If you follow this link you will be able to read the article online
enjoy and leave a comment ……. http://www.thestar.com/article/625918
Sebastien in the Toronto Star
Published April 30, 2009 Written by Jasmina 3 CommentsTags: http://www.thestar.com/article/625918
being a SUPERHERO isn’t as difficult as you might think ….. mhhhhhh how can you be a Superhero? How about donating some of your spare time brightening a little childs day in a hospital room by taking time to volunteer and to spend some play time with them or by just cuddling with them and helping them forget about all the medical procedures….. wouldn’t it be nice to be a volunteer at the hospital and touch a childs heart and make their day? So if you ever think of volunteering how about being this special person for a child, there is a very high demand and extrem need for children that stay in the hospital for a long time and you can see the sparkle in the childs eye full with joy and happiness as they welcome new volunteers into their life…….. Volunteers play such an important role also in Sebastien’s hospital stays, dialysis visits and they help SEbastien so much to forget all the medical stuff and just be a child playing or singing away with his volunteers……..so you might be the next SUPERHERO in a childs life at the hospital and believe you won’t regret it……..
On another note….. it is time again this year for the annual RADIOTHON her in Toronto as well as in our dear WINNIPEG…… soooooooo this coming Thursday April 30 turn on your radios and at noon Toronto time we will be speaking on one of the following radiostations in Toronto
Newstalk 1010 , EZ Rock 97.3 Fm or Virigin Radio 99.9 Fm
That same morning you will be able to enjoy some beautiful pictures of Sebastien and his story in the TORONTO STAR newspaper which is also available online as well as the radio stations.
For our family and friends in Winnipeg you can enjoy also a prerecorded interview on the radio stations HOT 103 and QX 104 you can also tune in to either station online. The RADIO THON will start at 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. and you will hear a lot of touching stories from all the little SUPERHEROS….. make sure you buy a kleenex box,believe you will need it……..so lets help to make this world a better place for our children by contributing with a donation, a helping hand, being a volunteer for a child ……. you will change the world one heart at a time…………..
P.S. Sebastien is so proud of his new big boy bed and just loves it so much………. thanks Papa for getting it for me and putting it mall together…… Sebastien actually said to David after he had put his new bed up….. Papa you made my day….. what a sweety……
Please join us again this year for the 2nd Annual Gift Gala this Saturday, April 18. 2009 at 7:30 pm for a beautiful Cocktail Style Dinner and Silent Auction and more and followed by a Dance at 9:30 pm at the Steam Whistle Brewery The Roundhouse 255 Bremner Blvd., in your Cocktail Attire
http://www.steamwhistle.ca/events/eventphotoalbum.php
This beautiful Gala is in support of all the children just like Sebastien that have Intestinal Issues and all the proceeds of your tickets will go towards the support of the GIFT PROGRAM – G I F T stands for Group for the Improvement of Intestinal Funcition and Treatment a Group of wonderful people that support with their medical skill as well as many other important skills children like SEbastien that have issues with their Intestines and are play a very important role in preparing children like Sebastien to get the best care possible in Canada and the world……
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www. sickkidsgift.ca or call 416. 813. 7654 ext. 1490
The Gala last year was the first one ever held as the program just exist I believe just a little bit over 5 years and we had the privilege to hear a young gentlemen speak at the age of 17 who is also like Sebastien one of the children challenged with Intestinal Issues and as he made us all cry with his touching testimony, his honest words of his journey from birth to his wonderful age of 17, with his ups and downs, joys and happiness and especially when he spoke about his early years as a baby I just saw flashbacks of Sebastien during his early years as a baby and this young gentelmen just described it soooooo incredibly well from his perspective as well as of his family and it was just soooo uplifting to hear all the humour he still had despite all the difficult moments and the hope he spread throughout the big ballroom at the Four Season Hotel and there was no eye without tears of joy and apprecciation in this ballroom filled with people dedicated with their whole heart and soule to make this world a better place for those children……..
