Fundraiser

The mothers group here in Wichita that I am a member of is participating in the Light The Night fundraiser sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Their goal is to raise money to support cancer research and family programs. Eric and I will be participating in the walk on September 19th... We've both registered and if you would like to donate to our cause there are two links below. Eric and I have decided to turn this into a friendly competition and see which one can raise the most. So if you would like to donate... choose your favorite friend/relative and check back for the results in September!

Diane's Fundraising Page:
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ks/WichitKS09/dneal529

Eric's Fundraising Page:
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ks/WichitKS09/eneal1081

Feeling good

Sorry to leave everybody in the dark over the weekend. Everything is fine, and Logan is feeling more like himself every day. We have visitors this week, so posts will probably be scarce. We are tentatively planning on heading back to chemo next week.

A Weeks Reprieve

Logan's doctors visit this afternoon went well. He no longer has to wear a mask in public so YEA! He gets another week of recovery time before starting round two of chemo so YEA YEA!! And we get to have the three D's come visit next week (his cousins Dillon, Delaney, and Donovan) so YEA YEA YEA!!!

We won't get the blood counts back until tomorrow afternoon but we don't expect any bad news there. Logan is feeling pretty good... just not his usually energy level. His mouth sores are MUCH better and he is eating very well for us here at home. I think it helps that we don't serve hospital quality food here! : )

A Little Fun

Last night Logan requested pumpkin casserole for dinner (his FAVORITE!) so here are a few pictures of Logan enjoying the best meal in 2 weeks! (We took a bunch and some are funny so I just couldn't decide which ones to share...)

Ready to dig in!

SO GOOD!

MOM! STOP TAKING MY PICTURE! This morning everyone was up early so we decided to go to the zoo while it was still cool outside.
Watching a movie in the gorilla habitat building.

This guy looked SO human with his legs and arms crossed!

FYI - tomorrow Logan has an appointment with Dr. Rosen for a CBC (blood count). We'll post the results as we have them.

WE'RE HOME!!

Let's hope we stay that way for a while!

Thanks to the fearless driving of my Aunt Nancy with co-pilot Grandma Fran (AKA my mom) Amanda is now home with us. Round trip from KC to Wichita and back again all in an afternoon! WOW! I couldn't do it!

It's been a LONG 2 weeks and we missed Amanda very much (and I would like to think she missed us too except every time I called and asked if she was ready to come home she would say "Just a little bit longer" : ). We are all settling back into our routines nicely.

On Schedule

Logan's Platelets took a big jump from yesterday to 3300. Still no fever so we're on schedule to be dismissed tomorrow. We are also planing on Amanda coming back to Wichita tomorrow so our family will all be reunited very soon! We'll let you know when we're home and settled.

We See The Light!

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Logan is continuing to improve and is feeling more his normal self. Platelets are still low, but rising on their own (without transfusions) to 2300(from 2100 yesterday). White-blood cells are holding steady, but his Lymphocytes dropped slightly which tells us his neutrophils are starting to comeback (still not at measurable level yet).

He hasn't had a fever since Sunday night and if this holds steady we may be dismissed Tuesday or Wednesday. There are a few other factors involved but it gets a little technical so we'll just update tomorrow with an ETA after we talk to the doctors.

Optimism.

Medication side effects aside, Logan felt pretty good most of the day today. His temperature was normal, except for when he was getting his antifungal drip. Fever and other uncomfortable side effects are par for the course with the antifungal, so I don't think that the doctors will re-set the 48-hour clock as a result. He ate 4 bowls of cereal today, which must qualify as some kind of record. He is also starting to act more like Logan this evening, which is absolutely fantastic.

He also got a bump in his platelets today, and perhaps the best news of all is that it was not from a transfusion. We are keeping our fingers crossed that his bone marrow is starting to kick in again. One day does not define a trend, so we are anxious to see what his blood tests tell us tomorrow. His other blood work has been steady, except for the bump in red blood cells resulting from his transfusion yesterday. He has a long way to go with all of his blood counts, but we will be very excited when they are all trending upward.

Logan's stubble is falling out in wholesale fashion today. He is actually having fun "waxing" his head with cloth medical tape. His head is over 80% bald, with a few stragglers and some spots in the back of his head still holding on. He has definitely come to terms with his baldness and would prefer to skip hats for now. I think his residual stubble makes hats feel uncomfortable. We will see if he wants to get back to wearing hats in public when we get out of the hospital. Diane and I have our fingers crossed that it will be the day after tomorrow.

Feeling a little better

There are some signs that Logan is at feeling a little bit better tonight. He had a pretty decent dinner, and was in fairly good spirits afterward. His fever seems to be under better control this evening, though it is still elevated.

