Author: Ty

I hope that all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to spend time with both the Hanson’s and the Eigner’s during the weekend. We spent Thanksgiving with the Hanson’s at Erika’s Aunt Janie and Uncle Gary’s. This marked the first family function for Briley, the newest member of the clan. The kids all took turns holding baby Briley, with Ellie taking far and away the most turns! We then spent Sunday celebrating Gramma Mary’s 64th b-day with the Eigner clan at BUCA. Imagine a peaceful dinner with 9 kids under 10!

Erika and I also had attended two celebrations of life on Friday and Saturday. Donna Bzdok and Ella Hauschildt fought cancer with every ounce of energy and strength they had. Both of them have inspired many with their courage. Donna, a 44 year old wife and mother of two will be deeply missed by everyone in Brainerd. Ella who was 7, loved school and music and definately left her mark on many in her short time with us. Both the Bzdok’s and the Hauschildt’s are models of faith, strength and family. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they deal with their terrible loss.

Finally, for the first time in 9 years the Eigner’s will be cheering for a hockey team not named the Warriors. We(The Eden Prairie Eagle’s) have our first game tonight and it has been very difficult trying get all three kids in jackets and hats that don’t say Warrior Hockey. We will keep you posted.

Enjoy the Winter,

Ty

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.

We recieved the results of Peter’s Bone Marrow and Urine tests, and they both came back clean! Thank you all so much for the prayers and positive energy! We are off to Peter’s last baseball game of the season, and then his team is having a pool party, it should be a lot of fun. Thanks again and have a great weekend.

It has been some time since we have posted, and there are many new things to update. First and foremost, Peter is doing great! People always comment on how great he looks. He is playing baseball in Lakeville and having a blast! He asks me the day before he has practice or a game “how many hours till baseball?” Sometimes my answer is “oh 30 hours bud.” He has made a lot of new friends and really looks forward to playing. In case you don’t know, Lakeville is in the Twin Cities, yes we have made the move from the North Country and made our way back to the metro. I have taken a coaching position at Eden Prairie High School and Erika will be working in the Edina office of her company Tradition Mortgage (call her, it is a great time to buy a house). It was a very difficult decision, as we have spent 90% of our married life in Brainerd and all our children were born there. But the move back to the metro really was a great opportunity for our entire family. We will never forget our 9 years in Brainerd and we will be back often. We have yet to decide where in the metro we are going to live, but because of the current real estate marketk, we will have MANY options.

Peter did a great job as chair person of the Rosemount Relay for Life, and the entire Eigner/Hanson clan had a great time. Then the party at Trent and Melissa’s was great and everyone had a blast. Thanks to them for hosting, for Cary and Perri for the entertainment, and to all our friends who showed up. Kate and Ellie are having a ball being in the metro, as they get to go to a new park just about every day. They also get to see there Gramma Mary, Aunts, Uncles and all their cousins a lot more, so they think that is cool. We also had a great 4th of July in Brainerd, and spent 4 fun days at Gramma and Grampa Poopsters.

Peter and Erika are going to New York City next week for his 3 month check up and scans. Hopefully while he is out there he will be HAMA negitive and be able to get another round of the anti-body treatment soon. Even though Peter’s appetite is great, energy level is high and seems to be doing great, going out for the scans and test is always very nerve wracking, as you never know what is going on inside. Thank you all in advance for your continued prayers for Peter, we truly could not be doing this without all of you! Well that should get you caught up a little, and again thanks for continuing to check this site and your tremendous support.

Well I thought I would post something prior to the busy weekend. Sunday is Peter’s 6th birthday and he is very excited about that. Erika and I are thrilled, as each birthday with all our kids is a blessing. It has been a busy time for b-day’s around here. Ellie turned 4 on April 29th and Erika’s birthday was April 30th, you can ask her how old she is! Ellie enjoys being 4 and acting like she is 14 and Kate she just enjoys all the ice cream! Peter and Ellie have there first soccer games on Saturday, and then we are going to the twin cities for a friends 40th and will celebrate Peter’s birthday while we are in town. On Sunday we are taking the kids to the Mall of America amusement park, they are pretty excited! Also, Erika and I want to again say thanks for all of your support of Peter and our family, we are truly fortunate. Like you, we are very thankful that Peter is doing so well and you all have been a huge part of that. Anyway we will let you know how the big weekend goes, if you are anywhere but Minnesota you should enjoy your weekend, we are supposed to get a couple inches of SNOW!