Soooo, believe me bring your tissues as this is the night to honour all those children that have been treated like SEbastien for Issues with their Intestines and are all heros to us and also to honour the people of this wonderful program who are the foundation of our children being with us and their families……. if it wouldn’t be for this program their would not be any hope for children like them……..soooooo if you have time and would like to join swing on your cocktail attire and off we are to a beautiful event of thanksgiving, hope and making it a better place for our children.
( I love the picture and I had to post it with the Gala as I wanted you all to see how happy Sebastien is and what a boy of HOPE JOY AND GRACE AND STRENGHT he has been and always will be and it is grace to the GIFT PROGRAM that we have the privilege to be with our son Sebastien and also a special thanks goes out to his uncle Normand who just recently came to visit us and Sebastien just loves him as you can see, he also is very dear to Sebastien as he dedicated several months and cared endless hours at Sebastien’s bed side with his loving care just before his transplant with all our family members, godparents and friends and people that were touched by Sebastien’s wonderful magical spell and have prayed, supported us through the most difficult times, have stood at our side and will always have a special place in our hearts……. thanks…….. merci…… danke……
Since fall, posting on Place de choix has diminished and Jasmina’s been learning how to use the blog. Since September I went back to school to continue my studies and the change in atmosphere did wonders, as my husband and I discovered we were pregnant in October. We’re due for a little girl June 20th. Between studies, work and pregnancy, the blog has been left behind, and Jasmina’s taken to e-mailing news to a group of friends as she’s done before. If you’d like to be on her e-mail list, let her know by sending her an e-mail at ploner23 at hotmail dot com. I sometimes publish her e-mails in their integrity on the blog, but I’m afraid I’m not always consistent. I enjoy writing and miss interacting with parents and publishing news related to Sébastien, his treatments and SickKids. As the first year of University comes to an end, I’m considering beginning a personal blog and promise that if I do, you’ll be the first ones to know.
As for Sébastien, David and Jasmina, they are doing well. A friend recently visited them in Toronto and brought back nothing but happy news. Sébastien is becoming more and more talkative, and makes himself understood in simple sentences. David’s influence is felt as Sébastien is integrating more french into his vocabulary. He’ll be going to school in the fall and David and Jasmina hope to send him to l’École élémentaire Georges-Étienne-Cartier (translation: a french catholic school with just the right atmosphere). Sébastien is in the second half of his treatments (one dose every 21 days). The first ten days after treatment are the hardest on Sébastien because of the side effects which include insomnia and hallucinations. He needs lots of attention and patience during that time and once it is over, he’s himself again until the next treatment. He’s getting more adventurous when it comes to walking and he makes his way around the appartment by going from couch to couch. We miss him bunches and bunches and hearing his voice over the phone melts our heart!
I wish everyone a lovely continuation… don’t ever hesitate to write Jasmina or I (our e-mails are on the right).
Take care!
La Marraine
Sebastien’s treatments have been going ok and his next treatment cycle has been pushed to next week as his counts still need to recover to be strong enough to handle his next treatments. His first day of treatment will be Wednesday 18. of March and this will be quiet a long day for him as he will start his infusions in the morning and will need diaylisis around 3 p.m. and usually doesn’t come home before 8 or 9 at night. Please pray for him that day and for his cycle to be a good one. The same day he also starts his steroid treatments which make him quiete scarred as well as is very harsh on his stomach and gut and he usually starts bleeding a little bit and needs by saturday a blood transfusion and the steroids pushes his urea in his blood to higher levels and it really bothers him an cant sleep really well due to this we usually support him by staying always on his side, try to distract him with play or music or other things and help him to cope with the side effects as good as we can but after the 5 days we get to a better phase and Sebastien slowly starts more being like himself again….. but then his counts really drop and he can’t have any contact really with other people…. so we basicially spent all of our days with Sebastien as he needs all our help, prayers, encouragement, company and happiness to journey through his treatments and we enjoy it to keep him company for such a brave big boy. That’s also why it has been lately difficult to keep in touch with all of you but we all think of you often and try to stay in touch as much as possible during the months of treatments and because the treatments are so time intense as well as strength intense all we do is bring Sebastien to treatments and come home and attend to SEbastien’s needs and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and pray……..
