Havre resident and family hopeful as cancer treatment progresses

Havre resident Eileen Viall still faces a long road of treatment and recovery in Seattle, but she is feeling optimistic and grateful for the support that her hometown community has given her, as her family and friends back in Havre hope for her to come back soon.

Viall was diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in February and went through three weeks of treatment in Great Falls before going to Seattle to receive further treatment.

Fundraisers are in the works to help the Vialls with their expenses, including an event at the Eagles Club next week and at Pizza Hut in June.

Viall and her husband, Monty, are still in Seattle and preparing themselves for Viall's stem cell transplant which has been scheduled for May 18.

Monty Viall said that they are living in the Pete Gross House in downtown Seattle. These apartments, located a half-mile from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and three miles from their hospital, provide a sterile environment for patients who need isolation after their transplant.

It's a nice apartment, Viall said, but it can be a lonely place to live because people need isolation; it is not possible to really socialize or get to know your neighbors.

Viall said their children, Josh and Amanda, are still in Havre. Since it is easy for his wife to get sick, Viall said, it is best for her to be around as few people as possible. Since his children have their jobs and lives in Havre, he added, it is best for them to keep on living in Havre.

He added that they are now preparing for the recovery after the transplant by taking classes about topics such as nutrition and sterilization.

"I am taking a caregiver class," Viall said, so he can learn how to help her during her 100-day recovery; the couple has to stay living in their sterile housing for at least 100 days in case any complications happen.

"Stem cell transfusion is Day 0," he said.

They are feeling hopeful, he added, because the stem cell donor is a perfect "10/10" match.

"(The donor) is a 23-year-old woman, same blood type as Eileen," Viall said.

"We are nervous but hopeful," he added.

Eileen Viall's family, friends and co-workers back in Havre said they are are also feeling hopeful, as well as missing her a lot, too.

Shala Viall, Mont Viall's sister-in-law who lives in Washington state and was able to recently spend the day in Seattle with Viall and her husband, said Viall is one of her favorite people.

"She is very loving, attentive and compassionate," she said, "We are always laughing."

Viall's friend Lisa Loftus echoed this sentiment.

"She is a really nice, giving person," she said.

Viall's sister, Kate Kinsella, said that since Viall was the oldest of the six siblings in their family, she was always mothering her younger siblings.

"Eileen takes care of everyone else first," she said.

Another group that misses Viall being around are the students who she served lunch to on the weekdays. For 14 years, Viall has been employed as a food worker for the Havre Public School District.

Marlyn Damson, Viall's mother, said her daughter worked at many of the schools but had been at Havre High School most of the time.

"She liked baking cookies for the kids," Damson said.

One of the students she served at the high school was her niece, Addie Kinsella.

"She was usually at the register when I went through," Kinsella said. "It is weird not seeing her every day."

Her daughter prepared a card and the students signed it and sent to her, Kate Kinsella said.

Havre High School Principal Mike Haugen said that each day he went to the cafeteria and Viall was working the ala cart table, she would have his sandwich already made and ready for him.

Haugen added that the kids love her, and the students and staff miss her and can't wait for her to come back.

Damson said it has been hard having her daughter so far away. She added that in the past, her daughter and son-in-law lived in Alaska for awhile and it was a hard adjustment.

"They couldn't afford the phone bill because we talked so much," Damson joked about all the time her daughter and she spent on the phone when they lived away from Havre.

Both mother and daughter were happy when they were able to live in the same city, she said.

Monty Viall said they are very thankful of friends who have reached out to them in Seattle and the support given to them from back home.

"We are so appreciative of everyone," he said.

"The community has been great," Kinsella said, "People have sent care packages (to Seattle)."

Until the Viall's are ready to come home, which they hope will be in plenty of time for Viall's son's wedding this fall, the family said, they are going to try to keep helping her from afar.

The Eileen Viall Benefit Dinner and Fundraiser will be held next Saturday, May 19, at 5:30 p.m. at the Havre Eagles Club. The benefit will be a free-will offering and will include a pulled pork dinner and silent auction. To donate silent auction items, people can call Sue Swan at 265-5703. There is also a Facebook page dedicated to this event, https://www.facebook.com/events/208018723127296, that can be accessed through an invite from someone attending the event.

June 14, a Pizza Hut benefit will be held, where all day long 20 percent of purchases in Viall's name will go to her.  There is also a benefit account set up at Bear Paw Credit Union under Viall's name.

The family said they hope the community will come out and help support the drag-racing and baking-loving, dedicated mom, until she is ready to leave Seattle and make her way back home

"She is being very strong and brave," Damson said.  "Her faith has helped her."