This stuff is starting to confuse me a bit, so i’m sure it’s even more so to those of you reading! I thought i’d share a little about the Harvest procedure and where we’re at. As Matt said, the first day is complete. The harvest itself entails Peter being hooked up (through his temporary line) to a large machine for about 5 hours at a time. The machine draws blood directly out of the jugular vein at a high speed, it goes into the machine to be seperated (the machine keeps what will be sent to LA for purging and freezing until transplant time), and the rest goes right back into his body through the other line. It’s not painful for him but probably looks a lot worse as he has about 10 cords hanging around him, many which are filled with blood.
Peter’s blood culture from Tuesday night came back negative last night so that was good news! Unfortunately, about an hour later he spiked a fever again so they had to do another culture which is not back yet. If there is another bacterial infection of some kind, today’s work might have been done for nothing! But there is a very short window of time in which they need to collect (harvest), so they wanted to try and get it completed. So we are hopeful the fever was unrelated. They do not know the quantity of the stem cells collected today- they have been sent to the lab, but we don’t think we’ll know the results until tomorrow morning. So the plan is to collect again tomorrow, unless they can see by today’s collection that there is no way they’ll get enough in 2-3 days through this procedure. Then we would go to Plan B (take marrow through the hips). Assuming everything looks good in the morning, they’ll collect tomorrow and potentially some on Friday as well, but hopefully just tomorrow. It IS, as Matt posted, sort-of boring!! And tomorrow we won’t even be able to cheer for the Twins!!! All-in-all, things are good. Peter’s been a little out of sorts the last few days, but I think I would be too. The bone pain should subside within the next day, and once the collection is complete they’ll get the temporary port removed from his neck. I’m sure we’ll get no argument there.
Thanks again to all of you for keeping in touch.
A journal of Peter’s journey
Hi Peter and Family –
My computer decided to take a little vacation for the past couple weeks! After about 2 1/2 hours of work from the Geek Squad (and more money than I care to remmeber!!) my computer is finally up and running again! Monga did a good job keeping me up to date, though… so don’t think I forgot about you!! 🙂 During my computer’s little siesta, it seems you have jumped a few hurdles! A fever, a bacterial infection, marrow harvesting, bone and joint pain, the insertion of a temporary hickman…. man, you must be one tough little boy! Your bravery is awesome, Peter!
Parker has awoken from one of his little cat-naps, so my message will be cut short here. We continue to think of you daily and pray for you vigorously!
With love and happy thoughts-
Jenni and family 🙂
I’m sure you know way more than you ever wanted to know about all this medical lingo. We’re thinking about you and hoping the Twins pull out a last minute miracle for Peter.
You are in our prayers…
Erika & Family,
I just wanted you to know we read this site daily – we say prayers daily and we give thanks for every ounce of good news. Take care of each other. And Go Twins – hopefully they will pull out some wins!
Randa & Family
Eigners,
You guys are in our thoughts and prayers daily. Chell has been the one to update me every day but she is out of town so I had to do all this computer stuff myself! I have seen first hand the stem cell harvest and transplant and do not profess to have a clue on the specifics but do know that all of the tubes/lines is more than a little intimidating. But it works!! Trust in your faith and in your doctors. Niether one when send you astray. Even though I have not had the pleasure of meeting Peter face to face, he has my adoration and respect. Keep your chin up Peter!! We are all in your corner!! And we’re in your mom and dad’s corner as well.
Swanny & Chell
God bless you guys for what you endure. Always remember that if God puts you to it he’ll get you through it. We still say our special prayer for Peter each night and will not stop until he simply dosent need it any more. Each prayer helps and is important.
What’s up with our Twins? Let’s send them some of our positive vibes, it can only help. Goooooo Twins!!
We will say extra prayers and remind others to do so too. Maybe God will take some of Pete’s pain away and let him rest tonight.
You are in our thoughts,
Trina and Jake Volkl
Boy Peter, it sounds like you had a pretty fancy machine hooked up to you today to work on your marrow. 5 hours is a long time! Good thing you and your parents had the Twins to watch. Too bad they lost, but the Twins are the come back kids. They can win 3 in row! Tomorrow there will be some ball game on for you to watch to help pass the time – the Yankees were a rain out and I think play tomorrow afternoon.
You are such a trooper – this hospital stuff is not fun but the work the doctors are doing will help you get better. We are thinking of you and checking your page every day. Keep up the good work!
Love and prayers,
Sue, Rod, Jenny, Ryan and Molly
Ty and Erika,
Reading today’s update, and thinking of the roller coaster of emotions you must be going through every day, reminded me of a saying that I once heard. It starts with a popular message but adds a twist – “They say that God doesn’t give us more than what we can handle…..I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!”
