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Student, 16, goes skiing on dream trip

Seth Schaller could have picked Hawaii, or even Disney, for that matter.

Instead, the Northampton Area High School junior chose Salt Lake City as his family's destination for a one-week stay.Seth, 16, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in April 2014.After being granted a dream by Dream Come True, Seth opted for the mountainous terrain of Salt Lake City due to his affinity for skiing."It sounded fun to go to a different place to ski," Seth said. "I liked it; it was lots of fun."So, Seth, along with his parents, Steven and Karen Schaller, and sister Lauren, of Danielsville, spent March 19-25 in Salt Lake City.While there, they had their choice to ski at three resorts on the mountain: Deer Valley, Park City and Canyon.Of those, the only one they did not ski at was Deer Valley."My friends have been to Park City," Seth said. "I liked Canyon resort."Seth's mother was complimentary of the trip."It was very nice," Karen said. "The mountains are unbelievable."His sister, Lauren, 13, a seventh-grader at Northampton Middle School, said she thought the trip was "pretty cool.""The idea of Utah was pretty fun," Lauren said. "I wanted to see what it was like to ski at a different resort."Seth, who also received ski equipment and clothes, said he was thankful to Dream Come True for the trip.His father, Steven, took it a step further."I think it was an awesome experience that this organization was there to help us."In March 2014, Seth experienced abdominal pain, and a small bowel obstruction was found.Seth went for surgery the end of last April for bowel obstruction. A mass was found in his small intestine, which was found to be cancerous.He received inpatient chemotherapy every three weeks, as well as some outpatient chemo.After his chemo was done, Seth went to the oncology office every month for six months.Now it is every three months, where they continue to check Seth's labs every visit, as his hemoglobin is still low, and he is on iron.He will have an echocardiogram done to check his heart routinely, as recurrence is higher in the first year.Karen said the family is thankful for the support, gifts, and trip it received from Dream Come True. She said Frank Stanek, Joe Urban and Nick Hawkey from Dream Come True helped set up the trip.Along with Dream Come True, she said the family also received support from the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley in the form of gift cards and a support person.In his spare time, Seth said he likes to hang out with his friends, go skiing, and ride dirt bike.As he looks toward the future, Seth said he would like to enter the engineering or business field.

TERRY AHNER/TIMES NEWS Seth Schaller, a junior at Northampton Area High School, recently returned home from his dream trip to Salt Lake City.