Good days and not so good days.
When you think Murphy’s looking healthier and improving, you get hit with something new. Saturday night we were back into hospital with a fever, (Any infection for Murphy’s body will be too much for his body to fight). Therefore, any temperature reading that’s over 38 degrees gets Murphy a ticket straight into hospital! Murphy had gone to sleep well, after a day of playing, going for walks along the Brisbane River in his pram, and eating crackers and hummus, Murphy struck a high temperature. Within 20 minutes we were in the ED being seen by the doctor. After a whole blood and platelet transfusion, and a round of medication and antibiotics, his energy levels rose on Sunday. We are learning to ride the waves of the not so good days, along with the good days. It’s a pity some days the hard waves feel a LOT bigger and longer than the waves of the good days.
There are a multitude of encouraging passages of scripture which direct us to look to God through trials. Within the 7000 promises that the Bible give you and I, the one that stands out is that we CAN and WILL go through the valleys of life. My favorite word in Psalm 23 is ‘Through’. It doesn’t say ‘remain’, or ‘stay’, or ‘slow down’, it simply says that we walk THROUGH valleys! God, we praise You for guiding us THROUGH valleys (the tough days).
Here’s proof they’re not all bad! A good day last week was on Thursday when Murphy didn’t need sedation to have a dressing change on his central line! Murphy sat on Nat’s lap and let it happen without a huge battle; he’s been known to kick and scream when changing dressings! Moments such as this make Nat excited! Please God, may there be many more victories like this.
Update on Murphy’s procedure this week:
Either today or tomorrow (1/11) will see an extraction of Murphy’s stem cells for a bone marrow transplant, because he will need that bone marrow for when he has even higher doses of chemotherapy in phase two of treatment in 2023. The extraction can only take place when Murphy’s body is ready to handle it, and that requires a precise reading of several factors. Please pray that it is possible to undergo this procedure this week, because after this week, the doctor seems to think it is unlikely his bone marrow will be of any use to harvest following this current round of chemotherapy.
The harvesting procedure will take 4-5 hours, and Murphy is required to stay still for this procedure… yes, you read that correctly, Murphy must stay still! For those of you who know Murphy, know that this will be the hardest part of his treatment! It will be on this day, and during this procedure, where many parental promises are made, to bribe him (oh, and I forgot to mention he cannot be sedated for this procedure, hence my concern for Murphy remaining still!). Who knows what will be on the bribe list: food, Happy Meals, Tech Decks, Lego!
· Pray that the procedure can happen. For the perfect levels of his blood and other related factors – we’re desperate for this procedure to take place this week – because we get one shot to harvest!
· Pray for Murphy to be comfortable during the 5 hour procedure
Thank you for your ongoing love, care and support of Murphy and our family.
