Boy who dreams of swimming with dolphins may just do it

In the midst of cancer treatments, daydreaming can ease stress and anxiety while drifting off into thoughts of a happy place.

Will Tevik, an 11-year-old Elk River boy who was diagnosed with lymphoma on Aug. 22 of last year, has been able to do one better.

He dreams about activities he might actually be able to do someday, thanks to Make-A-Wish of Minnesota. The Ryan and Annie Tevik family has been awarded a trip to Hawaii that they will take this winter.

Will found out on a scavenger hunt orchestrated by Shonna Gacke and Ella Wiliams that he and his family will be granted their top choice, which likely will afford the Twin Lakes Elementary School student a chance to swim with dolphins and hunt for items along the beaches he visits. The two local volunteers for Make-A-Wish of Minnesota continue to communicate with the Teviks to brighten their day.

“He loved the whole hunt, but he really loved it when he got a shark tooth (while standing out front of the Magic Mushrooms in the Crystal Garden),” said Annie Tevik, Will’s mom. “The women from Make-A-Wish were the magic makers.”

Devastating blow

Last year at this time the Teviks were just digesting Will’s diagnosis of Anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and one of the subtypes of T-cell lymphoma. About 1 % of lymphoma patients get this type, Annie Tevik said.

Will had been at the cabin one Sunday in August enjoying what was left of his summer break when his mom caught a glimpse of his neck from just the right angle. She could see a lump. She questioned him about it, and got the kind of answers you would expect from an 11-year-old boy. He said he was feeling fine, so she didn’t panic.

But she took him to the doctor that Tuesday when he got back home, and that touched off a whirlwind of tests, starting with an ultrasound — that night. “The ultrasound was inconclusive,” Annie recalled.

Next up was a CT scan and blood work — now. Blood work came back normal. CT scan came back inconclusive. Then it was off to an appointment with a hematologist. This doctor was also puzzled, but his question was more about what type of lymphoma. When he relayed that news, Ryan and Annie were shocked.

“There’s no way,” Annie remembers her husband saying. “I thought the same thing.”

The whirlwind would continue right up to the start of school as there were biopsies, including a bone marrow biopsy, spinal taps and the mass was removed. Will made it to school and on the first day of school and the next day he went in for his first six-day stint of in-patient cancer treatments.

“They didn’t waste any time,” Annie recalled. “I can’t thank them enough for not letting us wait and pushing things off. It was overwhelming and shocking but at least it was fast. You didn’t have to wait and wonder.”

Will lost his grandmother to pancreatic cancer when he was about 5 or 6 years old, and he knew the stakes were high.

The folks at Children’s Minnesota lined up the Make-A-Wish application.

Will’s last treatment was around Christmas, and he went through six rounds of treatment with each lasting 21 days. He would be hospitalized for the first six days of each treatment.

“And then when he went home he would stay home one day, and refuse to take any pills, including anti-nausea medicine.

“Mom, I need to go back to school,” he would plead each time.

Staying up to speed and connected to his school community was vital to Will.

“He would do Google Meets at the hospital,” Annie Tevik said. “The teachers were amazing. On field trips, they would bring him with (through FaceTime) on their phones.”

Will is an inquisitive and bright kid. Whenever he goes somewhere with the family, he loves to scavenge the beach.

“He will always find different trinkets or different rocks,” Annie said. “He loves animals and oceans.”

And he dreams big.

“When we were talking about possible trips, he said he wanted to go to Scotland,” she said, “because they have castles and all that history.”

When the family spent time in Chicago on a vacation, he would spend an entire day at individual museums.

Silver liningsWhen he got the news of cancer, it scared him to death.

His first thought was he’s going to die, his mom recalled. She also noted he wasn’t talkative at doctor’s office visits, but you could tell he had absorbed it all in conversations afterward.

Will and his brother Alexzander have gotten closer. They still have brotherly issues, but mom says their perspectives have changed and they have given thought to life without your brother.

Surprising to doctors, he never had to have a transfusion.

“They were actually shocked when we were done with treatment in January,” Annie said. “They were surprised he didn’t have any reactions, and his counts never got too low, he never got sick, even though he went to school and he refused to wear a mask because he didn’t want to feel different.”

His classmates knew he had cancer, and they were all really supportive, Annie said. Will once commented about kids at school he didn’t even know coming up to him offering words of encouragement.

The Teviks work hard to stay positive, and try to find good in every day. And when it’s hard to do that, there’s always time to daydream about things such a swimming with dolphins or spending time with his family doing the things he loves.

Tevik is considered cancer free at this time. He had a CT scan on July 18, and he will need to have one every three months along with blood work. He will have to have echocardiograms for the rest of life because one of the chemo meds could possibly enlarge his heart. There are other possible side effects from the treatments.

Right now, Will is focused on getting ready for school. The family is looking forward to taking part in their first Walk For Wishes on Sept. 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Viking Lakes, 2685 Vikings Circle, in Eagan. Participants are welcome to walk, roll in a wheelchair, jog or run. Will will most likely be scavenging for new discoveries. He’ll be doing the same on his trip to Hawaii this winter.

Walk for Wishes

Walk For Wishes is a community celebration for the more than 6,500 local wishes that have already been granted. It’s a family-friendly festival with kids’ games, and activities where families, friends, corporations, volunteers, clubs and schools walk together and raise funds to grant wishes for children facing critical illnesses throughout MinnesotaFor more information, visit: https://shorturl.at/JIGEM.