Weather and time zones are discussion points which are arbitrary for most of our lives, yet consume so much conversation. Imagine meeting someone and not mentioning the heat if it’s a 110 degree day (40 degrees celsius), or imagine having a phone call with someone overseas and not mentioning the time difference. Hard to imagine, right? Nat and I have even been enjoying the Fox Weather channel, and some nights we sit on the couch and allow ourselves to be immersed in this TV channel for over an hour! The presenters are a pure joy to watch, as they take the weather so seriously, even though it has been a mild day with no real serious weather to note. I love the way these presenters can make a puddle of water feel like there’s been a highly unusual weather pattern that in a freak act of mother nature precipitation took place without authorities knowing it!... Weather and time. How does it consume us so much?I guess it's a common ground for all of us and something we all experience. Well, what Nat and I have come to realize is that cancer is something now that resonates with nearly everyone, as in most of us at some point in our lives knows someone who has battled cancer. A lot of conversations we are having with people we meet turn from us introducing ourselves and why we’re in Charlotte, to a line such as, “oh, my mother had…” or “I know of someone from work who had…” So I guess in some ways, cancer is like weather and time, it's something that at a certain point in time has impacted us all.
Cancer is intrusive, it doesn’t discriminate, it pervades through every class, nation and people group. In its simplest definition, it’s an uncontrolled division of cells, yet our experience for the Nowak family has been that even though it might divide cells within a single body, it unified a family, it pulled in a community of loving and trusted people and it bound together bonds and relationships which will never be separated.
Genesis 50:20 (AMP) “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].”
What Satan meant to do to bring harm, God uses for the benefit of His people to show His goodness, His healing power and give us Hope.
Murphy, and the rest of our family, are doing so well. Summer break is in full flight and we’ve had a mixed bag of experiences. Here are a few:
Family and friends visit from Australia and Atlanta
Trip to Washington D.C.
Summer camps for Calista, Hugo and Teddy
Family trips to the neighborhood pool
Birthday parties with neighbours
Father’s Day celebrations
Medically, Murphy has been responding well to the reduced dosage of DFMO. This seems to be the right level for his body to feel ok, but for full effectiveness of the medication to still take effect. 2 weeks ago Murphy went in for surgery to remove his NG tube and replace it with a G tube. This short procedure has been the biggest gift to our boy. He now can jump in the pool without a 30cm tube dangling from his nose, or go out in public and have kids stare at him with looks of, “what is that weird thing on that boy’s nose”, Murphy has his “whole face back” (his words), and it’s a beautiful sight to see. After nearly 2 years of having a tube, I have found myself stare at him and smile, thinking of how handsome our boy is! Murphy has overcome a lot, and this is yet another little thing of normality back into his life.
For those who think I’ve made a typo, the G Tube is a smaller tube that allows direct access into Murphy’s stomach, rather than a longer tube that goes from the stomach, up through the nose. The G Tube stays in place with a small balloon that is inflated on the inside of the device which means it won’t fall out. Allowing Murphy to live the fun, active lifestyle he wants to, including joining a Basketball team for the first time, when the season starts in November! The outside of the tube has a button type port which means we can give medication and other things if need be. The only abnormality to this surgery was that the surgeon needed to create a few separate incision sites to help put in the tube, as Murphy had so much scar tissue from his surgery last year that the surgeon needed to make extra incisions to go into his stomach and clear up that scar tissue. What a crazy world of modern medicine we live in! Praise God for giving us humans the brains to develop and deliver these procedures!
Moving ahead with treatment, Murphy will now have regular check ups and bloods taken, but with all things considered, he will be able to start school at the beginning of the USA school year in August! Praise God!
Thank you for helping by prayer and provision for our family to be here receiving this treatment and see the many blessings God has for our children.
Remember this, satan wants to hurt us and divide us (inside and out), but God can do His miraculous work and restore both bodies and people.
Here’s a snapshot of our summer adventures…
