Good afternoon Team Logan. Many of you have sent me messages recently asking how did I find out about Logans Leukemia. I am happy to share his story with you. Logan was a healthy baby, full of energy, he rarely got sick. In January of 2013 Logan got a flu that lasted for about a week. After that, every other week he would get a fever, but just fevers, no cough, no runny nose, nothing. Carnival weekend in February he complained that his legs hurt and refused to walk, I carried him to his pediatrician the Thursday after Ash Wednesday as I found he was a bit pale as well. He did a blood test and he had to be taken to Mount Hope that same day for a blood transfusion because his HGB was 5. That weekend while at Mount Hope Logan was diagnosed with Anemia, his blood transfusion went well and he was sent home the Monday. Logan was fine for that week but once again he got a fever the following week. No flu symptoms. His fever was coming and going for weeks but they couldnt figure out what was causing it. At the end of March, Logan stopped eating, drinking, often had muscle pain, and was always tired, they did another blood test but this time it was sent to a hematologist (Dr. Waveney Charles), weeks passed with no results until we found out in May that the lab at POSGH had lost his sample, hence no results. All this time while we waited he was on panadol for the fever. When we were told his blood sample had been misplaced, his pediatrician was so angry because there is nothing he could have done until he got the results. So he took another sample that morning and sent me to POSGH, told me to ask for the person in charge and tell him/her that I would wait on it and not move until I had it in my hand. Of course the person in charge was not there so I had no choice than to leave it. A couple of days passed by, Logan was seeing the pediatrician on a daily basis by then, his pediatrician started to become impatient because Logans fever was getting worse, he had not eaten or drank anything that week, all he did was sleep. He was so pale that milk looked brown next to him. On May 16th his pediatrician had had enough and he went to the hematologists office and sat there till he had the results, otherwise he wasnt moving. When he eventually got it around midday, he called me and asked me to meet him in his office. Logan had no white cells left in his body, his HGB was down to 3, his platelets were also low and the report indicated that he had Leukemia. If I said that my world came crashing down when I got the news, it would be an understatement and I immediately got terrified because it wasnt anemia he had all along, for months, it was Leukemia. His pediatrician made sure to call Mount Hope and make arrangements so that he would be seen immediately. Logan and I were at Mount Hope in less than an hour and he was rushed off to the JBF ward, as he got there they put him on drips, gave him blood, antibiotics, he had so many things attached to him, but he was already so badly off that he didnt even feel when the needles were going in his hand, he was 100% lethargic. The day after (May 17th) was my birthday, I didnt want to hear the words Happy Birthday, there was nothing happy about it, my son was fighting for his life and there was nothing I could do but pray. That day we were told that I would not be able to meet the oncologist until Monday the 20th, which I did. He told me that the Tuesday they would do a bone marrow on Logan to find out what type of Leukemia he had. Thursday (23rd) he got the results and informed me that it was ALL, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and that same day they started chemotherapy. When I was told all the horrible things to expect with chemo, (vomiting, loss of appetite, internal bleeding, mouth sores, low blood count, muscles aches, you name it) my first thought was there is no way my 2 year old will survive that but then I started to pray that he will get NONE of those symptoms. The chemo treatments were frightening, Doxorubicin (called red devil) was the one everyone was terrified of as it is the one that brings on the most symptoms. Then there was Elspar which is an injection they get on their thigh 3 times a week, all the children hate that one, Lumbar Punctures every Tuesday to inject Methotrexate in their spinal fluid, Cyclophosphamide, Dexamethasone everyday. MY GOODNESS. All I could do was look on, pray, smile when Logan was awake and HOPE for the best. He didnt get many of the symptoms expected except hair loss which was not important, his hair could always grow back. Logan and I didnt leave the hospital for 5 weeks. Not one day did I leave his side. I only saw my other 2 daughters when they came to visit on weekends. Mount Hope became our first home for months as we were there more often than at home. About 105 chemos later, not counting the oral ones he still takes everyday and 8 protocols, here we are now... 9 more protocols to go. Logan is my champion, he went through more than I have seen anyone his age go through, and is still fighting to kick this cancer forever. Hes my example of resilience and faith , and so do the other children who are still fighting and those who are not with us anymore who fought darn hard to the end. I salute everyone of them. So there it is, as you all read, Leukemia doesnt come with many symptoms and can often be misdiagnosed with a cold or anemia or a little virus. Logans wish for his upcoming birthday to have plenty people like his page so that he and his friends who are fighting cancer can feel better is coming through faster than we thought thanks to each one of you. Im lucky to have Logan as my son and I do hope that all of you who ask for him daily, pray for him, send messages, etc get to meet him soon. They say it takes a village, and right now we love this little village of 588. Your support keeps us going. We wish you a blessed, safe and wonderful long weekend.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:59:34 +0000
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