Author: Erika

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

I think it’s been awhile since we’ve reported 2 pieces of great news all in one day, but here goes! The day began with a call from “Auntie Meeses and Uncle Scotty” (Erika’s sister Michelle and husband) reporting the birth of baby Brooks. He arrived right on his due date… what a guy! We are so happy everything went well and the kids are thrilled to have another cousin! I just asked Peter what he has to say about Baby Brooks, and he said, “I want to say Good Luck to Auntie Meeses for having the baby!!”
The other positive to report is that Peter’s white blood cell counts, as well as his hemoglobin and platelets are on the rise… yeah! He “bottomed out” around Friday-Saturday and now all of the numbers are increasing. That is fantastic because now he is a little less susceptible to infection, and it means he does not need any kind of a tranfusion at this point. Barring any surprises, it looks like we’ll be able to stay at home for another week until we report back for Round 2.
Life is getting back to a new sort-of normal. Although I had quickly forgotten how BUSY Baby Kate is at 9 1/2 months… woah! So we might just need more help than originally thought, but we’ll work it out!! Anyway, things are going very well after round 1 and we are very happy about that. Thanks to all of you for your continued support, visits, calls, emails, prayers, etc. We can only hope that the next round goes just as well!
Peter calls his cancer “the Path Thing” (i’m guessing he overheard a conversation or two with the doctors regarding the pathology of the tumor). Anyway, we have been talking a lot about beating this thing and says he is going to beat the Path Thing 100 to 0 !!!! Now that’s the attitude! He’s been mildly active since we’ve been home, riding his bike or playing baseball outside for 10-15 minutes/day. He had a game or two of hockey in the basement with big Pete L today, and he plays Air Hockey multiple times a day. Practice makes perfect as they say, and Peter is definitely getting his!!

It’s about 5:00 in the afternoon and we are getting ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa Poopster’s (Hanson’s) house in Crosslake. We’ve been here for a few hours and we went for a boat ride, had lunch and fished off the dock. Peter is still feeling great and showing no side effects of the chemo. We have become hand-washing fanatics and we’re going to “re-introduce” Ellie into the mix today. Kate still has a bit of a cold so Grandma will keep her here a few more days.
While it’s absolutely beautiful today, I must say it doesn’t feel like a “normal” Labor Day. I can’t help but to think that Peter would be starting his second year of Preschool in a week or so, but that won’t be the case this year. He understands that he won’t be able to go and he seems OK with that. He was also going to play soccer this fall but told me the other day: “My team will have to get another player since i’m sick, but my team is still going to win. Abbey (Pohlkamp) won’t let me down, Mom!!” He understands more than I ever dreamed he would about what is going on.
We are getting into a new routine, or “normal”, as they say! It involves lots of meds, flushing his Hickman daily, charting everything he does. With that, everything seems to take a little longer, but that’s OK. We are very happy to have an energetic boy for now, and one of his sisters coming home today – he is so excited about that! Thanks for your continued support, comments, call, emails, etc. We can’t thank you enough.