History

Journal History

Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 10:15 PM (EST)

Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 09:51 PM (EST)

Hi all,

Here are the details for Pierce's wake and funeral. His obituary will be in The Hartford Courant (www.ctnow.com) and The New London Day (www.theday.com).

Calling Hours --Wednesday 4-8pm at Farley Sullivan, 34 Beaver Road, Wethersfield. 563-9999

Funeral Mass--Thursday 11am at St Peter Church 160 Main St., Hartford. Burial at Rose Hill Memorial Park, Rocky Hill following Mass.

Directions to Farley Sullivan:

From SE CT Take Route 2 to Glastonbury and take the exit for Route 3 (we think it's exit 5D). Once over the bridge continue past the intersection for I-91. Follow Route 3 to the intersection with the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99). Turn Right. Follow directions below.

From I-91 take Exit # 24, Silas Deane Highway, Route 99, Rocky Hill/Wethersfield.
If traveling northbound on I-91 bear right at the end of the ramp onto the Silas Deane Highway Route 99 north.
If traveling southbound on I-91 turn left at the end of the ramp onto the Silas Deane Highway Route 99 north.
You will travel a total of 2 miles north on the Silas Deane Highway, Route 99.
Continue north through the traffic lights at the Route 3 and Route 175 intersections.
At the first intersection (note, no traffic light) after crossing Route 175 turn right onto Beaver Road. On the right at the Beaver Road intersection you will see a Battison's Cleaners. Across the Street from Beaver Road you will the Corpus Christi Catholic Church.
Once on Beaver Road Farley Sullivan Funeral Home will be straight ahead.

Directions to St. Peter Church

From South of Hartford, follow I-91 North: Take the left hand Capitol Area exit # 29A onto the Whitehead Highway. Take the first exit, Columbus Blvd. At the light turn left onto Columbus Blvd. Go straight at light (intersection with Charter Oak Ave) the road is now called Wyllys Street. At the intersection of Wethersfield Avenue, Main St. and Wyllys Ave turn right onto Main Street. The driveway for St. Peter’s Church is on your right just past the light.

From Southeastern Connecticut, follow Route 2: Take Route 2 all the way to Hartford and go over the Founders Bridge. Take a left onto Columbus Blvd and continue until you go over the Whitehead Highway. At the intersection with Charter Oak Ave go straight. The road is now called Wyllys Street. At the intersection of Wethersfield Avenue, Main Street and Wyllys Ave turn Right onto Main Street. The driveway for St. Peter’s Church is on your right just past the light.

From West of Hartford, follow I-84 East: Take exit # 50, Main St and go straight. At the second traffic light turn right onto Main St. Follow directions below.

From East of Hartford, follow I-84 West: Take exit # 52, Main St. The road splits after the first traffic light, the left lane getting back on I-84 west, stay to the right and go straight up the hill to the second traffic light. At the Second Traffic light turn left onto Main St. Follow directions below.

From North of Hartford, follow I-91 South: Take exit # 30, Trumbull St and go straight. At the second Traffic light turn left onto Main St. Follow directions below.

From the Capitol: Take Capitol Ave to Main St. Turn right onto Main St. Follow directions below.

From Main Street: At the intersection with Charter Oak Ave turn left onto Charter Oak Ave continue to the intersection with Wyllys Avenue. Turn right onto Wyllys Avenue. At the intersection of Wethersfield Avenue, Main Street and Wyllys Ave turn right onto Main Street. The driveway for St. Peter’s Church is on your right just past the light.

You cannot turn left from Main St into St. Peters driveway.

It's a weekday so parking at St Peters may be a little more crowded, please car pool if possible.

Directions to Rose Hill Cemetery:
580 Elm Street, Rocky Hill.
Phone 860-529-3381

From I-91 take exit # 23, West Street, Rocky Hill. Traveling northbound on
I-91 turn right at the end of the ramp onto West Street.
Traveling southbound on I-91 turn left at the end of the ramp onto West
Street.
Note: The Marriott Hotel will be on your right as you travel along West
Street.
Go 1/2 mile on West Street to the first Traffic light and turn left on
Gilbert Avenue.
Go to the first Stop sign on Gilbert Avenue and turn right onto Elm Street.
Go 1/4 mile and turn right into Rose Hill Cemetery.

