Molly Margaret's Miracle

Hey friends! We hope you’ve had a great week. We’ve had a really sweet week. Molly Margaret has been doing really well – her appetite has been great, she’s walking a lot on her own and “chatting” a ton! The last couple of nights have been the best sleep we’ve had in a really long time, praise the Lord!

Today we’re heading up to Duke for our second rituximab infusion. The first one went well and we had no immediate adverse reactions. Please pray the same would be true today. The plan for rituximab is that we’ll have a weekly infusion four weeks in a row so after today we will have two more. Our prayer is that the rituximab will go in and help prevent a relapse in OMS but will not touch anything else in Molly Margaret’s body, leaving no long term lasting side effects. During our last rituximab infusion, our doctors came to see Molly Margaret and talk with us – they were really pleased with where she’s at and her development. Everyone is consistently blown away at her body’s response to this treatment – praise God! Truly, we know it’s only by His hand. We were reminded as we discussed the OMS treatment plan that this is a long haul. We’ll be getting these treatments for many more months and then will begin a tapering process. If everything goes exactly as planned we will be completely done in a couple of years. But for now we take it one step at a time and will not stop praising the Lord for what we’re seeing so far!

Next week is our fourth and FINAL planned round of chemo! We are already praying over the specific medicine Molly Margaret will receive. That it will get in and do its job. That this tumor will melt like wax and be gone when we go to do our next round of scans. That this will be the END of our cancer treatment. We’ll have chemo Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Our third rituximab infusion will be Friday. A long week ahead but we’re praying for a restful weekend together (& maybe some snow?!).

Specific prayer requests:

• For today’s (1/14) rituximab infusion – pray for no adverse reactions during the infusion, for MM to be able to rest some during it and for us to be able to keep her entertained!
• Pray that the rituximab would have no lasting effects in Molly Margaret’s body. That it would do its job and nothing more.
• Pray that the chemo medicine next week would cleanup any tiny cancer cell left in Molly Margaret’s body. That there would be nothing left and this tumor would disappear right before our eyes.
• Please pray for a sweet restful weekend together. That we would be able to be present and enjoy time together without feeling the heaviness of next week creeping in. Nothing will steal our joy!

We’ve been talking a lot recently about perspective. About shifting our mindset from one of lack to one of abundance. Neal recently challenged us to start reframing everything in the positive and man it makes a difference. Not the annoying silver lining pep rally type, but the real actively seeking and calling out joy type. When you start seeing things from a lens of what you have and not what you lack things shift. It doesn’t make the situation less difficult or sucky but it shifts the way you view it and then starts to shift your energy levels. Sort of like if you’re always talking about how tired you are you end up being exhausted. But if you shift your mindset and language to focus on the energy you do have, even if it’s a small amount, you suddenly aren’t as tired. Anyhow, we’re trying to be really intentional to shift to a mindset of abundance rather than lack. It’s not always easy but we’re committing to it!

As always, we are eternally grateful for your prayers and the part you’re playing in this story. The Lord is so near and we have had the beautiful privilege of watching Him work in our lives through His body. We love each of you!

• Neal, Mackenzie & Molly Margaret ❄️