It has been a couple of big weeks since that remarkable result of ONE! Praise God for bringing Murphy’s CURIE score from 27, to 1. When I reflect on that incredible result, I cannot help but give God all credit! Nat and I have been filled with Joy that Murphy has one cancerous site left! This journey hasn’t felt short, in fact it’s been, 51 long weeks of treatment that has brought us to this point. Now, as I write I reflect on where it started, it was this exact day last year that Nat took Murphy to the Sunshine Coast Hospital. Murphy was presenting some odd symptoms at home after a recent bout of Gastro and Nat had taken him to the GP therefore when things still were not right Nat took him in to get checked over again at the hospital, and kept hearing this phrase:
“He has a virus, take him home and rest him up”.
What if we just left it there?!
Another 3-emergency department visits later, a doctor ran tests and discovered a Mass near his Adrenal gland. This shocking discovery was like a tsunami that wreaked havoc for our entire family and changed the course of our lives instantly.
Through the storms we have felt immense God-given peace, comfort, and calm in seemingly devastating circumstances. There have been some hard waves that felt like they went on forever, while others were great waves of fun and many moments of joy and exhilaration. 2 weeks ago receiving the news of a score of 1 was a great wave of relief for us all, but this wave crashed a little too soon, unfortunately; as we have spent the past two weeks in and out of hospital trying to get Murphy’s body ready for round two of immunotherapy. I’ll share shortly what we’ve encountered with Murphy’s current treatment delay. However; I have to share a childhood memory which ties in nicely with this blog’s metaphor, and that is of a place called “Boomers Beach”. As a young kid I was fortunate enough to live just one hours drive away to the South of Adelaide and from a beach, (Boomers Beach) which had unique waves. This is a beach where you don’t need a bodyboard or surfboard, you just need courage! When you swim into chest deep water, huge waves form and begin to break, and you swim as hard towards the shore and extend one arm, in the hope of eventually reaching safety. Courage kicks in because the waves don’t normally break, they collapse all around you and put your body into a washing machine like spin of white water and huge swirl! The waves make a unique sound, like that of a boom, hence the name of the beach! And it is this parallel I make to these past two weeks. Nat and I were riding a huge and fun wave of a great and miraculous result, of which lasted two days before getting back Murphy’s alarming kidney function scores.
Satan wasn’t pleased with Murphy’s miraculous healing; therefore, he came to steal our joy, and pretty quickly it would seem, but Nat and I made a choice, that despite the circumstances Satan will not win, we choose to celebrate Gods Miracle, and like when you are at Boomers Beach you might get knocked about in the bad waves sometimes, but you pull yourself up, start swimming back out and ride the next wave. You just keep swimming.
Murphy’s Kidneys have acute damage. These vital organs are tired, and after such heavy doses of chemotherapy they’re presenting with some signs of Injury and struggle. As of last week he is now under the care of the Renal team as well as the Oncology department. Murphy has spent many unplanned nights in hospital these past few weeks because his blood pressure has risen because of the kidneys not working as they should, and some other symptoms have presented. To top that off, Murphy’s body caught an infection with extremely high fevers (40degrees C/105 F) over the past few days and is currently admitted until they can see an improvement. What makes this news about the kidneys hit harder is the fact that kidney function is vital for future treatment. So much so, that the team has paused all Cancer fighting treatment (Immunotherapy) until they see the kidneys improve. What that means is that Murphy is not receiving any active cancer treatment currently, which is a difficult thought to process after feeling like we were riding the wave of miraculous success. Please pray that his Kidney function is supernaturally restored and begins to work normally!
“Pivot” is a word we have used as a family many times in the past year, and this past fortnight has asked our family to pivot yet again. Plans are now held onto lightly; commitments are made with hesitation and Nat and I live in a state of readiness to pivot with the needs of Murphy and our family. I do need to pause and thank our beautiful children for accepting these pivots in life, as well as the family and friends that God has blessed us with who walk this journey alongside us! Thank God for mums! Both Nat’s mum and mine have gone above and beyond daily! And thank God for the friends near and far! We received a parcel from some friends abroad who shipped over a box of goodies for our boy to play and create with and it’s those thoughtful ideas and from generosity of people that blesses us so much.
Nat and I choose to look at the positives through this, rather than get weighed down on the sometimes-impossible tasks that lie ahead. 3 weeks ago, Nat and I didn’t think twice about kidneys, but then after learning a LOT about these two unsung hero’s in our bodies we are cheering that Murphy doesn’t have TMA, a condition that can be a result of past stem cell transplants. We waited days and days for this result, but to be cleared of this condition meant we can live in hope that treatment can continue in a few weeks and not MONTHS! If Murphy had TMA, which they suspected he might have, all treatment would have ceased until they can correct the kidneys – something that could have taken 6 months or more.
Can you please pray for Murphy’s organs, and that he can be ready for Immunotherapy to begin again on the 25th of September!
To wrap up this post I need to share how every day at Boomers Beach ends. After a day of being tossed around in the surf like a rag doll, beaten and bruised, you get to your car and lean forward. With a head hanging low, water begins to pour out of your nose like a tap has turned on a hose! … I look ahead and can’t wait for when Murphy will be cancer free and we can look back on all of the good waves and hard waves and give God all the glory for the healing that our Boy received and for all He has done.
