Great day for everyone! We get to relax this weekend as a family too! Tomorrow we are going to a Santa Parade downtown and then a tree lighting to follow. Logan is so excited. Right now I am cooking Kelly dinner and we are going to relax and watch a movie after the kids go to bed (anything I cook her turns out great because we just compare it to the hospital food). Have a great weekend!

Another great day for Logan! Great news as well....Logan was granted his wish from Make A Wish Foundation to go to Disneyland. He is scheduled to go down at the end of March just after Easter. More information to come about the details of his wish. I wish everyone that has prayed for Logan could go.

Happy Day to all! Another great day for Logan. Every other Wednesday his kindergarten class gets to eat lunch at school. Logan brought his lunch and was so proud. I am not sure who was happier his mom getting to make him his first school lunch or Logan getting to take it.

The hospital called & said since Logan's recovery went so well they wanted to move up his next chemo a week (next Tuesday). Kelly and I asked does it matter next week or normal schedule December 11th. They said it does not change a thing. So we asked/told them that we would prefer a break and family time and not come back until December 11th. They were fine w/ it. Next weekend we might try to get away to the beach or something and just have some family time.

Another great day for Logan. School is going great. He learned the letter 'Z" this week. Today after school he rode the bus home w/ cousin Sydney and played over there for awhile. Incision is healing great. It is nice to be on a break. Thank you all for your continued support.

Spiderman is doing great (thank you Nana for the picture)!

We are home! Dad is tired.....Seahawks won......have a great rest of the day!

We get to go home today! Logan is doing so well they are sending us home. The doctor also cleared him to go to school tomorrow. He said go ahead w/ normal activities and Logan knows his own pain tolerance. The doctor said there really is nothing he can do to hurt himself. He also said the incision is healing so well that we can start removing the band-aid strips whenever. Wow this kid is amazing! The power of thoughts & prayers is amazing. We will probably come back Friday for our normal visit so that means lots of school.
Many of you have been following Ben Townes blog/progress as well (his link is on Logan's website). He also has Nueroblastoma & is about three weeks behind Logan in scheduled treatment. Ben just finished chemo #5 and will probably have a rough couple of weeks so please send some prayers his way. He then goes into surgery later in December....a week after his mom is induced and he becomes a big brother! Sound familiar? So Ben's family will have a pretty eventful rest of the year so be thinking of them and wishing them well:) Thank You!

IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S SUPERMAN!

Logan is having another great day. We are in the teen room (yes Logan gave them his fake id that said he is thirteen). We are awaiting someone to come up here and fix the X-box so we can race cars. The plan as of right now is for Logan to go home on Monday if he keeps doing so well. He can eat regular food now and they have him have on his feed through the NG tube. He is tolerating everything great. I asked if he wanted me to type anything and he said "I Love Krixti!"

Another great day for Logan! They cleared him to have clear fluids so he ate a Popsicle & jello!

As you can see by the picture Logan is doing very well. Last night went great. One of his regular doctors came in after this picture was taken and commented he could not believe Logan just had surgery. They just took out the other tube that went into his stomach because his stomach is responding well. This afternoon they will start him on fluids to see how he does and then possibly food tomorrow. He is doing amazing and Mom & Dad could not be prouder!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Logan has had a lot of tummy pain. He would wake up every hour or so whimpering and putting his hand on his tummy. They have him on a continuous drip of Morphine and give him extra as needed. He is watching cartoons right now and every so often he will smile at something funny that happens on the T.V. The picture is of the incision. I showed Logan after I took it and he was concerned about the hole....after I told him it was his belly button he was o.k.

Surgery is over! It went very well and Logan was amazing throughout! The pictures are Logan & Peyton before surgery and then the both of them after surgery. We met with the Doctor after surgery and he was very pleased with how things went. They were able to remove all of the tumor. There was a little mass about the size of a pea that they wanted to remove but could not because of location. They risked damaging Logan's kidney if they removed it. The doctor said that he was not concerned w/ that little mass and thinks it may just be scar tissue. They will however keep an eye on it over the years. They did put a couple of metal pins in it that will be in Logan forever. They are just so they can locate it in a scan. The doctor was very encouraged with the response the chemo had on the tumor. Kelly & I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today and everyday. You all were with Logan in that room and helped him get through it. THANK YOU!

