Round 5!

 On Wednesday morning Seth had his regular outpatient appointment with possible admission that day. We just had to wait for a bed to be available. Again timing was amazing, praise God! He had his doctor check-up and PICC line dressing change and then I dropped him off at school with 20 minutes to spare before he was off to a field trip at Galaxy Land for Physics. I received a phone call from the hospital saying they'd have a bed ready around 8pm.  Perfect! His sister wanted to take him out for dinner, and those plans they'd previously made could still happen. 

We arrived at the hospital Wednesday night, they put him on IV fluids to prep for chemo, which they started at 3am.  They are just doing the one chemo this time so I'm curious if he'll feel better and less exhausted after this round. We are typically here for 4 days so I'm guessing we'll be coming home Sunday. 

In the Family Room he asked if he could draw on the board and they said, 'If you're big enough to reach the markers, you're allowed.' 😁 (The marker holder is just under the 'S')

He's doing well, no harsh symptoms. His most annoying symptom right now is having to get up to pee in the middle of the night, which we have in common now. 😂

We went and visited the new Atrium area at the hospital which is really nice, and as people go there it also frees up some space in the Healing Garden area as well! Now we have lots of nice space to go sit and read or play a game or just walk to when we want to get out of this room. 

Sitting in the brand new Atrium area ♡

Praise God for his ongoing care in keeping symptoms away and providing so much 'perfect timing' moments.  We praise Him for all of you reading this and the care and love that our community is surrounding us in. We are starting to settle into this new routine.  We know God has a plan with Seth's story even though we don't understand it. No matter if we have a good or bad day, God is good all the time. May His name be glorified, and may He use our family and Seth's journey to fulfill whatever plan He has in store for Seth, for us and maybe even for you. We just trust that a masterpiece is in the works, and some days trust is all we have because we have no understanding of why.

Praise Him always ❤

Last appointment update.

 Yesterday Seth had his regular Wednesday appointment.  Bloodwork and PICC line dressing changed and met with his oncologist, Dr. Eid.  I thought maybe he'd be sending Seth for another PET scan next week but he said he has to meet with the team, including the radiologist and by the time they all make sure they are on the same page he said we'll be looking at around Round 6 of Chemo.  Seth is in his recovery time of Round 4 for another week and a half yet.  So Dr. Eid didn't want to send him for an unnecessary scan as all these scans are also forms of radiation and are not healthy to do unless actually needed. 

Dr. Eid also said that on top of meeting with the Oncology Board, he will also be presenting Seth's case to the Canadian Cancer Tumor board (or something like that).  Basically he want to present it and see if there is any new treatments or anything.  He said he likes to just have a Plan C,D, E etc.  He didn't say this in an alarming way but just that he wants to make sure he knows of anything out there that could be helpful for Seth. 

So looks like coming up we have another Round of Chemo.  He WILL be only getting one type of chemo for the next couple rounds because they don't want any added risk to his heart.  Seth gets medication during chemo to protect his other organs from the Doxorubicin chemotherapy, and this is the one they won't be doing for the next couple rounds to make sure his treatments are being done effectively but also as safe as possible. 

God is good, always. Seth had a great choice of shirt for his appointment.  Spreading a little light everywhere we go, you never know who it reaches. 💡

Thankful Seth has youth on his side to fight this. Also, thankful he's youthful enough to be at the Stollery Children's Hospital for this too.  God is good to us and goes before us in this battle. ♡

Nothing New (under the Sun)

☀ Had to add the 'under the sun' part on the heading. There is no new update and adding the 'under the sun' is a nice reminder that there is nothing new that we go through on this earth that surprises God. He knows all things, even before they come to be, and this is all part of a plan of a bigger picture unseen to us. We are only seeing a tiny piece of the puzzle and we can trust that God is working through Seth's story. 

There is not really anything new since Tuesday but I know sometimes people wonder if maybe we are just busy and not updating.  He had his PICC line dressing done already before we came home so we went in for an appointment today just to do some bloodwork. His whole visit was less than 5 minutes.  We stopped in the Family Room to get some beads for his Bead Journey and then to Tim Hortons for 15 more packs of hockey cards. 😁

Every appointment, bloodwork, chemo treatment, etc has it's own bead so you can have a visual of your cancer journey. Next Christmas it'll be so long we can probably decorate the Christmas tree with it, which I think would be neat, instead of just keeping it in this bag all the time. 

Also today we braved these ridiculous winter roads to go to the Registry Office to finally get the Handicap Placards.  We were able to buy 2, which will be nice so we don't have to remember to bring it along with us every time and can just leave them in our vehicles.