Directions to Saint James Roman Catholic Church: (Reception site)
767 Elm Street, Rocky Hill.

From I-91 take exit # 23, West Street, Rocky Hill.
Traveling northbound on I-91 turn right at the end of the ramp onto West
Street.
Traveling southbound on I-91 turn left at the end of the ramp onto West
Street.
Note: The Marriott Hotel will be on your right as you travel along West
Street.
Go 1/2 mile on West Street to the first Traffic light and turn left onto
Gilbert Avenue.
Go to the first Stop sign on Gilbert Avenue and turn left onto Elm Street.
Saint James church will be on your right at the top of the hill.

If going to St James from the Burial, take a left out of Rose Hill's driveway. At stop sign continue straight. St James on your right. The Hall is behind the Church.

Monday, February 25, 2002 at 02:15 PM (CST)

Pierce received his Angel Wings at 1:10pm this afternoon, peacefully in the arms of his parents.

Lena & Pete thank everyone for their prayers and support.

The wake will be held at the Farley Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Rd, Wethersfield, CT on Wednesday Feb 27 from 4-8pm. The Funeral will be at 11AM Thursday Feb 28 at St. Peter's Church, 160 Main St, Hartford CT. Please gather at Farley Sullivan at 10:15 am.

Directions will be posted later this evening.

Sunday, February 24, 2002 at 11:45 PM (EST)

Hi all, Pierce is not doing well. We thought we were going to lose him today. He went into respitory distress and it lasted for several hours.

He continues to struggle for air and his heart rate is very high. We don't know how much longer he will be with us.

Please keep him in your prayers,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Thursday February 21, 2002 9:25 PM EST

Hi all, Pierce had a rough patch on Wednesday night. He started to have some trouble breathing. He was struggling for air, gasping quite a bit. For those of you who know the numbers, his O2/sat was 82. We put him on an oxygen mask and increased his morphine. He improved quickly.

Pierce is comfortable. He still has an irregular breathing pattern and, at times, struggles for air.

As usual for CCMC, they have something cool for the kids. He has a purple "dragon" oxygen mask. It's very cute. He was awake for a few minutes today and he grabbed right onto the horn.

We are keeping him on oxygen for the moment. We'll try to keep you updated.

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Tuesday February 19, 2002 3:04 PM EST

Hi all,

Pierce is sleeping quietly. He had some visitors today. Pluto and Goofy came to tour the hospital today. We took some cute pictures. I guess that is as close as Pierce will get to Disney World.

We continue to slowly increase his morphine and decrease his steroids. He seems to be tolerating both well.

We had a quiet weekend, Dad and Pierce watched the Daytona 500. They were looking forward to it all week. The last few minutes are always exciting and what they look forward to most.

New pictures on the web page.

thanks,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Saturday February 16, 2002 3:16 PM EST

Hi all, Pierce is comfortable. Last night was a bit rough. He receieved additional morphine every two hours and we increased his maintenance level twice. It seems to have helped. Today he is resting quietly.

He did, however, give us a treat and open his eyes for a few minutes, so we got to see those beautiful baby blues again. He is rarley awake during the day. He's not responsive anymore and doesn't seem to recognise people or voices. We take what we can get.

Pete and I are holding up as best we can. We are grateful for all the support we receive. The guestbook entries are wonderful. And to Proto-Power...we can't thank you enough for all the dinners you send up. They have made a world of difference!

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Thursday February 14, 2002 12:16 PM EST

Hi all, Pierce is doing well. He's been busy watching the Olympics with Dad. They are having a good time learning all about curling. Dad is home today so they are going to watch the qualifying races for the Dayton 500.

The new medication is working well with his congestion which means everyone is getting more sleep!

For those of you who checked in on Chayton, we have some sad news. Chayton passed away yesterday afternoon after his long battle with cancer. It was peaceful and he was with his parents. If you could keep the Andersons in your prayers.

