Recovering

Well, yesterday and last night was no fun for Logan. But then he went to bed and slept nicely. He did wake up once and told me he needed to throw up, but did not actually do anything. Then at 5am this morning, I heard him calling and he said "I need to throw up, and I want juice." No throwing up, but he was definitely thirsty. I gave him small amounts until I was sure his stomach could handle it, and he kept asking for more. Once it was evident that he was going to keep it down, we even gave him some milk and cereal. He didn't eat any of the cereal, but drank plenty of fluids. Off I went to work, and he went to Cathy's. I checked on him during the day and he was doing fine. He did not eat much lunch, but again had plenty of fluids and then went down for a long nap. He still does not have an appetite or much energy, but is so much better than yesterday. It is a relief to us.

Rough chemo day

We were so happy that Logan passed to receive chemo today. On one hand, lets keep this train rolling. On the other hand, what were we thinking? Our poor little man. This was the roughest aftermath of chemo to date.

The clinic visit started out pretty well. Logan is pretty hilarious when they sedate him for the lumbar punctures. They inject the first medicine and he starts in with the giggles. We are not sure what is so funny, maybe he is seeing double of all of us, but he just cannot stop laughing. And of course that makes us laugh too, which makes for a nice lightening of the moment. Logan endured his procedure just fine, and then the two other chemos into his port. As he started to come out of the sedation, he wanted to be up and around but had to stay flat for an hour. It was work, but he did it and even scarfed down two Pop Tarts. He was ready to go play with his friends at daycare.

Then on the way, he tanked. He started looking like he did not feel well, and was asking to go home. At that point, I still had some time before I was supposed to be back at work so we went home to see how he did. When I unbuckled his carseat and took him out, he was so sweaty and just clung to me. I put him on the couch and turned on a movie, but before long he was telling me his tummy hurt. I rushed him into the bathroom, and he promptly threw up everything in his poor little stomach. After that he felt a little better, but couldn't even keep the Zofran down. Poor little guy, he is not keeping fluids down at this point, and has thrown up several times throughout the day. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. Send all of your positive thoughts, energy, prayers, well wishes, etc. to Logan for a better day tomorrow.

Thanks so much to Leigh who answered her phone 5 minutes before school was out (a very busy time for her), and grabbed Alexis from her class and took her to the office instead of waiting for me to be late in the car loop in the pouring rain after frantically cleaning Logan up after he was sick again. Also another HUGE thanks to Stacey for helping me clean up after Logan threw up at the dance studio (I swear he was doing better and had even kept the Zofran down at that point). Stacey knows how it is, since her daughter has Leukemia too and is just a few months ahead of Logan in her treatment. Still, cleaning up after someone else's sick child is above and beyond.

Here is Logan sleeping this afternoon. Of course he falls asleep shortly before we needed to leave to pick his sister up from school:

And back up, Logan passes!

Logan had an appointment today for a finger poke to check and see if his levels were high enough to have chemo tomorrow. He went in and was very cordial to all the ladies (this is a big improvement as he usually hides behind me). He cooperated pretty well with his finger poke, and...he passed. His platelets are still good, and his ANC was up to 1000. Yeah!

No other real news to report, which is good news in and of itself. Logan has been running around like a typical 3 year old boy having fun. Here is a picture of him wearing his new helmet that he picked out himself complete with scull and crossbones on the side and a rubber spiked mohawk:

Numbers go up, numbers go down

I took Logan into the clinic yesterday for a blood check since his platelet count had drastically dropped last week. They just wanted to get another count before the weekend. Amazingly, his count had shot right back up from 83,000 to almost 250,000. That was good news. The not so great news was that his ANC (which is a calculation of various white blood cells) had gone down from 1000 to 700. This is not horrible, but he does have to be over 750 to get chemo. So we are hoping that is also on the upswing and will recover enough by the Monday blood check to get chemo on Tuesday.

Do these numbers really tell the story of how Logan is doing. No Way! He is doing so well and acting like he feels on top of the world. He is running around, and has a great amount of energy. He is definitely keeping us entertained. Nothing is slowing him down, and we are enjoying it right now.

Late update

So, I am a little behind in updating this blog, and I really have no excuse except that life is in full swing. And this is good news because Logan has been feeling great and really is back to his old self with a little extra 3 year old ornery thrown in.

I took Logan into the doctor for his lab check on Thursday. His labs were just fine for him to pass and receive chemo on Friday, but they have dropped considerably since the last check. His ANC is still 1000 which is below normal, but still pretty good (and it must be 750 or greater to pass for chemo). His platelets however were 83,000, which is down from somewhere in the ballpark of 350,000 ten days before (and they must be greater than 75,000 to pass). What all this means is that he was fine for chemo on Friday, but may not pass for the next dose especially since they escalate the dose each time in this phase. Just to keep close tabs on him, they are having us come in on Thursday next week to do a lab check before the weekend. We actually were not scheduled for any visits next week, but this one is now added in.

Still, Logan is chugging along and you would never know that he has leukemia and is undergoing chemotherapy. He is happy, energetic, and our little ball of fire. The only indicator might be that he does not have much of an appetite, but that is all. He is certainly not letting this slow him down. Here is a picture of him playing a Cars racing game while getting his chemo yesterday:

Contest winner: Logan the Cancer Avenger

OK, finally the conclusion of the blog naming contest. It took longer than I was expecting because at first we did not get that many entries, and then life has just been crazy. So, I figured right after Logan's birthday week was as good a time as any to reveal the new name: Logan the Cancer Avenger. This is for many reasons. Logan loves the Avengers (see picture of him in his newly decorated room below). The Avengers are all about fighting the bad guys, and to Logan this is how we have explained the Leukemia. He has "bad guys" in his blood, and he has to keep taking medicine to fight the bad guys. He is so strong and never quits, and he does his best for it not to break his stride. He is Avenging his health, and will never give up because he has so much power, strength and special talent inside.

Thanks to all of the entries, there were some great ones from Candice and Seth, Shannon, the Fritzes, Stacey and Tom, Elena, and Eric (who still thinks it should be: Hulk SMASH! Logan's Cancer).

Wish bracelets broken

When Logan received his custom painted shoes from Peach's Neet Feet, it came with this hope bracelet. We were supposed to make a wish when tying the bracelet on our wrist. Logan wore it for a day, then decided I was supposed to wear it. We also ordered some for the rest of the family including Alexis. Hers came off on the first day of school, and she did not notice when so it was lost somewhere. Then, mine came off just two days later. I am sure that you can guess what our wishes were, and also that we will need to wait and see if those wishes ultimately come true and stay true. Here is a picture of Logan on his birthday wearing his PNF shoes which matched the Superman theme: