Overcome with gratitude and grace - Courtney returns to school!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 1:54PM 
This morning Megan, Courtney, Liam and I gathered for a little prayer of thanksgiving and praise.
Today Courtney went back to school - and she is well! She has recovered from her surgery, the cancer is gone, and she is a happy, healthy little 11 year old girl! We are so thankful!
Our whole lives have been changed by this series of events. We have a renewed appreciation of God's gracious love and care, and such confidence in the love and grace of our friends, many family, and our local Church. Truly, we are overcome with gratitude and grace today!
It was two months ago today that our journey began (you can read the whole story as it unfolded in a series of posts here. It starts with the most recent post, so you will need go back to the first post to pick up at the start of the story) - Megan went into hospital for a surgical procedure, and on the same day Liam fell ill. It was a very stressful time for us as a family. Little did we know what would happen in the weeks to follow.
That weekend I was speaking at a conference in Johannesburg when Megan phoned me to say that Courtney's eye had swollen closed as a result of a bad cold and sinus infection. Courtney was hospitalized for the first time on Sunday the 5th of September. The next morning when they did a CAT scan to see where the swelling was, and in there was any damage to the eye, they discovered every person's worst nightmare - cancer.
The doctor called us aside and told us that they had found a 3cm growth (unrelated to the eye infection), located in the 4th cerebral ventricle. We were devastated! But the love of family and friends, the support of our Church, and the care of our doctors gave us great hope and encouragement. Our little girl spent a few days in hospital recovering from the infection and we waited for her brain surgery which eventually took place on the 23rd of September. She spent more than 3 hours in surgery. The doctor was very pleased with the procedure, but the following day he told us that what he had seen was not good news. He felt confident that Courtney's cancer was malignant and that she would need some further treatment from a pediatric oncologist. We braced ourselves for that. However, the next day he called me (while I was still in the ICU with Courtney) overjoyed to tell me that the histology had shown that Courtney had an extremely rare form of brain cancer which is completely benign! The surgery was a cure - she was free of cancer!
I cannot tell you the sense of relief and gratitude that we experienced on that day, and many times after that in the days that followed!
Well, after a few days in ICU, a couple more in the general ward, Courtney came home to recover. She had a massive surgical procedure that cut into her brain - we knew that her recovery would be slow. At first she simply slept (sometimes up to 22 hours a day), and when she was awake she was constantly vomiting. Her mood was very low. However, we prayed for her every day, encouraged her and did our best to be patient, supportive and loving. With each day that passed the pain grew less, the nausea settled and her lovely little personality returned!
This morning as we prayed together she was just like the little girl who turned 11 in August - full of fun, excited about the opportunities of the day, a wonderful daughter who loves the Lord and has a zest for life. She had a hair cut last week (just to be sure that the bit where her head was shaved was well covered for her return to school). Megan had prepared to take her to school and help her to get her bag to class and get her settled. But, when she arrived at the gate a number of Courtney's friends were waiting there to help her and welcome her in!
That makes my heart so glad!
So, first, let me say how grateful we are to all of you that prayed for us and have helped us through these trying times. We are thankful that God's love has brought us through stronger and with more faith! Second, please continue to pray for our family - we certainly need it! Please also remember Courtney in your prayers from time to time. She has some catching up to do for school work that she has missed. But more than that our heart's desire is that she will know just how precious she is to God and to us, and that her life is an immeasurable gift!
Reader Comments (2)
Upholding our families in prayer and our brothers and sisters in Christ to God is what we are called to do. And Oh what a blessing it is.
Oh what a world it will be if all would learn the lessons.
More and more I am thinking we need a new ministry called "The Ministry of Reconciliation" . The Truth and Reconciliation stopped far too short of following on. So many needy and hurting people, let us start chapter 2 through the Churches.
Blessings to you and the family.
Such a wonderful family... Many blessings to you all!!