Peter’s Page

The Eigner’s passed a milestone over the holiday weekend. They packed up Peter and the girls, left my house, and headed HOME for a few days. This is the first time in three months that Peter has been able to leave the hospital’s proximity. His platelet counts haven’t been great, but his overall health seems stable. Most of the weekend away was spent at Grandma and Grandpa’s with cousins playing baseball (of course), playing ladder ball, boating, and learning sudoku. He was able to see some close friends, too.

This morning he’s back in town for his second-to-last radiation treatment. He wraps up that phase tomorrow and puts another milestone behind him. Yet the road ahead remains long and uncertain. The message on the hockey rink sign that reads “Keep Fighting Pete” has never had more significance.

Next week Peter will go through the same periodic tests (scans, marrow, etc, etc). This time these tests are also used to determine his placement for the next big phase of treatment — Antibody Treatment. This treatment is officially in “trial” at the U of M, meaning some patients that elect to participate will get the antibodies and some will get an alternative treatment. We’re all hoping that Peter gets the antibody treatment and can continue being treated here at the U of M. If he is not accepted here, there is a clinic in New York City that offers the antibody treatment to all patients and Peter will go there. In that case, the Eigner’s logistical dilemmas will only get more complex.

Peter is doing very well, but there are reasons to go through this optional treatment that has side effects (as all treatments do). This cancer is very aggressive and can recur. Peter was diagnosed with the unfavorable histology, which, in my unscientific language, means it’s hard to kill off. Recurrence of Neuroblastoma is really bad. I don’t know how else to say it. It needs to be destroyed the first time around. Ty and Erika believe that the Antibody treatments are the best way to ensure cancer doesn’t return. The specifics on how the treatment is done are different depending on the clinic, but it could be about a five-month treatment involving lots of hospital time.

The battle continues. Peter is winning, but the miracle isn’t complete. Once you get the lead, you need to fight that much harder and eliminate the opponent’s chances.

Peter is still doing very well. His radiation treatments are quick and simple for him. He swings into the hospital, gets a quick treatment, and leaves. The treatment can make him a little bit worn down, but he still seems to be gaining energy compared to the past couple months.

His hair is growing back, too! I mean, you can see the change every day. His eyelashes — remember those thick, black things? — are sprouting thick and black again. And his blonde hair is returning as a noticeable fuzz.

Remember this?

It’s coming back.

I also posted many new pictures in a new format. These are from Round 7 and the BMT. And these are since his release from the hospital during the 100-day journey.

The report card is shaping up nicely.

• Bone Scan: Negative!
  No visible cancer from this test done last week.
• CT Scan: Negative!
  No visible cancer from this scan of his whole torso, head, neck.
• Echocardiogram: Negative!
  His heart sounds good.
• Bone Marrow Biopsy: Negative!
  Marrow remains clear.
• MIBG: Negative!
  Nothing lit up. Nothing.
  
• Audiogram: Upcoming
  Eager to know how his hearing is holding up.

If you’d like more good news this fine Friday, I have some. Peter started radiation yesterday already. They are radiating the tumor bed in his abdomen to make sure it never gets any life back. Ty and Erika were eager to get that underway, but it could only happen when his counts were back up.

Things are otherwise good, as well. He’s been eating enough since being off the TPN “food bags”, but we’re always pushing for more. He announced his new favorite food is spaghetti. Here’s some proof that he’s returning to his active ways.

How about a quick report card to begin with. These are the tests that Peter is going through (and has gone through before and will go through again).

• Bone Scan: Negative!
  No visible cancer from this test done last week.
• CT Scan: Negative!
  No visible cancer from this scan of his whole torso, head, neck.
• Echocardiogram: Negative!
  His heart sounds good.
• Bone Marrow Biopsy: No Results Yet
  He was put under today to extract marrow from both sides of his pelvis.
• MIBG: Scheduled for Today
  This is the scan that “lights up” cancerous areas.
• Audiogram: Upcoming
  Eager to know how his hearing is holding up.

We’re all praying that his string of straight A’s remains in tact. His platelets have rebounded to 50000+ as of today, so the latest assumption is that Peter will start radiation on Monday.

Although I haven’t been composing updates as frequently lately — and I do apologize for that — I have been getting a firsthand perspective on Peter’s progress. My wife (known herein as Auntie G) and I recently spent some time in Florida for some R&R and the Eigner’s took advantage of our empty house while we were away. We’ve been back for over a week now and the Eigners are still here, so apparently the quarters suit them better than the Ronald McDonald House. In any case, we’re happy to have the crew here while they need to be near the hospital.