Right now he is laying in be and watching cartoons. He has a very sore throat from the breathing tube they had in him. It should be better tomorrow. The tube you see coming out of his other nostril is so they can monitor his intestines and stomach. They want to make sure they continue working because of the shock they sustained by moving them.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We are very thankful to have people like you in our lives.

On a night when most are getting excited about a nice break from work/school we are stressed, worried, sick, nervous about what tomorrow brings. Logan goes into surgery about 10am Wednesday to have the tumor removed. I know he will be in one of the best hospitals in the nation and under the best care but it all is still very scary. Logan seems to be doing pretty well w/ it all. We have been talking about it with him the last couple days. We let him know he will go to sleep with Mommy & Daddy holding his hand and when he wakes up we will still be there holding his hand. I told him he will not feel anything and that his tummy may be a little sore afterwards when he laughs or passes gas. He thought that was pretty funny and told me not to make him laugh. Tonight when he was taking a shower he said that is was going to be the last shower with the bad seed in his tummy.
On a night when we will not sleep much we were touched by more angels. Our wonderful neighbors Mario & Wendy shared Logan's story with Wendy's Mom & Step Dad Gary & Pam. They own a cabinet business in Puyallup called Master Millwork, Inc. Gary & Pam wanted to do something to help so they talked w/ the staff. The staff voted unanimously that instead of having a office Christmas party this year they would donate the funds to Logan. The staff and Master Millwork donated $3390.00! Thank You!

Logan had a great day today! He went back to school this morning. He was a little shy since it has been two weeks. Once he got talking with his friends he told his mom it was o.k. to go.

Mom, Aunt Kristi, & Logan went up to do some blood work today at the hospital so they will have blood ready for surgery if he needs it. All of Logan's counts looked great.

Be sure to check the picture link to the right. As I get pictures from Logan's friends at Kalles Jr. High I will post for everyone to meet these amazing young adults.

Sorry we missed yesterday. Aunt Kristi came up to visit from Oregon and she is staying with us (or as Logan calls her Aunt Krixti). He is so excited she is here. He was in my bed yesterday morning at 7am when is Krixti going to be here and kept asking about every five minutes until she arrived at 3pm.

Friday was an amazing day as you can see by the comments. Our neighbor Mario Casello is the principal at a local Junior High in Puyallup (Kalles Jr. High). There is about 900+ students there. He and his family (Wendy, Chloe, & Kennedy) have been amazing! Mario organized an event at his school for Logan....Hat Day (kids cannot wear hats to school usually). Anyone that wanted to wear a hat paid $1.00. Mario said kids were coming up and giving much more. One kid brought his bank and gave $36.00 another gave a $100.00 bill....wow!

Then that afternoon Mario had an assembly at the school just before the kids were going to go home. He explained to the student body who Logan was and what Neuroblastoma was. He told them how his daughter Chloe dedicated her 5th birthday to Logan. Faculty came up to me and said they have never heard the gym so quiet. A lot of the kids were moved by Logan's story. Mario then had Logan & Chloe come out hand in hand so the students could meet them. It was awesome. Mr. Casello then shaved his head in front of everyone so he could be bald like Logan. He let Logan start the shaving and Logan thought that was awesome. After the assembly the school bell rang and kids headed home. A lot of them came down and shook Logan's hand, high fived him, took pictures with him with their cell phones. One kid reached into his pocket and pulled out $8.00 wrinkled dollars and gave it to me. It was really amazing.

That night at the school like they do all Friday's Mr. Casello and staff/volunteers open the Gym to students to play sports, watch movies, play games etc. Each student pays $5.00 to attend. All proceeds that night went to Logan! Logan and I attended for about an hour and Logan had a blast as you can see by the picture of him and Chloe playing twister together. Mr. Casello said that was the biggest turnout they have ever had! Kids also were shaving their heads for Logan. The Kalles Girls basketball team made Logan a big card and donated some money to him.

THANK YOU KALLES TYEES! TYEE PRIDE IS AMAZING AND YOU HAVE MADE AN IMPACT ON A LITTLE BOYS LIFE (AND HIS PARENTS) FOREVER!

Local story about a local kid that beat nueroblastoma. Dr. Park referenced in the article is who we have been working w/ this past week. Article

Logan is home! Thank you uncle Pat for staying w/ him last night and bringing him home. His ANC counts are at 1200. He needs to go back on Monday for more blood work to make sure things are ready for surgery.