Temporary for 12 months. So we are good until the end of 2026. Praying we won't need them that long. 😉

Seth's next appointment is just for a regular PICC line dressing change, bloodwork and a follow up with the doctor. That's next week Wednesday, so there shouldn't be anything new until then.

Also side note that Rev. J. Vanspronsen's sermon for our new years service was SUCH a great one! I highly suggest you go take a listen. It has us in tears and then singing the song about 'without God's will not a hair can fall from your head' was unsingable for Bryan and I. But it was so so good.  If you need any encouragement for the upcoming year, go take a listen. Happy New Year 🎇

Click to listen to the New Year's Eve Sermon

Thankful for a Big Boy Bed and Going Home Today!

 For the first time since Seth has been at the hospital he got to be in a bed that didn't require them to take the foot board off so his feet could dangle off the end.  This bed looked brand new and I joked wondering if anyone prayed for this because God seems to be granting so many of our requests. 💝

His nurse said they knew Seth was here when there was a random footboard hanging out against a wall. 😂

Everything for this round of chemo has been pretty typical and like every other time so that's good. No new symptoms other than a tiny bit nauseous sometimes, and sleepy.  Also bored, which we are told is good, if you're not bored it's usually because you feel awful so being bored and wanting to go home is a good sign. 

Seth has chemo for 3 days, so he had it Saturday, Sunday, Monday and today he'll get his Laplega shot before we go.  I also asked and was granted my request (Praise God!) that he have his PICC line dressing changed and take any bloodwork before we go so we don't have to come back tomorrow for that regular appointment.  Last time he had to come back the next day and it was very hard for him to get up out of bed and he ended up vomiting in the waiting room and just feeling so exhausted.  They did give me a second prescription for the nausea in case the one he has isn't strong enough, but if he can rest at home for the next few days he shouldn't need it. I'm glad that they will do that before we leave so Seth can just sleep until the New Year. The last few days of 2025 will be sleep and chicken noodle soup! Then on Friday they want us to come back in just for blood work. He should be feeling much better by then. 

His IV is just finished as I type this, and the nurse said in about 45 minutes he'll come to do the PICC line dressing change and then we can go.  I thought we'd be home early evening but looks like we'll be eating dinner at home today! Praise God!

Then nothing until the New Year!

Praising God through it all this past year and trusting his divine plan in 2026!

Happy New Year to you! Thanks for all you've done for us. ♡ 

His trophy in the background. We took it along and it's been fun telling anyone who asks about what our community does for each other. Spreading light of God's goodness where we can!💡

Change of plans back to Plan A, aka no surgery quite yet!

 Been a busy few days! So they decided after all to keep going with chemo and not do surgery yet.  This was actually a relief to hear because previously they wanted to hold off on surgery because it would be a big surgery, so to have them think that was the best plan forward had us concerned. So we are back to the original plan of continuing chemo and adding radiation either in this cycle or the next.  

Monday he had his PET scan and the results of that showed that the cancer is still shrinking, but still going slowly.  They were hoping it would shrink faster but they are happy that it is going in the right direction still and that chemo is continuing to be effective. We were told that surgery would still be in Seth's future as chemo and radiation will not eliminate his sarcoma and it will have to be surgically removed at some point. Basically we are just going to have to wait until his treatments make it small enough to remove.  

Tuesday we had a consultation appointment at the Cross Cancer Institute with his radiologist, Dr. Chafe. She says she has been working with the team since the beginning but didn't want to meet with us as she knew its a whirlwind of information in the beginning and she didn't want to add to that, which was very appreciated. She showed us some of the images of Seth's PET scan from previous and we were amazed at how technology can show you the human body slice by slice within millimeters! She said she had to meet with Seth's team but figured within the next 2 rounds of chemo that Seth would have radiation.  That'll be quick appointments, she said similar to getting an X-ray, so it's like 15 minutes. She'll decide for sure what treatment for him but she said probably something like coming in everyday for 2 weeks for radiation treatments.  Side effects are low and let's pray they stay away from Seth like most other side effects have so far, thanks to all the prayers. Praise God for granting that request so far.  💝

Wednesday Seth had 3 appointments back to back, one for his regular PICC line dressing change and bloodwork and the other was a Pulmonary Function Test. He had to be in a little glass box and do some different breathing exercises so that they have a base line for when he starts radiation treatment.  He'll have this test again in future to keep an eye on his lung function. After that we met with Dr. Eid, I finally got his signature on our Handicap Placard form so I'll get that going and then he said that he'd like to get Seth admitted this weekend.  We told him about Seth's Charity Hockey Tournament and he said that Friday would've been the earliest he'd get in anyway.  It just depended on if a bed is available, whether he'd be admitted Friday or Saturday. 

