieces of candy, isn't that just dandy?" "Seven things to delight a family movie night!" which had movies, popcorn and candy all included. "Eight warm sox, wrapped up in a box" "Some music to play while decorating cookies today (which had music, but also everything needed to bake and decorate cookies and cupcakes)." And then today "Ten shiny snowflakes, for heaven sakes" and included ten snowflake ornaments for our tree.

It is such a treat for the kids each morning, they are so excited to open the door and see what is in store for them. It is also perplexing to us: Who is this Secret Santa? I thought I had it figured out, but then we started to wonder. We thought it was a neighbor, but there were clues to the contrary. Then, thanks to our light dusting of snow last night, there are another couple of clues. First, apparently the Secret Santa is driving to our house as we noticed the footprints led to tire tracks in the street not to another house and the tracks make a U-turn and then leave our street. This mystery person also apparently wears Birkenstocks. Unfortunately, these clues do not really help me. Hmmm... But, I do hope this person reads this blog, because the closer it gets to Christmas day, I suspect we may not learn their identity. But I want to know. Why? Well, mostly, so I can say thank you an give a big hug for this random act of kindness that has brought such joy to my children and our family. It is so encouraging to know that such kindness and love exists in the world. Thank you! Here is a pic of Logan in one of his Christmas shirts:

Looking good

We have had a good few days. Logan is feeling well, and he passed to have chemo today. He did have a little trouble sleeping this weekend though. He woke up Saturday evening about an hour after he went to bed. He needed a diaper change, and then did not want to go back to sleep. He really wanted to sleep with mom and dad, and when that did not work he wanted mommy to sleep with him. It got pretty bad and he even started screaming. He has never done that before, so it was really difficult. Thankfully Eric was able to get him calmed down. He just wouldn't calm down with me, I guess because he wanted to be in bed with me. But he is doing much better and sleeping these past couple of nights just fine.

We also wanted to say thank you to the strangers eating dinner next to us Saturday night for picking up our bill without our knowledge. A couple was eating with what seemed to be their grandchildren and wished us a happy holidays as they left. Then when we went to pay, our waiter informed us that they had payed for our dinner. We did not even get the chance to say thank you for this random act of kindness, and I know they will probably never read this. But I had to at least spread the word that there is selflessness out there.

Here is Logan/Thor and Alexis with our gift on the first day of Christmas (from our secret Santa).

Grateful

Logan has been doing pretty well. His appetite is fluctuating, but is eating pretty well at least once a day. He is back to some strange cravings for no apparent reason. He wanted chicken nuggets for breakfast the other day for example. No big deal. He even went back to daycare today to see his friends. I know he misses them because he talks about his friends and Cathy. He was pretty excited today.

I, on the other hand, am a little emotional. I don't know if it is the holidays and just the generally hectic time, or what. I know that I have ready about many kids with cancer relapsing lately or who have been told there are no more treatment options or who have even passed recently (or will imminently). It is hitting me hard right now. I cannot even fully read some of the posts, watch the videos, because I just fall apart. Cancer sucks. There is no doubt about it. There is nothing pretty about it. It does not give you the option of opting out, choosing what is behind door #2, or just ignoring it. Yes, I am beyond grateful for a treatment that is working. Yes, I am grateful for all of the people who are supporting us, sending love, prayers, well wishes, etc. I have met some amazing people, and am happy to know them and hopefully support them too. I just wish we had met under drastically different circumstances. Hang in there friends.

Here is a cute picture of my handsome man for a pick me up after reading that.

Good weekend

Logan had a pretty good weekend, and even felt energetic enough to go to the open house at the new Children's Hospital that is way closer to our house than the main one. We saw the new clinic where Logan's doctors are moving in January, and it is pretty fancy. Definitely different from the small office we go to now. It seems that it is bitter sweet for them and us. It is more of a hospital environment and bigger, but they are hoping to still maintain the family like atmosphere. We hope so, because we love all of the doctors, nurses, and staff at the clinic.

