It’s been over a full week since Peter and family checked into the hospital. One thing that’s amazed me is Peter’s awareness, if not complete understanding, of what is going on.
Picture a four-year-old in church. The hour service can seem to last forever as they inevitably get restless and need a change of scenery in the 21st minute. Peter’s been in his little room for over seven days, aside from walking 50 feet to the end of the hall. However, I haven’t heard him complain regarding his confines. I thought maybe he’d be yearning for home or to go outside; This is the kid that pulled us outside every 10 minutes to pitch the baseball to him during the July 4th holiday. Yet even when he’s feeling well, he seems to know that he needs to stay in the hospital and get better. He also treats the hospital staff with a special respect. It strikes me as unusual wisdom and calm for a four-year-old, but it’s probably happening in rooms up and down the hall.
Credit goes to his network (you) for writing to him, giving him things to do, and visiting. I’m sure this helps keeps his mind off of where he’d rather be. I suppose he doesn’t mind where he is physically if his favorite people and things are around. Many people have visited and no matter how Peter was feeling when you arrived, it has definitely been appreciated. I would love to write about everyone’s visit, but couldn’t possibly keep up.
Peter’s been well today. He went to other rooms in the unit and gave away half of his balloons to other children that may not have any. He spent time at the end of the hall eating ice cream with Grandpa Sig. I’m going to head to the hospital now and catch the baseball game. He’ll probably provide me some good material for my next post.
Hi Peter and Mom & Dad!
Just wanted you to know that you are on our minds every minute of the day. Peter, we know you will give everything to becoming well again. You are such a “special” little boy. Fight hard, Tiger!!!
I can’t imagine what you are going through, Erika & Ty. We know that you as parents will see this through. Keep the faith! Our prayers & love are with you.
Love, Marlys & Paul
Matt,
Ericka Novotny just sent me this blog with a little history. Please know that my thoughts are with you and your family.
Sincerely,
Lisa Stout
Peter and family your still in our prayers. Ruth was on your website yesterday looking at your pictures. She loved them all. You have many people praying for you in Hawaii. Ruth spends much time in the hospital too. I was glad to read that you gave some of your balloons away to some of the children that had none. Ruth’s favorite thing to do in the hospital is give out candies to the nurses, doctors and children who can eat them. You are doing a great job. Aloha, The Mersburgh’s
ALOHA PETER;
I AM RUTH MERSBURGH’S GRANDMA ROSE. I HEARD THAT YOU HAVE THE SAME KIND OF CANCER THAT RUTH HAS, BUT IN A DIFFERENT AREA OF YOUR BODY. RUTH LIKES TO CALL HER CANCER, “THE LUMPS”. RUTH HAD TO HAVE CHEMO TREATMENTS AND SURGERY TOO. BUT SHE IS DOING MUCH BETTER NOW. SHE HAS ANOTHER SURGERY TO REMOVE ANOTHER SMALL LUMP.
RUTH IS A STRONG AND BRAVE LITTLE GIRL AND SHE KNOWS GOD, (JESUS) IS ALWAYS WITH HER AND HELPING HER FIGHT THE LUMPS.
PETER THE DOCTORS ARE VERY SMART AND MOM AND DAD AND YOUR FAMILY WILL ALL BE HELPING YOU TOO.
ALWAYS ASK GOD TO HELP YOU AND THINK POSITIVE AND YOU WILL BE ALRIGHT. KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU AND ARE PRAYING FOR YOU.
RUTHIE”S 13 YEAR OLD FRIEND WHO HAS CANCER ALWAYS TELLS
RUTH TO “LIVE STRONG”.
“GOD BLESS YOU PETER AND YOUR FAMILY” JUST KNOW WE WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOU AT OUR CHURCH.
