Month: September 2006

I have created a new page called Schedule. You can access it from the top or right menu. It is essentially an outline of the expected treatment by week. The schedule will probably change over time, but hopefully it will help put each milestone in context of the overall treatment.

Colleen Faacks left this comment on Wednesday. Wow. Thanks to the MMBA.

I am very pleased to report that The Mid-Minnesota Builders Association and its generous members raised $3,257.50 for THE PETER EIGNER FUND.  The event was held on Tuesday 9-19-06 at Ernie’s on Gull Lake.  Special thanks to all who donated items for the auction and all who purchased these fantastic items!! A WINNING EVENT FOR EVERYONE!!

The scheduled activity for this week is Peter’s stem cell harvest here in Minneapolis. I’ve been vague on what the heck this is, but Erika gave me a good overview after her work up meeting earlier this week. They withdraw Peter’s blood, separate/isolate the cells, and save the stem cells, and merge the blood back into him. The stem cells are immediately frozen and then shipped to Los Angeles. I suppose there’s more work on the harvested cells in LA. The cells remain frozen in LA until they are needed for the marrow transplant. Mind boggling.

They will not be using Peter’s hickman line to withdraw the blood. His lines are too flimsy and will collapse while taking the amount of blood necessary for this procedure. So they will need to insert a new line in his neck (jugular).

The exact day of this procedure is unknown right now. Peter has to ramp up for this by taking increased doses of a growth factor — a drug that he takes everyday. However, before they can increase the doses, his blood counts have to be at a certain level. Peter’s counts since round 2 were dropping and bottomed out yesterday. They have rebounded somewhat today, but not to the level where they can increase the growth factor. So when the counts are high enough, he will go on the higher dose for three days before they can do the harvest.

Furthermore, shipping the frozen cells to Los Angeles is time sensitive, so they need to arrive at a time when it’s ideal for the staff to receive them — not a weekend night. So I’ll try to keep you posted on the exact schedule.

Reports from the Eigner house are positive. Peter is more than stable. He’s playing like normal. He’s currently taking on his mom in hockey in the basement and you can guess who’s winning. He has developed a couple sores in his mouth from the chemo and that makes eating more of a challenge. Two or three times a day he willingly takes the “swishy medicine” to prevent these, but a couple still broke through.

So let’s hope for the counts to keep rising so our little buddy can move onto this next phase in the treatment.

Erika and Peter came into town last night. Auntie G & I had the pleasure of hosting them at our house. Pete-man is so spirited he’s almost rambunctious. We played baseball in the living room, watched the Twins and ate well. This morning they went to the hospital for the pre-harvest work up appointment. Erika didn’t know exactly what to expect, but the assumption is that it’s a basic checkup and mostly informative.

I’ve added some new pictures from Erika and Ty of the recovery weeks and round two. You can see them in the Photos section.

Peter wants to thank YOU for your support.

Peter is doing great at home. The nurses were in today, as they are twice each week, to test his blood. Their blood count results will be back this afternoon. The counts should be dropping as a result of the chemo and then bounce back as Peter gets back on offense.

Erika and Peter will be returning to the hospital on Wednesday for a stem cell harvest “work up”. I believe this session with the doctors is largely informative, but may also involve some basic tests. The actual harvest is scheduled for next week; I’ll get more specific on that procedure soon, but it isn’t as dramatic as the name indicates.

I’ll also get some new photos up on the site shortly. Peter looks amazingly handsome with blonde peach fuzz atop his head.

Last night at Shep’s, in Brainerd, was the big drawing for the autographed Mario Lemieux jersey. And the big winner was Brian Hanson (AKA Grandpa Poopster, AKA my dad). And the bigger winner was Peter and family. The jersey was passed along to Ty to present to grandson Peter, but more importantly, I understand that the raffle raised over $5000. Thanks to Chuck Grillo, thanks to Shep, and thanks to all who purchased tickets. That is amazing.

Surely I can’t recreate the suspense and ferocity of the actual drawing, but I do have the winner’s account of the proceedings and I’ll embellish in moderation. Brian and wife, Barb, had purchased a string of raffle tickets a while ago. Last night, traveling to Shep’s from his home in nearby Crosslake with great grandpa Art, Brian incessantly rubbed the red tickets for luck until his thumb blistered and the ticket numbers faded. Finally they arrived, met Ty and the Grillo clan, and settled in for the action.

Minutes before the drawing, they had a last call for the raffle. Brian calculated that if he sprung for two more tickets, his odds would increase by at least a thousandth of one percentage point. That sounded pretty good to him, so he bought two more. The new tickets were green and joined his worn red tickets in array on his table.

It was time for the big drawing and it was so quiet in the bar that you could have heard a rat toot. Luckily Shep’s doesn’t have rats. The numbers were slowly read and repeated. Brian couldn’t believe his eyes. The numbers matched one of his new green tickets. It was then that he yelled out “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” He made his way to the front of the room and danced the “chicken scratch” — a stunning dance of lore in Hanson lineage. Way to go, Dad.

Here are three reasons to be happy and hopeful this Friday.