On the other hand Sebastien is doing well besides dealing with his treatments he is progressing to 6 independent steps and he likes walking from one couch to the other and his vocabulary just blows us away…….. just a little funny example from our sweet Sebastien….. one night he called us and this is how he called for us….. Mama, Mama , Papa, Papa, ( well we were so tired that night we heard him but weren’t fast enough to get out of our bed so he tried again) Mama, Maaaaaaaaaaaaama, Jasminaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…… I laughed sooooooo much …. I couln’t believe he had called me Jasmina pretty smart….
Sebastien is also featured for the month of March as the Patient of the Month at the web site of the Sick Kids Foundation. Go check it out….
http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/home/
enjoy he is soooooo cute on this picture 
Friday last week, Sébastien was scheduled for a scan, and I was hesitant to put it on the blog, since there are usually little hiccups that can happen between the scheduling and the actual event occuring. And… if there was to be any bad news, David and Jasmina would rather spare you the details. The scan was put off until Monday of this week, and yesterday, Jasmina and David received the results:
Hello to all of you
We are very happy to inform you that Sebastien’s scan showed improvement from the last one in december thanks be to God and there is truly a God that watches over our dear Sebastien and we thank you for all praying the novenas for our dear son Sebastien your prayers are carring our little miracle boy through his journey . Thank you from the bottom of our hearts …… this were the best news we got and I cried as I was just soooooo relieved …. thanks to also all of you for praying….
The test results are final in a few days and due to this we were informed that we have to hold of his treatment this wednesday and he will also need an echo tomorrow and until we get all the results it is safer to wait to start his 3rd round of treatments
Ahhhh what a wonderful blessing to get those news and we would like to invite you to celbrate with us the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes which is also the World day of the Sick so we can keep Sebastien in this prayer and also all the sick children in the world and sick adults…..May the Lord and our Lady of Lourdes protect them all with her banner and heal them……
Thank you soooo much again for all your support and prayers it means so much to us and your prayer carries us through this….
With Gratitude and united in Prayers
Love
Sebastien xoxoxo David and Jasmina Forest xoxoxxo
Hello to all of you
Sebastien has had now his 2nd major round of treatments and today his counts are extremely low and we would like to invite you to pray that he doesn’t get any infection or fever etc., as his immune system cannot fight anthing at the moment. Hopefully in a few days his counts will pick up and than he also can have visitors again who are not carrying any colds, etc., themselves.
It was a very heartbeaking decision to make, to have to temporarily relocate for the time that Sebastien needs treatment but we need each other to support our sweet Sebastien during this time and we know that one day we can all together go back home to winnipeg and play soccer, baseball, basketball, etc., as a family with our dear Sebastien in our backyard. But for the time being, as you know, David will come and stay with us and he will be here with us February 1st (this is also my dad’s 70 birthday and wish I could just be with him 
but hopefully soon) and we will be one happy family! Yay!
We would like you to please pray for us and especially my dearest husband David that he has all the stength from above to be able to work here in Toronto (he found a job as hairsylist at 525 Elm St at the hairsalon Istillo and he starts there Feb 3 you can reach him via email at forestdavid@yahoo.com).
Sebastien will also have a Pet CT scan on Feb 6 and I would like to invite you starting Jan 28 this coming Wednesday to pray with us again for 9 consecutive days the Novena to Christ for the intention of Sébastien’s complete healing as well as that the pet scan shows healing for Sebastien and that we can get rid of this ptld.
Thanking you from the bottom of our hearts and soul,
Love Sebastien xox David and Jasmina Forest xox
December has been just such a crazy month for us. From the transplant call to the transplant call being canceled only to find out that Sébastien’s stomach wall had thickened and needed to be treated for the next 5 months before we can have another chance for a kidney transplant. Sebastien was then being admitted at the hospital December 2nd and picked up an RSV infection and an adenovirus which gave him a major cold and diarrhea and a line infection. Top that off with Rituximab treatments – a drug used with a combination of other drugs to treat Sébastien’s stomach thickening. He also developed antibodies again but this time not against platelets but against red blood cells.