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Tuesday February 12, 2002 3:04 PM CST

Hello, Pierce is sleeping quietly now. He was awake most of last night. We are wondering if he has his nights and days confused.

He's still congested. You can hear him breathing across the room! We added some new medications to try and clear him up.

Otherwise, he is comfortable, which is our goal. He continues to sleep most of the day. We pray that when his time comes, it is peaceful and painless.

Lots of hospital staff continue to stop by to see him. He has touched so many people here and they are wonderful to stop and visit us.

We changed the pictures on the web page for those of you who were asking for some more!

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Monday February 11, 2002 2:26 PM EST

Hello all, last night was not one of our best. Pierce was very restless, coughing and crying most of the night. None of us got much sleep. We gave Pierce extra morphine and sedatitives during the night and early morning. After meeting with the doctors today we changed his pain med and sedatitive regimen, so hopefully that will give him more refief.

We also added Robitussin to try and help with the congestion. We had to suction out his tiny little nose again. I really hope the Robitssin will help so we don't have to suction him again.

He's slept most of today. Trying to catch up from last night!

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Friday February 8, 2002 4:47 PM EST

Hello, Pierce is doing ok, he is very quiet. He sleeps most of the day. Last night was rough night and he never quite settled down, so today we increased his morphine.

He is still congested in the nose and throat so we added a humidifier to the room.

Yesterday there was a bit of excitement, some NFL players toured the hospital and Pierce met the Buffalo Bills mascot. He opened his eyes up for this giant blue bull head. It was something to see.

We expect a quiet weekend.

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Tuesday February 5, 2002 1:30 PM EST

We don't have much news today. Pierce is doing ok, we are cutting down on his steroids. Hopefully that will help with the swelling all over his body.

He had a CT Scan of the tumor yesterday. No unexpected news. The tumor is larger. They cannot predict how much time he has left. Our main concern is that he remains comfortable.

He had a bath this morning. He enjoys it when we rub on the baby lotion. That makes up for how much he hates getting his face washed.

Right now he is taking a nap with Auntie Meggie. He is very comfortable.

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Sunday February 3, 2002 8:34 PM EST

Hi all, it's been a quiet day for Pierce. We have found a nice combination of drugs to keep him comfortable.

Right now he's watching his first Superbowl with Daddy. He's more interested in sitting with Daddy than anything else.

Pierce had lots of visitors today, Olivia, Jerry, Lauren and Avery drove all the way from Plattsburgh, NY to see him for a few hours. It was wonderful to see them. His great Aunt Pam came to give him the blessing of the throat. We appreciate all of you who continue to pray for Pierce!

Thanks for checking in on us...

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Saturday February 2, 2002 2:10 PM EST

Last night was a better night for Pierce. We have increased his dose of continuous morphine and also gave him two additional doses overnight. All this seemed to help as he was more restful.

He continues to deteriorate daily. Today he stopped sucking on his pacifier and barely opens his mouth at all. He is having more spells of labored breathing. Some of his difficulty in breathing is due to his face being so swollen from the very high dose of steroids. He doesn't look anything like he did a month ago.

Right now he is napping on the bed with Daddy and is very comfortable. He still likes to be held which is nice for us.

Thanks for checking in on us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Friday February 1, 2002 10:57 AM EST

Good morning, another long night for Pierce. The last few nights have been a little more difficult, Pierce is very restless and can't seem to quiet down. Poor Pete is still trying to work a few hours every day and doing it on very little sleep.

We increased his morphine dose yesterday and today we are switching to a continuos morphine drip. We think this will help stay ahead of the pain and keep him comfortable all the time. It is much easier to manage his pain while we are in the hospital.

Right now he is enjoying some pears with Grandma (Holleran), one of his favorite treats along with strawberry ice cream. He gets so mad when he runs out, sometimes you can't feed him fast enough!

Grandpa (Holleran) was here the other night after work to visit the little guy, he even sat with him for awhile. Pierce is your typical eight month old with seperation anxiety, so this was quite an achievement.

Auntie Meggie comes this weekend to see her "little prince."

