Meet Logan: A Cystic Fibrosis Warrior

I first met Logan about six years ago, early on in my tenure with the Cystic Fibrosis Association of North Dakota. She was due to ride in a CFA car through a Bismarck parade route for the annual AutumnFest Parade as our Youth Ambassador. I cannot remember the exact details, but something went awry with our car plans. So Logan's mom, Nikki, and Logan, and I walked the 2 mile route that morning. 

Between waving and smiling, I got to know an amazing CF mom and her even more amazing daughter.

 Logan was born in 2005, luckily in the state of Colorado,  a state that thankfully had newborn screening for CF at the time (North Dakota does now!). She was monitored with 2 blood tests and she had her first sweat test and cystic fibrosis diagnosis at 28 days of Life. After the whirlwind of emotions and doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Denver, Logan's family learned how to take care of their little girl and then also made the decision to move back to Nikki’s home state of Minnesota to be closer to family and the University of Minnesota!

There were typical toddler years of fighting a greased pig to get into her treatments learn to swallow pills and a major sinus surgery. Raising a child with CF is no cakewalk! 

2012 Logan's family was presented with a clinical trial to try a modulator for Logan- her genetics are very rare-- one that 4% of the population has and the other they do not have any info on so they  always thought we would be one of the last to try something like this. Large discussions had to happen as she was 6 and it involved 3 years of blood tests, MANY glucose tolerance tests, liver tests and eye exams. Were they doing the right thing for her and the future? Logan's mom  can honestly say CLINICAL TRIALS are amazing, they got to know so many of their doctors so well and many of the adult staff they will work with in the future AND then they able to get into another trial for the Endocrinology Department on insulin that was a game changer. 

I met Logan and her mom about a year into this trial, and wow, the HOPE that both of them were able to express was contagious!

Logan is now 14 years old, she is 5 feet 10 inches tall and looks amazing!! (it is not uncommon for many with CF to be small statured due to complications of CF.) She just had another sinus surgery this year (10 years after the first and they were told they might have to have it each year!!) She is happy and healthy!

And we, as an organization are SO happy to see her doing so well! Her mom, Nikki, rightfully credits the CF Foundation for Logan's health and success--and she is right--the research and advances that have come out of the Foundation are AMAZING! But, Nikki is maybe a bit too humble. She and her husband have set Logan up for great success--they have an unwavering dedication to Logan's health--insuring that she eats well, that she takes measures to avoid illness, that she learns to manage her medications and treatments, and they give her SO MUCH support!

Logan is also an accomplished artist! I have one of her lovely paintings hanging in my office, and she also designed the front of our CFA Christmas card this past year. 

Logan has a #HopeFilledFuture and I can assure you that we will be cheering for her every step of the way!