Seth's PFT appointment, at this point she shut the door for air pressure purposes.

This was such good news for our family! No surgery which means Seth could be home for Christmas and go to the Charity Hockey Tournament and feel at his best for both! Praise God for granting us those couple days together! 

Christmas Day both our sides of the family had plans for the afternoon and evening so we went to one for a bit of the afternoon and then to the other for dinner and evening. 

Boxing Day, the Charity Hockey Tournament Day! How amazing. When I got there my eyes kept welling up just seeing all the people that showed up, some that I didn't even know! It was quite something to be at this tournament and be the recipient family this time. It was such a strange and wonderful feeling.  I remember someone saying to us that we would feel our community pick us up and hold us there and that is such a great description of it! And what a tournament it was! Ending with a shoot out between the teams fighting for first place! Seth helped coach his little brothers team along with his grandpa, and put on skates at the end to present the trophy! Again praise God that Seth felt good that day, so he could enjoy it all and not feel ill in anyway, other than taking the elevator instead of going up all those stairs. 😉 His brother, Drew, scored 2 goals and we were hoping he'd score a third so we could throw our hats on the ice.😂😁

Putting on skates to present the trophy!

At the tournament I got a call from the Hospital that they had a bed ready for Seth but to not rush and enjoy the tournament and just come in whenever your ready.  They weren't going to start fluids until later anyway. So Bryan took Seth in just before 9pm and stayed the night with him. 

Seth with dad and Uncle Jared. 💕

Bryan will be taking Drew to the Hockey tournament in Calgary on Monday. Originally if Seth were to have surgery we weren't sure that would happen either so I'm very happy that it's another round of chemo instead of surgery and that on top of Seth being able to enjoy the last couple days Drew could also go to his tournament. I'm comfortable enough knowing how Seth reacts and what to expect when we go home so I was comfortable having Bryan go to Calgary. In all the unknowns we had going into this week it turned out pretty great! Praise God ♡

There are no amount of thank you's that we could ever give to all of you for all your different ways of supporting us. We keep saying we CANNOT imagine people who go through this without the support of community.  It's a hard road but it feels so much lighter and, I don't know how to describe it, the word enjoyable comes to mind but I feel like a terrible mom saying that, but just being able to feel God's presence like we've never felt before through granted prayers and all of your love and support around us is just something that's amazingly indescribable. I don't wish this road on anyone but at the same time I wish you could all feel what I feel.

Photo from someone who will remain anonymous in case it offends anyone that it's a photo during prayer haha! I thought it was a fitting photo for here because we've all been constantly praying together. Our family, starting second from left, Bryan, Seth, Myself (Laura), Hailey, Mya, Drew.

Busy week and Unknowns

 Last week Seth had to go to the Stollery because he needed a blood transfusion. This usually takes about 3 hours, but when we got there his blood work showed that his numbers came up so he didn't need one after all! We were thankful to have an appointment that was actually kind of a waste of time for once! 😆 I dropped off Seth at school and we both got to be at the year end school assembly that we were expecting to miss. Praise God!

Getting the bloodwork that told us we could go home! He was expecting a long boring afternoon that turned into going home after a half hour of waiting for bloodwork results. 

Saturday Seth hung out with friends. It's nice to feel like we are getting the hang of everything.  We now know that at the end of a chemo round Seth has energy and is feeling good and up for hanging out with friends or going to basketball and all that stuff that tires him out in the beginning when he just gets home after a chemo treatment. 

Sunday Seth came to church twice, sporting a new Oilers tie! He was going to wait until Christmas to open this gift from someone at church, and he was pretty sure it was a tie, so I told him to open it and wear it because depending on surgery he may not be in church for a while. After church he went to his girlfriends to celebrate Christmas with her family and was still energetic when we picked him up in the late evening (he's not allowed to drive right now).  He did well with his food choices yesterday too, poor guy has a PET scan today so he had to eat high protein, low carb and no caffeine, so no pop or chocolates or anything. He also had to limit his sugar intake so Christmas celebrations are tempting but he seems to have good motivation in knowing this scan cannot be moved! 

PET scan today! The reason I say it could not be moved is that he would have been scheduled for another round of chemo on Thursday, Christmas Day, but they aren't doing that because they want to do surgery.  Before surgery they want to see results of the PET scan. IF the PET scan got moved then it just means prolonging everything and we don't want to give his cancer any wiggle room to grow. 

