Baby Logan Fund

Baby Logan Durre was born on Memorial Day 2014 and his parents fell instantly in love.  He has such a sweet and peaceful nature and is such a handsome fellow.  On or around the beginning of September, at 3 months old, he began to present with what appeared to be seizures.  His body would go limp, he would stop breathing, and he would actually begin to turn blue.  After his first trip to the ER, he was told to go home as he was stable and seemed fine. The next day his parents followed up with their pediatrician and she seemed to think he was fine and may have acid reflux.  Another week passed and he had another seizure, after an evening in ICU at Parkview and an MRI it was discovered that he had a brain tumor pressing against his optic nerve and into other delicate inoperable parts of the brain.  The doctors at Parkview decided he would be best transferred to Riley and had an ambulance come transport him.  The doctors at Riley decided he needed to have surgery to have a shunt put in to drain fluid back-up on his brain and a biopsy done on the mass. The list of possible side effects from the surgery alone were more than any parent should ever have to hear.  However, the surgery lasted 7 hours and was considered to be a success.  A pediatric oncologist met with us and gave us hope and after a day or 2 in the Pediatric ICU, Logan was sent home to await his pathology report.  Unfortunately the day after they got home, Logan began to seize again and was air lifted back to Riley from Parkview as they could not keep him stable long enough to endure the 2 hour ambulance ride.  Even as I write these words, my heart aches for my sister and her husband.  Upon arriving at Riley, they did not have a room for her and she sat in the ER with her baby for several hours.  My mom and her husband arrived a few hours later and Logan continued to seize throughout the evening.  After trying different anti-seizure meds, they believed to have him stablized but 14 hours later, the nightmare continued and he was transferred back to ICU.  The doctors main focus was to get the seizures under control and had a progressive game plan to do so. The next med they attempted has seemed to work and Logan has been stable many days now, to God be the glory!  The next step was discovering that his tumor is called a Pilocytic Astrocytoma, which does have a 94% survival rate in children with low dose long term chemotherapy regimen.  Logan is their youngest patient to date.  Prior to him, his doctor said he has treated a 4 month old girl.  The next step is a surgery to implant the central line so that he can receive his treatment.  Another surgery for my precious little nephew:(  He underwent this surgery well and spent the next day at Riley and is now home.  However, his parents have in home nursing care to come every week to help teach them how to flush the central line and deal with any complications that could arise.  Logan's first treatment is on Thursday and his stitches in his head to be removed on Friday.  My sister's insurance is currently refusing to pay Lutheran to do his treatment here locally and requiring him to travel to Riley each week for treatment.  This is not insurmountable when staring at such other big issues, but obviously not ideal as each of the treatments are 4 hours long and it takes 2 hours each way to get to and from Indianapolis from Fort Wayne.  Many, many people have reached out in prayer, financial support, gas cards, meals, cards and other acts of kindness and Logan's parents are resistant to ask for donations.  However, I continue to have people asking me how they can help.  We believe in a loving God who lives today and can work miracles and we geniunely want and appreciate your prayers, keep them coming!  Please continue to pray for Amber and Nate as they travel this long, scary road.  I know my sister is uncertain of when or IF she can return to work.  She was blessed to get to go back part time, just 3 days per week after Logan was born but even those 3 days seem too much to bear right now when considering Logan's treatment, any possible side effects, and finding someone she can trust to watch him as he really can't be exposed to germs or many children at this time.  Nate's job has been extemely flexible and offering hotel rooms to the family as needed during their treatment.  The outpouring really does remind us that we are very blessed. However, the bills continue to be due, the mortgage needs paid, and these medical bills are going to be high, coupled with time off work and daily prescriptions.  We are asking for help for this family so that they some of the fear of the financial burdens can be lifted as they focus on their precious little man and getting him well.  We thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.