Hey,
For us in Australia our school year begins in January and ends in December, therefore this past week has seen all schools start the 2023 school year. Therefore, it has been a big two weeks in the Nowak household! With new schools, their third in three years, for Cali, Hugo and Ted, a new job for myself and recovery from Surgery for Murphy. It has been pleasing to see each of them demonstrate courage whilst still having such love and care for Murphy.
See below pictures of the kids first day of school, and at the end of this post you’ll find a video of Murphy’s dance moves post-surgery!
As a family, it is part of our routine to pray together each night before bed, Murphy prayed a prayer last Sunday night that just broke Nat and I. As we sat around before bedtime and talked about the week ahead, with Calista, Hugo and Ted starting a new school, the siblings asked Murphy to pray first. His prayer was simply this, “Dear Yord (Murphy has trouble pronouncing his L sounds), I pray for my new school, let me make friends, and let them not see that I’m sick, because I’m not sick. Amen.”
Out of the mouths of babes. Murphy doesn’t see himself as sick.
Murphy sees himself like you and I. Sure enough, he has a few extra external features that you and I don’t exhibit, such as a central line, and a Nasal Gastric Tube, but his mind and character show us that he sees himself like any other four-year-old boy. (Insert tears here last Sunday night!) Therefore, on the back of that prayer, Nat jumped into action and engaged like the caring and loving mother she is! After a couple of days and numerous phone calls later, Nat had Murphy enrolled at the local kindergarten! This was in consultation with the oncology team at the hospital because it is unprecedented that a patient like Murphy would dare to consider going to Kindy like a regular kid. The doctors were pleased with Murphy’s blood work and couldn’t see there to be too many risks involved, therefore by Wednesday this week Murphy was able to have a visit to the kindy and meet his teachers! Once again, we have been shocked by the resilience and determination of Murphy! The Kindy has been incredibly welcoming and have allowed Murphy to come and go as much or as little as he is able. This has built our faith, because we have had the privilege of still having some normalcy amidst journey that Murphy is on and sending him to kindergarten like a normal four-year-old, is preparing him for schooling, in faith and declaration for the full life he will have after this year of treatment.
A report on post-surgery recovery:
“Remarkable and unprecedented” – the words of the Head Surgeon. We are incredibly thankful but not surprised. Your prayers for Murphy have seen him return home from surgery so quickly that is has surprised many nurses and doctors! The procedure Murphy underwent was major (the scar is there to prove it) but this would not deter our young man from being active! According to doctors, Murphy should have been ‘weight bearing’ by day 4, and walking day 7. The ICU was booked for 5 days post-surgery, and they anticipated him being in hospital for 2 weeks minimum. However, Murphy, along with God’s help, had different plans. On day 2 post-surgery he asked Nat to stand up, and on day 4, he and his sister had a dance party (which only lasted 2 songs, but it filled the room with joy and a spirit of overcoming!). By day 6, post major surgery, Murphy was discharged and allowed to go home.
I have said to many people of late that God is working on the major miracle of the complete eradication of Murphy’s cancer, but He cares so much about the little things along the way. Murphy returning home to his loving family 6 days after surgery is one of those “little things” that become one of those miracles along the way.
Nat and I have had a lot of friends and family reach out to us expressing their love of Murphy and their fervent prayer. We are so humbled and blessed by the many testimonies we hear of people all around the world of who are praying at any time of the day for our Murphy. The nice reality is that when our overseas prayer warriors are storming heaven during their daylight hours, it brings a peace over our long evening hours. For those prayer warriors, we call them our night watchmen. Thank you. And to our Australian friends and family, we thank you for standing with us in prayer in the daytime hours.
Treatment ahead:
This week Murphy has several appointments on Tuesday, to prepare him for round 5 of chemotherapy on Wednesday. This will be the conclusion of the first phase of treatment. Personally, I am nervous about how sick this round of chemo will make Murphy. The combination of drugs he will be administered are the same as what he had in round 3, which if you remember was a hard cycle for him to endure. Please pray that supernaturally Murphy remains strong through this cycle, and that his body responds better (while still killing all that cancer) than it did last time, in the conclusion of this Induction phase. Please pray specifically for this.
Last week during church, one of the team shared this Bible verse; James 1: 12. As a family, we sat around and read through the whole chapter after the service, and we realised that we could go through many trials with the help of God! That conversation sustained us all this week, with each of our respective ‘tests’. May this verse encourage you, as no doubt you too are going through or have been in moments of trial and tests. Our God is a God who sees us, knows us, cares about us, weeps with us, loves us, and ultimately rewards us for our perseverance through these challenges.
James 1:12 - Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Below is a video of Murphy only a few days post-surgery. To see it, you’ll need to be on the blog website, click HERE to see it.