You two have been remarkable – Peter is so fortunate to have such great parents.
You’re always in our thoughts and prayers,
Lori Swanson (and Cary, Luke, Brooke and Erica)
Good Morning,
We are still hoping and praying every hour of everyday.
Love,
The Stengrims
Hang in there Peter! Pretty soon things will be back to normal and you will be back home beating your grandma in hockey. We are thinking about you daily.
Joe & Sarah
Hi Peter,
Hope today goes great for you. I can’t believe the twins! They WILL win 3 in a row now, Brad Radke will start it for them tomorrow in Oakland. I thought they had it yesterday after the two home runs! I am going out to watch Carl’s first game at Boston College, leaving on the plane tomorrow. He said he is going to be playing a regular shift on D and is on the second Power Play unit, he’s pretty excited. It looks like they are going to be on TV about 10 times this year so that will be fun to be able to get together and cheer for him. I’ll tell him to call your dad after the game so maybe if you are awake you can talk to him too!
Stay strong and keep fighting, I’ll see you when you get back to Brainerd!
Mark
Peter, Erika and Ty…
I am amazed everyday that I read a new entry of your strength. You, along with Matt, are able to explain things in such a manner that it calms us all through the storm that you are all going through.
My thoughts are with you all every day and I am thankful that Peter is doing as well as he is. The lord works in mysterious ways and he has definitely been with you all throughout this entire time.
I truly hope/pray that the harvest that was done on Wednesday was successful and that the fever was not a factor in the whole procedure.
Thank you for the updates and I hope that I will continue to read entries about things that were “boring” or treatments that went well. I do know that God will never give us more than we can handle, so take comfort in knowing that you have and will make it through this.
Love,
Amy, Mike and Maddie
Hey there-
Just wanted to say a quick note and tell you we’re thinking about you. I hope all the tests go well and no more infections invade that little body! Thanks for keeping us all so updated, we’re here for you!
Take care, and hugs to you all. See you soon.
Love, The Linn’s
Hi Eigners,
Good to hear from you Erika. We can only imagine how confusing this all has been for you. What a way to get an education! How very strong as parents you must be; God must have chosen you for a reason. This site, and Jen when she gets a chance to talk with you, have become a part of each and every day for so many of us. We think about your entire family constantly. The power of prayer most certainly has to be working – so many 100’s and 100’s of people! Hope this week all works out so you can all come home for a ‘rest’ again.
Peter – I think we ALL need to say some prayers for the Twinkies!!!
In our thoughts – always!
Love,
The Allords
WOW, Peter, you are one tough guy. Spiderman must have given you
some of his special powers. I think maybe he gave some to Mom and
Dad too. I hope everything goes well for you and you can go home
again soon. I’m sure those little sisters miss you and can’t wait for
you to get home.
Extra prayers and thoughts are with you today.
Love,
Jan
Buddy –
I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say “hi” to you today when I was there, but you looked absolutely adorable sleeping peacefully, even if you were hooked up to a few machines.
When you’re back next week to fight the bad guys, pencil me in for some “egg hunting”. You know that I need your eagle eyes if I am going to be successful.
Love you more then every leaf that is on every plant, bush and tree in the whole world! Auntie G
Hi guys, it has been a couple of days since I checked on all of you. I have one of your bracelets now, thanks to Lonna Rosinka. It is just one more reminder of how much I think and pray for all of you. I know how scarey it must be with all those tubes, but if they are doing their job that is what is important. Stay strong and I will continue to pray for you. Cheryl
Hey Peter, I had fun hanging out with you today even if you did fall asleep. Actually I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to take a little snooze while you were attached to the big machine.
I hope you put your quarters away so you have them for air hockey at the camp. I can’t figure it out but you always seem to figure out a way to clean out all of the quarters from my purse. I loose at every game I play against you.
I’m glad that you got to break out of the hospital and go to the Wild – Avalanch game tonight. I bet it was exciting especially when you were wearing your Joe Sakic jersey. Pretty cool!!
I’ll see you tomorrow so let me know if you need anything. I’ll stock up on quarters again.
Gramma Mary
Pete-man,
I heard you got to head down to the Avs-Wild game tonight, that’s awesome. Your dad said you had a great time, and didn’t want to leave. With everything you are going through I’m amazed by your strength and the strength of you parents. Keep up the great fight, and we’ll keep the prayers coming.
Love Uncle Troy, Auntie Macer, Grace, Lily & Murphey
Pete
Just drove in from Minnesota Duluth and thought I would catch up on your web site. Getting a little complicated for us old guys. Your Mom did a nice job posting your experience.