We are scheduled to get to go home Friday morning at 10am (if Logan's counts are above 200). He will get a platelet transfusion in the morning and then head home. Uncle Pat will be staying w/ Logan tonight and then Mom will come up in the morning to take him home.

Earlier Logan & I were over riding bikes on the Oncology side and we saw one of his regular doctors. She stopped us and let us know how excited she was of the response the chemo has had on the tumor. She said she has never seen one respond that well! I also heard from another that discussing Logan at the last meeting was the highlight because of his progress. Logan then proceeded to ride around the floor as a police officer and give nurses tickets for walking to fast. He made them pay him w/ a hug.

BEST FRIENDS!

New pictures added. Just click on photos to the right. Thank you Hope for the pictures!

It's Thursday morning and counts are coming up....slowly. His ANC is at 100 and needs to be at 200 before they can send us home. Normal is 5000. Usually once it starts to go up is goes fast. I am going to see if they can check again this afternoon/evening. His body can fight infection above 500. The only thing that is down is his platelets which is common. We might get a transfusion today for those. Logan is in good spirits this morning. Guess what he is doing....yep playing Mario Golf. Today we are going to go over to the oncology side and ride bikes so he can get exercise.

Good news to report. Kelly and I met w/ the surgeon about 7:30pm tonight. To quote him he said "I am in awe at the progress that has been made to kill/shrink the tumor." He is anticipating the surgery to go smooth and also thinks he can go in through the same incision that was done for the biopsy (about a 4" incision on his belly). He thinks Logan's recovery should go smooth and last about a week. He said when they do move the intestines around it does irritate the stomach a bit. He also let us know they will be watching his kidney that is near the tumor because the artery that feeds it is close to the tumor and w/ a kids arteries being so sensitive they watch for it collapsing. The good news w/ that when first diagnosed he said the huge tumor was soft and very bloody and would of been near impossible to remove without complications. Now it is small and rubbery and should peel off pretty easy.
I shared the good news w/ Logan that they will be able to pull the bad seed out of the same hole they already made and that he will not feel a thing. I also said told him since he used his superpowers to shrink the seed so small it made the doctor very happy. Logan was very proud!

Hopefully now he will go to sleep. I think the blood they transfused into him today had sugar in it;)

It's Wednesday night and we are still here.....whoooo hoooo! Logan's counts are still at zero. This is the longest they have been at zero. The doctors are not worried. He got another blood transfusion today and it gave him his color back. Grandma stayed w/ him last night so when I came up later today after the transfusion it looked like Logan had been tanning because he was so white before. Logan, Grandma, & Grandpa David partied late into the night. Logan was up playing Mario Golf until 10:30! He now beats his mom at it all the time (and gives dad a good challenge).
Kelly & I had a parent/teacher conference w/ Logan's kindergarten teacher this morning and it went very well. She said Logan is very well behaved in class. She thinks he will be an artist (like his uncle Joe). The teacher said whenever they do projects w/ crayons Logan is very meticulous about making sure things are perfect. He also uses scissors great. She also informed us that when Logan is not there his cousin Sydney always makes sure that she puts down his chair. The kids in the class ask everyday about Logan. The only thing we need to be working on at home and in the hospital is the alphabet.

Update.....counts are still to low to go home so we will be here another night.

Good Tuesday morning. Logan is doing great! We are going on three days of no nausea and over 24 hours w/ out a fever. We are awaiting his counts to see if they will let us go home. He has been joking around and feeling good. They just weighed him this morning and he is back up to 43lbs (he dropped to 40).
Last night we went on a walk to see our friends over in oncology. One of the nurses and I started talking about Logan's surgery next week and he got upset and asked us not to talk about it. Early next week I will start prepping him for it and tell him how they are going to remove the "bad seed" from his tummy and how he will not feel anything. He is so brave!