We want to wish you all a belated Happy Valetines Day, or Balentines Day as Kate would say. All is well at the Eigner house, the kids really enjoyed Valentines Day parties at school and daycare and are restocked with enough candy to last them through the winter. Peter has a consult next tuesday for his kidney, so hopefully we can get some questions answered. He is also going to have a couple other Dr. visits while he is down at the U of M. Peter is going to have his line removed on February 29th, and he is very excited about that as are mom and dad. There has been plenty of life saving chemo, blood, platlets, stem cells, antibiotics and other medicines pumped through that thing over the past year and a half. We want to also to thank all of you for your continued support, we are more and more grateful each day. Also, please continue to pray for the many kids and families who’s paths we have over the past year and a half.

Have a great weekend,

Ty

Erika just informed me that she got word from NYC that Peter’s Bone Marrow biopsy was CLEAR! Thank you so much for your all of your heartfelt thoughts and prayers. Peter continues to respond favorably and you are ALL a huge part of that. We will continue to pray and fight until there is a cure for this awful disease. Also, please keep Mary Virnig, “Little” Gus Guerra, Logan Fogarty, Donna Bzdok, Terri Tomlinson and Sherry Christianson in your prayers, they too are still fighting there own battles with cancer.

God Bless,

The Eigner’s

Even though we had our first sighting of snow yesterday I can tell you that the entire family is very excited to be home. We are again trying our best to get back into some kind of normal routine. Although with three children five and under, Normal and Routine do not usually go together. Peter is back at school and really enjoying it, Ellie also goes two days a week and Kate demands to go into school when Erika or I drop off Peter or Ellie. As Uncle Matt said, the trip to NYC turned out to be not much of anything, but we still made the best of it. We are not dissappointed that Peter did not get the stents put in, being that his kidney function even though decreased is still fine. His blood pressure has come down to the “high end” of normal, and after all his body has been through we can live with that. Peter looks great, is eating very well, has very good energy and is starting to fill out again. We look at all those things as very positive. Peter and I did get a chance to go to New York Presbyterian Hospital and see some of the Doctors and Nurses who did such a fantastic job. It is a very humbling feeling thanking someone for helping save your son’s life. As it is just as humbling saying “thanks” to all of you for your generosity, love, support, prayers and caring. We are truly very fortunate and would not have been able to get to this point without all of you. This past Saturday Peter, Erika, Troy, Michelle, Gramma Mary, Matt, Michele, Gramma Poopster, Grampa Poopster and I attended the Childrens Cancer Research Fund Gala and had a great time. Peter looked great in his tux and fancy hair! We are so proud of him for not only his butterfly drawing, but for how he has handled this whole thing and what he will become in the future. Well I won’t ramble, I just wanted to touch base prior to next Monday when hockey starts and the ROUTINE really gets fun!

Ty

As has been mentioned numerous times in recent days, today represents the 1 year anniversary of Peter’s orginal diagnosis. I can remember Erika’s trembling voice on my cell phone telling me they saw “something” and we had to get to the University of Minnesota right away. That night was the first time Erika and I were told Peter “likely has cancer”. Up until last Wednesday, August 17, 2006 was far and away the worst night of both our lives. You are all very much aware of what the last year has been like for all of us. We have experienced every emotion know to man, sometimes over weeks and months, sometimes over minutes and hours. Erika and I have often spoke about “what does this all mean, or what have we learned during the last year”?

I am not sure if these questions will every fully be answered, and I am not sure I am proficient(big word huh Holmsey) enough on the computer to even attempt answers. However, during the past year there are some things that we definately know the answers to.

One, we are certain that we have the most incredible support system in the world. Our family, friends, co-workers, the hockey community, fellow cancer families, and total strangers have been there for us from day one. We have said this many times and we mean it from the bottom of our hearts, “THANK YOU.” We will never be able to repay you, nor will you ever fully realize how HUGE of a role you all played in helping us get to today.

Two, the power of prayer is greater than we ever imagined. Erika and I would not have been able to survive without all of the prayers we have recieved from you all during the past year. The prayers you have given to God on our families behalf are the greatest gift of all. I know that Peter would not be where he is today without all of the prayers he has gotten over the past year. Please, keep them coming God is listening!

Three, Peter has been afforded unbelievable healthcare. The Doctors and Nurses etc. who have been involved with Peter have been nothing short of remarkable. From the early detection at Brainerd Medical Center. To the months of treatment at the University of Minnesota and the current care he has gotten at Memorial Sloan Kettering and New York Presbyterian Hospitals. All of the Doctors, Nurses, Technicians, Child Family Life Specialists and countless others have all given of themselves to help Peter.

