Make A Child Smile

Logan's Story
written by mom Amy

Logan is definitely one of a kind. God blessed us by his birth, 14 years ago. He has always been very active and full of spunk! His father and I never knew what he would get into next. He loves the outdoors, climbing on everything, hunting, fishing, riding four wheelers, and playing football. Before the age of 7, he had already broken 5 bones when he broke his left arm in Pre-K and his right arm in 1st grade.

In 2006, he developed a very large swollen lymph node under his armpit. Local doctors tried several things to shrink the lymph node, but nothing worked. His doctor from home sent us to New Orleans for a biopsy. In a matter of days, Logan was diagnosed with Anaplastic Large Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in June of 2006. The cancer covered his chest, his neck, and his armpits. He went through chemotherapy on a weekly basis for 15 months. It was always an adventure with Logan because dull moments were just not his style. We ended up rushing to the emergency room numerous times, having transfusions, getting a fever up to 105 degrees, and developing a staph infection. He won his first battle against cancer only days before he started Junior High. He never let it slow him down, although as a mother, I wanted to keep him in a bubble.

He absolutely loved Junior High. He made many new friends, and he was so happy to be back with his wonderful friends from his Elementary School. He seemed to love changing classes, and he did very well academically. I am sure he was somewhat of a class clown, but the majority of his teachers seemed to love his cheerful personality.

By the end of 7th grade, he was trying out for the football team, although he had never played in any football league. He was SO excited when he made the team! Eighth Grade started off just marvelously for him. Football practice was the highlight of his day. Playing in every game made all of the practice worth it. Logan kept up with his school work, his friends, and for the first time ever, even his girlfriend.

Logan had requested a trip to Hawaii as his Make-A-Wish. It was granted, and we all spent a fantastic week in October of 2008 on the big island of Hawaii, touring volcanoes, black sand beaches, parasailing, snorkeling along coral reefs, etc... It was supposed to be our final farewell to this whole struggle with cancer! It had been 15 months since we had to deal with his lymphoma, and it felt so good to put it behind us.

Then, the very next day, after returning from Hawaii, Logan started having intense pain in his back. We all thought that he slept awkwardly on the long plane ride, but the pain only intensified. The doctors thought that he had possibly broken a bone in his back after doing a CT scan. That made sense since he took and gave some hard hits in his football games. As odd as it sounds, we were all excited that it was just a "broken back" because that would heal soon enough.

After a couple weeks, Logan's pain had gotten increasingly worse, and no amount of over the counter pain killer seemed to help. The doctor did a PET scan and confirmed our worst fears. Logan's cancer had returned. This time the cancer filled his abdomen around his organs, went up his spine, and down his left leg.

Logan began chemo again and we are awaiting his Stem Cell Transplant which will most probably happen in May 2009. We were required to temporarily move from Louisiana and live within 30 minutes of the hospital for the majority of his treatment, transplant, and recovery.

We are only at the beginning of this new battle, but we are all very optimistic that Logan can beat cancer once again. Our whole family appreciates everyone's prayers because we know that no matter how great the doctors are, only God can truly heal Logan.

Although being rediagnosed with cancer was very difficult for all of us, he continues to have an absolutely amazing attitude. He refuses to let this disease beat him or even get him down.

(Story and Interests were last updated March, 2009)