WITH MUCH “ALOHA”, GRANDMA ROSE
Good Evening, Eigner family-
It’s no surprise that Peter’s handling this as well as he is…. I can tell you all first hand that this little Eigner IS truly a wonderful young boy! He is extraordinarily respectful of adults and children, he is smart beyond belief and braver than most people I know! He has corrected me many a’times!! Not too many 4 year old boys head in to the clinic for shots and walk away having shed not one tear! (Peter, I still don’t like shots and needles and I am LOTS older than you are!!) Alot of the wisdom and respect that this little sweetie has comes from the 2 most important people in his life – his wonderfully strong and caring mommy and daddy! This family as a whole is truly a family to admire…. they are caring, kind, respectful, truthful, fun, and I am honored to know them and to be here fighting this fight with them. To be asked to care for someones kids is truly an honor…. this family is one of the reasons I love doing what I do! It’s my hope that one day soon Peter, Ellie Lynn and little baby Kate will join us again at daycare! We miss you guys more than you’ll know!
Enjoy the Twins game tonight, buddy….. and mostly, enjoy the company of your family and friends as they sit beside you and cheer them on!
**** ERIKA— I would like to talk to you guys tomorrow. I always feel like when I call, I am interrupting… maybe you (or Peter!!) could just call me sometime … I should be home! Thanks! Jenni
P.S. Lily and I were shopping at Target today… we purchased some band aids and she thought maybe we could send some to Peter for his “owies!” ….. the innocense of children!
Hi Peter,
I hope you had a good day Peter. The new pictures are fun to look at. It was nice to see a smile on your Mommy’s face. Just a couple more days it sounds like and you will get to start fighting all those bad things in your body. We know it will go well. Emily is spending the night with us tonight. We went to Culver’s for dinner and then visited with Auntie Tara for a while. Now she wants to write you a little note. LIVE STRONG!
Hi Peter,
I went to a movie with my daddy (Ryan) and the movie was called ‘how to eat fried worms’. In the movie a boy threw a worm at a kid. And they put worms in their pants. I liked it. I bet you would too. I wish you could be here at daycare with all of us. We all miss you! We are all wearing ‘LIVE STRONG’ bands for you. Baden and Emily Graces mommy brought them for every one. I hope you liked the toys and stuffed monkey. Get well soon. Love, your friend Emily Clare
Hi Peter, Erika and Ty,
I just wanted to know you are in my thoughts. If you need anything please let me know! Fight hard little guy! Thank you Matt for the website.
Sincerely,
Jenny
Ty & Erica
You don’t know me but I felt like I needed to write, I work with your uncle Steve. We have worked together for over twenty years so I kind of know when your uncle is really concerned about something and right now little Peter is on his mind everyday. I truely do know your pain and your fear and I am praying for you everyday. Another friend of ours has put Little Peter on their prayer chain and believe me it is a pretty strong chain. I did some looking into the type of cancer Peter has and ran across this wed site. http://www.STJude.org Neuroblastoma: Jack’s Story. It is very interesting in case you would like to check it out. Please try to stay strong and know that there are alot of prayers being said for that little guy.
Nancy Daniels
Erika and family,
I was reading the Sunday paper and learned about Peter’s struggle. Even though I’ve never actually met Peter, I can tell from the photos that he is a little fireball, which means he’s got a lot of fight in him. Peter and your entire family will be in my prayers. Best of luck to you during this difficult time.
Deb Mitzel
Erica, Ty and mostly you Peter,
Wow! I don’t usually use the word overwhelmed. “over” whelmed says to me that things are bigger than me and beyond my control. So I usually stick with the word whelmed. I don’t think you’ll find it in a dictionary but that is what I do. But….I am absolutely overwhelmed by you Peter, your family, your faith, your strength, and your courage. You are definitely bigger than us all right now. I knew when I met you at daycare that I was leaving my Baden with a very very cool role model. Little did I know how incredibly cool! We are praying for you daily and check in on your progress. Stay strong Peter. Be tough on your end and we’ll keep up the good thoughts on our end. It sounds to me like you have the best team God could ever put together!