I see you got to visit the AVS. My guess is you got to meet some special players and people. No one deserves it more than you. Nice to see the Granato family chipping in for you. They have a way of being there when the going gets tough. Tony is, and always has been, a world class athlete with charisma, character, confidence and composure. He competed as hard as any athlete in the history of the NHL. I know he would be the first to say, “Peter is going beyond anything I ever did when it comes to competing. This lil guy is the real deal.” I’ll bet there were a lot of pro athletes counting their blessings when you got through with them.
We couldn’t be more proud of a young man. Keep up the good fight, Pete. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
-ole gringo-
Hey Pete-
If I had known you were at the Wild vs. Avs game last night I would’ve tried to find you and meet you! Maybe you saw us on the big screen! What a great game. I lived in Colorado for 7 years and loved the Avs(that was when they were REALLY good). Now that I live in Minnesota, I love the Wild but it is hard to see them play each other!
You are a strong little man and I check your blog every single day. I ran the Twin Cities Marathon last weekend. It was really hard but I thought of you and your fight several times. I kept reminding myself that even though running a marathon is a challenge, it is peanuts compared to the marathon you are experiencing right now. You were an inspiration to me many times during my run. I hope you know that you inspire not only people in your hockey community, but people everywhere.
Keep strong. You will have ups and downs in your marathon but you will persevere!
My son Charlie loves his blue bracelet. He wants to wear it everyday!
Darcy Franklin and Family
Good morning Peter-
How exciting that you were able to make it to the Avalanche vs. Wild game last night! When Gramma Barb picked Kate and Ellie up yesterday, she wasn’t sure that you would be able to make it…. plans must have changed, eh?? Good for you, big guy! 🙂
We had fun playing with your little sisters yesterday. I think Ellie has gotten taller since I saw her last – which was just a couple weeks ago! You and your sisters are all such beautiful children! You are all so sweet and well mannered and well adjusted…. you’re mommy and daddy have every reason to be proud of the 3 of you! 🙂
Any big plans for the weekend? I hear it’s supposed to be fairly nice… maybe 80 degrees on Saturday? We better take advantage of these last nice days while we can… before too much longer we’ll have snow on the ground! (Yuck!) We are taking Emily and Lily to a hotel for the weekend for some swimming and shopping. We all just needed a break… something fun to do. Sometimes it seems that life is all work and no play, so we figured a weekend of fun was necessary! Papa & Monga are going to keep Parker for us… it will be my first time leaving him for that long… do you think I will miss him, Peter?? Probably! 🙂
We will pray for you until the prayers are simply no longer needed… and we will love you forever!
Your friends at daycare-
Jenni, Ryan, Emily-Clare, Lily and Parker
P.S. Where can we buy some of your bracelets??
Good to hear you had a great time at the game last night. I heard you got a stick from Sakic. That is pretty cool. Last night with you wearing your jersey the Avs had two captains. We will be passing each other on the highway today. Carrie and I are going to watch one of your other favorite teams the mighty gophers tonight. We will see you soon when we get back to Brainerd. Take care
Dino and Carrie
Pete –
I can’t wait to hear all about the game. You are so lucky to have met such cool people, but you already know how cool you are, right!? Chics dig guys with scars and those that know cool hockey players.
See ya soon!
Hello Peter,
I wanted to write to you and say “hi”. I don’t always get to check my computer and your website everyday, so I often get updates from other friends on how you’re doing. It sounds like you are being such a trooper!
I’m glad to hear that you got to go to a Wild’s game! I am hoping to make it to one of the games this year, but I still need to learn a little more about hockey. Can you believe that? I have lived in Minneosta all of my life and don’t know too much about hockey. Maybe you could give me a short lesson one day. I would appreciate that.
Take care little man. We will be thinking of you and praying for you everyday.
Carrie, Frank, and Vincent VonBank
Hi there, Eigner Family!
We just learned about Peter’s diagnosis – what a big thing for such a little guy to go through. Reading the site, it is clear that you have an awesome support system – I’m so glad that you’re using a website to share progress and more importantly Pete’s conquests as he fights to win this battle. It is obvious that he is a strong young man, who, with the faith of friends and family, has a bright future ahead. We have unfortunately been through a battle with cancer with the children of 3 very close friends of ours, all resulting in full remission. Children are absolutely amazing in their ability to fight AND WIN this terrible disease. Keep your faith, accept and encourage the prayers of everyone, and always look to the future. Peter, you and your family are in our prayers each day… Stay strong, and you’ll beat this thing! Also, Keith wanted to make sure that Grandma Eigner is spoiling you as much as you deserve. If not, let us know and he’ll give her a call. Many hugs and tickles!
Keith, Michelle, Zack, and Josh Henaman