When Jennifer and Kevin got married in June 2015, they knew the next step in their life was to start a family. They struggled with fertility and sought treatment. They were able to get pregnant after one round of treatment. When they found out it was a boy, they were even more elated. They wanted to have a boy and were excited to watch him grow and learn how to play hockey and ride motorcycles like his dad!

Throughout Jennifer’s pregnancy, they were monitoring the baby’s kidneys as one of them was enlarged. At her week 30 ultrasound, his kidney’s looked fine and the doctor said she didn’t need another ultrasound but scheduled one for week 34 anyway. At her 34 week ultrasound, Friday, November 11th, the kidneys were fine but they found fluid on the baby’s brain. From there they ordered a MRI. They took their time scheduling it but thankfully Jennifer knows people (Jane) who know people (Ali) and were able to schedule the MRI for Thursday November 17, 2016. That is when they found that the fluid on his brain was blood. Jennifer got a call that evening from Dr. Mack saying that they wanted her to check into labor and delivery the next morning at 8am. Jennifer just knew that she was going to have a baby the next day somehow!

On Friday, November 18, Jennifer checked into the hospital at 8am. They brought her to a prep room where a radiologist came in and advised her, Kevin and Cheryl (Jennifer’s mom) that they thought Logan had a deadly platelet disorder called NAIT (Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia). Jennifer just knew that at 40 years old with her first baby that God was not going to take him away. The doctors let Jennifer and her family know that they would be prepping her for a C-section, soon, and that if Logan did have this platelet disorder, there was no cure for it. Jennifer kept saying that she knew it wasn’t that, and that her boy was just ready to come out.

Jennifer and Kevin got prepped for surgery, as their family and loved ones anxiously awaited any news. Logan Daniel was born at 2:39PM, weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs 13 oz…with no platelet disorder. They tested him for any and all blood disorders and everything came back negative or normal. He was perfectly fine! Jennifer said, “See? My boy was just ready to come out!” He was then known as the “Miracle Baby” at the hospital….a mother just knows!

The doctors decided to just monitor his condition and a month later (December 2016) the hemorrhage appeared to be dissipating on its own. Logan was also assigned two pediatricians, a pediatric neurologist, a neurosurgeon, a hematologist and a urologist along with physical therapy. On Wednesday, March 8th, 2017, Jen and Kevin brought the love of their lives to get another MRI, just to be certain that everything was still on the same path as before. When the doctor walked in the room, they instantly knew something was wrong. There was something found in the MRI. It was a tumor, and it was aggressive. They had seen no sign of this in the previous MRI’s, the last one being in December. Dr. Adamo, Logan’s neurosurgeon, wanted him admitted immediately, and wanted to biopsy the tumor. Jen and Kevin’s world was just turned completely upside down, and inside out. Everything they thought they knew, had just changed into a world of uncertainty.

The next day, the tumor, which was 1/3 of the size of Logan’s skull, was biopsied, and this was the first brain surgery he would have. Dr. Adamo and his team let Jen, Kevin, and their family know that it would be 4-5 days before they knew any real answers. While waiting for answers, however, Dr. Adamo did know that he wanted to put shunts in the back of Logan’s head, to assist with any swelling of the brain. These would be in for life, making him even more of the little Iron Man than he already was!

Family, friends, and loved ones surrounded Jen, Kevin, and Logan with love and prayers. On Monday, March 13th, 2017, Logan was baptized in the hospital, with family and the godparents surrounding him. It was this day that they all awaited, anxiously, the news about the pathology.

In the early afternoon, Jen, Kevin, their immediate family, and 2 close friends, were called into a meeting room to hear the results. It was not what they were hoping for. Dr. Weintraub, another neuro doctor, and 3 of her staff, let Jennifer and Kevin know that it looked like this tumor was a grade 4 Glioblastoma. These are very difficult to treat, but what Logan had going for him was that he came in much healthier than most kids with this disease. Dr. Weintraub let Jen and Kevin know that she would send his slides off to Boston Children’s Hospital for a second opinion. There were plans for chemotherapy, but the plans were uncertain until Boston weighed in with their opinion.

Jen, Kevin, the family, and friends cried, but did not give up hope. They knew that Logan fought before, and he would do it again. With the faith and hope came a glimmer of light in the sign of a doctor saying she was “cautiously optimistic.”  This is because they found the tumor to be a Congenital Gliobastoma, totally different from a Glioblastoma.  There is a doctor in Atlanta (Children’s Cancer Center of Atlanta, owned by Aflac who Jennifer works for) who has treated this kind of tumor before, and who has seen positive results. This sounded much better than the original news!

This is where they are today. Awaiting more answers, praying, hoping, and knowing that their love for Logan couldn’t possibly be stronger. Jen and Kevin are overwhelmed by the love and support they’ve been shown, and continue to be surprised by this, daily.

We will continue to keep you updated on Logan’s progress, and we ask for your continued prayers, as they seem to be helping, thus far! We thank you, on behalf of Jen and Kevin, for your love and support. Each of you that has taken the time to come here, to read Logan’s story, holds a very special place in Jen and Kevin’s hearts.