Logan was a perfect patient today. He had to lay very still while the doctors made sure all the measurements of where the radiation will go were perfect. It took them almost two hours. When they returned Logan to Kelly in the waiting room the nurse was gleaming on how good everything went because Logan was such a good listener. His tummy has Sharpie marks all over...his belly looks like a target of red & black marks. On Monday we go up for first session of twenty. Basically everyday in March w/ weekends off. The only immediate side effects they are expecting are a little redness in the area of treatment, maybe a little nausea but very little...other than that they think Logan should do very well.

Logan is completely off his IV foods and now only gets the food through his NG tube and of course whatever he wants to eat. He is also down to taking about 7 medications daily now.

I mentioned yesterday about the local radio station raising money for Seattle Children's Hospital in yesterday's blog. In two days they raised over $900,000 dollars! It was moving to listen to a lot of the stories they shared on the program. I think I cried probably 10 times yesterday. I told Kelly last night that I never want to be that dad on that program telling everyone how great my son was and the impact he made on everyone. I am going to be the dad that is there w/ my son supporting others w/ him as they fight cancer. Logan will be the survivor story! Thank you to those that donated in Logan's name.

Well our trial run did not happen....UW scheduled the wrong day and forgot to notify us. Yes we drove the one hour plus (to get there) to be told to come back tomorrow. Frustration....yes, very but our hands are tied.

As always I try to spin things in a positive light. I got to stop in at Children's and see Ben Towne. He was playing Matchbox cars on his bed and looking great. I also got to thank the staff at radio station 106.1 for doing an awesome fundraiser for Seattle Children's Hospital. They mentioned Logan's website on the air as well. They also interviewed Ben's mom live on air and she represented Ben & Neuroblastoma awesome! Great job Carin!

Today Logan goes up to UW Hospital for a "trial run" for his radiation. The team wants to make sure areas that need the radiation are covered (measurements are all correct). He will go through tests as well.

Logan continues to do great. It frustrates him he cannot go to school (he can only beat mom so many times at dodge ball on the Wii). His feeds have surpassed the highest they have ever been. He previously was at 60ml an hour & today he is at 65! Since he started fighting this 7 months ago he has gained 5 pounds. Our heavyweight is weighing in at 45 pounds! He dropped during some bad times to 38 but rebounded well.

Logan's Papa & Nana are coming out for 2 weeks from New York starting March 8th to help out with the daily trips to Seattle and the little rug rat named Peyton;) I am not sure who is more excited Logan or Papa.....Logan is already talking about going golfing w/ Papa.

Many of you also follow Ben Townes progress.....congratulations on his ANC counts showing up! He has turned the corned of recovery and now start to feel better every day. Great job Ben & Family!

Everyone that has kids that reads this know what I am talking about when I say how awesome it is when your son/daughter snuggle with you in bed. Last night Logan, Kelly, & I snuggled in our bed and just laid there and talked. We told Logan how proud we are of him and how brave everyone thinks he is. I spoke w/ Logan about whet is next.....the radiation. We just talked and he slowly fell asleep. Kelly and I just stared at him wondering, praying, scared....one of the many emotions we go through everyday, every hour, every minute. Logan is our life....he will beat this.

His appointments went great Monday. UW Hospital in Seattle did a mold w/ Logan so every time they do radiation he will be in the exact position. They also marked him up w/ Sharpie where they will be putting the permanent black spots. We talked about those black spots being put there with needles...that worried Logan a little. I told him he is getting some very small tattoos and he thought that would be cool.

Currently as I type this I look over at Logan sitting at the table eating a piece of sausage & pepperoni pizza, blueberries, and a glass of apple juice. It may seem like a weird combination to some but to us it is awesome to see him eating. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Logan had a great weekend. He played outside all weekend w/ his neighbor Chloe. Tomorrow he goes up to UW Hospital in Seattle to get "marked". This is where they will place a small black mark (tattoo) on him so they know exactly where to do the radiation every time. He then has a check-up over at Seattle Children's to see how he is doing. We are hoping they take him off his IV foods because he is tolerating his NG tube foods so well.

