My Brother, My Miracle
Some people might say, “Miracles never happen; it’s simply a coincidence.” Others, like me, who have had a first-hand experience, would disagree. I was only five years old when my brother, Logan, was diagnosed with cancer. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t bare to look at him. This is my story:
On January 8th, 2000, my family and I were sitting around the dinner table eating chicken pot pie when they told me the news. With tears swelling up in my dad’s eyes, he explained, “Logan has brain cancer and we’ll be driving him to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, tomorrow.”
I was almost too young to understand what exactly ‘brain cancer’ meant but I knew that you could die from it.
The next morning, we drove to Marshfield. Logan went straight into surgery, while I sat in the waiting room in silence. Whiffs of the horrible hospital odor, half way covered by sanitizer swarmed around me. I was scared to death. A doctor soon came out to make my parents aware of the possible side effects of the surgery such as being paralyzed, blind, or deaf.
About eight hours later, my brother was out of surgery. I went in the room to see him. He had a patch over one eye, a neck brace, and he was in a wheelchair. Logan’s bald head was covered in coral blotches and he looked extremely ill.
After about ten days, he was able to come home. When I would go outside, it was difficult to look at him through the window, knowing that he wasn’t able to come outside.
Two weeks later, Logan had his feet planted firmly on the ground without an eye patch or neck brace. Logan would take eight pills a day, but finally he started feeling better and looking healthier. It was nice to see him go back to school and hang with his friends again.
The Make A Wish Foundation met with Logan and promised him one wish. He went overboard and asked for a trip to Hawaii! They granted Logan his wish, and we were on our way to Hawaii. First, we went out for dinner and the Hawaiian dancers invited us to go on stage with them. We had a blast and even got our first ride in a helicopter.
Logan’s treatment with chemotherapy and radiation took almost two years. It was very hard, not just on him, but all of us. Every August, a miracle happens…..the doctor tells us after his check up, that he’s still cancer free. So far we’re on our fifth miracle and we haven’t eaten chicken pot pie ever since. Now the only wheels he rides are on his dirt bike.