With every day, it seems that he gets a new med; he is now on two antibiotics, antifungal, tylenol, low-dose morphine at meals, benadryl, stool softener, and oral lidocaine. Most of the meds are 4 times a day, so he is pretty much constantly getting something dripped in his IV or placed in his mouth. He also gets a new test added to his regimen almost daily: CBC, metabolic, bacteria cultures (x5?), fungal cultures, and elecrolytes. Sum all of this up, and it still looks like he is in the hospital for a fever resulting from low neutrophils (neutropenic fever). The cure for neutropenia is time (without chemotherapy drugs) to let his bone marrow come back to normal. Everything else we do is preventative (antibiotics, antifungals), or to combat the lingering side effects of chemo (pain/fever meds). We continue to anticipate negative cultures and hope for increased blood counts, as we will probably be in the hospital until they recover. It is good news that the doctors have not found a cause for his fever, but that does not mean that we can go home yet.

If anyone would like to give blood, please do so next time you see a blood drive. Logan is now depending on the donations of others for blood products to keep him healthy. As you may know, blood banks need both a quantity and a variety of donors. Logan needs a donor who matches his blood type, but also other "factors" in order for him to safely receive blood.

Transfusion

Today Logan will get another blood transfusion. His hemoglobin dropped significantly from yesterday to 6.3. Platelets are down to 1700, white blood cells are holding steady at 1.0 but still no neutrophils. The morphine is helping him eat more but today he will start on anti-fugal medicine that may make him feel even worse. His fever is still up so no end in sight for our hospital stay. Some good news is his EKG came back normal so no heart damage! The nutritionist came to visit us yesterday afternoon and because he hasn't been eating well he's deficient in protein so we're pushing the yogurt and cottage cheese. We're also going to try a protein drink and see if he likes the taste.

My mom surprised us with a visit yesterday and was kind enough to sit with Logan while Eric and I enjoyed a dinner out together. As you can imagine, we haven't seen each other much this week. Eric has been pulling the night shift here with Logan while I sleep at home and I come in around 6 every morning and stay with him while Eric goes to work. Thank you all for the words of encouragement that you have been posting on the blog. It really helps to know so many people are following our journey and leaning us support. Amanda has been having a grand time with her cousins and grandparents in KC this week. We're not sure when she'll come home since we don't know when Logan will be released, but it has made things infinitely easier with her out of town. Thank you all!

Still Feverish

Logan had another fever over 101 last night. We saw Dr. Rosen this morning (Logan's cancer doctor) and he was able to answer our questions that the other doctors here couldn't. Looks like it will be several more days before his blood counts start to improve. His platelets fell below the 2000 mark yesterday so he is at risk for bleeding and will need another transfusion before he is dismissed. His mouth sores have become so painful that he's not eating properly so Dr. Rosen prescribed a low dose of morphine to help manage the pain and encourage him to eat.

Logan has also seen the pediatric infections disease specialist and will be started on anti-fungal medicine tomorrow to prevent / treat any fungus he may have in his body. Apparently the longer he is on antibiotics the greater his chance of a fungal infection so this is a preventive measure. No fungus has been found to date.

He will also be getting an EKG today because one of the doctors noticed an irregular heartbeat during a routine exam. If this test comes back abnormal then it's more tests for our guy and another specialist called in.

At least two more days

Logan will be in the hospital at least two more days... maybe longer depending on if his fever goes down. They've done all the tests in the world and found no reason for the fever. Their best guess is it's neutropenic fever (fever caused by low white blood cells) which happens in half of all chemo patients. We're told that he can't go home until he is without fever for 48 hours and he measured 103.0 last night.

No News

We've seen the doctors, they've done a bunch of tests and still no news. We're waiting for the cultures to grow to determine if he has another bacteria infection. They've swabbed his mouth sores to see if they are something that can be treated. He's still tired but also bored and crabby. Eating and drinking continue to be a challenge and he has lost 4 pounds total.

FYI - for you number followers: WBC - .1; RBC - 9.9; Platelets 2100. Not great, but he doesn't need any transfusions at this time.

Back in the Hospital

Man... Sometimes life just sucks! Logan's fever kept coming back through the night so today we're back in the hospital. No word yet on how long this time. They've done blood work, chest x-ray, and throat cultures to determine what ails him. We'll update when we have more info.

