Test results.

What an incredible journey it has been over the past 5 years. For some reason God has allowed us the blessing of yet another clear scan. A I walk around these halls here t St. Jude I am amazed. Many here hope wish and pray for clear scans yet not all receive them. Why has God allowed. S the blessing and not all. Why did Jesus heal only one person on? The sabbath instead of all? Great questions that only HE can answer. I trust that HE is in charge and I am not. Would I be as content had we not gotten the clear scan is the real question? May God bless you no matter your struggle or hardship. May God keep smiling down on us all! Praise HIS holy name.

Brenna's St. Jude visit March 2011

Brenna and I (David) flew into Memphis Sunday night. Monday was packed. We started at 7:00 am and finished around 5:00 pm. Today, Tuesday, she had an MRI, we are waiting the results. Today is the five year mark from Brenna's first surgery. Wow 5 years! Can't believe it! We expect all to turn out great. Update soon...

Josiah is born!!!

Hey - I am terrible at updating regularly - how many blogs have you read that from...we need internet at home - that would help.

ANYWAY...

Our baby boy was born on November 2 at 9:25 a.m. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 21 inches long... now a month later he is 6' 3'' and 150 lbs :)

It's gonna be a boy!!!

Hey, I realized no one has updated in a while. Bettina is pregnant and we have found out that he is a boy. Currently, we are calling him 'jellybean' so as not to call him an 'it'! We are thrilled and yes he was planned. While our family continues to grow, we pray you do (spiritually) as well. Jellybean is due to join us in the air-breathing world sometime in the beginning of November. The church is doing great and we constantly trust in God Almighty. HE forever deserves our praise. Jalen is about to begin Middle School - yikes, while Brenna will begin 5th grade and Bella is about to begin Kindergarten! I know just the other day they were all home all day long because they were too young to attend school - what happened?

Brenna's MRI results

Hey all. Just a note to let everyone know that Brenna's MRI scan was clear again! Praise the Lord, for HIS love endures forever! We are so proud of Brenna and her trust in God. She continues to be the trooper that she has consistently been. Thank you for the prayers and support. We love each one of you. We were followed around by cameras again today...she is quite the ham! (She gets that from her moma!)

Under HIS Wings,

David

Spring Break in Memphis!

Hey friends! We are back in Memphis for scans and check ups. We are here all week and have lots of different tests. Today was her MRI and we'll get the results tomorrow. Brenna is doing fantastic! She is loving life and has not been having any seizures still. We are staying with our friends at Habitat for Hope. The kids have been having a fantastic time playing together. THe weather has been awesome and so its really hard to sit inside the hospital for very long. But, we got back to the Hope House early enough this evening for the girls to ride horses and the boys to play in their fort. We are going to go on a short camping trip this weekend, since it is Spring Break. We hope the weather holds up. Brenna has her last appointment Monday, with Dr. Clarke. I will try to post tomorrow and let you all know MRI results. THanks for keeping us in your prayers. We love you all!

- Oh, and the pictures are from our Fall Break camping trip. Hope to add new camping pics soon!

All is Well!

Brenna's veins were cooperating this morning and the nurse hit it on the first try. Yay! We were thankful for that. They left the IV in and we went from triage into MRI. Everything seemed to progress fairly quickly this morning. It was about two hours later and they were calling us back to recovery. Brenna even woke up from sedation quickly and was bouncin around fairly soon after. She awoke hungry and we went to lunch where she ate a huge piece of pizza and cheetos.

After lunch we went to E clinic and saw Dr. Gajjar. He knew we wanted results so he went on a search for them while the nurse practitioner checked Brenna out. Praise the Lord we have clear scans once again!!! And we have now graduated from check ups every three months to every six months! Woo hoo!! Obviously she's doing fantastic and there aren't any issues that they need to see her more often for. How awesome is that?!!

