How Are You?

Well, it has been over a week since I posted an update. All has been good at the McGibbon house. Liam has not had any migraines. Praise God. Your prayers have been pouring in and we as a family are so grateful. Liam has even been eating better over the past four to five days. This is partially because he is just eating more and also because I am trying to make every mouthful count. The worship team even got to try my new brownie recipe that included spinach and blueberries! Liam ate them up and so did they! I guess I am getting sneaky in my old age!

Since Liam was diagnosed I have been asked the same question almost everyday, "How are you?" It is the type of question that is easy to answer on the surface. It the polite thing to ask people when you see them. It has become part of our cultural greeting. "Hi! How are you?" You say it to your neighbour as you see them putting out their garbage in the morning. "How are you today?", you ask the cashier in the checkout line. Often it is asked so automatically that we do not really want an honest answer we are just being polite. So that being the case most of the time we as respondents only need a surface answer. "Oh fine. How are you?"

The problem for me is that when your son has a brain tumor, people actually want to know how you are. The "How are you?" question is followed with "Really... how are you?" And people wait for a response and they are actively listening.

Although, it is such a simple question I think it is the one question that we often don't really want to be honest about. It is the type of question that we should ask everyday in our quiet time with God and yet for myself it is the question that scares me the most. To answer it with honesty requires self examination. It requires being alone with ourselves long enough to let the noise die down in our head. Maybe it is just me but at first I was a bit afraid of what the answer might be. I didn't really want to wrestle with hard questions. How did this heartbreaking situation fit with my image of Jesus? Why would God allow this to happen to Liam? I had so many questions I thought I would never find answers to them all. Here is the part that I have been learning. When I have exhausted myself in asking all the questions that I may or may not ever find answers to I realize that they all lead me back to one central question. What is my greatest fear about God?

I had a good friend who said to me recently that people usually take one of two paths when they are faced with a tough trial. They either run to Jesus or they run from him. Do I trust the word of God? Do I trust who Jesus said He was? Do I believe in God's promises? I settled those questions in my heart long ago. This situation does not change any of my answers. Circumstances will continue to change. Some will be good and well I guess right now I am experiencing the not so good but God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. And I will continue to need Jesus all of those days. So I have my answer.

So how are you?

Liam's Visit to McMaster for his Plan of Care

Today we left for a visit with Dr. Singh who talked to us about the plan of care for Liam's brain tumor. Liam had his prayer book with all of your prayers. He was reading it in the car on the way there. They are a real blessing for him. If he doesn't recognize a name he asks who it is and where they are from. He thinks it is really cool that people would pray for him even if they don't know him personally. We still have lots of room in his book so if you would like to send one just comment to this blog or send an email and I will print it out for his book. Liam also brought a bible that he wanted to give away and leave in the waiting room. Liam's prayer is that this bible will be taken by someone who needs it. The following is the note that he dictated to his Grandma Lynda for the inside.

This Bible is a gift for you

I would like to give this bible to all the sick people in the hospital, kids and parents, aunts and uncles, grandpas and grandmas. I am Liam McGibbon and I am 8 yrs old and I have a brain tumor. I want you to take it and read it because it is not just a story, it's true and it was actually way before in olden times. It is so amazing how God does things through Jesus and other people. Some things are sad parts and some are happy parts, maybe not happy to you but to the family of the person who was blind or sick or a paralyzed person. One of my favourite parts is about what a man’s friends do for him to get him to Jesus so He can heal him. You can find this story three different times. Read it in Luke 5 pg156, Mark 2 pg 90, Matthew 9 pg 24.

Please pray with Liam and our family that this bible will be a blessing to someone at the hospital who needs to hear about real hope. Liam wants to continue to bring a bible to all the waiting rooms for his appointments and tests in the future. ( We took this photo of Liam today at the hospital with his bible and prayer book)

Dr. Singh was great again with Liam today. She is recommending surgery to remove "tubby" the tumor. She explained to Liam that she thinks it needs to come out and that she is booking the surgery for October. He then went to play in their playroom while she explained to Jason and I why she feels this is the best course of action for Liam. Although the surgery is a difficult one because of the position of the tumor (the ventricle is the middle of his brain) she believes that it is better to deal with the risks of this surgery then to deal with the complications that could arise in a wait and see approach. By waiting we take the chance that the tumor could affect Liam's health making the recovery harder. We also take the chance that the tumor could begin to branch out and attach to other parts of the brain making it harder to totally remove it.

Over the next 6-8 weeks, Liam will be undergoing more investigative procedures that Dr. Singh will use to map out his brain. From what we understand they will be able to create a three dimensional map of Liam's brain. This will include all the positions of the veins and arteries and functions and they will use map to decide which approach she will use for the surgery. Please be in prayer for Dr. Singh and we ask that you continue to pray for complete healing for Liam, for wisdom for Jason and I as parents and for his brothers and sisters. We will continue to update this site and to send out email updates when we know the dates of the new tests and the surgery.

