Logan, Home Stretch

A Couple of Weeks?

Another week has gone by, and Logan received more blood and platelets. He received red blood on Friday night. But maybe, just maybe, he will not need platelets again. His platelet count increased just a bit, which means Logan’s body is producing them, a great sign. Fingers crossed that the blood counts increase so the little family can look to a discharge soon. I got conflicting estimates from Amanda and AJ in the ‘how much longer in the hospital?’ guessing game. AJ is more optimistic. But recent history is on Amanda’s side. Recovery time has increased as each round of chemo has gone by.

So, one or two weeks more in the hospital?

The hair re-growth that I was so excited about last week was a temporary illusion, since his hair started falling out again. The extended recovery period after round 4 apparently allowed it to grow. Round 5 chemo then took that bit of hair away. No matter. Soon enough Logan’s hair will return.

Shifts

There’s a rhythm for those of us who are able to help relieve Amanda and AJ in the hospital. Mimi Donna visits Mon-Wed-Fri from 7:30a until about 3:30p. Big John is there Saturday mornings, and sometimes during a late afternoon/evening of a weeknight. Grams Kimberlee and Grand Mike are there some weekday afternoons, and Sunday afternoon. Aunt Casey and Uncle Chris do a long 24-hour shift from 1p Sat to 1p Sunday. The time away from the hospital is helpful to Amanda and AJ, and we all get time with Logan. Good for all.

We all are grateful that as COVID alert levels have decreased, the stringent visitor rules have also eased. Not too long ago there could be only two visitors in the room. Now it is four – and the guest relations staff does not have to call up to the floor every time one of us shows up to make sure it is OK for us to visit.

Sleepy

Toys are rotated to keep Logan engaged. And new books are brought along to read. In the picture above Mimi was reading Logan a book when he leaned back and seemingly went to sleep. He was not reacting to the pictures anymore. If you are the lone adult, that’s when the cell phone comes out to take a picture to see if he is really asleep and ready to be moved to bed. I’ve pulled out my phone for this purpose a time or two. And, yep, asleep. When Logan gets tired and rubs his eyes, that little man drops off fast. It takes all of about 15 little pats on his backside and he is out. I am sure that AJ wishes sleep came that easily to Logan during the night.

Praying that Logan’s blood counts continue to increase, so they can finally, finally, be discharged from the hospital. Hopefully, forever.