After E clinic we mosied on over to the Endocrine specialists. They had run tests on the blood drawn and found her cortisol levels kind of off. But, they said that it's probably not an accurate reading because she was on steroids after surgery and now she's on an inhaled steroid for the terrible cough that she's had. She also hasn't grown like she's supposed to. But, we're going to wait until the next visit to re-evaluate and then possibly make a decision about giving her growth hormone. I really just want her to enjoy life right now without adding more medication. And they are supportive of whatever decision we make.

All in all it was a pretty good day. Now we are off to Habitat for Hope. Brenna is excited to see her friend Bella and spend some time playing and we're looking forward to catching up with dear friends. We are so grateful for all of you who have continued to pray for our little princess and our family. God be praised!!

Hit the Ground Runnin!

Okay, so we're not still in Colorado, in case you were wondering. We are back at life in Oklahoma although I look at these pictures and think - man, why do vacations have to end?? We did a lot of hiking and fishing. The weather was great. We hiked up to the top of Cottonwood Pass and it snowed on us briefly while were were up there. The kids thought that was awesome! (So did I). They loved throwing snowballs in July! We also took jeeps up to an old mining town called Crystal. We used to camp there as kids, but it's so hard to get there. I actually thought we might end up at the bottom of the mountain in a heap at one point. What an adventure!! But we made it alright and now we have lots of wild memories to recall when our family gets together! We also hiked up to the Alpine Tunnel somewhere above St. Elmo. That was a long hike, but it was so worth it. The Columbine and wildflowers are gorgeous and Bella posed for me next to some. We got to feed the Chipmunks and see some wildlife - but no bears - bummer. We fished at Cottonwood and Chalk lakes. Not to brag, but I (Bettina) caught the biggest fish. :) I think all together we caught about 18 rainbow trout. The kids did more exploring than fishing, but they loved it.
We did come back to our tent one day after a storm had blown through and our sleeping bags were a bit wet. Thankfully, the campground had dryers that we could use. It could have been worse. Overall, we had an exhaustingly good time. Anyone that's ever been tent camping, knows exactly what that means.
We hit the ground runnin when we got back home. Our church had a back to school night where we gave away free school supplies and then the next day started school. All the kids got the teachers they wanted. Jalen is in 5th grade - wow! He has the only male teacher and he really likes him. He's very challenging which will be good for Jalen. Brenna got the teacher that Jalen had last year and she loves her. I'm just so happy that Brenna is in school and is doing so well. She still works a little slower, but is really doing fantastic and making good grades. She's down to only one seizure medicine now. Praise the Lord!!! It makes such a difference in her mood and personality. She's back to her fun, energetic, bubbly self. Bella is in Pre-K. Her teacher goes to our church and of course, Bella loves her. She goes half days most of the time, but they are flexible and she gets to stay all day on special occasions when they have parties or if we are going to be gone or something. She thinks she's such a big girl. She's growing too fast!!

So, now, summer is over and the air is getting cooler. I love summer time, but I'm always excited when Fall gets here. It's such a nice change and I love the cooler temps. God is doing some amazing things in our lives and I just feel such anticipation at what He is going to do next. Our church is experiencing some good changes and exciting things are happening. I just sometimes sit back in awe and lift my hands in thanksgiving for all He's done. This morning, we left town early, around 7, to head back to Memphis for check ups. It was so awesome to see the full moon setting in the west and the sky streaked with color as the sun rose in the east. What an amazing God we love and serve!

Yes, we are back in Memphis. Today, Brenna saw Dr. Clarke and he said she's doing fantastic. Of course we knew that. He'd like to leave her on the one seizure med for about a year or so. That's normal procedure - well, actually two years is normal - but since she's doing so well, he'd consider taking her off at one year. So, we can handle that. And he doesn't need to see her again until March. Tomorrow, she has labwork and then an MRI. We'll wait around for results and see her oncologist, Dr. Gajjar, in E clinic. Then we'll head over to the endocrine people and talk about her thyroid and growth issues. She's still not putting on weight, really. And I'm not sure that she's grown like she should - so we'll find out all that stuff tomorrow. But, in light of what she's been through, I think this will be a piece of cake.

