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Healing as A Family

Seth Kemp is a boy that beat the odds. When he was diagnosed with adult peripheral t-cell lymphoma, a cancer that only 20 children have been diagnosed with in the last two decades, there was no treatment protocol.  That didn’t stop his family from finding him the best treatment they could.

His treatment plan took him to three of the top children’s hospitals in the world – Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

“After Seth was diagnosed, our lives felt out of control, and everything happened so fast, said Jill, Seth’s mom. “Thankfully, we found the Ronald McDonald House, and they provided us much more than a place to stay. They gave us the ability to focus on being a positive, stable source of support for Seth.”

Jill attributes the support her family received at the Ronald McDonald House to helping Seth beat his cancer.

“Kids are intuitive and feel the stress that overcomes a family. Because of the Ronald McDonald House Seth didn’t feel like he was a burden at any point. It helped him to be calm and positive, knowing we were being taken care of, which is what he needed.”

After more than 20 surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy, Seth was able to travel from Las Vegas to Phoenix for a life saving bone marrow transplant. The donor was Seth’s younger brother, and now hero, Mason. Mason was a perfect match, despite the doctor’s assertion that finding a match was a 1 in 3000 chance.

After the transplant, Mom, Dad, Seth and Mason stayed in an isolation room at the newly built Ronald McDonald House so the family could recover and heal.

“It was so comforting knowing that we could look out the windows and see the clinic. We could walk to see the doctor if there were complications – which there typically are with transplants.”

During the transplant recovery, doctors wanted the Kemp’s to remain as normal as possible. 

“All of us would stay in one room – read, play games, have fun and not focus on the illness.  We wanted it to be quality time together because you don’t know how much time you have.  My husband and Mason would go to ball games and museums while Seth was recovering. It is weird to say, but we have happy memories of that time.”

After 100 days, Seth was released.  Only one other child in the hospital had as fast a recovery time after a transplant. It was positive thinking that propelled him to have done as well as he has – then and now.  Doctors were amazed!

Throughout it all the Kemp’s know they couldn’t have done it without the support of families, staff and volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House. “The Ronald McDonald House exists because of the generosities of so many that have never had to go through a child’s illness. It is so inspiring.  Even though illness can strike any child, the loving supporters of the House will make sure the family has the strength to fight it like we did with Seth.”

“After Seth was diagnosed, our lives felt out of control, and everything happened so fast, said Jill, Seth’s mom. “Thankfully, we found the Ronald McDonald House, and they provided us much more than a place to stay. They gave us the ability to focus on being a positive, stable source of support for Seth.”