Author: Uncle Matt

The morning report from Auntie G was that the old Peter was back. He was laughing and joking like normal. He runs out of gas pretty quickly, though.

This afternoon Peter received a blood transfusion, because his red cells were low and needed to be increased before the treatment begins tomorrow. It wasn’t traumatic in any way.

Tonight Ty began giving Peter a haircut with the brand new clippers that Auntie Meeses brought to the hospital. He made it about half way around Peter’s head before the clipper died. Apparently this particular clipper needs to be charged for 12 hours before use. So Peter just fell asleep with a real rock-and-roll hairdo.

It was a beautiful late summer day in the Twin Cities and Peter’s mood matched the weather. He had a busy day playing and he just fell asleep on his bed (7:15 PM). It’s been a bit of a challenge getting him to eat and drink enough, but the nurses seem pleased with his consumption today. We make up lots of games to make him take a bite or a sip. If you score on him in air hockey, he takes a bite. If you say you like the Vikings if you actually like the Packers, he’ll take a sip.

Tomorrow is the last day before the chemo starts. I personally am excited for the real fight to begin, but not looking forward to the short-term effects on Peter. I think we’ll have a head shaving party in the next day or two.

After dark each night, from the fifth-floor perch of the hospital room, you can see the fireworks show from the state fair. That’s kind of a treat before bed.

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.

The big activity for Friday was Ty and Erika’s scheduled meeting with the doctors. It lasted over two hours. The doctors were knowledgeable and forthright. They learned more about Peter’s condition and what’s ahead.

I’m not going to get into all the extreme detail here, but the main results are as follows. In addition to the tumor in his abdomen and his infected marrow, Peter’s cancer has traveled to lymph nodes in his shoulder and behind his ear. In other words, his cancer is NOT in his lungs, liver, kidneys, etc and we can certainly be happy about that. Because the cancer has spread, Peter is Stage IV and NB is usually diagnosed after it has spread. The first round of chemotherapy will be starting on Tuesday. A couple days ago, Erika and Ty thought they may be going back home for this weekend, but they’ll be staying here at the hospital after all.

Peter was in high spirits Friday night and had some timely visits. Peter and Kevin brought an air hockey table that fits on his bed. And later Carl arrived to play the “dinosaur game” on Auntie G’s computer, among other things. The little guy was chatting away and cracking us up well past his bedtime and we all enjoyed the Twins dramatic victory.

Some new pictures are posted in the photos section, including some action shots from this summer. Enjoy!

Here is Erika’s comment she just left an hour ago:

I am just overwhelmed every time I sit and read all of your comments. Keep ‘em coming.. we read them to Peter at night and they bring smiles (and tears too). I thought i’d share a few of the “brighter” moments from yesterday:

1. We were hearing about al of the rain & flooding outside yesterday and Peter said, “Dad – do you know you have to drive slow on the streets when they are flooded? Do you know why? Because the water splashes up and makes Tornadoes!!!”
2. Lots and lots of visitors, including his sisters Ellie & Kate, lots of family, some “Warrior Hockey Players” and his buddy (and ours!!) Jill from the bank with a whole BOX of suckers!!
3. We saw a BIG rainbow out his window after all the rain – both ends!
4. And of course, the twins won 11-2 (I think) and believe me, he will let you know what the score is if you ask!!!
5. The “whoopie cushion” that Aunt Jayne, Unlce Gary and Cousin Abbey sent seems to get a few big laughs every day. And if you stop by, Peter will offer you some of his ice cream!

There were more, and i have forgotten right now. Peter is in the hallway right now racing a car or something with Uncle Tito (Trent) and Aunt Melissa. I don’t know what the game is but Peter is pointing at Trent telling him he’s a cheater, and Trent is pointing at Peter calling him a cheater!! We all feel so much better when he shows us “the real Peter”.
No tests today – we will have a long meeting with the Oncology doctors this afternoon to get the final diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment plan. I am nervous about reliving the entire diagnosis and yet looking forward to having it all “out on the table” so we can begin to move forward.

Can’t thank all of you enough for the support. I wish I could call each and every one of you personally – we will as time goes on. for now, please accept this as our Thank You to all!!! – Erika

Another scan was performed today and I think it completes the testing phase. The results should be back tomorrow and will hopefully complete the picture of the enemy. I have a feeling that things can change at any moment, so sorry if I’m publishing corrections in the future!

After an energetic and active day yesterday, Peter has been pretty flat today. Just worn out I hope. He just painted a turtle on Emily’s hand (staff member) and she reported some smiles. His bed reminds me of one of those coin operated games with the three-prong claw that picks up a stuffed animal or other prize (after you’ve inserted $30 of quarters, of course). He definitely has lots of new stuffed animal friends.