Colorado Here We Come!!

We are headed to Colorado!! We've been looking forward to this vacation now for over two years! It may not seem like an exciting trip to some, but I can't think of anything better than breathing the crisp cool air, camping on top of a mountain. We are on the road and the kids are already sleeping I think. I think I will be too before long. It will be a long drive, but well worth the trip. We are going with my parents, my sister's family and my younger brother's family. We are going to have a blast!

Brenna has been doing so great! We actually made a super quick trip to memphis a week and a half ago for a check up. Dr. Clarke and Dr. Boop both wanted to see her and check her out to see how she was doing. Of course, she's doing very well and they were both pleased. She is completely off of one of her seizure meds and they are slowly weining her off of another. So she's just on two now. Hurray!! You can really tell the difference too! She's much more alert and bright eyed.

This past week we've been just enjoying life. We went swimming several times and we went to see the movie Wall-e. It's been over a year that she was having seizures so it's like we're learning what normal life is again. Although, I'm not sure we'll ever be normal. Who is??

We are just loving life right now and making the most of every opportunity. Well, we've been on the road for two hours and Bella needs to stop already so I'll close for now.

Stitches and Smiles

We are home now and loving it! We had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's for the 4th. Brenna even rode the pony (with me) for a little while. She enjoyed watching the fireworks and even lit a few but mostly sat on Grandpa's lap as a spectator. We didn't really have to do much of anything - but just enjoy being together and being out of the hospital and past the surgeries.

We drove home Saturday morning. It was so good to be home!! Sunday was fantastic as we were able to go and be with our church family - praising and worshiping God together. Brenna wanted to go, but at the same time was very tired. So, we went and she laid on my lap during daddy's preachin.

Jalen has been having hives. They actually began before we left for Memphis but have gotten steadily worse. They really flared up big time on the day of Brenna's second surgery. I've ruled out food allergies, but don't know if it's an outdoor allergy or if it's just stress. David finally took him to the doctor Tuesday and she put him on steroids to get them stopped. He also is taking benadryl every four hours. It looks like he's been attacked by giant mosquitoes when they flare up and he's just been miserable. Hopefully, the steroids will get them under control. If it's stress related, hopefully, now that we're home and Brenna is doing well, they will go away.

Other than a few headaches - Brenna's been doing amazingly well. Her incision itches a lot and that bothers her, but she's not complained too much about it. The part that hurts the most is right above her ear. I wonder if that will bother her and keep her from wanting to wear sunglasses and even regular glasses if she needs them some day. I had to cut off part of her hair in places where the blood and gunk had matted it terribly. It just wasn't worth trying to comb it out. I did not want to cause her any pain just to comb her hair. Eventually - I'll trim it all so that the part they shaved can catch up. I really try to not focus on that though. Whether she has hair or doesn't have hair -she's BEAUTIFUL! I want my kids to know that it's their character and how they live life and love Jesus and love people that makes them beautiful. And she knows that. I try to make her wear a bandana just to protect her stitches from dirt and the sun, but if we are inside -she's totally comfortable taking it off - even when people gawk. I'm so thankful for her and what she's teaching me.

The kids and I are getting ready to paint Bella's room. That's something that we've put off for over a year, just because life has been so crazy. Hopefully, we'll get more paint on the walls than on ourselves, but we're still going to have fun and enjoy every minute of it.:)

We are praising the Lord, daily, for what He has done but mainly what He continues to do every day in our lives. I see His hand every time I look at my kids, my husband, my family and church family. He is Living and Moving and Working and I am excited to serve and praise His Name!

Brenna Has Left the Building!!