Not Good, Not Bad... Yet

We're on a fever watch again... : ( We called Logan's doctor when we discovered he had a temperature of 102. Dr. Rosen said to give him one dose of Tylenol and if the fever came back to call him and we would be back in the hospital. : ( & : ( On the other hand, Logan seems to be feeling well enough. The most distressing thing for him is his lack of hair. He's taken everything else in stride, but the hair loss had been a bitter pill to swallow. We tried to make today a fun day with a trip to Target for some hat shopping (and a new toy of course) and a stop at the dollar store for 5 shiny balloons but it all pales in comparison to his loss. Hopefully we won't end this downer of a day by ending up in the hospital (Logan says's its BORING!). Keep those positive thoughts coming our way.

Here is our newly balded-headed boy. Eric has offered to shave his head too but Logan has declined... I guess he doesn't want to look at his dad's naked head all the time!

Here is Logan's room all dressed up. Twinkle lights above. Mom and Dad's TV and VCR for now b/c little sister took his portable to KC. He has pillows, drinks, and snacks galore along with an entertainment basket with his DVDs, games, books, and puzzles.

Logan's first bath in 3 weeks!!!! He's been taking showers because of his catheter so this was a treat. To make it even sweeter we let him use "daddy's tub" and turn on the jets which make LOTS of bubbles!!!

I just HAD to add this one! He fell asleep on the couch during his antibiotic treatment clutching is brand new shooter. We may have a hard time talking him out of taking this one to the hospital.

Home At Last

WE'RE HOME! Logan was released from the hospital at 3:30 p.m. He's going to be on high doses of antibiotics for 10 more days so we are expecting a visit this evening from Home Health to get our meds, supplies, and pumps. He'll need 4 doses a day at 6 a.m, noon, 6 p.m., and midnight. He is VERY happy to be home (as you may imagine)!

The bad news is that his hair has started to fall out and he is very concerned about being bald. He's worried that his friends will laugh at him. : ( We're going to shave his head this evening so he won't have to mess with leaving hair everywhere he goes. We're on the look out for cool manly hats now.

LAST DAY IN THE HOSPITAL... HOPEFULLY!!!

We are very hopeful that today Logan will be dismissed from the hospital. His blood transfusion yesterday went well and the doctors are planning on a platelet transfusion today. Yesterday Logan felt well enough to go for walk (with his IV cart in tow) and we visited the lab where they take his blood and tissue samples. He thought that was pretty cool and his dad had fun explaining what all the machines do. Our last few days have been filled with X Box battles on Double Dash Mario Cart... but Logan is still ready to go home. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well he is taking all this. He's just going with the flow... what a trooper!

It's been hard to juggle our parental responsibilities to Logan and Amanda during his hospital stay. Because of Eric and my commitment to never leave Logan alone here, it was a challenge arranging care for Amanda for 4 days. Thank you to those that have stepped in to help by watching Amanda for us. Grandma Gayle was able to drop everything on Thursday and drove to Wichita to help... then after 3 days juggling I asked her to drive Amanda back to KC to stay with our sisters for awhile. She is in heaven... playing with her cousins and enjoying some special attention. This will make our job of taking care of Logan much easier and I'm sure he will enjoy the one-on-one attention as well.

Day Three in the Hospital

Logan's temperature is still down, so we are still scheduled for release tomorrow. He is getting a blood transfusion today and a platelet transfusion tomorrow because his red blood cells are borderline and his platelets are so low they are worried that if he starts bleeding he won't stop. They will send us home with antibiotics for his infection, and we'll see our Doctor Monday for more blood tests. He is having some skin bruising because of the low platelets. The Benadryl plus antibiotics make him sick to his stomach so getting food down him has become a challenge. He's lost two pounds in the three days we've been here at the hospital. He's been living on cereal and popsicles... not the best nutritionally but we'll take what we can get.

Bacteria Found

Bacteria was found in Logan's IV line. They are doing a long term culture of the bacteria to determine what kind it is and depending on the type we may need to have Logan's catheter removed and replaced. He was still running a fever last night so we'll be here at least through Sunday. His blood counts are still dropping and he may need a blood transfusion before we're dismissed. Health wise, Logan is feeling better (and looks better too) but he is SO ready to go home!

Wesley Hospital Day Two

Day two in the hospital and we still don't know much. As of 10:30 a.m. we don't have the results of his lab work to determine if he has a bacterial infection. He had a CT scan last night because he was complaining of abdominal pain but it came back normal. He had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he's been given that included hives but so far the Benadryl seems to be keeping that under control. Dose number 3 of antibiotics is at 12:00 and hopefully see the doctor with in the next few hours. Don't you just LOVE hospital time? We'll post again when we know what ails him or get an ETA on our dismissal.

Admitted.

