The Logan Update: 11/14/10

This morning was one of the best that I've had in a long, long while: I felt like I'd been transported Mary Poppins-style into a lovely, colorful drawing on the sidewalk. Logan was cheerful, interactive and just generally pleasant. Since I'm not on morning duty at the hospital, I usually miss out on his widely-regarded best time of the day, so it was a huge blessing to see him in good spirits. He was in such a positive mood, in fact, that I wondered if maybe his counts were beginning to recover. He was very pleased when Adam, Abby and Isaac left for church, since it meant special mommy and Logan time. He wanted to pick up lunch from Arby's, so that's just what we did: I loaded him into his seat in the back of the Little Red Car, and we drove across town to satisfy his craving.

Of course, he didn't really eat his chicken fingers, applesauce and juice, and the pretty chalk painting soon faded in a slow but steady sort of sprinkling rain, but it was worth the drive to make him happy for just a little while.

The rest of the day was essentially a blur of medicines, napping, fulfilling Stalin-like demands and the occasional request for cuddles. He continues to be tired -- very, very tired -- and painfully thin. He ate a fairly decent dinner (lasagna, of course), but then wound up throwing up much of it; his poor little tummy is so small and so unaccustomed to housing food that he gets nauseated much too quickly and easily, which leads him to try to vomit. It's frustrating -- no, beyond frustrating to see him eat well and then almost immediately expel the fare, but I suppose it's part of the process. If all goes according to the tentative treatment plan, he won't start cycle 4 until November 30, so we should have ample time post-recovery to convince him to eat, eat, eat and gain back some of the roughly 8 pounds he's lost. It may not sound like much to adults, but keep in mind that 8 pounds is more than 1/4 of his current body weight. Yeah: Ouch.

Although he's definitely become increasingly obstinate when it comes to taking his medications, he isn't complaining of pain or discomfort as frequently as we might have expected after rounds one and two. In fact, he's not on any pain meds at all, so he's doing quite well in that regard, if you ask us.

Anyway, as of this evening, no fever, so he's still here with us at home, thank God. We're assuming he'll need platelets again tomorrow, and he has his Vincristine (one of the chemo drugs) booster appointment Tuesday morning, but otherwise, we'd love to keep him home for as long as possible.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for sharing this blog with anyone who may be interested. And no worries if you can't figure out how to comment: It took me quite a while to figure it out myself. :)

Good night and God bless you ALL.