Tomorrow we have an appointment at the Cross Cancer Institute for a radiology consultation. 

Then Wednesday is his regular PICC line dressing and blood work. 

We will wait on PET scan results for a surgery date. Like I said before, I'm expecting this week sometime.  We selfishly are hoping it's Saturday so that we can have Christmas Day together and then be at Seth's Hockey Fundraiser on Friday. But we also know we don't get the choice, and we want this cancer out so whenever he has to go in is when we go in.

I thank you all for keeping up with our blog and coming along side us. We hope you have a great Christmas and enjoy your time off! In case you feel bad for us, don't let our updates put a damper on your Christmas, we are playing games and enjoying our time together as well.  Also what a time to celebrate Christ's birth so He could save us from the awful things we live through on this earth! We only need to suffer down here for a little while and then we all can be in heavenly glory forever! I'm thankful this life is but a little blip in the grand scale of it all!♡

Praise God for the gift of His Son!!  💝

PET scan moved up!

 Today, Seth had his regular appointment and I thought maybe we'd see one of the oncologists but it was just his PICC dressing change and blood work again.  So now new news there, however I did see that on his MyChart App that they moved up his PET scan to December 22nd instead of January 2nd. I figured maybe that would happen.  It's going to be a busy Christmas season! The kids have 2 weeks off of school starting next week and Seth has a PET scan on Monday, a radiology consultation appointment on Tuesday, his regular outpatient appointment on Wednesday and then we'll see if they do surgery the end of next week. 

We were hoping that surgery would be the 27th that way we could have Christmas Day and then on Boxing Day we have the Charity Hockey Tournament Fundraiser for our family and Seth would love to be there. We also are in agreement with the doctors though, that they don't want to put it off if they can help it.  December 24th would've been the 1st day of another round of chemo, but instead we are doing surgery and we don't want to give the cancer any time to decide to grow, even a tiny bit. 

All in God's good timing. He's the only one who knows what's going on in Seth's body and we accept whatever time line we are given as far as a surgery date. 

Seth is only on one medication right now and then taking Vitamin D.  He had a few other medications he was on but hasn't had to take them for a couple weeks, which he's thankful for because one was sodium phosphate which is like drinking straight salt water, and he was not a fan of having to drink that twice a day. 😖

Seth had enough energy to not use a wheelchair at all today. He did half a day of school, then his afternoon appointment,  and we even went to West Edmonton Mall after and did some Christmas shopping (his choice not mine just in case you thought I was the one dragging him along to shop.😆) Praise God that he recovers well after chemo.

Bryan has decided to take the next couple weeks off because of all the busyness of appointments and Christmas/New Year's and if Seth has surgery late next week we know he'll be in the hospital a while to recover.  I'm thankful that he can take time off, and that he'll be there with me to take Seth and hear any updates with me.  Thanks and praise to God for making that possible for our family. ❤

Also I know many of you reading this may not be in the Edmonton area and so I wanted to share our thank you that we placed in our church news. Obviously the communion of saints is much more vast and we know people are praying all around the world for Seth and our family, so I wanted to share our thank you with you as well. 

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Thank you from the Viher family

We want to extend a giant thank you to all of you who have been lifting us up ever since learning of Seth’s cancer diagnosis.  Your countless ways of giving and helping in so many different ways has been such a huge blessing in our lives. We cannot imagine going through this without all of you supporting us in prayer and in practical ways and with various gifts. Your willingness to give and not expecting anything in return lets us experience your Christ-like love and we appreciate it so much. We cannot even begin to thank you all enough. As much as we wish we were not on the receiving end of all this love, it is quite something to experience this side of our communion of saints and we thank God for placing our family amongst all of you. 

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

Bryan & Laura, Hailey, Mya, Seth, and Drew

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A few people mentioned to me that they like when I put in specific things to pray for so I can add those as well for you. Pray for Seth's medical team, that the surgery will be able to happen sooner than later and that they will be able to get all the cancer out. Also pray for Seth's body to heal well, and thank God for keeping him a strong healthy young man who's body seems to be doing well considering what it's being put through. I could make this prayer list go on and on but maybe one more thing is to pray that any research we've been asked to be a part of can help them get closer to finding causes and cures for this rare cancer. They don't get many chances to study it and we are grateful for that because it means not many kids have to go through this, so pray that Seth's samples and bloodwork can help researchers figure out why this happens in children and get a better understanding so they can help any kids in the future.  May God graciously prevent any child from having to go through this in the future and we pray Jesus returns and puts an end to all the suffering and grief of this world so we can all live in perfect glory with Him. ♡