Re-Born

Logan is less than 12 hours away from the first of his autologous stem cell infusions. A year ago, I wouldn't have understood the meaning of those words, but today, I'm keenly aware of their profound significance. Tomorrow is, if God sees fit to touch my son and heal him once and for all, Logan's brand new birthday.

Of course, it's not quite that simple. He will, in reality, have two new birthdays, since he has so many bags of fluid to thaw that they'll be finishing the process on Thursday, but you get the point. Both days, morphed together into one, signify a new birth for my baby. And we pray with the collective wholeness of our hearts, minds and souls that the cancer will be gone and stay banished for good.

I feel a cautious sense of optimism as I think of it; as I look back over the grueling 8 and a half months in the rearview. As I realize how very much my sweet boy has endured and the unique ways our family has suffered. I long to have a testimony to share. Deeply, truly I do. Thank you for continuing to pray for amazing healing and restoration of health, hope, faith and peace for Logan and within our family unit.

In terms of the right-now, I'm happy to report that he's feeling much better. He's had three days of positive blood cultures, but has been on antibiotics and today was substantially more comfortable. He felt well enough to watch TV and play Farmville. His hearing is awful, but an ENT stopped in earlier today and confirmed that his ear canals are stuffed with wax, a by-product of his radiation therapy, and there's likely fluid behind his eardrums. So while he's undoubtedly lost some of his hearing, it's likely not as profound as it seems. His nausea and vomiting are currently well-controlled, and as long as he doesn't have issues over the coming days, they'll attempt to make them all PRN (as needed), per Lizzie the BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) NP. So all in all, good things are afoot.

Forgive me while I go the way of the related tangent for a moment. Thursday isn't just the second of Logan's two new birthdays. It's also the day that an old acquaintance-recently-turned-friend from high school, Jessica, will put her own life on hold so she can donate bone marrow to a man she doesn't even know. Rather than going through the non-invasive apheresis process that many donors can use (which happens to be the very same process Logan underwent to harvest the stem cells that will be infused tomorrow and Thursday), Jessica will donate via the traditional, markedly more painful method. If you would, please pray for a safe procedure and for a quick recovery for her, and for restored health for her match. And if you're able, please consider registering as a potential bone marrow donor at marrow.org. As our family has learned over the past year, anyone can be struck by cancer and other diseases at any time.

Thank you all, bless you, and good night.