The Bastians
Hi Peter and everyone,
Peter….we sent you some presents today..keep your eyes on the mail. Uncle Ed and I want to come visit you this week if it’s OK. We check on you everyday thanks to your Uncle Matts updates. He does such a great job. We hope you have a nice visit with Grandpa Sig and don’t let him eat all your ice cream. See you soon………
Love Uncle Ed and Aunt roz
hi pete man.
hey buddy! just seeing how my favorite warrior hockey player is doing?
had a long day at work today driving boats out on the lake. lets hope joe and the twins can come through! miss you a lot and cant stop thinking about you! hope to see you soon! just ask your dad whenever you want me to come and i will bud.
Love you
Jake Johnson #10
p.s. hi coach hi erica,hope all is mell
Hi Peter,
I play hockey in Alaska for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. It saddened me a great deal to hear of your sickness. I can tell that you are a very tough and brave boy from what I have read on your website. I have known your dad since I was about your age, I’m sure you know this but you are in good hands. Peter, you can get through this, keep fighting and never give up. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Take Care from a big fan of yours!
Tim Olson
Hi Peter,
This is the first day I haven’t come up to the hospital to see you but I thought I would give everyone else a chance to spend time with you. It’s easier for me to come during the week when all the others have to work.
I was wondering if you took the sign off the door that you and Carl put up last night? “No Girls Allowed – Only Boys” But you caught me sneaking into your room to get a bottle of water and said “Dad -Gramma is bugging us – can’t she read the sign?” Ya know what I have to say about that buddy – I am not going anywhere – I’m going to be bugging you for a lot more years!!!!!
I’ll see you tomorrow. I love ya lots little man. Sweet dreams.
Gramma Mary
Hello Peter, Erika & Ty,
I enjoyed meeting you all and thank you for allowing me to visit Saturday. Grandma and Gradpa Sid too!
Peter, you are a strong and courageous little boy and your support network of friends and family is incredible. I hope you can enjoy the Twins backpack & goodies and continue to watch the Twins on TV with mom, dad & uncle Matt. Last night you must have watched, cheered really loud and blew your train whistle because they won! Way to go!! Joe didn’t get any hits but that’s ok, he’ll do better next time.
I’ll be here checking your site daily for updates. My thoughts and prayers will be with you as you continue your progress.
Marty
Joe Mauer fan club
Good morning, Peter! WOW! I hear you had a member of the Joe Mauer fan club pay you a visit??!?? You are quite the lucky little dude! Ryan & I, auntie Tara, Papa & Monga Allord and even MY auntie from California emailed the Twins and asked them to send someone to visit you! I guess it worked! We’ll keep working on them, maybe Joe Mauer himself will visit you sometime! I am excited to see the Twins backpack & other treats you got from Marty! I am not much of a baseball follower… but I do know that they won again last night! Whew-hoooooo!!
We hope you have a nice Sunday… maybe we can talk later! Miss you and love you till the day after forever!
Remember… we believe in miracles!
Love-
Your daycare family – Ryan, Jenni, Emily Clare, Lily and baby Parker
Peter,
I want to share a little story of a little buddy of mine, who is six years old. His name is Jake, and he lives out here in Denver where I live. Over four years ago, just after he was one year old, he was told he had this same illness that you have. He had to take lots of medicine and do all the stuff that the doctors and nurses asked him to do. He also, has a wonderful family and lots of friends like you do, that helped him get better. I was just with him for the last two days, and he is doing great. He is cute and funny and a joy to be around. He is a soccer player, has two sisters like you do, and is going to begin 1st grade tomorrow.
Although I have only met you once, while you were running around the hockey rink last summer, you remind me a lot of him.
I want you to meet him someday. In the meantime, eventhough I am a White Sox fan, I will cheer for your Twins. They are having a great year and are fun to watch.
You and your family will remain in all of the Granato’s thoughts and prayers!
Tony
Hi Peter, Tom and I went to church this morning, and guess what? We saw your Grandpa and Grandma Hanson, Great Grandpa Wallin and Ellie and Kate. We went and had coffee and cookies in our Fellowship Hall after church was over. I got Ellie a BIG chocolate chip cookie, but she didn’t do a very good job of eating it. She must not have been very hungry. Kate was crawling all over the room and having a good time. Your name was in our church bulletin so you now have everyone at our church praying for you along with so many others.