We have left Memphis!! I know, it's crazy but true. Dr. Clarke came in this morning and said she is doing so awesome and has had no problems or swelling or anything so he said we could go. He got all her prescriptions written out and David took them to St. Jude and got them filled. We packed up the room - which took a while since we have three times as much stuff than when we first arrived. Tracy - Dr. Boop's nurse came in and went over suture care and such - which we've done before. She's awesome. She remembered us from Brenna's surgery before and we remembered her. She has a great sense of humor and gave David a hard time. Anyway, then David packed up our stuff from the Ronald McDonald House and we left town!! It's almost unreal that we were able to leave so soon. But, here we are. We asked Brenna what she wanted to do about the 4th of July and she said she wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. So that's where we are headed and then Saturday morning we will go home.

It will be a fantastic freedom celebration for us. Of course, the freedom that's fresh on our minds is freedom from the hospital and Brenna's freedom from seizures!! We praise God for the freedom we have in our country too. But, mostly the freedom that we have through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. We are free indeed and as the singer, Mandesa, puts it, He has taken the "shackles off our feet so we can dance!" And the Logsdon family has already been dancin today!!

Once again, we are truly grateful for all of you who have prayed us through another battle. Thank you, thank you, thank you. God be praised!!

Out and About

Brenna started out early this morning with painting a model horse. Then she ate some breakfast - Fruitloops (the breakfast of champions) - and then we did some puzzles while dad was trying to will himself awake. Then we went for a short walk down the hallway and back to get the blood pumpin. The physical therapist had said to try and walk at least 3 times a day. Dr. Clarke came in and said that she looks fantastic and he would start decreasing one of her seizure meds. He said that it's a possibility we could go home before the weekend is up!!

A speech therapist came in to check on her. She's having a little trouble remembering some words. She said it's normal for a person who has gone through brain surgery like Brenna has. She will bring by some work-sheets for us to do with her to help with the memory thing. Hopefully, with repetition, it will be easily overcome. Around 11:00, Jalen and Bella and the grandparents showed up and we all went down to the lobby for a firestation demonstration. Brenna even felt up for going out to see the firetrucks. The picture is of the three of them inside the firetruck.

She ate scrambled eggs and toast for lunch and while the grandparents were here, David and I went down to the cafeteria and ate lunch together. Take away the hospital smell, the hospital food, the doctors and nurses all around, and the extreme lines of fatigue on our faces and you could almost call it a date!! :)

The kids played a little in the room before the grandparents and Jalen and Bella hit the road back home. We gave Jalen some money to buy fireworks to save for Brenna so that she can shoot some when we get home, whenever that may be. We said our goodbyes and gave lots of hugs and kisses. After they left, Brenna kind of got down again. She loves her MaMaw and her Grandma and Grandpa, and her brother and sister! It's just hard to keep Jalen and Bella entertained in a little hospital room. They did great, but I know they were starting to go stir crazy. Of course, stir crazy is about how David and I feel too most of the time- just without the "stir" part.

Habitat for Hope volunteers brought us dinner tonight and then we got a surprise visit from a dear couple from back home in OK. They had been out east on a vacation and stopped by to see Brenna on their way back home. They brought her a huge pink bear that's about bigger than she is. It was really sweet of them to come by. They really love Brenna and have prayed for her healing for a long time.

Dr. Boop never made it to see us today, but the nurses said they thought he got stuck in surgery. We totally understand. But, we think that he and Dr. Clarke have to decide together about when we can return home. I'm anxious to get home, but I don't want to leave before they are absolutely certain she's fit to go. So, if that means staying a few more days, I can handle it.

She's not had to take very much pain medicine today. That amazes me! She's had half of her brain opened up and exposed and all she's taking for pain is Tylenol with Codeine and Ibuprofen! Wow - and I thought I had a high pain tolerance! God has definitely been her Strength! (And ours). I'll try to remember that the next time I complain about a headache!

Explanation - please!

Well I(David) must explain why there are three updates from yesterday with the same basic message...I left the laptop at the Ronald McDonald House and went to the hospital computers to leave a quick update, but it didn't post three different times, so I kept updating and then (after 3 updates) I quit. Come to find out all three were posted. Now on to today...

