An Amazing Village!

The saying goes, "It Takes A Village To Raise A Child" and it is so true in situations like this and truthfully - what a village Sean is a part of.

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Crotched Mountain heard of Sean's final run for the '08 season and came through with a great night for Sean, his Dad, Bob, and Michelle. Even with the yucky rainy weather Sean managed to get in quite a few good runs - and the dr's thought he'd only get one run in - he proved his strength and resiliency once again! Thank you to all the friends who came out to say hi to Sean!

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On March 6, Temple Elementary School hosted a blood drive. At this blood drive tickets were sold to raffle off a gift donated from the Birchwood Inn, in Temple - dinner for 2 and a bottle of wine, and a backpack from EMS. A few high school students/friends of Sean's were there to sell these tickets, thank you Tyler, Ashley and Theresa!


If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the raffle please contact Marc at supper4sean@gmail.com

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On March 11th the Monadnock Ledger Transcript had an article about some Mascenic Students who ride Jean Hewitt's bus to and from the vocational center at Conval High School where they attend classes that are not offered at Mascenic. Hewitt approached her bus students with the idea of donating spare change and sending it to the Levesque Family to help with Sean's medical expenses. Hearing of his current health circumstances, they all reached into their pockets and donated their extra change - in just 2 days between the students and a matching donation from Johnson Transportation (Hewitt's bus company) they were able to donate $260.35! Wow - all of you are amazing in what you did to help Sean and his family. You touched not only them with your generosity but many others who were amazed that high school kids do have compassion for someone they don't even know. Thank you! Thank you!

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If you know of any other good deeds that are being done to help Sean and his family please contact me, Sheryl, at hugsforsean@gmail.com and I will be sure to post it for you. Your efforts should be recognized just as much as the ones above.

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In today's closing the Levesque Family would like to extend their SINCERE appreciation to everyone who has done something to assist their family at such a challenging time. Your thoughtfulness, gifts and prayers are more than they expected and they struggle with ways to say thank you to each and everyone of you - please know and understand that what you do for them is not going unnoticed or even unrecognized. There is not a moment they are not appreciative of what you have/are doing - so, with much sincerity please feel this heartfelt "Thank you".

An Update on Sean's Health

So the last few weeks have become pretty challenging for Sean physically. The chemotherapy a few weeks back was very grueling and in the end it took away all of his bone marrow which made his blood counts drop. In all actuality that is a good sign as that means that the chemotherapy is starting to work and take its course. This is called the "induction stage". To help increase the white blood cells Sean's Dad gave him daily shots (for up to 7 days) until they saw an increase in the white blood cells. Last Friday Sean received his first platelet transfusion which left him feeling pretty good for Friday and Saturday. This past Sunday was a little nerve wracking as Sean started to develop a fever. Fevers are something which are taken VERY seriously as his body doesn't have the ability to fight infections so this means anything over 101* he is to be brought to Tufts Hospital in Boston immediately where they will give him the appropriate treatments to help with fighting infections. Turns out the fever which never reached over 99.8* was his body rebuilding the blood cells and bringing his counts back up. Phew - sigh of relief! Next Tuesday (3/25) Sean will be admitted to the hospital for another tough four day round of chemotherapy - this will entail staying overnight until at least Thursday. If you would like to learn more about Sean's cancer, Lymphoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma check out http://leukemiaandlymphomasociety.org. Takes a bit of looking around but there is some good information on it.

Sean's attitude has stayed positive ~ even when he is soooo tired he has that smile on his face - and the hair, yeah that is completely gone BUT truthfully he is one handsome Mr. Clean! Keep up the good attitude Sean we are all behind you!

See You At School and On the Slopes!

Wow! Sean is truly an amazing young man and has truly surpassed many expectations, including those of his doctors in Boston. This past Monday Sean began his 4th week of chemo, which as they were informed, would be the most challenging one yet as within 5-7 days it is expected to wipe out his bone marrow and really hit hard. Under the doctors advice and approval, Sean will be heading to school on Friday (Thurs was a surprise visit for all!) following his new half day schedule including two classes and a late lunch. He has been eager to get back to "his" life and studies along with seeing all of his friends. Sean's chemo treatments are far from over, and will continue to be done weekly, for now on Mondays, and with a second visit later in the week so his blood counts can be checked, but he is hoping to attend as many days as he is feeling physically up to it. Sean you are truly amazing and an inspiration to us all - you endure these difficult treatments handle them like a trooper, you keep smiling and truly remind us that life is what you see it as. Thank you for reminding us all of that lesson -


Marc, Sean's bus driver was so thrilled to see Sean on the bus and asked me to add:
"Sean attended a half day of school today, and he rode the bus home. I kept looking in the mirror, and I never saw such a happy, smiling, laughing group of kids. I’m not sure who was happier, Sean or his friends. One of Sean’s friends, Terry came running on the bus saying "I know he’s on here"…. I don’t think I’ve seen that much joy in the back of bus 13 in a long time… And then when I arrived back at ConVal for the late bus, they were all thrilled to tell me that Sean was in school today…. He’s a young man with lots of friends in Temple and at ConVal…"

Another exciting thing for Sean is.... the doctor said - much to everyone's surprise - that he could go skiing Friday night, so Crotched Mountain look out because Sean is coming to hit the slopes! This will probably be his last run for the season, as the chemo treatments are expected to become more grueling and physically challenging to his body. So... if you are looking for some fun, (and if Sean is feeling up to it), meet him at CM for a fun night of skiing! The more friends the more fun! Even if it is just one run that he can do, the lodge can be just as fun and good for the spirit! Will continue to keep you all posted.....

MORE NEWS ON OUR FUNDRAISING EFFORTS

Nick, Andrew, and Trish from the Birchwood Inn/London Tavern in downtown Temple (603) 878-3285 have gernerously offered a "Dinner for 2 with a Bottle of Wine" to be used for a raffle at the upcoming Benefit Dinner on April 12th. Sean's friend Tyler will be selling raffle tickets at the door the night of the dinner. Please don't wait until April, feel free to stop by the Birchwood to purchase your raffle tickets now! Tickets are $1.00 each, or 6 for $5.00.

We realize many of you may not be from right here in Temple, but if you would like to help sell some raffle tickets (family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc), please contact Marc at supper4sean@gmail.com and we'll see about getting you some blank tickets. You can sell them, collect the money, and then get us the completed tickets, and we'll get them in the collection jar for the drawing on April 12th.

Don't forget, Benefit Lasagna Dinner at the Temple Elementary School, 5:30 PM till we run out of food..