I took this picture last night and Peter obliged me with his camera smile. It’s not a very good picture, but I wanted to get a recent one posted.

The bone marrow test came back today and confirmed that the cancer has spread to the marrow. This was not unexpected news, but there was still hope that this news wouldn’t come.

Peter also had another CAT scan this afternoon of his torso. His lungs look good. We can be thankful for that. There is still tumor in his abdomen; The surgery didn’t remove it all and we knew that. The scan also detected a little something in his left shoulder, at the edge of the image. So another scan is scheduled for tomorrow for his shoulders/neck region to take a closer look. Unfortunately, Peter has complained that his shoulder hurts more than once.

The good news is that we’re seeing more of the real Peter today. He has been SO much more energetic. He’s chatting and playing and walking. In fact, if you’re on pole duty (following with the IV pole), you better pay attention and stay agile. He’s starting to get his motor back.

He’s sitting beside me right now and just yelped louder than I’ve heard for quite a while. What made him chirp? The Twins are on the television. “Joe Mauer!”

One thing has been certain. The road ahead is long. Today’s news doesn’t change that, but it has added more definition to the road.

Another wonderful comment:

There is also a fund established at Northern National Bank.
Checks can be sent to:

Peter Eigner Benefit Fund
Northern National Bank
PO Box 2690
Baxter, MN 56425

There are also drops at the Brainerd Civic Center
and Property 3 Homes at 8299 Wise Rd Brainerd
For further info you can contact:
Dean Smith
218-829-0176 or 218- 820-4680
Sue Peltoma
218-829-3999

Thanks to Dean, Denise, Blake, Bren, Tiffany for this comment.

Chuck Grillo just left a wonderful comment. In his words:

Please note that we are raffling off an authentic, and autographed, Mario Lemieux jersey @ Shep’s on 6th in Brainerd, MN starting today. Our goal is to raise monies to help pay for out of pocket expenses the Eigner family will incur in fighting this dreaded disease. Shep is one of those special guys always willing to help others and he was eager to get this raffle going. This is a great week-end for the raffle because the Elbow Convention is August 26th and 27th.

With a little luck, a substantial amount of money will be brought in.

Take some time, stop in @ Shep’s, and buy a raffle ticket.

You only have to meet this little guy one time to know you would want to help him out during a time of need. Peter is special; a young man created to impact those fortunate to meet him.

Buy your tickets here:

Shep’s On 6th
315 S 6TH St
Brainerd, MN 56401-3537
(218) 829-4835

Thanks Chuck and Shep!

I’ll try to sprinkle some lighter moments in here when the Pete-man makes us laugh. So here’s the first of such posts…

Over the weekend Peter was in a weakened state of recovery and I was reading him his new favorite book (I certainly wasn’t the first to read it to him).  The book is titled “If I Were a Minnesota Twin” and it’s one of those cutout books where you insert your own photo. The hero’s face is cut out on every page and it’s filled by a grinning Peter. That’s kind of funny on its own when you see it.

So the book starts with the Twins playing the White Sox and the Twins fall behind 2 – 1. The Twins manager calls on Peter to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth to save the day. The first pitch is delivered to Peter (grinning at the plate) and the ump calls out “Striiike!”

I’m about to flip the page when Peter, not feeling strong enough to move his head, rolls his eyes towards me and says, “That was a ball”, in a soft, airy voice.
“But the ump called it a strike”, I respond.
“It was inside.”

Hah! I guess the artist didn’t plan on the reader having such a good eye at the plate. I just kind of turned to the next page so he could hit the home run and save the day.

The pathology report came back this morning and the news wasn’t as good as we all hoped. There are “favorable” and “unfavorable” forms of this disease and the existence of certain nodules in the mass indicated that Peter’s going to battle the more aggressive “unfavorable” variety. So he drew a tougher opponent, but Peter and fam are stepping up to the challenge.

This afternoon Peter went down to get some marrow drawn from his pelvis. He’s back in his room and eating this evening and looking pretty alert. Staff member Emily gave Peter a fake ice cream cone with a foam top that shoots into the face of the unsuspecting. He managed a couple giggles from bopping us.

Peter also upgraded his IV today to a fancy central line (or Hickman?). This is a multi-tube contraption that enters through his chest. It looks a little more extreme, but it can administer meds (including chemo), fluids, etc, as well as draw blood. So it should save him some uncomfortable pokes down the road.

Thanks again on behalf of the Eigners for all the support and comments.

If you haven’t had a chance to talk with Ty or Erika, you may be wondering how they’re holding up. If you have talked with them, you’re probably as amazed as I am at their strength and attitude. They are being parents in the most phenomenal sense of the word.

Every visitor and well-wish helps Peter. But when it comes down to it, Mom and Dad are the two people from whom Peter will take guidance and draw strength. And they are providing both masterfully.