AFter the surgery, the family kept taking turns visiting Brenna in the ICU (only 2 at a time!) When my in-laws were in the first time I noticed my father-in-law was upset. Brenna wasn't coherent and was in pain. Later as they were headed back to Habitat for Hope for the night, they stopped in one last time for the night. As they turned to see her, she was on my cell phone to her cousin, Brooklyn. I saw my father-in-law smile really big and say to my mother-in-law, "SHE'S ON THE PHONE!!!" I had asked her if she wanted to call Brooklyn to thank the Presko's for the balloon and stuff horse! It was so good to see her able to do so so early after surgery. She came out of surgery and was in ICU by 12:30 p.m. and on the phone with her cousin at 8! Two hours earlier I was having a hard time wondering if we should have had the surgery because of the pain she was in and her not being as alert as I wanted!

After everyone left for the evening, Bettina pulled out her cell phone/MP3 player and the three of us listened to Ray Charles (okay, Brenna and I sang - 'Hit the road Jack!' and many others) I couldn't beleive it. I tried to sing and not cry, because here she was - the Brenna I knew peaking through the sedation she was still recovering from. It was wonderful. She would keep her eyes shut and sing barely staying awake. Then when each song was over she would open her eyes enough to start another song. I felt better - and obviously and most importantly she was too!

Bettina and I took shifts in the ICU last night. Each surgery we stay with her so she isn't alone. There have been so many kids that we have seen in ICUs with parents hardly around. I don't know everyone's situations, but I do know that we don't feel right leaving her alone. We also beleive it helps her overall health knowing we are there - afterall (as we find out more and more through Brenna's Battle) the mind is a incredibly powerful thing. Since I hadn't eaten dinner I grabbed a burger and Dr. Pepper (I was off pop until lately!) at 10:30 p.m. and then I stayed with Brenna while Bettina went to rest/sleep upstairs in Brenna's hosptial room. Bettina came back in around 3 a.m. Then I went to sleep til 7 a.m. The ICU rules are from 6:30 - 7:30 all parents are asked to leave for shift changes both a.m. and p.m. So after I got up I went down just in time to go back in around 7:30. When I left Brenna a 3 a.m. she had only been asleep for an hour and a half. From 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. she couldn't sleep. I really didn't understand that - I thought to myself - "You just had brain surgery if it were me I would sleep til Friday!" She was slow in thinking and remembering, so she kept trying to understand why Jalen and Bella were away (at Habitat for Hope) sleeping. I told her - 'because it's 1 in the morning!' She finally feel asleep around 1:30 and I left her in a condition of fog! (Her due to surgery - me due to lack of sleep)

So when I walked in at 7 a.m. I saw her looking around and she smiled at me first thing. (Just in case you can't read between the lines - when your daughter smiles at you as a dad it is powerful. When it is after brain surgery #4 it is indescribable!) I can't remember a time where I enjoyed talking to her and breathing in her bad breath and enjoyed it so much!

She had a post-surgery MRI (routine)...at 11:40ish - she was scheduled to go in at 8. So I was cranky mostly due to lack of sleep, but also added to the bonus of waiting over 3 and a half hours we hadn't eaten because Brenna couldn't have anything. I was going nuts waiting (Lord, another lesson on patience!)

She "passed" her walking and talking tests that the physical therapists had her do today. She was eating a little and going to the bathroom (a biggie in the Logsdon family, yet it wasn't THE BIGGIE - hope that's clear. ha ha ha) She is watching a movie about to go to sleep now - So I will go so I can turn off the TV and stuff, but before I do I will repeat once more a very very important message...God is good, all the time!!! Thank you, LORD, for your goodness!

Before and After Pictures

Dr. Brenna checking out Bella Sunday night. Maybe someday she'll be a real doctor!
Brenna and her friend Bella Horrocks from Habitat for Hope. They're buddies.
Eating a popsicle in ICU. It was yummy.
Sitting on Grandpa's lap listening to the occupational therapist. We're out of ICU in a room on the 5th floor. She had an MRI this morning and is feeling much better. She even ate a little lunch - half a hot dog and a chocolate swiss cake roll. We're just so thankful that she's able to talk and walk a little and she doesn't have those wires hanging out of her head anymore. God is Good!!

