Gearing up for Fall

I apologize for not posting a “follow-up” to our last week in NY. We made it (well Peter did it! I should never give myself credit for what he has to go through). The girls came with Daddy to the airport to pick us up late Friday night, and Kate, who is a real momma’s girl, ran right past me into Peter’s arms! They love their big brother, that’s for sure.
We spent last weekend up in the Brainerd area for a Hanson family reunion, and had a great time with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, lots of extended family; a big group had traveled all the way from Texas! Thanks for hosting Tom & Judy – we weren’t sure we’d ever get the kids out of the lake!
Ty, Peter & Ellie spent the last 2 weeks at MN Hockey Camps while Kate & I stayed put in the cities, and the kids loved it (so did Ty of course!) They thought it was great to tag along with Dad, stay in the cabin, do some of the dryland drills, see the guys at the rink, and of course spend some time in the pro shop… can you say treats?
I can’t believe summer is coming to an end. We hit the state fair today and have some very tired kids (they just asked what’s for dinner so apparently we didn’t eat enough there!) Peter is excited to start 1st grade next week at All Saints School and Ellie’s excited to be in preschool in the same school as him. I am glad to have them going to the same school since it’s a new place to them. Pete is starting Flag Football tomorrow. He’s counting on his buddies Tucker & Sammy to show him the ropes!
On the medical front Peter is doing well. He had blood drawn on Thursday and we will find out Wednesday what his HAMA level looks like. However, we just booked flights back to NY in 2 weeks because even if he is HAMA-positive, they are now able to administer a drug that wipes out the HAMA. This means he should be able to get 2 more rounds of the 3F8 every 4 weeks. He’ll be due for testing in NY in October too, but after that we should just be heading out there every 3 months for continued testing! Wow, could we possibly on a slow approach back to a more “normal” life?! Stay tuned…
And as usual, we cannot possibly begin to thank all of you enough for all you have done to help us throughout this journey.

Hanging tough in NYC!

3 down, 2 to go! This has been a tough week so far. The main side effect of antibody treatment is nerve pain, and Peter is experiencing his fair share. They pre-medicate him to avoid hives, nausea and help manage the pain, but it is still evident during and after the treatment; it wipes him out! We spend most of each day in clinic (8 to 2) and then we head back to the Ronald McDonald House. He has been sleeping the rest of the days/nights and is on his way to doing that again. He’s having a lot of residual pain in his feet (neuropathy) so they hurt no matter what position he is in; and walking is out of the question. The only remedies seem to be hot packs, me rubbing them until my hands are numb and the pain meds (and a little “Captain Underpants” reading in between!) You know he’s not feeling well when he’s not even thinking about the playroom downstairs. By morning, however, he is happy & ready to go again (albeit with a little more hesitation each day). It might seem a little harsh to subject our child to this, but we hope it is “training” his body to eliminate cancerous cells on its own. And, compared to the side effects of all the other treatment he has had, this is at least manageable and doesn’t carry any long-term issues. So we are taking each day as it comes & looking forward to coming home late Friday night! It’s hard to believe that it’s been 1 year since Peter’s lungs “shut down” and we were told he might not make it… he has come a long way! We do not take this for granted for 1 minute, and we never forget our other friends who are fighting hard or have fought the good fight. We would love it if you could add my Dad (aka “Grandpa Poopster”) to your prayers, as he has just been diagnosed with an early stage of prostate cancer.
Thanks for checking in!

Antibody treatment begins

Peter and Erika arrived safely in NYC yesterday. He is scheduled to begin the anti-body treatment this morning. He survived the first poke with no tears this morning, so he is off to a great start! Hopefully the rest of the treatment is as smooth. The girls are with Erika’s parents, and I am in St. Cloud coaching. The Eigner circus in a nutshell! Also, thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for our friend little Gus. He was a wonderful little boy, and his parents are incredible. The NB kids now have another Angel in Heaven fighting for them.