My last memory of Peter before his diagnosis, probably around July 4th ‘06, is playing baseball in the yard at my parents’ place (Poopster’s). In those days I was lucky to see him once every two months or so. I would pitch him the ball, Grandpa would tell him to keep his elbow up, and he would give it a rip, then tear around the imaginary bases and finish with a safe slide at home plate. What a joy it was to watch.

After I returned home, the news came that something wasn’t quite right with Peter. Those baseball sessions in Grandpa’s yard grew shorter and shorter and less frequent. Next thing I knew, I’m receiving horrible news from a teary Erika and Peter is being rushed to the hospital in Minneapolis. You know the rest. Ever since then the treatments have been annihilating the cancer and borrowing much of Peter’s body and energy in the process — particularly after the final round of chemo.

But with the return of spring, we’re once again in the yard — my yard this time — and Peter is back to standing on the left side of the imaginary home plate. He’s back to telling me when I make a bad pitch, he’s back to giving the ball a good rip, and he’s back to sliding into home. He’s not fully recovered, but he’s recovered enough to be doing the things he really loves; And you can tell he loves baseball.

The party was great! The kids all took a whack (or 7) at a pinata and had lots of fun. Between Hansons and Eigners, there are almost 30 people now (11 young kids) so it’s pretty much contolled chaos! It’s 24 hours later and our 3 are still hanging tough – I am glad Peter hasn’t gotten a fever or been too tired today.
We have not gotten any test results yet, but did get a call that his platelets went from 46,000 on Tuesday, to 38,000 yesterday. What a bummer. They had been climbing steadily so we all thought they would be the 50,000 necessary to start radiation on Monday. I don”t know what causes them to drop like that, especially when they’ve been on the rise. Anyway, we don’t believe he’ll be going in to check labs now until Tuesday, when he goes in for the bone marrow biopsy. We do, however, plan to find out results from the ct scans and bone scan, on Monday. Will keep ya posted. Erika

The big day has arrived… Pete is 5! It is true, we are having a party tonight at Uncle Matt’s, including lots and lots of family. It’s really to celebrate Peter and Ellie’s birthdays and they are so excited, they can hardly wait!
Peter is feeling good. We hope he won’t get too worn out with all the festivities. He had his labs checked this morning, and also had a Bone Scan and CT Scans (head/neck, chest/abdomen). We hope to hear results yet today but more likely Monday. He is scheduled to begin radiation Monday and this will be daily for 3 weeks. He will be sedated Tuesday morning for the Bone Marrow Biopsy and have an Echocardiogram in the afternoon, followed by the MIBG scan Wednesday. The MIBG is a big one – they inject a radioactive dye the day before, so it lights up any areas of disease and covers the entire body. He will also have another Audiogram, so we will know if his hearing has gotten better, worse or stayed the same. These are all tests that he has had before; when he was diagnosed, and many times since. They will do them frequently moving forward, and as time passes, there will be a little more time between the tests. We expect good news and will post once we know, and will get some pics of the b-day kids up too!

I can’t believe we’re only half way to 100 days! It seems like Peter’s transplant was so long ago! He is doing well. He did get out of the hospital Sunday and we had lots of fun on Ellie’s birthday. The beautiful weather has played a big part in our fun this week.
I feel that things are starting to get busier again. Ty took Peter to the clinic this morning and his labs were good – getting higher. They let us stop the TPN (iv food) which is great because it’s a bit of a process each night and it’s a pain for him to tote around when he’s awake.
Apparently they are scheduling scans for Peter tomorrow and Thursday (CT and MIBG I believe). This immediately put a knot in my stomach but it’s great that we’re getting to where he will need periodic testing to see if there is anything going on. We believe that we will have even more to celebrate than birthdays on Friday evening! He will have his labs/counts checked again on Friday and barring any changes, he is scheduled to start radiation on Monday! Radiation will be daily, M-F, for 3 weeks. Within a few weeks we should also be able to find out if Peter will be able to get antibody treatment at the U of MN or if we will be travelling back and forth to NY. So after writing this, I guess the combination of these things is why i’m feeling a little anxious – just a lot of things going on at once!
In the meantime Peter and Ellie are enjoying lots of fun in the sun wearing loads of sunscreen!