We're holding up, grateful for all the support and prayers. If you can also keep Chayton in your prayers, he is another child with a rhabdoid tumor and not doing well. (www.caringbridge.com/page/chaytonanderson)

Thank you,

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Wednesday January 30, 2002 10:37 PM EST

Hi all, today was an okay day for Pierce. We have changed his regimen for pain medication and it seems to be helping. Still some adjustment and break-in pain but his case is now being reviewed by the pain management team who seem to have some good ideas. It's difficult to manage pain in an infant so we are glad to have the help of the experts.

Lots of visitors today as word gets around the hospital that we are here. It's nice that so many of his therapists still think of Pierce and come to see him.

Pierce received Reikii treatment this afternoon, it's an alternative pain treatment that is often used in cancer patients. Lena's Nana found it very helpful for pain control in her battle with cancer last year, so we hope it does the same for Pierce.

Thanks for all the guestbook entries, we read them all!!

Lena, Pete and Pierce!

Tuesday January 29, 2002 10:28 AM EST

Hello all, we are updating you from the hospital today. On Saturday night Pierce had some trouble breathing so we brought him into the hospital. When we got here (9pm) he was doing much better but we are staying anyway. The nurses were great, they were waiting for us and the room was all set up. They couldn't have been nicer! Even his oncologist came in at 10pm to see him.

We have decided to stay inpatient for awhile. The amount of nursing care Pierce needed at home was growing and to be honest, we could use a break! It's nice to be back where everyone knows him and us. It's especially nice not be getting up in the middle of the night to run IV medications. They take such good care of Pierce.

With the nice warm weather today we are going to take him outside to the park next to the hospital for a few minutes and let Pierce enjoy the January thaw.

Thanks for thinking of us,

Lena, Pete and Pierce!

Thursday January 24, 2002 12:36 AM EST

Hi all, we are just starting to use Pierce's web page to keep everyone updated. Today he's doing ok, having a quiet day. He sleeps most of the day. His hand is starting to shake with a little tremor, which is new.

This morning he had a Reiki treatment, which is suppose to help with pain. He has occupational therapy this afternoon with Jo. She comes and plays with him for an hour and he seems to enjoy it.

As for us, we are holding up. We are grateful to all those at Proto-Power who are making us dinner! It such a nice feeling to eat a good meal at the end of the day.

We'll try to keep you updated and let you know when we go into the hospital.

Lena, Pete and Pierce

Friday, July 20, 2001 at 10:44 PM (CDT)

We've just started! Check back for more updates and photos!

Sat, 16 Jun 2001

Just to let everyone know....Pierce had surgery Friday (his third), they put in a tracheotomy and a G tube. He came through surgery well and is recovering back in
Pediatric ICU. He's still as feisty as ever and his hands immediately went for his tubes.

We had some excitement Wednesday morning at 4am. Pierce decided he didn't like his breathing tube anymore and managed to get it out with his tongue. The only one who thought this was a good thing was the neurosurgeon, who said it was a good sign. It shows determination and motor skills.

He hands have always been mischievous and we're fortunate to have enough family around that when we sleep or need a break we have someone to sit with him and hold his hands. He's never alone. We never thought we had to worry about his tongue!

The trach is a tube in his throat for him to breath. He has been on and off a ventilator since last Thursday (post second surgery). He can breath over the ventilator but it seems to exhaust him. On Monday a specialist looked down his throat with a scope and confirmed that his vocal cords are paralyzed. This could be permanent or temporary, we have no way of knowing right now. It could be as a result of several things, such as post op swelling, the tumor pressing against the nerves or damage from surgery. Part of the tumor was completely wrapped around a nerve cluster. This paralysis makes it very hard for him to get enough air into his lungs. The trach is below his vocal cords and will allow him to breath on his own. He's been weaned off the vent and seems to be doing well. No problems with his lungs, so we expect this to go well. It's nice to see his little face again.

The G tube is a small tube in his abdomen that will allow us to feed directly into his stomach. He can eat by mouth with the trach but with cancer people often lose their appetite and this will bypass that if necessary. We did both now to prevent another trip to the OR in a few weeks.