I had a chance to attend a carnival at Logan's school Friday night (Logan Day). Unfortunately Logan could not go because the risk of him being exposed to a virus. The carnival Fruitland had was amazing. They had a booth set-up to raise money for Logan...it was great. A father came up and told me about his son getting some money from a relative and with out thought he told his dad he wanted to give it to Logan. It is another life of many that Logan has touched. A third grade class at Fruitland also made Logan some hearts. Each student made their own and wrote a personal message to Logan. We read them to him this weekend and he loved it. He misses all his friends at school a lot! Thank You Fruitland Rams for your kind thoughts and prayers!

HAPPY LOGAN DAY!!!! Logan's school, the Fruitland Rams, are having Logan day today. Kids can pay $1.00 to wear a hat today w/ all proceeds going to Logan's bills as well as to Children's Hospital to buy games for kids to play. They will also be having a carnival tonight w/ many different events. Thank you Rams for all your kind thoughts and prayers! Enjoy the picture taken just minutes ago of Logan enjoying his first ice cream in over a month!

Logan is doing great. His appointment went well yesterday. We found out that he will not need to repeat all the tests until after radiation treatment. That means we get a little break until March 3rd. Logan's Nutrionist is slowly increasing his feeds....since his stomach is still sensitive. Kelly and the nutritionist will touch base every other day to see about increasing and also removing the home IV foods he is hooked up to at night. As you can see by the picture Logan is loving being home.

Also I want to take a minute and congratulate Ben Towne on a great stem cell transplant.....Logan wanted me to tell you "You are awesome"! To Ben's family...we know the next week will be tough, you are in our thoughts and prayers. As we try to take positives out of this horrible disease I am so thankful we have met an amazing family like yours.

Logan had a great day today....after sleeping for about 14 hours he awoke ready to play. Yesterday he helped out in the yard, played w/ his neighbor Chloe as well as Cousin Sydney. He was so tired when he finally slowed down.Today while dad was at work and mom & Peyton were at Peyton's 6 month check-up he played at Cousin Sydney's. He then came home and went and rode bikes at the park w/ Chloe. Just before Logan was diagnosed he learned to ride a bike. He has not ridden much since, today though it was like he never stopped. He was riding around and as he says "going super fast".

He is starting to show some interest in food...although he has not eaten anything yet he is interested. Tomorrow he has an appointment w/ the nutritionist. We hope he will be taken off the IV food and just have the food through his NG tube. We should also get an idea of what next week looks like for another round of appointments to see if his amazing little body shows any signs of the tumor/cancer. Continue to pray for our amazing son to be cancer free....THANK YOU!

Happy Sunday to all, Logan is doing better every day. The weather has been somewhat nice around here so yesterday Logan went on a nice hour plus walk. Today he is going to help dad w/ some overdue chores around the house. We are going to paint the master bath, fix the backdoor that squeaks to much and rake some leafs. Logan is excited to help.
Peyton loves having Logan here. He watches Logan’s every move. Yesterday Logan built a train track around him and when the trains went by we pretended Peyton was the monster. If the trains were not fast enough Peyton would reach out and knock them off the track. Logan was laughing so hard.
It is official; Logan will start his radiation March 3rd. Kelly’s parents are going to come out from New York to help out for a couple of weeks. It will be great having them here. Kelly’s sister Kim flew back last week and she was such a blessing to help out during the last two weeks of the stem cell. Thank You Aunt Kim!
Logan is still opening the many Valentine’s Day cards he received. Thank you to his kindergarten class for all you did. They made him a huge book (3’ x 2’) and each page is a self portrait that each kid did of themselves. Logan loves it. His old School Puyallup Playcare also did some Valentines for him. He is truly loved by a lot of people and we are very grateful for that.

