Meet Seth

Melissa didn’t want to seem paranoid, but she noticed that her son Seth’s coloring looked a bit off. After her mom voiced the same concern, she took it as a sign to take him into the doctor. After doing testing, they got the devastating call that Seth had leukemia and they needed to head to Primary Children’s as soon as possible. There were lots of ups and downs, but after two years, Seth is finally cancer free. This is their story of finding out, getting treatment, and now returning to normal life. 

Q: How did you find out about Seth's diagnosis, and what was your reaction?

A: Around Christmas time in 2021, Seth was bruising a lot and really off colored. I kind of thought in my head, you know your mom brain, that he didn’t look quite right, but I didn't want to overreact. We were visiting my parents for Christmas and my mom had said something like, “His color looks so off.” So I was like ok, I’m not crazy. I looked up different bruises and “off color.” Of course my Google search came up with Leukemia and I was like well that's not it. So I kind of brushed it off. There were iron deficiencies and all sorts of different things. We were like ok we are going to go get checked out. We were in Colorado at that time, and we had just kind of talked to each other like when we got home, let's take him to the pediatrician and try to find out what's going on. That is where we left it. He continued to be really clingy and didn't want to eat very good and just really difficult the rest of the time there. 

So when we got home, we took him to the pediatrician, and you know those appointments where you can't say what's wrong, you're just like we have just noticed off things. We just explained all the different “off things” we had noticed. I remember the doctor looking at us saying I don't want to scare you, but the worst case scenario is that it is Leukemia, but we are going to get you tested. They sent us over and said don't fret, don't worry, we will do some blood work. I think right when he said it I knew, I think we both knew that, that's what it was, but we weren't going to jump to conclusions. I was definitely still holding out, keeping me grounded that it was not that, that it was just going to be iron deficiency…  

It was 6:30 when I got a call. It said maybe “the doctor’s name.” I answered the phone and he was like, “Hey are you and Jordan together?” I said yes. He said, “Initial lab results unfortunately, it does look like he has Leukemia.” Jordan lost it. I went into - what do we do next? He's telling me to drive down to Primary Children's Hospital right now, don't wait! So obviously it was serious. It was like a punch to the gut immediately. You hear about it, and hear about people who have dealt with it, but usually 3rd, 2nd, 4th hand and you never know how it's going to be when it hits you, if it hits you. It was just shocking and scary and completely in the dark, I just didn't know anything of what to expect. It was freak out and then fight mode. Get someone to be here with our kids and get in the car and drive as carefully and as fast as we could through the night to get him where they could help him. 

I think a big thing I’ll always remember from that night, because our other kids were scared, like, what's going on. All of us just sitting in a circle together just hugging each other and saying a prayer together. Not knowing the next time we would all be together and not knowing what our future would be like. 

We drove down there and got our official diagnosis on January 6th that he has B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They told us it would be  2 ½ to 3 years of treatment and weekly treatment for a year, driving down to Utah every week. It turned our world upside down, everything in our life was different. Then it was a year of ups and downs of just feeling terrible for that whole year. 

Q: What brought you peace through this time?

A: For me, it was the people that just did things and didn't ask and just did, because we collectively couldn't make choices. It was like a ghost of ourselves. It was just very hard to make decisions. Someone came over and cleaned the

whole house and washed all the sheets. Anything you could clean, they cleaned, and I didn't have to ask and I think that's the biggest thing. It's really hard to ask for help in general, but when you're really struggling and want to ask but you don't know what you need, you can't even put into words what is needed at that time. Anyone who was willing to go outside of themselves and just go for it was a big help. We had multiple people start fundraisers for us which was a huge help. The financial burden of the future was daunting. Obviously meals and blankets, and he was immisated with toys that was great. We were so grateful but the people who, I hate saying financial, but the people that made a huge financial contribution is how we were able to keep going through the last 2 ½ years. 

To add to that, just knowing there were a lot of people that at the drop of a hat you knew that they were there for you. We had to rely on them a lot, those key people, they were huge huge huge during this process. Mostly like “hey our other two kids need a place, we have to take Seth right now.” Having that kind of support, you can't put words to it -  it's what we needed. 

We were so secluded. He was immunocompromised all the time, especially that first year, so people asked me for help too sometimes. I liked that because I still felt important to the outside world… still reach out to your friends. 

Q: Where are you guys at with his treatment and day to day life now?
A: He gave us a good scare just a couple weeks ago, and we were admitted to the hospital, but as far as treatment goes he's doing really well. He has a good prognosis. Actually his end of treatment date is June 1st, so that's his last day of chemo, and he has his port removal surgery on May 2nd… we are coming up on the end, but it feels surreal that is getting close. He still has to go all summer, and we will still be going down for years to come, but as far as active treatment we are getting close to the end. Day to day, our life looks pretty normal now just because we are at the end of treatment. It just consists of daily oral chemo for him and with that just trying to suppress his immune system to a certain range. Outside of that he is going to school now, this is the first year he has ever done school, kindergarten.

Q: Has anything good come out of this, or anything you are grateful for?
A: Obviously it's weird to think about something good coming from this, especially since it's such a negative thing, but yeah there have been enumerable things, some of which we have already talked about, just the reliance on other people, which has helped us as people, see good in others. 

There have been a lot of opportunities opened up to us that we otherwise would have been without, like the Make a Wish foundation, and just being with them and getting to do that. We got hooked up with another foundation called Lighthouse Family Retreats. They do all expenses paid trips for families with kids with cancer that we've gotten to go on. Just all the foundations that are out there for families with kids with cancer, just all the foundations that have helped us personally. We couldn't have done it without their help. It really brings out the people that really care about your family and just puts a big red heart on all those people that are willing to do something.

It has helped us grow as a family in a way. In different ways than we'd ever expected, just having to figure out how to protect him and have a normal life for our kids. I think those experiences have helped and grown our relationship as a family in general and I think that's a blessing.

Q: Anything else you want to add or share?
A: Especially with cancer, there are a lot of resources for cancer families specifically. There are a couple of people on Instagram that share about foundations that are helpful. If you are struggling, there is someone out there that has a resource that will help you. Don't be scared to reach out to other cancer families… don't be afraid to reach out, I know it's hard. That's the hardest part. I think with the cancer mom community I think we are all willing to help because we understand the hard and it doesn't feel like a burden to help guide you through it. 

We are so thankful that Melissa and Jordan were willing to share such an emotional story with us. They talked a lot about how friends and families really helped them through this time. If you want to help others like them, try taking a page from their friends' books. Clean their house for them, take their kids, even just order them something from the new Strong Families Collection. And don’t forget to still come to them, send them a text about what’s going on in your life too so that they know they are still wanted and included. Lastly, I want to reiterate what Melissa said about asking for help. If you are the one that’s going through this, there are so many resources that are out there for you. There are lots of people and organizations that can’t wait to help you, so never hesitate to reach out!