Both the trach and the feeding tube can be removed at a later date if he no longer needs them. Both can be cared for at home by us, so they won't necessitate a
hospital stay (others things may however).

On Monday we travel to New York and Tuesday to Boston where we will meet with some specialists. Pierce will stay here in PICU. Unfortunately they have yet to
find another case treating this tumor in such a young child. We can't believe we are the only ones in the country, but so far it seems that we are. The closest they have found is a three month old who was treated for the same type of tumor but of a smaller size. So we are sort of forging some new territory. There is no treatment protocol for him. They will try to modify some treatment for older children. Every time they describe an option it is prefaced with, "Well of course this have never been done on such a young child." They can't really give us odds. One hospital treated 9 children with this tumor, all much older than Pierce. There is not much information for us to consider. The best treatment for brain tumors is radiation and that is not an option for an infant.

None of the options are pleasant and we have a long, hard battle ahead of us. So, we are praying very hard for a miracle. We appreciate all your thoughts and
prayers. It means so much to us!

June 8, 2001

re: Difficult and Sad news

I'm sorry to have to send this by e-mail, but this is such a difficult time I'm really not up to calling everyone. Pierce went for his one month check up on Tuesday and the pediatrician noticed his head was growing too fast. We were sent to the emergency room for a CAT scan. They discovered a massive brain tumor that is about the size of a tennis ball. He was taken into surgery Tuesday to drain some of the excess fluid on his brain. He came through surgery well. On Tuesday night he had an MRI to get a better picture of the tumor. It is not something that can be removed completely. It compresses the brain stem and is really of a massive size for a one month old. On Thursday he had brain surgery that lasted about 8 hours. They did three procedures and removed most of the tumor. He did well after surgery and was awake and alert. They thought the left side of his body would be immobile since the tumor wrapped around those nerve endings, but he's resilient and is completely active. The early pathology is unfortunately tragic. This type of tumor does not respond well to chemotherapy. It is "very malignant and very aggressive." They do not do radiation treatment on infants. At first we hoped to get him to age 3 or so for some early radiation treatments however, the tumor is worse than expected. At this point it is no longer how to treat, but should and can we treat the cancer.

The doctors are in contact with specialists all over the country in hopes of finding another case for such a young child. Right now they are investigating other
hospitals for some experimental treatments that we may consider. Most likely we will be moved to Boston or New York cancer centers for some evaluation and
possibly treatment. This is those one of those one in a million things you here about. It's so incredibly rare.

He had absolutely no symptoms and up until Tuesday was a normal, happy baby. There was no indication anything was wrong. The tumor is probably 8-9 months
old and nothing that was detected on ultrasound (if it was there at 16 weeks) or anything they could have caught at birth. We are grateful that we had a whole
month with him as a happy energetic baby. We are praying for a miracle and won't give up hope on that. If I can be so bold as to as for everyone's prayers. Pierce could use them right now.

The Connecticut Children's Medical Center is wonderful and Pete and I have a room only 25 feet from Pierce. We are living in the parents quarters at the hospital
in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. We cannot take direct calls for now. All the calls come to the nurses station, but being a modern hospital we have a
laptop and LAN station in the room. We'll try to keep everyone updated as best we can.

Friday, July 20, 2001 at 10:23 PM (CDT)

Hi all, sorry it has taken so long to update you on Pierce. The last few weeks have lacked a major event, but been filled with many small hurdles. He's doing fine today, just getting over a cold. In the last few weeks he's had two procedures, two infections, two surgeries, a spinal tap, high fevers, a barium swallow test and a CT scan. So far no rapid growth of the tumor but they are anxious to start some treatment for the cancer. There is still some discussion about the exact diagnosis of the tumor and they may never figure it out exactly. On Friday they told us it was rarer than expected and they don't think he's strong enough to take a full dose of chemo and they may start with a very small dose somewhere around the 23rd, if nothing else happens.

Despite all this he has a wonderful disposition, as you can see by the attached photo. I'd love to tell you he's smiling at his adoring parents, but he's actually looking at his favorite toy, a stuffed panda.

Friday, July 20, 2001 at 09:42 PM (CDT)

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