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Relearning the basics after tumor
Feb. 22, 2005 - How he dealt with cancer
NAME: Logan Kresl.
AGE: 9.
HOME: Paradise Valley.
JOB: Fourth-grader at Kiva Elementary.
THE ISSUE: Logan started having frequent headaches and vomiting in April 2003. He was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a malignant tumor that formed in the lower back of his brain. The golf-ball-size tumor was something his dad, John Kresl, a radiation oncologist at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, had seen in other children. "This was the one time in my life I was wishing I didn't know as much as I do," Kresl said, referring to his son's disease.
Logan immediately had surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix to remove the tumor, a procedure that left him without muscle control on his right side. His right eye wouldn't open, he couldn't use his right arm or leg, and his speech was slurred. "He was in a bad spot," Kresl said.
THE MOTIVATION: Before his illness, Logan loved playing baseball and had just scored his first touchdown on his football team. He wants to try to regain enough coordination, strength and speed to play again.
THE CHANGE: After his surgery, Logan went through months of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and stem- cell harvesting to replenish the red blood cells depleted by the chemotherapy. He had four surgeries to return muscle control to his eye.
Logan also had daily sessions of physical, speech and occupational therapy to relearn walking, talking, tying his shoes and other activities. The work was painful, sometimes, and frustrating, but Logan never complained, Kresl said. "He's just an exceptional kid," he said. "He's always been somebody who is more concerned about doing things for other people. He's unselfish."
Logan taught himself to be left-handed, because his right hand still isn't very coordinated. He missed a lot of school, but tutors came to his home, and the boy passed both second and third grades.
THE GAIN: Logan's headaches are gone, and he feels healthy. He plays chess, is in Cub Scouts, and loves to do tricks with his yo-yo. Logan raised $1,000, the most money among kids, for the 2004 walkathon of Students Supporting Brain Tumor Research, and plans to keep his crown this year by raising $3,000.
The walk is noon-4 p.m. Saturday at Pinnacle High School, 3535 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. Registration is $10. Details: www.ssbtr.org or 1-800-770-2887, Ext. 23.
Logan currently is cancer-free, but childhood medulloblastoma often recurs, according to the National Cancer Institute. Logan's brain will be watched closely for the next several years, but he will require follow-up for the rest of his life.
LOGAN'S TIPS: Kresl credits Logan's survival to a positive attitude. Logan just says, "Keep breathing."
- Janie Magruder
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