Logan is loving being home.....he is tolerating his feeds better as well as his medicine. That means his tummy is starting to "work" again. Yesterday we met w/ his primary nurse at the hospital to go over the next couple weeks. The will slowly take him off his IV foods at home and just feed him through his NG tube. Next he will go through radiation at UW hospital. That will probably start late February early march and go one for one month straight. He will go up every day Monday through Friday get 10 minutes of radiation and come home. Between now and then we also will go through a series of tests again to see if any signs of tumor remain. In the mean time we will enjoy being a family at home. Logan's brother, Peyton thinks it is strange in the morning now when he wakes up and daddy and Logan are there...Logan loves it!

LOGAN'S HOME! Just 13 hours shy of being away from home one month Logan came home tonight. It is weird as I sit here on my couch and type this knowing that Logan is upstairs sleeping in his own bed. On the way home he fell asleep....he then awoke for about five minutes when he got home. We laid him on the couch until we got situated. Then I carried him upstairs and laid him in his own bed he woke back up and smiled the most beautiful smile. It is so nice to be a family again.

He has come home on many different medicines....13 to be exact that need to be given to him at different times and different amounts. We also were trained today on home IV care because he still needs the nutrients through his Hickman line. That is all for now since we are all very tired and I am going to go sleep in my own bed.......good night and thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

A little set back....Logan's body is having a little trouble being off the morphine. Everyday they have been slowly decreasing the amount and yesterday they turned it off. The side affects are nausea, diarrhea, & irritability. They also started giving all medicine through NG Tube as well as introduced his food (at a very slow rate) yesterday. His body is just in a little shock and hopefully he will rebound quickly. Aunt Kristi stayed with him last night and they had a long night. This morning when Kelly arrived he brightened up a little because she had a gift box from Nana & Papa as well as a Wii Nerf sport pack from Grandma Nancy. When I called he was playing tennis w/ his new Nerf racquet.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers....many of you also follow Ben Towne as well. Please keep him & his family in your thoughts and prayers as well as he starts his stem cell process today.

Internet is back-up at the hospital! Wow you feel like you are cut-off when the internet is down. Thank you to my wife, Kelly, for updating everyone yesterday. Sorry to worry everyone. Logan, as you can see, is doing much better. The dentist just came in and said his mouth is looking great and there are very little sores. He did get sick last night as expected but this morning has been doing great. They have been giving him his medicine through his NG tube vs. IV and he has been tolerating it which is great. We will probably start feeds today to see how his tummy does. Logan wants to send a special Thank You out to his older brother Josh who drew him an awesome picture. Logan saw it on Friday on instantly hung it up by his bed. Well it is good to be back connected. This blog is not only a way to keep everyone informed it is also a way for me to release my thoughts....it makes me feel better as well.

Hello. So sorry we have not updated the blog. We have received multiple calls and e-mails with concerns about Logan's treatment.... he is doing great! Unfortunately the internet has been down at the hospital. Thank you for all of your concern, we are thankful for all of the support and well wishes.
Here's the update....Logan is doing well, we are expecting to be discharged..... if all goes well either Tues or Weds. We have been waiting for Logan to be weaned off of the Morphine. This is a slow process to avoid any withdrawal, he seems to be doing well. Lets see... no fevers, great blood pressure for many days now. We put Logan's NG tube back in on Thursday to make it easier to give him his medicine and to start his feeds again. Due to the remaining muchisitis (he has been throwing up the remaining muchisitis early in the morning and late at night. He seems to be fine during the day, this is all anticipated). We have not started his feedings as of yet, we hope to start this possibly tomorrow (he did show interest in eating a rice crispy treat this afternoon and had some water, but he has not had anything to eat or had anything going into his stomach for 3 weeks). As the staff has said multiple times, Logan is doing great and well ahead of where most kids are at this time. Logan's mouth has healed and he has started talking again..... The stem cell team gave us passes for the weekend to leave for 3 hours a day. They wanted to see how Logan handled being outside of the hospital, without the morphine. Sat was an eventful day, as Logan's brother came to visit. This was Peyton's first visit in over a week, so Logan was really excited, they did lots of snuggling. We also had the cousins visit, they rode bikes with Logan and had a great time. We went to the Ballard Locks with our 3 hour pass and watched a boat come in, Logan did great, he had a lot of energy and proved he was in great spirits. Today, aunt Kim played Wii with Logan. Logan won at all of the games.... as always. Then our friend Scott came, Logan attempted to teach him how to play Spiderman on the Wii. For our pass we went for a drive and went to the store to get Logan another DS game, as he earned $50.00 for taking his medicine during his stay....well earned! Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers.