Happy Monday if there is such a thing. Logan's tummy is feeling better. No sickness for 2 days. He still has a fever and counts are zero. He is getting another transfusion right now as well as taking a nap. They are giving him platelets which is good because he had a bloody nose this morning that would not clot itself. It now has.
It is so hard watching my boy be sick. Everywhere I turn I see these amazing pictures of him growing up....smiling, laughing and all the while he had that evil tumor inside tearing apart his body. I am so proud to be his dad. He is the true meaning of a super hero. The nurses are always saying how tough he is and I guess they would know because they deal with many kids. Yesterday when we got here the nurses heard my voice and all ran out from everywhere to see Logan. It is so nice because he truly brings a smile to their faces. He walks into an area where they are and no matter what they all drop what they are doing and he lights up the room! As you can tell I am having a difficult moment. I want this to go away and just be a normal family again. I am his dad and I am supposed to protect him. As I type this yes I am crying. I am crying because I am happy to have Logan, I am happy to have such an amazing support group, I am sad that Logan has to go through this, I am angry as well. Everyone that reads this today/tonight please when you are finished go give your kid(s) a hug and tell them how much you love them. I tell my best friend everyday!

We are back in the hospital. Logan had a fever. We are o.k. w/ it because he needed a transfusion. He woke up this morning without much color. We are not in our normal part of the hospital (if there is a normal part). We are usually over in oncology but they are full. We are on the same floor but in surgery recovery floor. The good thing is the room we have is great....the bad is the nurses are not used to cancer patients. They had trouble getting him ready for his blood transfusion and they are also not used to working w/ Hickman lines like Logan has. They are nice and are trying. If they have questions they have been calling over to the other unit. I stopped by the other unit and our favorite nurses were over there and they requested a special visit from Logan. We will go over in the morning. We are hoping his counts come up by Tuesday and no more fevers. Have a great night...we are in suite G3002 in our five star hotel.

Tumor as of 11/9/2007 (circled w/ arrow pointing at it). It is a little smaller than a golf ball.

Sorry for the delay in updating. Not much to report for yesterday because Logan had a perfect day.
As for today, Friday, we were at the hospital all day doing tests. GREAT NEWS about the tumor.....when it was first found back in July it was bigger than a softball, on September 12th it had decreased by more than half (measured 3.2cm x 3.1cm) and today it is about the size of a golf ball (measured 2.6cm x 1.9cm) and pretty much dead! It shows as a white spot on the CAT scan because it is pretty much just dead calcium now. As the Dr. said today the surgeons are going to be very happy because their job will be a lot easier now. Smaller incision also means quicker recovery time for Logan.
We also found out what to expect through the rest of this year. Surgery is November 21st and they think recovery will last about a week. We then have a 6th chemo (same drug as #4) around the second week in December. After 3 weeks of recovery from that we go in for the stem cell transplant just after Christmas (we hope) and Logan gets hit w/ another very strong chemo to kill cells and at the same time transplant good cells. They said we will be in the hospital in isolation for about 4 weeks. Early next year then they will be doing spot radiation on the tumor location as well as any other parts of his body that show existing spots.
Keep up all your thoughts and prayers because they are working!

Logan is home! We got home last night. He is still feeling pretty yucky and probably will for about another week. We are keeping him medicated. He had another great night of sleep last night. Today he has gotten sick twice but vs. last time where it was every 1/2 hour this is good. We will be going back to the hospital for scheduled appointments on Friday. He will be getting a CAT Scan to check tumor and spots before surgery. They will also be doing a test on his heart to make sure everything is o.k. there. We then meet w/ Doctor's in afternoon to go over results. What a long day for Logan who will not be feeling that well.

WHAT AN AWSOME BIG BROTHER!

Good Tuesday morning. Logan had another great night. He fell asleep at 5:30pm and woke up at 5:30 am. He was sick to his tummy a little this morning but since has had a good day. He is taking a nap right now. We started also giving him his food again through the NG Tube and so far he is keeping it down. They started real slow and we will increase slowly. If he continues to not be sick we will be going home this afternoon. Early in the chemo treatment I wanted to be home as soon as possible, now I am actually o.k. either way. If they want to keep us in the hospital that is o.k. because he gets such amazing care.

Two Seahawks and a SeaGal were on the floor visiting today. Logan was pumped and got their autographs. He told him his favorite player was Lofa Tatupa like his big brother Josh. I told the SeaGal she was my favorite cheerleader;) The players names that visited were Courtney Taylor & C.J. Wallace. Enjoy the picture!

Logan had a pretty god day considering the circumstances. So far this round is going a lot better than the last. He does not feel great but is active at least. Him, mom, and Grandma Nancy even made it down to the playroom. It is 6pm and he just fell asleep. He let me give him his shot that gets after chemo and he did really good.
Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday November 21st....gobble gobble up that tumor!