Logan has been admitted to the hospital with Neutropenic Fever. He will be placed on antibiotics and the hospital will be testing for infections. His fever is bouncing from normal to elevated, and his mood follows his fever. We have visitors coming into Wichita to help out.

Fever Watch

Logan's temperature has been bouncing around between 100.5 and 98.9 all night. Eric and I took turns waking up to check his temperature all night because if he hits 101.0 we need to go to the hospital. As of 7 a.m. this morning it was 100.4 so we're worried for the little guy. He's not feeling well either and he looks very pale. We see the doctor this afternoon for a blood count and I wouldn't be surprised if he needs a blood transfusion. We'll keep you all informed as much as we can.

Final day of Round 1 Chemo

Today is day 10, and the last treament will be tonight at 10:00. Logan is still feeling OK, but his energy is still dropping. He is getting accustomed to snacking all day instead of the traditional 3 meals. We are glad that Logan is still home and tolerating treatment well.

Terrific Tuesday!

We are winding down the first round of chemo and Logan is doing very well. He is still complaining about stomach pain and doesn't have his usual energy but really doing well considering...

Eric and I are being very cautious about germs because this is the time when his white blood cells are at the lowest and he is most prone to infection. We're just trying to avoid large groups of people in confined spaces where a stray cough or sneeze could do him in. He's been a champ about hand washing and drink/food sharing so we're just trying to eliminate the airborne variety. This all my be in vain, but you can't blame a parent for trying.

With all this home bound stuff, Logan is getting a little stir crazy so I took the kids to the toy section of Target this afternoon and let them both pick 2 toys. (Very generous of me for those of you that don't know that I'm stingy!) And the two of them have been playing together VERY nicely for 2 hours now! Well worth it if you ask me! We also spent about an hour and a half playing with the toys in the store and both of them have started their Santa Wish List already!

Day Seven...

The doctor's appointment today went fast. He drew blood and sent us home with Logan's meds for the next 3 days. Our next appointment is for Thursday for more lab work. He's still feeling okay... a little tired and the occasional stomach pain but nothing significant.

Today we were able to swim in a pool for the first time this year and the kids had a ball! The Tegaderm (clear plastic bandage used to keep Logan's catheter dry while swimming and bathing) didn't work worth a darn so we'll have to come up with something else for next time.

Independence Day Report

We had a wonderful 4th of July and hope you all did as well. We did our home fireworks last weekend so Saturday we went to a big display in Wichita. Eric thought it would be fun to tailgate so we went very early to get a good spot. We ended up on the top of a parking garage quite close to the action and it was wonderful. We took bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and glow sticks that Logan and Amanda generously shared with the other kids near us and Eric spent most to the time agitating our homemade ice cream bucket. : ) YUM! YUM!

Lazy Sunday has been great as well. Logan spent the morning helping his dad fix the lawnmower then mowed the lawn while Amanda helped me watch the dogs and weed the flowerbeds. What a gorgeous day for July! We had to enjoy it while we could since the weather man says high 90's again this week.

Logan is still doing well with his chemo. His voice has changed and his energy comes in bursts. His appetite still isn't the greatest. He says his favorite foods "taste funny". Eric has become the nurse this weekend administering Logan his drugs every morning and evening. We see the doctor tomorrow morning for a short appointment. Logan is only getting one chemo drug right now and doesn't take as long as the others. Hopefully we'll find out more then about what's to come.

Good day

We had visitors today, so sorry for the slow update. Logan is feeling pretty good and is handling chemo well, except for the boredom in the doctor's office. He still has energy, and we are looking forward to fireworks tomorrow. His chemo is down to a single medicine for the rest of this cycle, which we will give to him at home this weekend. His treatments will be taking effect on his blood counts next week, but we are planning on a nice weekend. Happy Independence Day!

Starting To Hurt

We are home from day four of chemo and Logan is starting to feel some pain in his bones. He's still doing good keeping food down but our hungry little hippo is not hungry any more. : (
We have started getting inventive with mealtimes... like catering dinner in his bed while watching some toons.

Oh Yea... right before we left the doctor today the nurse took Logan's bandage off his neck and we got to see his new manly scar for the first time! Look how sexy this boy is now! (His dad says he'll get all the chicks in high school now!)

Another good day

Logan handled the chemo much better today than he did Monday. His energy level is going down some, but he is still eating and drinking.

Day Three

We are home and Logan is resting from his third day of chemo therapy. He received all four drugs today so he may be sick again this afternoon. Amanda has been asking a lot of questions about where Logan is going and what he's doing so Eric brought her up to visit us today at the doctor's office. She was ready to leave after 10 minutes... we told her it was boring!!!