Firstly, thank you again and again for your incredible support and love. I was praying the other day for you and that God blesses you in amazing ways. And I also asked God to bless you in sneaky ways, ways that you canât see or know, but they are blessings from God. This cancer journey for our boy, Murphy, has seen blessing upon blessing, and this past school holiday break saw some huge wins. Let me share them with you. Also get your glasses ready as Iâve got a heap of cute pictures to share too!
Blessings.
Murphy has had an amazing two weeks since his last immunotherapy round. He has been full of joy and determined to get through these next stages of treatment! Within the past two weeks of school holidays Murphy has been to the movies with family, played at family and friendsâ houses and travelled interstate on a holiday!
As a birthday present, I took our 11y.o boy, Hugo, on a road trip to Melbourne, and then Nat, Ted and Murphy flew over 2 days after we arrived. The 4 days contained so much fun, laughter and play! But the most affirming part of this trip happened even before we left⌠Nat sat down with Murphyâs oncologist and asked if Murphy was ok to fly. The doctor was a little shocked with this question because she has been so accustomed with families ceasing ânormalâ life and family adventures because a family member has cancer. The oncologist smiled back at Nat and said, âitâs so refreshing to see you and your family keep pressing on and doing normal things.â
Coincidently our Melbourne getaway coincided with the 2023 Melbourne Marathon đââď¸ This race was a personal goal for me this year because I was so inspired by Murphyâs strength, resilience and determination and I needed to do something challenging. I didnât get the time I wanted too, but as my 3 boys ran to me at the finish line and hugged me I knew they didnât care what time I received, they were simply inspired by the accomplishment of their dad running 42kms. This race meant so much to me, and for the first few miles of the race I struggled to compose myself as I was overcome with emotion thinking about the countless times Murphy has done his own version of a marathon.
Another amazing blessing has been for Nat to accompany our 12yo beautiful daughter on a National Dance Competition trip to the Sunshine Coast. This brief trip was a wonderful time for both Nat and Calista, but also saw Calistaâs dance team win and become national age champions for Musical Theatre! God is covering and protecting our children even during hard times of life â the sneaky blessings are beyond measure!
Prayer Points.
1. Cancer gone. It almost feels draining writing that, again, but after everything there is still cancer in Murphyâs liver. Therefore, our first prayer point is that this insidious disease is FULLY removed from Murphyâs body FOREVER.
2. Kidneys. We have been told Murphy has acute kidney failure because of treatment. Drs have told us that once he beats the active cancer, he will have to battle kidney disease long term which will impact his life greatly (as shared in last monthâs blog), and his ability for future treatment. We believe this is an outright attack on Murphyâs future and God given destiny! Every round of immunotherapy (Murphy has 4 rounds to go) can damage the kidneys further but is the only option to kill the cancer.
3. Blood Pressure. This is a result of poor kidney function, and even though the medical team has this âunder controlâ, Murphy needs daily medication to prevent him from being hospitalised with high blood pressure. Can you pray that God naturally heals this and enables Murphy to cease using another medication.
4. Murphyâs Spirit. If youâve ever had the joy of meeting Murphy in person, you would have noticed his joyful spirit. He has spunk in spades! Yes, he gets close to the line of being told off at times, but itâs pretty hard to discipline our boy when heâs been through hell and still has a cheeky grin plastered on his face! Can you please pray that his spirit doesnât get effected after all this treatment.
Action.
đ Nat and I would love you to partner with us in prayer, beginning tomorrow (October 18th). We believe the ultimate victory of Murphy being in remission is very close, but the battle ahead is great, and prayer is our greatest weapon!
Hereâs the plan: 40 days, 5 minutes of prayer a day and a full fast every Wednesday (in what capacity you can manage). We know there is power in prayer and in numbers of faithful people gathered!
Detail.
During the next 40 days Murphy will have:
¡ Rounds 3 and 4 of Immunotherapy. In round 2 they reduced his intake to half the dose, but theyâre wanting to increase that gradually over the next couple of rounds. Pray that Murphyâs body can tolerate the increase in toxicity.
¡ GFR kidney function test (we want a score between 60-100. He is currently at 53).
Creatnine levels. This is a waste product of the kidneys when they process creatine. 40 is what we are hoping for. This is the kidney function level number Murphy needs to be at to have adequate function and qualify for life saving clinical trials after the immunotherapy is completed and he is in remission to prevent relapse. He is currently at 68. We are believing this will go down to 40.
¡ On 14th November Murphy will have an abdominal scan, chest scan and pelvis assessment. We are believing he will be clear and no new cancer.
¡ MIBG scan on 18th of November. This is the significant scan that I have mentioned in many posts, as this is the one true scan which indicates how much active cancer is in Murphyâs body. We are believing for the last tumour in the liver to be gone, and that he will score 0. This score is out of a maximum of 30, and God has gradually carried Murphy through having Murphyâs body 90% full of cancer with a score of 27/30, to 33%, to 20%, and now on 3%, with Murphy scoring only a 1/30 in the last scan.
This IS Godâs plan for Murphy: a LONG and FULL life, a JOYFUL life, and a HEALTHY life. This is what we are specifically believing for over the next 40 days!
Weâd love you to partner with us and share with us any stories, revelations, and testimony of breakthrough you have during this time. Email us and stay up to date at
danieljamesnowak89@gmail.com or reply to the email post updates through www.Murphysmiracle.com
Thank you for your faithful prayer!
Love Dan & Nat
Hebrews 12:1b says, ââŚlet us run with endurance the race that is set before usâ.
Happy running, youâre in good company.