Glory to God!
Q: What’s my favourite ‘R’ word?
A: Remission! Until this point, my favourite R word (well, 3) would have to be the Rasa Ria Resort (Where Nat and I got married) but now I can confirm Remission is at the top of my R word list!
Q: What was the result?
A: Yesterday Murphy had a PET scan, which is the gold standard of solid cancer scans, to which he presented with NO disease present, a completely clear scan, therefore he has been declared in REMISSION No. More. Cancer.
Q: How did it feel?
A: Yesterday felt different, for all of us. Murphy woke up smiling, excited to run into the scan! Sometimes we need to take Murphy’s lead on how we approach life – running into the unknown with great hope and expectation of what the outcome will be! Within Christianity, we call that ‘faith’. Murphy has a deep well of faith that has been dug through the long enduring hard times.
Q: Was God late?
A: God is a God of waiting, but also a God of suddenly! Yesterday was a ‘suddenly’. It has been a while, 17 long months of treatment, many scans later, to finally get the result we have been hoping for! God rarely makes things happen quickly, but suddenly! In a matter of days He made the world, but then it took a nation 40 years to learn from their mistakes and finally arrive at their promise! Waiting, then suddenly. God isn’t late, He’s on His time, not ours.
Q: Are you relieved?
A: Heck yeah! Now please pause and stop for a moment to reflect on what it has taken to get to this point! If you have the time, go back to the early blog entries and soak in the intensity of treatment which Murphy’s four-year-old body endured! Now realise that it’s all over. And for that reason, we need to work to ensure that this insidious disease does NOT come back.
Q: This question has come up in many texts today, “Do you need to move to America still?”
Answer: YES. The DFMO clinical trial is specifically designed to reduce the risk of relapse! Because what we know is that if the cancer returns, it will take significant work to remove it again, with a chance that Murphy’s body won’t have the ability to fight as hard and treatment options to do so are not available for him here in Australia.
Q: What about Murphy, how is he going?
A: Stronger than ever. Our boy 18 months ago was lifeless, sick, hurting and unable to have sustained joy. Today he has been joy filled and running everywhere!
Q: What about the ‘spot’ in the CT scan 3 weeks ago?
A: In the PET scan, the scan that supersedes the CT scan, Murphy was declared in remission! Say no more. God is Miraculous. The PET scan showed nothing yesterday. It is ALL clear.
Q: Who are we thankful for?
A: Firstly, God. God is our healer, provider, rescuer, protector… I could go on and on! Following God, on a more human level, would be the faithful prayer warriors! This army of faith filled prayers did not cease! Every hour, of every day, across the world, our boy was being lifted in prayer. THANK YOU. Nat and I are so thankful for the family, friends, and wider community of support, both practical and emotional support, thank you.
Q: What’s today’s Bible verse?
A: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Q: How can you help?
A: Rejoice, give thanks to God, and keep praying! Very soon our family must relocate countries for Murphy’s medical trial in Pennsylvania USA. If you click on the ‘support us’ link, you’ll see how our GoFundMe is going. But more than finance, pray for our children, all of them! Pray that we can find the right place to stay for our family, pray for families in the city we move to that there are friends for our kids, pray for opportunities to share this message of the hope and joy in God’s healing process, and pray for Murphy’s body to keep away Neuroblastoma forever.
Q: Daniel, what words do you want to finish with?
A: “I have no words.” This phrase keeps being repeated in my mind of late. When we received donations, I have no words to say of people selfless giving. When God blesses us with a cancer-free-miracle-gifted-Murphy, I have no words.
Q: Why is Vegemite so good?
A: It just is.
What I do know today is that Murphy is free from cancer. We are simply enjoying today, and allow tomorrow’s stresses to remain there, for now, today is enough.