Third time to try and update!

Surgery is over and Brenna is doing great. She will have a few days of struggle and pain. Thanks for the prayers and keep praying...will update more later!

Surgery is over!

Hey all just a quick note to let you know Brenna is doing good. Surgery went well and she is on the road to recovery. Thank you for all the prayers and we ask that you keep praying for her so that her next couple of days will go by quickly and she will continue to be strong. Doctors were in and out in a quicker time than expected.

Will update more later - God is good, all the time!

Surgery! (Just a brief update.)

Well Brenna went in this morning about 7 a.m. (right on time) and the Doctors said it would probably last til noon or one. We were called in to the ICU about 12:30! They were done and she was out of recovery and into the ICU. We have been with her throughout the day (it is almost 5 now!) And she is recoving slowly and painfully, but things went as planned. We will give more info. later - just wanted to drop a quick update!

Thanks for all the prayers...keep praying she will have a rough couple of days. She is quite the trooper!

God is an awesome and amazing God. HIS grace and forgiveness are as shocking as HIS healing power!

King Clarke :)

It is a strange day. It makes the week seem so long and out of the ordinary when we don't attend FCC back in Cleveland. But a church is a church, wherever you are, even a hospital room. Brenna and I just finished singing a few praise and worship songs and she just drifted off to sleep. David went down to check out the service they announced they were having in the chapel. He heard it announced over the intercom and was interested in seeing what it was all about.

We got a text message that church back at home was really good and there was a baptism. God is so awesome!!

We did a little arts and crafts this morning and Brenna made a crown for Dr. Clarke. He came in and she presented it to him. He was very tickled and I took their picture together. He's a very happy, joyful guy. No wonder Brenna likes him.

Action Shots

They brought a therapy dog by to say hi on Thursday after her test. His name was Connley and he loved Brenna - and she loved him too.
Dad and Brenna in the playroom on Friday. It's good to see her smile. They gave her a little backpack to hold her ponytail wires in so they wouldn't drag the ground. It was still pretty heavy. No wonder she got tired so quickly!

Layin' Low

We did get to go to the playroom for a while yesterday. We played a little bowling but her legs got tired, so then we let her shoot baskets while Daddy and I got the rebounds. She sat in a chair with a basket full of balls and shot them at a small goal. She enjoyed that for a while and then her arm gave out, so we played "Trouble" and then painted for a little bit. In all, I think we were out of the room for about an hour before she was totally exhausted and had to go back to bed.

The anesthesiologist came in and asked a few questions and said that she's scheduled for surgery Monday morning at 7:00. Hopefully all goes well and we won't be delayed again. I'm just so ready for it to be done and for her to get all those wires out of her brain!

Last night she had a little trouble going to sleep again, so we did a hidden-picture book for a while until I thought I might go cross-eyed. Then we listened to Chris Tomlin and Hillsong music to help her relax. She finally fell asleep and then slept pretty well through the night.

Today has been pretty much the same as yesterday. Uneventful - which is a good thing. I'm kind of concerned because they unhooked her again but she doesn't want to get out of bed. She's slept more today too and just been kind of down. Of course, a lot of that might be all the meds. They've really got her loaded up with the seizure medication and that can cause her to be pretty grumpy besides the fact that she has a hole in her head with hundreds of wires coming out. That would be enough to make any normal person a little bit on the grouchy side. Maybe after she wakes up she'll feel like moving around a bit.

As for me and David, we've about finished an entire Sudoku book and are eating way more than we should. It's not that we're hungry - it's just that eating out of boredom thing. But, I'm getting a lot of Bible reading done. That's a good thing. I should probably work on my Sunday School lesson, but I just can't get into that mindset right now. Oh well, maybe next week.