Giving thanks

Happy Thanksgiving from Logan and our family! As hard as this year has been for us, we still have so much to be thankful for. Logan is responding to treatment, and he is feeling pretty good right now (extra feisty since his blood transfusion). His hair is starting to grow back a little. We are thankful for our entire family. Eric and I have two great kids in Alexis and Logan. We also are thankful for Nene and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, all of whom have been traveling here to Colorado from Oklahoma often to help us keep Logan isolated and healthy during this difficult phase of chemo. We are thankful for Big Granny, Big Papa, Uncle B, Aunt Nic, and the kids' new cousin Emma. We are also thankful for all of the extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc that are all supporting us from afar. I would also add the vast family of friends and supporters that we have here at home and across the country through Logan's support page. You are all loved and appreciated by our family.

Almost...

Logan has been a little more energetic, though still quite pale. We were hoping he was on the upswing and would not need blood today, but we were wrong. We went in for his blood counts, and got some good and bad news. His platelets are holding strong over 100,000, and his ANC is 800. Those are pretty good numbers, and if he were due for chemo tomorrow he would pass. But, then they took a look at his hemoglobin, and it was 6.4. That meant a trip up to the Children's Hospital for a blood transfusion. Bummer. Oh, well. Maybe this will perk him up a little for Thanksgiving and he will feel better. He has been doing better, but still very needy and a bit cranky. It would have helped if he napped over the weekend, but he would have none of that. I wanted to say thanks to Sheri for bringing dinner last week. Here is a picture of Logan eating his chicken nuggets waiting on his blood, and another of him napping on the way to the hospital:

Squeaked by again

Logan has been feeling more tired and is pretty pale, so we figured he may need blood or platelets today after his lab check. We went in, and is is still holding in there. His hemoglobin was 7.7 (they would transfuse under 7), and his platelets are still good at 119,000 (they give him some if below 10,000). So that was good news since we did not have to go up to the main Children's Hospital. Logan's ANC is still showing up as 0, but there were some more white cells in there when compared to last time.

Logan has been pretty pitiful the last few days, but still is staying positive. He is such as trooper, and we are so proud of him. He gets tired, and is nauseous a lot. He does not eat much, and his tummy hurts when he does eat. But, you can see him bouncing around and playing in between all that when he has a burst of energy. He is currently falling asleep on the couch each afternoon for at least a couple of hours, even though he normally does not nap at home. But, at least this gives him the energy to push through and play in the evenings. My little man is hanging in there, and he will even tell you: "Bald is Brave."

Zero?!?!

Well, we took Logan in for labs today to check his numbers. He is in a phase of his treatment that he may need a blood transfusion or platelets, so we are going in twice a week just for lab checks. I made a gamble and did not put numbing cream on his port just hoping that his numbers would be fine. Well, the gamble paid off, and no blood or platelets were needed. His hemoglobin was 8.2 (must be below 7 to transfuse), and his platelets were 152,000 (must be below 10,000 to give him some).  But, his ANC is 0. Yes, 0, which I did not even know was possible. Essentially the white cells were so low that it was impossible to even calculate an ANC. This just means that he is very susceptible to infection, illness, etc. We have kept him home from daycare, and plan to keep him isolated for at least the next three weeks. They expect his other numbers to go down, and will recheck on Friday to see if he needs blood or platelets. Hopefully he will stay well, because with no immune system he will go directly to the hospital even with a little fever. The good news is that he still has some energy, though it comes in bursts. He can be pretty feisty most of the time, but is also a little happier than last week. He is all done with me giving him shots of chemo (yea for that!). Here is a picture from a few days ago as he starts to make his Christmas list:

Finally the week is over

This has been a long and trying week. Logan has just not been himself. He is whining, crying, and very needy. I don't think he feels great, but then he pushes through and plays like a champ. But, when we went in for chemo today, it got even harder. He didn't want me to put the numbing cream on his port. Then he wanted to be carried into the clinic. He was pretty clingy getting his blood pressure taken, and then would not let go when we took him into a room. Once in there, he stuck to me like glue. Needless to say it was not a smooth visit for accessing his port and getting the chemo. He even asked for a finger poke instead of the "Bob poke." But, he needed chemo so we had no choice. Thankfully it was just a quick blood draw and one small amount of chemo. It didn't take too long, and he was done with that. He had a quick check and we talked about his numbers. His ANC is down, but still pretty good at 800. Hemoglobin is down to 9, but that is not too bad considering all the chemo he has had over the past week. So, he is holding strong, but will probably get lower next week. We have made arrangements for family to come back over the next few weeks so we can keep him isolated as much as possible. We go in next on Tuesday for a blood check, and we are hoping he does not need any blood products at that time. Wish us an uneventful weekend.

Thanks to Joyful Givings for sending the kids a care package. They really appreciate it.

Better update

Logan is doing much better with eating and energy. Though he has been acting a little off yesterday and this morning. He was really sad when I had to go to work yesterday, which did not make leaving any easier. Last night, he just had a little breakdown at bedtime. For some reason he did not want to go to bed, and felt that if he had to go to bed, Mommy should stay with him. This is very unusual for him. We gave him some extra TLC and he settled down and went to sleep. Then, at 5:20 this morning, I hear a very chipper voice: "Mommy, my tummy hurts." Yes, you read that correctly, he was chipper. You see, my son is not dumb. He is charming and smart and knows how to wield this power. He also knows what will get me out of bed at 5:20 in the morning instead of ignoring him in hopes he will go back to sleep or entertain himself at the very least. If he says his tummy hurts or he needs to throw up, I will inevitably go in to help. So, I accompany him to the bathroom, where he pretends to dry heave, then looks at me and says "I tried." Then we went and snuggled in bed for about 10 minutes. It was nice to have snuggles, but there was no hope of going back to sleep with him in my bed. Then he started talking, and I figured he was ready to get up. So, we got up and situated him on the couch and I went to get ready. Now, don't get me wrong, I believed that he did not feel wonderful. But he was still pretty chipper all morning, so really I think he is fine.

We finally got him his reward for taking shots at home, a giant Spiderman balloon. When asked what he wanted for being such a brave boy, all he could think of was a balloon. Even when given the choice of a toy, book, movie, anything else, he did not want anything else. When we went to the store to get it, I again asked if we should get him anything in addition to the balloon, and his reply was: "We should get another balloon for Alexis." Doesn't that just melt your heart? He is the sweetest.

Strong little man

I forgot over the weekend to say thank you to Peggy and Susan for bringing food last week. It was very much appreciated and came at a time when I did not have a spare moment or ounce of time or energy to spare.

Logan continues to recover from his long chemo Friday. Even though he had several other chemos that day, we really think it is the spinal chemo that does it to him. He is able to pretty much take it all in stride with a little nausea, until he has those doses. He often has headaches, even though we have him lay flat for an hour and have them give him fluids each time. Unfortunately right now we cannot even give him anything for the pain because it could mask a fever. And he just seems to crash later in the day with those spinal doses. I guess at least he does not have those every time, but it is hard on him when he does.

Good news is that he is starting to eat more, and is perking up nicely. He is playing and smiling, and even likes jumping around in the leaves outside (after they have been raked into a pile, of course). He is such a trooper when it comes to taking his medicine. Right now he has oral chemo each night and the medicine for nausea, and then on the weekends he has the antibiotic to prevent pneumonia. Not to mention those fun shots each morning. At lease we gave him the last one of those this morning (until we start giving them again this weekend). He is so strong, and just accepts it as part of life. I am so proud of him, that words cannot express all the feelings. He makes me stronger, and I am so lucky to have him in my life. This has to keep working.