Grandpa and Grandma, Ellie and Kate and Great Grandpa Wallin are coming over for supper today.
I hope you are starting to eat better and building up those muscles of yours. I heard from Grandma Hanson that you got another hockey jersey signed by Wayne Gretzsky (The Great One). I am anxious to see it.
Tell Mom and Dad that if they need a truck to bring home all your new toys that you are getting, to call us and we will come down with ours.
Take care, stay strong and we will see you soon.
All our Love to you and Mom and Dad.
Tom and Judy
Hi there! Sorry to hear you are in the hospital… our little boy loved staying at Brenner Children’s because he got lots of attention, and lots of new girlfriends!
Tell Mom and Dad that you are all in our thoughts and prayers.
From another Neuroblastoma family…
The Runde’s
Hi Peter! This is Rebecca and I’m friends with your Uncle Matt and Aunt Michelle. (tell them hi for me) I just wanted to tell you that holy cow, would you be proud of the Twinkies so far this weekend! I live in Chicago and let me tell you that I am not Miss popular around here when I wear my Twins hat. Did you see the game last night? Things got pretty exciting when Jermaine Dye hit that two-run homer in the 9th inning to send us into extra innings. I’m heading to the game today with some friends. They’re not *super* excited to take me with them though because their Sox fans and they know that I’ll be sporting my Twins hat and cheering very LOUD! GO TWINS!! Take care Peter! We’re cheering for you here in Chicago too. -RB.
Hi Peter, Ty and Erika!
I just read in the Brainerd paper today about what you all are going through. Peter they have a great picture of you in your hockey gear on the front page of the sports. You are a real trooper Peter and want you to know I will be praying for you.
Ty and Erika my thoughts and prayers are with you all, if you need anything let me know. Stay strong Peter!!!
Hi Peter, Erica and Ty
We are out here in Seattle and just heard the heartbreaking news.
Our hearts and prayers are with you all. Peter, stay strong like I know you will.
Sam, Lucy, Cole, and Casey
Hi Peter,
I bet you are having a lot of company today!! I hope you are feeling stronger each day. I am watching the Twins right now and they are down by 5 – you’d better be rooting a little louder Pete!! I sure am happy to hear someone from the Mauer fan club paid you a visit!! How exciting!! You are a very special little boy, that’s for sure!! I just talked to Jenni on the phone and she is so excited. Grandma Barb called her and she is bringing Ellie Mae (that’s what I call her) and Kate over tomorrow. Jenni, Emily Clare and Lily really miss all of you!! I saw the monkey they sent you in one of your hospital pictures. Do you like it? Take care little buddy – and be strong for your medicine. We know it will make you better so you can come back home and feel well. We are praying for you like a lot of other people. Be brave and strong!
Papa and Monga
Hi guys, we are sure thinking about you a lot. You are in our prayers every day. We know how powerfull prayers are. When Jake was hit, the chances of him making it through ( we now know) were about as bad as it can get ( no-one thought he would make it not the doctors, emt’s,air care nurses etc.) . We had the most wonderfull and skilled docs and nurses with him 24/7, but there was more at work there. It was the intense prayer that made Jake’s recovery so incredible and fast. The chances of Jake making any recovery much less a full one were slim to none. He is doing awesome now. Any thing is possible with prayer. I think it’s so important to hear the good stories and keep positive, because you will have enough of the negative. So many people are praying and thinking about your family right now. It can only help.
Last Friday we came down for some testing with the neurosurgeon for jake and stopped by to bring you some things. We only meant to drop them at the nurses station, not to bother Pete or his aunts, but the nurse brought us to the room. I have to say Peter looked great, what a beautifull boy. Jake has been praying hard for Pete. He is also going through the rest of his Twins memorabelia seeing what else he can find that Pete might like.
Just know we are all praying for you and your entire family don’t be afraid to tap those resources in people that want to help you, people sometimes don’t know what to do, they just want to do something to help.
