About Us

Our family of 6 (dad Adam, mom Sherry, big sister Abby and little brothers Isaac and Brady -- who was born on December 14, 2010) joined the ranks of pediatric cancer fighters when our 4-year old son Logan was diagnosed with a dangerous and highly malignant form of brain cancer in mid-August 2010. Logan's cancer journey began abruptly on Sunday, August 15, when his right eye suddenly turned inward during dinner. Twenty-four hours later, we were checking into Children's Hospital Oakland and finding out that life sometimes takes you places you'd never, ever imagine yourself going.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

As the old hymn says...

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.... (though I guess technically it's a benediction... or something... but you get the point.... *edit* Doxology, that's it!)

Logan had a CT scan of his thorax, lungs and abdomen a few hours ago to check for fungus in those regions. (Aside from the head, those three spots are the areas where aspergillus likes to make its home.) He did an awesome job of lying very still for the scan, and then we headed back to his room, where he made short work of the breakfast he hadn't been allowed to eat. (Then we ordered lunch.)

After he fell asleep, I sat by the window stressing over the scan, wondering when the doctor would come by with the results. I had a tough night, alternately worrying about the aspergillus and my concerns over Brady. I spent a lot of time begging God for peace, and then trying to accept it and hold onto it when it tries to settle into my heart. It's amazing how we can fight the very peace we ask to be granted sometimes.

A reasonably short window of time passed and a nurse came by to tell me that the doctor was on the phone; the phone in Logan's room is broken otherwise she would've called me directly.

The short of it is that neither she nor the radiologist who reviewed the scan saw any sign of fungus anywhere else. So... praise God from whom all blessings flow! I felt such a jolt of relief that I almost started to cry right there in front of the nurses (who were pretending not to watch me). Before I hung up, I pointed out that the redness behind his ear was less noticeable and that the swelling appeared to have gone down since yesterday, and she agreed. And seemed surprised; after all, just yesterday she told me that it typically takes about *a week* for the antifungal drug to start to show improvement in the host. Just to remind you, it's been less than 24 hours since he received his first dose of the correct med, voriconazole.

So there you go. Of course, he still has a long road in terms of getting rid of the fungus. He'll still have a pic line placed and surgery to clean out his mastoid bone tomorrow at some point. And due to its nature and prevalence in the environment --it's found in dirt-- it can recur. But just look at what prayer has done for Logan in such a short period! It's exciting to see. I humbly thank you for your prayers and help, and ask that you continue to lift him --and our whole family-- up.

As an aside, and while I have you here, I also ask again that you pray for Brady, and for me. I mentioned before that he'll have an ultrasound and EEG to check on the peculiar eye-rolling I've noticed, but I don't know when those will happen. I ask you to pray for peace for me, and for health and healing for Brady. I don't know if there's really something going on with him; part of me worries that he's having absence seizures, based on a few video clips I've seen, and the thought is highly disturbing. Though I did talk to the pediatrician about it yesterday when we were there (Brady had a fever), and he said that if he is indeed seizing, the type of event that I decribed to him is the easiest kind to treat. But clearly, it's not what we need. Of course, it's not what ANYone needs, but I feel like our family deserves a break. And health. So many thanks for praying for Brady's health as well.

Thank you again for your prayers and for continuing to offer them up on our family's behalf. Blessings and peace to you.

7 comments:

  1. So happy to hear that it did not spread and already improving. I will be praying for Brady also.

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  2. I came in here to check on news and am so happy to hear it was positive today. My girls and I prayed relentlessly yesterday for Logan and will continue praying for all you including Brady. God bless.

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  3. So glad you were able to share some good news!! Will keep those prayers going for all of you!

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  4. Been praying for Logan off and ON all day long, since I heard the worst of the news this morning. So glad to see this post. Thanks for keeping us updated even admits your worry & exhaustion. I know many more prayers are needed. Keeping you all close at heart and lifting you all up in prayer! Nancy

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  5. What wonderful news. Continuing to keep you close in my thoughts.

    Kris

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  6. A bit of good news! Yay! I'm thanking God for that for sure :)
    I can't believe how much of a fierce attack of health is going on in your sweet family. It's tough even having such a major battle with Logan's illness, but on top of that having the concern over Brady ~ my heart and my prayers are going out to you.
    We had some (kind of similar) things happen with Derek when he was about 6 months old. Out of the blue, he started doing this head-nodding/shaking thing almost everytime I would nurse him (I couldn't stop him I just had to wait until he stopped on his own, so I really thought it was seizures). It scared me to death, especially since it started out of nowhere. He ended up having at least 2 EEGs at Oakland Kaiser and they were able to rule out seizures...but they never really could tell us why it was happening, why it started out of the blue, and why it also ended abruptly a few months later.
    Not that they are the same thing, but I will be praying that it is something like that ~ possibly unexplainable BUT not serious. Praying for overall health for Brady and the other kiddos, and for you and Adam. Health, health, health.
    But also praying for many other things for you all!
    Lots of love to you.

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  7. Praise God! I'm so happy to hear you got a good report! I will keep praying for Logan, for your family and specifically for Brady too.

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