Enjoy the video of Logan bowling on his Wii.....He beat dad & the nurses this morning. As you can see he feels good. He has had some stomach cramps because he is constipated. They are of course trying to combat that w/ laxitives.

Tonight's dinner of Salisbury Steak.....Mmmmmmm!

I am back with Logan....wow he looks good. He played so hard today riding bikes that he has just fallen asleep here at 5pm. This has been common the last couple of nights as he slowly gets back his energy. Thank Aunt Kristi for staying w/ Logan the last two nights. It means the world to Kelly & I to have you here helping us....as well as means the world to Logan.

As of today we are still pacing to hopefully get out by early next week. He should be completely off the Morphine by Monday. They are going to put back in his NG tube on Thursday so he can start having nutrients go right to his tummy and get the intestines working again.

Another day in the books and Logan is doing great. Aunt Kristi has been staying with him last night and tonight and they play hard. Kelly went up to the hospital to give Logan a bath and he was riding bikes and running non stop. She said he was sweating up a storm. They are slowly backing off the morphine and hope to stop giving it to him by early next week. If this is the case he may be able to go home then! The house is just not the same without him.

Next step in the process of beating this nasty cancer is the radiation part. After that Kelly and I need to make a decision on an experimental treatment for Logan. Without boring everyone w/ all the details we are really struggling with what to do. The medicine they would be giving him would put him in more pain than what he went through for stem cell. In fact some kids have so much pain they stop the 5 month treatment after only one of five treatments and also kids end up in Intensive Care because of the pain. We of course want what's best for Logan.....if we did it and he is cured AMEN....if we did not do it and the cancer comes back we second guess ourselves forever......

Another day...another step to getting better. Logan is smiling more, his cheeks are not as swollen today which in turn he can open his amazing blue eyes wider. He is joking around more today as well. Believe it of not his ANC counts continued to rise, this morning they were at 9000!

Good Saturday morning to all! Logan is doing much better today. He has not had any fevers for two days & he does not need the nausea medicine as much. His pain is still there w/ the mouth & tummy so we are still on the morphine. His mouth is still very swollen and there is dead skin on the roof of it that we need to wash out & brush off.
Are you ready for the amazing part.....Loagan's ANC counts are at a remarkable 7000! Yes 7000! The doctors this morning were amazed. They are so amazed that they are taking him off certain medicines early. Normal ANC for a kid w/ no cancer is 1800 to 7900....you are awesome Logan.
This morning he has already been out riding bikes and is playing the Wii right now.

Picture taken day after Stem Cell...."The Boys"

Imagine your worst sore throat ever, sores so bad in your mouth that your cheeks are swollen to twice their size, & on top of all that you have constant cramps in your tummy that bring you to tears.....this is what Logan is dealing with. Mucositis is nasty! Yes we are controlling it w/ pain medicine but Logan is still pretty uncomfortable. We can do more medicine if needed...and we do but the current amount pretty much "snowballs" Logan. He still smiles and such but he is pretty distant.

The good news is it is getting better hour by hour. His counts shot up to over 1000 last night! The healing process takes time though. His mouth is so sore and numb that he just drools all the time and that drives him crazy. We have suction set-up to suction his mouth (like the dentist) and that seems to help a little.

Yesterday Logan's Mom & Aunt Kim (Kelly's sister from N.Y. is here helping for two weeks....THANK YOU KIM) brought Logan a remote control fart machine. Yesterday Logan & Peyton went for a ride in a wagon and we hid the machine under some blankets....every time he went by a doctor or nurse Logan would push the button......the nurse and doctor would look down and do a double take not knowing to laugh or what. Then we explained what Logan had and everyone loved it.