Jeff and Trina Volkl
Yeah! Peter I am sooooo excited! We get to have Ellie and Katesie-Poo at daycare tomorrow! I talked to Grandma Barb this afternoon… she said you were having one of your BEST DAYS YET! I think I classify this as another sort of “miracle”…. being you are about to start your chemo, I think your body is preparing itself to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT…. so you can WIN, WIN, WIN this!!
In today’s paper there is a very nice article about you (and another little boy who is at a hospital in the cities recovering from heart surgery). Now that your darling face is all over town, I think mom and dad are going to have to monitor this site more…. ya know, you might start getting a few little girlfriends writing to you!!
One more day and then you get your chance at bat… it’s your turn to show those bad critters in your body whose boss!
With love and hugs and kisses and a pocket full of prayers-
– Your daycare family – Jen, Ryan, Em, Lil and our lil’ P-man!
Ty & Erika-
So happy to be getting to spend the day with Ellie and Kate tomorrow. Obvioulsy, in a perfect world, Peter would be coming over too, but having Elle and Kate will make the world seem a bit more normal….
One more day and then Pete gets to start the true fight…. the WHOLE WORLD will be praying!
Love to all-
Jenni
Hi Peter,
You won’t remember me (I have met you a couple of time at the Brainerd Warrior hockey games) but I am Ryan, Molly & Jenny Peltoma’s aunt. My son Jake had your daddy as a coach at the MN Hockey Camp and he got hurt and your daddy helped him. He is all better now just like I know you are going to be. I keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers everyday. I know that if anyone can win this battle it will be you. You are truly an amazing little boy. You keep fighting and stay strong, God has big plans for you. I live in Duluth and I have alot of people here praying for you and your family. Will you do me a favor and ask Rod (Ryan #4’s dad) about the “Underwear Man” next time you see him? That should bring a smile to your face.
May God Bless you Peter,
Nancy, Bryan, Jake & Abby Bushey
Dear Ty & Erika,
This is my second note but I don’t think the 1st one made it to you due to my inept computer skills. Jake & Becky were given a card & something for Peter to bring to you today but they forgot it in the car so I thought I would reach you this way.
We are so very sorry that you have to go thru such a difficult time with your precious little son. It is hard to understand how God allows these things to happen. I guess there are things we are not meant to understand. We want you to know that you are in our thoughts many times throughout the day and we also remember Peter as well as the 2 of you & your families in our prayers. We have also asked friends to pray for Peter so we hope that you receive some positive energy from all these prayers.
God bless all of you. Love, Tip & Diane
To Mary……..I think of you so much because as a grandma you are not only hurting for your precious grandchild but also for your own child & his wife. It is too much hurt for one person so I will carry some for you. Take care. Love, Diane
To Peter……..We look forward to having you come fishing at our cabin with Henry, Emma, Sam & Zach.
Dear Ty, Erika and Peter:
My day is not complete until Jessica Jacob & I sit down and read your website. Each and every picture is so amazing. Jacob (4) often makes me tell him a story of what is happening in each picture. I have to admit, I’m pretty creative. The one of Peter wearing your shoes Erika, was a real fun one.
The entire Brainerd Lakes Community is praying for you and your whole family.
May God continue to watch over and bless Peter Today and Always.
Love,
Colleen, Jessica & Jacob Faacks
Peter,
We want you encourage and uplift you during your battle. Keep smiling, you are an inspiration. Please know that Lori, Chris, and Aidan will keep you in our daily prayers and thoughts.
GO TWINS!
Mike
Peter,
I just wanted to let you know that you are in our prayers. I hope you have a speedy recovery and can be back on the ice in no time. We wish you the best in the future. Take care and good luck little buddy!
Your friends,
Erik and Kelly Westrum
Hi Peter –
We know your Grandma Mary very well and have seen pictures of you for years in her “Grandma’s Brag Book”! There are so many of your Grandma Mary’s friends that are thinking about all of you and looking forward to seeing all of your pictures in the future.
I am going to have dinner with your Grandma this week so I will give her a couple of movies that we bought for you and she can bring them to you on her next visit.
Stay strong and keep that Guardian Angel close.
Tom & Nancy Halter