All that to say that we were just so busy trying to support Sebastien during his daily high fevers, his nighttime insomnia, the side effects of treatments, and his imense pain due to his stomach wall being thicker. Imagine trying to fit in Sébastien’s birthday party, then Christmas and New Year’s! And sometimes finishing the day and not having eaten yet! It was a busy and scarey time and as much as we would have liked to update the blog with news, sometimes we also were challenged with results taking so long to come back due to the holiday schedule in the hospital.
You would like to think Christmas and New Year’s would be times to relax and enjoy family… Well, we didn’t relax but we definitely experienced the true meaning of Christmas – attending to Sébastien’s high fever, pain, treatments, etc. Christmas and New Year’s Eve just brought us more closer together as a family and made us appreciate even more; family, life, friends and all of your support.
Thanks for always being there for us in your very own special way. We are always very grateful for your support.
Well, there are a lot of people to thank, especially during the time when Sébastien was readmitted December 2nd. We were so fortunate for Grandma and Grandpa for having been with us during that stay and their incredible support. Thanks to Uncle Roger who brought food for me every day and did tons of loads of laundry. Thanks to Linda Rumble and her family for surprising Sébastien on his birthday as he came out from his procedures and decorating Sébastien’s room with a Christmas tree and balloons! Thank you also Linda and Carolyn and Uncle Roger for the gift of your company that night. Thank-you also to Daniella and her Bella for always coming at the right time and being there for us. Thank you to Maria and Mateo who made Sébastien’s day with a surprise! Thank-you to Father Peter from the hospital for your spiritual support. Thank-you to friends and family, who either called or wrote such supportive letters. Thanks to Cleo and family and friends for always picking David up from the airport and for the food baskets that helped us out during the hospital admission. Thank-you my dear Andrea for the great advice. Thank-you to all the people that pray for Sébastien’s continual healing. Thank-you to the medical team; nurses, doctors, volunteers, cleaning personnel and hospital staff for their support. Last but not least, thank-you Jacinta and Christian, Sébastien’s wonderful godparents and our good friends, who have been a tremendous support to us and take such good care of David when he is in Winnipeg and also contribute so much to their godson’s healing… more than they ever could possibly imagine and whom we love and appreciate so dearly! We also thank everybody who contributed in their way and please forgive me if I forgot to name someone… You are appreciated so much!
Thank you more than words can ever say! You are all contributing toward Sébastien’s safe return home to Winnipeg one day, where we are looking forward to playing soccer with Sebastien! One step at a time… With your support and prayers it will be possible.
It has been a crazy week and despite all the tests investigations we want today to celebrate Sébastien’s 4th birthday. It was so touching seeing all the people come and sing “Happy Birthday” to him. Sébastien’s room was decorated by ChildLife and you should have seen how excited and special Sébastien felt! Also, Sébastien’s teacher in the hospital brought the whole class and they all sang. It was so touching!
The medical team would like to treat Sébastien’s thickening of his stomach wall with treatments for the next few months as we do not want it to get worse.
We want to ask you to keep Sébastien in your special prayers for the next few months and thank you for all your support, prayers, etc.
With love,
David Sebastien and Jasmina xoxo
I want to thank everyone who have sent e-mails and comments wondering about Sébastien and asking for the latest news. Unfortunately, my husband and I have no news from David and Jasmina. It isn’t easy to write on their behalf. We believe, from the little we know, that they are facing the challenges of submitting Sébastien to a number of tests (both last week and this week) and wish to have their privacy from close friends and well-intentioned acquaintances. To the best of our ability, we try to respect their wish. So, whether or not they have results to Sébastien’s tests, we await their call and their permission to publish it.
In the meantime, we entrust our thoughts and prayers for Sébastien to the angels that are watching over him, and know where to apply them!
Wishing you all a peaceful advent season,
Jacinta
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