1. Three of Peter’s chromosomes were examined for certain abnormalities, but none were found. This is a good sign. We really don’t know exactly how good, given that he still has the “unfavorable histology”, but at least this one thing is favorable. I apologize for the lack of medical depth in that tidbit!
2. Yesterday the doctor was feeling Peter’s abdomen to get a sense of the tumor’s condition. After pushing firmly and thoroughly, the doctor reported that she couldn’t really feel the tumor at all. The doctor had given this same examination before and after surgery and could easily identify the tumor. Furthermore, the doctors are careful about managing expectations, so Ty and Erika are not used to hearing positive news without a disclaimer. To make that announcement, the doctor must have confidence that the tumor is shrinking.
3. Peter is smiling as round two of chemo comes to a close. If it wasn’t for the IV pole and an absence of hair, you might not know Peter is sick. The Eigners should be discharged from the hospital at about 10:00 AM.

I have been a little under the weather and not able to go to the hospital, but I keep hearing great reports from those who have visited Peter and his parents. He has great energy, he’s eating very well, and he’s happy. I hear that he’s been playing baseball with a Twins pillow, throwing the football, playing knee-hockey, and racing cars. This doesn’t sound like a kid attached to an IV in a hospital. But it does sound like Peter.

Between the second and third rounds of chemo, Peter will have a marrow cell harvest procedure. Ty and Erika had an informative meeting the other day with a marrow transplant specialist and that procedure shouldn’t be too intrusive. I believe the harvested cells are “cleaned” and frozen. The good cells will then be re-inserted into Peter much later in his treatment.

So, like a true champion, he’s often making this battle look easy. I have to believe the enemy is on the run.

As expected, Peter was admitted to the hospital for round 2. He is attached to his pole as the chemo drip continues. The effects of the medication are more apparent this round. When the first round started, Peter hadn’t fully recovered from the surgery and tests that took place only days earlier. Discomfort, fatigue, and nausea could be attributed to any number of trials he endured. But arriving for the second round, Peter brought along all the energy and attitude we’ve all come to know over the first 4 years of his life. Therefore, the power of what is entering his body is more evident.

That isn’t to say he’s not doing well. He’s doing great. He’s just a little more tired and a little more uncomfortable at times. Right now the Twins are playing and he’s cheering for the Twins, unless Big Pappi is at the bat. He likes David Ortiz.

Ty, Erika and Peter should be in Minneapolis on Monday morning about 10:00 AM. Peter will first be examined at a clinic beside the hospital to verify that he is fit for the second round of chemotherapy. Assuming everything checks out — and judging by Peter’s visible condition everything will check out — he will be readmitted to the hospital. Then the second round of chemotherapy will begin sometime later in the day.

As you can gather from the previous posts, Peter is doing great. He had lost most of his hair over the past week, leaving a couple patches up top. But a vigorous bath last night pretty much wiped those strands out as well. Not that he cares.

Let’s get round two started, Peter. It’s time to keep beating the bad guys.

I left my house at 6:00am this morning to head up to Brainerd to watch Peter, Ellie and Kate because Ty and Erika had a committment this afternoon. This is something I’ve done many times in the last four years but for the first time I was a little nervous. This would be the first time I would be alone with the kids since Peter was diagnosed. Well my nerves were calmed about 20 minutes after I arrived when Peter came downstairs from his bedroom and said “Boo” really loud – I turned to see him all dressed and a big smile on his face. I knew things would be OK when he said “Gramma Mary you’re going down in hockey today! As soon as I eat my breakfast, flush my central line and take my medicine I’m going to beat you BAD!!” And he did – not once, not twice but five times – outscoring me by at least 20 goals. And I’m sad to say I was trying. But I did win one game of Dino Dominos so I’m not a complete loser.
Peter and I watched the Twins game this afternoon while the girls napped. Watching the game with him is like watching a game with Ty. He knows all the players, their positions and the batting order. He noticed right away that Joe Mauer wasn’t catching and said “They must be resting him today so he doesn’t get sore knees.” He was disappointed with the lose but was more disappointed that he’d have to “break it” to Mom and Dad when they got home. He also said the Twins will win the next one.

Pete, Ellie, Kate and I had a great day. Ellie is Ellie! Full of smiles and mischief. And Kate is a crawling, jabbering nine month old that smiles all the time. I have a new appreciation for a four year old boy jumping from the coffee table to the couch, standing in the kitchen when a black olive stuck to his thumb and giving me the thumbs up sign, and slapping and old lady in the shines during a heated hockey game. The real appreciation of Peter came when Ty called to say it was time for him to swoosh some medicine in his mouth and when I told him that he said “Bring it on Gramma.”

My only scare of the day came when he excused himself to go to the bathroom and a few minutes later he was yelling my name. I rushed into the bathroom to find that Peter just wanted me to witness the product of his fine efforts on the toilet. {I will never understand the male fascination with Poop.} He also told me to be sure and “write this one down.”

Thanks to all of my family and friends, to Erika’s family and friends, to the Brainerd community, to the hockey world, to the doctors and nurses and to the strangers who have been so kind to all of us. If we all continue to pray God will listen and this time will be looked back on as a chance to grow closer and learn the true meaning of love, friendship and faith. Mary