He also got to see his best friend Weston, who he has missed so much through this isolation time. It was a nice little time to play together and have fun for the two buddies.

A huge thank you for two unexpected and very welcome gifts from friends. Thanks to Karyn for the "date night" gift cards for dinner and a movie. And thank you to Pam for the Whole Foods card so we can get some groceries/take out (probably the second one).

Here is a picture of Logan and Alexis playing in the giant snow globe at the Children's Hospital:

Big Day

We went in this morning for Logan's spinal and chemo. He was a trooper, but it was rough going for a little while. Each time he goes in for the spinal puncture and they sedate him, he gets more and more emotional. He used to be just super giggly, but now he varies from giggling to sobbing. It is pretty heart breaking, but once the sedation wears off he is the same happy boy. He was feeling pretty good, so we decided to go ahead and go up to the Make a Wish event. It was pretty crazy, and they watched out for him since he had just finished treatment and was tired. He had a wonderful time, thanks to our Wish volunteer, Nancy. She was amazing and helped him separate, go in, shop, sit on Santa's lap, and overall just have a great time. He stayed perky, and did not have any trouble. We then grabbed some lunch and drove home. In the car, he seemed to crash and get a little grumpy. But then he fell asleep and all was right again. He was so tired that he did not even wake up when I took him out of the car (that has never happened!). Logan did wake up a little when I took his boots and coat off, but then just snuggled back into me. Then I took a chance and took him into his room to lay down on the bed. This would normally make him startle awake and claim he did not want to take a nap, but this time he just smiled and said "Thank you Mommy." He curled up, and stayed asleep for a good nap. Hopefully this will be an uneventful evening and weekend with no ill effects from his treatment.

Onward we march

We went in today for blood counts to see if Logan passes to have chemo tomorrow. I was not sure what to hope for, expect, etc. On one hand, they have been saying that usually the kids do not pass on the first try after the Delayed Intensification phase. But on the other hand, he would have passed early last week when he went in and needed blood. The numbers that they look at to need blood are different numbers than the ones that pass you for chemo. On top of that he has had an extra week and a half for his bone marrow to recover from all the chemo he had last month. Well...he passed. His platelets are over 300,000. His ANC is 800. And, incidentally his hemoglobin is now 11.2 which is great. No wonder he has pretty decent energy.

On to the next phase we go! This new phase is called Interim Maintenance II, and it is essentially like the IM I phase which was right before DI. He goes every 10 days for chemo with Vincristine and escalating doses of Methotrexate in his port. Except for tomorrow which he gets Methotrexate in his spinal fluid. Oh, the dreaded spinal chemo. It seems to still hit him hard no matter what we do. He does much better when they give him fluids and stay flat for an hour, but still has more of an upset tummy later in the day with that than just with the regular chemo in his port. Hopefully he will be ok. He has been invited to the Make a Wish store tomorrow. He is given "wish bucks" and he can purchase a few gifts for family/friends and even get something for himself. Logan is really excited about going shopping for himself.

Right now, we are just trying to stay warm (it is -2 outside right now). And keep plugging on. Here he is with Melissa from the clinic getting ready for his finger poke.

Santa is coming!

This is all we hear. We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. It was a full and busy day, but fun for both kids. Now, all we hear is: "It's Christmas!" and "Santa is coming!" as in, he is coming tonight. Well, we even went and bought a countdown calendar/tree so the kids could see how many days until actual Christmas day. It is helping a little, but it is still a very exciting time and I think it will be a long month waiting for the kids. But, Logan is doing pretty well. He is still pretty perky after his blood transfusion last week. We hope that he does well enough through the week to pass for chemo on Friday. If he does pass, then he will start the next phase of chemo which is called Interim Maintenance II. This is a similar phase to the IM I a few months ago, but is starts at a higher dose of chemo and escalates each time. That is the last phase before Maintenance which is the last (though long) phase of Logan's treatment. There is actually a light at the end of this "intense phase" tunnel we have been in since the beginning.