Finally, this website. It is just as important to us as it is to you. We draw strength from it and would be lost without it. As you all already know, “Uncle Matt is a SAINT” Everyone who has come in contact with this site is a better person for reading it.

My intention was not to make this too terribly long, so I will end by saying that Erika and I consider ourselves the luckiest parents in the world. We have 3 wonderful gifts in Peter, Ellie and Kate. We have wonderful families and incredible friends. We know that we have seen numerous times over the past year where we have seen others in a similar situation who were not as fortunate as we are. They may be a single parent, they may be a child who rarely has visitors, or perhaps a family who has no insurance. Or a patient who’s treatment has not gone according to plan. There have been countless times we have walked silently down the halls of a hospital and held hands knowing how truly blessed we are.

Please have a great weekend and God Bless all of you,

Erika and Ty

Well Peter is having another very good day. He had a very good visit with his Doctors and they told us that he will probably be able to get out of the hospital this Saturday or Sunday. We are so thrilled that he continues to improve! He got back on the Bingo circuit today – making up for lost time, he decided to call in 5 times during the hour!!! He also left his room for the first time in about 20 days or so. He took a whopping 625 steps (dad keeps track of that kind of thing)! At this very moment he is eating a feezy pop and enjoying it. They are continuing to wean him off of the pain meds and will make sure he can take his antibiotics orally. He will have another chest CT tomorrow to confirm the pneumonia is under control or gone. We will hook him up to TPN 12 hours/day (IV nutrition) when we relocate to the Ronald MacDonald House.
Peter is surely gaining strength from all of your thoughts and prayers, and Erika and I can’t thank you enough. With the amount of time we spend in the room with Peter we have the opportunity to keep tabs on many other cancer patients that we have met during Peter’s journey, please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Have a great night.
Ty and Erika

I just got home from the hospital and Peter is doing fine. On my way home Baron (our dog) and I drove by the Brainerd Civic Center and the “Keep Fighting Pete” sign is still shining brightly. It made me realize again how really fortunate our family is. The support and prayers we have gotten have been AWESOME! Today was a really good day for Peter. His mouth sores are getting a little better and he is able to eat a little easier. His temp is completely normal, and his attitude is great. Erika, Peter and I spent the day clicking back and forth between the Central Division Champion Twins, the so so Vikings (better than Grampa Sig and Grandma Mary’s Packers) and as Peter would say “Dad,Tiger Woods is on.” You can tell by these comments Erika, Ellie and Kate rarely get the clicker at our house. Thank God Erika is such a great sport and sports fan or Pete and I would be in trouble. I also want to take this opportunity to say a huge “thanks” to everyone who attended Peter’s benefit dinner a week ago Friday. It was perfect. Everyone was treated to an unbelievable meal, and it was great for Peter, Erika and I to get a chance to see many of you. We can’t thank Jake and Becky Enebak, Chad and Gina Schumacher, Eric and Amy Frank enough for getting the benefit off the ground. Also, both Erika and I want to thank both our families for all they did getting the benefit organized. A huge thanks needs to go to everyone who donated items for the auction, it was fantastic. The staff at Legends did an unbelievable job the entire night. Chef Steve Lacey and his crew definately out did themselves. Finally to everyone who attended (and to those who could not make it), I really don’t know what to say. Like I said that night, Peter has a great team behind him and we are truly thankful for each and every one of you. There were family, friends, friends of friends and people we had never met. For each of you to give of your time and to donate to Peter’s fund meant so much to us. As we go forward, know that each of you play a huge part in Pete’s success and we thank you for that. Please keep praying, calling, e-mailing, writing and posting on this site, all of it makes us stronger.

Thanks,

Ty

Well tomorrow the first round of chemotherapy begins. We have no idea what to expect. All we know is that Peter’s FIGHT TO WIN begins sometime tomorrow. And that is our attitude We are going to FIGHT TO WIN. Erika and I pray for strength to help our son through this. We are so thankful that when we pray at night, we know that we are not in this alone. Everything we have learned up to this point tells us that we are going to need all the help we can get. So again, “thank you” for everything each of you have done for our family up to this point. We are truly blessed to have the most amazing support system behind us as we move forward. We don’t know what to expect from this disease, but we do know that this disease has never taken on a child so strong who has so many people in his corner.

WE WILL WIN!

Ty, Erika, Peter, Ellie and Kate Eigner