Logan is feeling pretty yucky this morning. He is getting sick about every 30 minutes. They will be keeping him another night to make sure he does not get dehydrated. Yes, we would like to be home but it is also nice to have help instantly at a push of the button. Grandma stayed with him last night and he had a really good night (sorry uncle Pat). He fell asleep at 6pm and woke up at 6am (he did awake at night just to go potty but no sickness. Chemo is done but this is the drug that lingers in his body. Today he is scheduled to get a shot at 3pm and that is it. The shot is to help his white blood cells come back quicker. Thank you so much for every ones thoughts and prayers!

Logan took these pictures of me modeling the T-shirt. If you want one (we have 60) they are just $20.00. Just send payment through pay pal and e-mail me Qty., size, and where to send it. Sizes are adult XL, L, & M and Youth L & M.

Happy Sunday to all. Do not be scared by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Logan had a rough night last night. Was sick about five times. One time missed the bucket so we had to do a bed change in the middle of the night. He is feeling a little better this morning. We have switched beds per his request so I am in the hospital bed and he is in the state-of-the art fold out bed....yeah right. Well I need to wrap this up because we are going to go shower. Logan is one amazing kid...last night he drew a get well picture for his 18 y/o roommate because he was not feeling so hot and then hand delivered it.

The end of another day! Logan had a pretty good rest of the day. Grandma came up to see him and we all had another paper airplane contest. I think the team of Logan & Daddy won. He gets sick to his tummy if he gets up a little to quickly. They have him on a medicine schedule now no matter how he feels. This will hopefully help w/ monitoring the nausea. Today we also had to do the weekly change of his patch that covers the hole where his Hickman Line goes into him. It is a very sterile change. Usually Logan puts up a little fight because we have to rip very sticky tape off of his skin. Today he did awesome and did not make one peep. Kelly and I are so proud to have such an amazing kid. By the way just 11 days until normalcy.....

Logan (and uncle Pat) had a rough night last night. The chemo is starting to work it's course. Logan got sick 5 times last night. Pat did not get a wink of sleep because our 18 y/o roommate started his first round of chemo last night and had an allergic reaction. Doctor's were in the room with the lights on from 3am to 6am. During the night as well Logan had to go potty and while he was going he said he was going to be sick. Pat went and grabbed the tub and unfortunately Logan lost it out all ends. They have been giving him laxatives, he also sneezed and fluids flew out his nose etc. Thank you uncle Pat for giving us a break.
Kelly is w/ Logan right now and she called a short while ago and said Logan is smiling and joking around. He also does not look as swollen from the fluids.
We figure if the drug hits him like the last time it should be about 14 days until some normalcy. 11 1/2 days to go.....
Team Logan Shirts are here! Remember if you want one for $20.00 to pay through pay pal as well as send me an e-mail of size and where to send it. I will get a picture to post of what they look like. They turned out great.

Day 2 of chemo....Logan got a sick this morning but since has had a good day. His face is very swollen (puffy) because they have been giving him so much liquids. He actually has gained 2lbs since yesterday...all fluids. We were up every 2 hours last night , at least, to pee. This is required so they know his kidneys are functioning o.k. If he does not go pee they wake me up to have him go. Last night was not a problem. Logan, like most males, holds it until the last minute and then screams "Potty dad, Potty!" I jump up out of bed (half asleep) and run over, lift him out of bed, grab the container, pull down his pajama's and hope to get the container there before the fountain goes crazy. Yes 8 out of 10 times I make it. The other 2....yep I get it, the floor gets it, & the container gets some.
Logan and I have been making paper airplanes and having contests in the hall to see who can throw them the farthest. So far Logan has the record. The nurses actually set-up red lines to throw from.

As I am typing this the nurses are starting chemo #5. The nasty Cisplatin. Innocent Logan is just sitting there watching cartoons not knowing that the next couple weeks are going to be miserable. As a parent it makes me sick to my stomach but I just need to keep reminding myself it's another step closer to killing the cancer. We got to the hospital this morning about 8:30 but Logan did not go pee enough for them to start the chemo. That is why it was started so late. It looks like since it was started so late we may be here now until Monday. The picture was taken just minutes ago....enjoy:)