Logan Family Faces Adversity With a Positive Attitude

Resident and local business owner, Danielle Logan has had no shortage of challenges in her life. Shortly after she married the love of her life, Steve Logan, an emergency surgery due to Necrotizing Pancreatitis, brought Steve to the Intensive Care Unit, followed by a six month stay in the hospital. As Danielle watched Steve take a near-fatal turn, she stood by his side nursing him back to health. He currently has 20% of his pancreas intact and continues to endure severe health complications.

Danielle Logan, after she cut her hair to prep for chemo treatments.

On July 2, just two weeks before her 37th birthday, Danielle’s role of caretaker quickly switched to patient, when she received the news that she has stage 3 breast cancer. When she started getting debilitating night sweats, she knew that something was awry in her body. She decided to stop taking her birth control with the hopes that the sweats would end, but within three weeks she found three lumps in her right breast and was told to come in for a scan immediately.

“I knew something wasn’t right when the ultrasound technician asked if I wanted to schedule an appointment to see the surgeon before I even had my biopsy results.”

Taking the technician’s advice, she scheduled an appointment with a surgeon before she had the results, then waited three days before receiving the call that she had three different forms of cancer in her right breast, one of which is in a lymph node. With little time to process the situation, Danielle and Steve were thrown into a new norm that includes weekly rounds of chemo and a mastectomy.

“The surreal moment came when the Dr handed me a book about breast cancer treatments. I remember thinking, is this real? Am I imagining this? It felt especially untrue because I received my diagnosis alone due to COVID restrictions. And suddenly it’s this juxtaposition and Steve has to slip into the role of caretaker and I’m the patient. But he knows what to expect because he has been in the patient role for so long.”

Two years prior, Danielle had micrographic surgery (MOHS) to remove basal cell carcinoma from the right side of her forehead. Armed with a positive attitude that has gotten her through all her previous struggles, Danielle, is looking on the bright side of things.

“I have three forms of cancer, but no cancer in my lower lymph nodes so that’s good and I’m grateful for that.”

The road ahead will not be easy, but Danielle is keeping her chin up, hoping to normalize it for her daughter, Lilah (8) and son, Tommy (4).

“Someone recently said to me ‘It’s good that your kids are young, they won’t remember this tough time,’ but that’s not how we’re choosing to look at it. The road ahead will be tough, and far from perfect but I want the kids learn that life isn’t about perfect. It’s not always going to go exactly how you want it. In the end it’s about taking the challenging road and seeing the light at the end of it.”

On July 24th, six days after her 37th birthday, Danielle started her first round of 16 chemo treatments. After she rests for the month of January, she will likely have a bilateral mastectomy by springtime.

“It’s interesting. You go through so many waves of emotion. The community has been whole heartedly outstanding and full of love. The minute I received my diagnosis people started dropping off food, flowers and offering to help with the kids. Once again, we are proud to call Winthrop our home. There are so many genuinely good people in this town.”

As Danielle focuses on getting beyond her latest battle, friends of the Logan family have started a GoFundMe page to help ease the burden of the time that she will lose doing what she loves…boarding and walking dogs for her business, Just Like Home Pet Sitting. For more information on how you can donate to a meal calendar, please contact Robin Ferullo at: [email protected]

781-953-1894

To make a donation please go to:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraiser-for-the-logan-family

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