Family Camp and next steps

Well, last Sunday the McGibbon clan headed to the shores of Lake Erie and their favourite Christian camp called Ryerson. It was an incredible week with each other and with God. We were privileged to meet some other amazing families and to serve along side the Ryerson Camp staff. We took the week to look at God's simple truths in our complex realities. Worship, sessions, theme games, theme meals, swimming, archery, teen adventure, kid's cookout, parent's night out, media-faith-culture workshop, sponge wars and the list goes on and on! We had so much fun and Liam was migraine free!

Jason also had the privilege of baptizing two of our friends, Steve and Laura during our last worship service on the beach.

Praise God! It really was an amazing week!

Coming up this week, we are looking forward to our meeting with Liam's surgeon Dr. Singh on August 7th. She has reviewed Liam's MRI with some colleagues and she will be presenting us with the plan for Liam's care. We will update this blog and send out an email as soon as we know. Thank-you again for all our prayers.

On Saturday July 13th, Liam started another one of his migraines. This one came on with no warning to us, his parents. Within about five minutes of him telling us, he was being sick to his stomach in the bathroom. The migraines are getting more frequent and more intense. This is hard for us to watch Liam struggle through. Within an hour he was exhausted and sleeping. We thought the worst was over because usually after he is sick to his stomach he sleeps and he gets better. Unfortunately, this was not the case this time. After a sleepless night I took Liam to Emergency at 8:30 am the next morning. It was decided after much discussion that a doctor would see us and he would make the decision whether or not Liam should be transferred to McMaster Children's hospital. Right after we were shown into a room an ambulance arrived with people from a car accident. We then had to wait for the doctor to look after those patients first. Liam was lying face down on the hospital bed. He was in so much pain that he no longer really responded when I talked to him. I was praying that God would send the doctor quickly and that they would be able to give Liam something. At this point he had not been able to keep anything down since the day before and I was getting worried that he was dehydrated. I opened my bible to Matthew 8.

"When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord,"

he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus said to him,

"I will go and heal him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come

under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a

man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that

one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

I read the whole chapter but the faith of centurion stirred in my heart. I closed my bible and began to pray. "Lord" I said. "I am changing my prayer." "If you choose you can say the word and Liam will not feel sick anymore. I know that if you could heal the servant of the centurion then you can choose to heal Liam now. " "We don't need the doctor we need you Lord." "Please help him. " Almost as soon as I finished praying, Liam turned over and propped himself up on his elbows. " What time is it?" he asked. "It is 10:03am." " Oh no...I am missing the kid's song." (we start each Sunday service with a kid's song) he cried. After telling him that it was okay, I asked him how he was feeling. He said his sight was blurry but his head did not hurt as much. From that moment on he steadily got better. By the time the doctor came in he was fully recovered and the doctor released him. All he wanted to do was go to church. I tried to take him home and get him to lie down but in the end we arrived just in time for a picnic that we were having at church. God is good.

Update for Liam

Below is the update for Liam that we sent out this week.



Hey everyone,

A quick update on Liam:

God has been so good! We have already been in to have Liam’s MRI (they had a cancellation last Friday that we were able to squeeze into while on the way to get the other kids from camp!). We managed to get into the specialist and have his MRI all in the same week!

The surgeon called Monday and confirmed again some of the good news from our last meeting: It is not cancer and it is not currently putting any pressure on his brain.
We also learned that it is not vascular but is a low grade growth. Based on its position, shape and Liam’s age this is apparently a very unusual case, and not at all typical. The doctor will be spending the next two weeks consulting with numerous colleagues and preparing a plan to present to us. Based on our conversation it sounds like there is a good possibility that either a biopsy or surgery to remove it will be required. Your continued prayers for Liam’s health would be very much appreciated. We have been printing out the prayer responses and putting them in a book for Liam. This is a special book that he can take to future appointments, treatments etc. Please know that all of your prayers have been an amazing witness to Liam, about the body of Christ. He is excited to see each and every one.

Request for Prayers for Liam

I have had some requests to put our request for prayer for Liam up on my blog where people can find it. Below is what we sent out last week. One of the questions that we have had is how old is Liam. Liam is 8 years old and will be starting grade 3 in the fall. I will try to put regular updates on this blog as well. If you would like to receive our emails just let me know.

Also please pass on this blog or our email to any people that will pray for Liam. We are making a prayer book for Liam with any reponses and prayers that are sent for him. He will be able to take this book to his future appointments, treatments etc. Thank-you for all of your prayers.


Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to share a personal prayer request for my son Liam. Liam has been suffering from migraine headaches for a number of months now, and a few weeks ago a bad migraine at school led us to take him to the emergency room at the hospital. The doctors sent us for a precautionary CAT scan. Last Thursday we had a follow up exam in which we were informed that Liam has a calcified mass in the right lateral ventricle of his brain. We have already seen the Lord at work, through a family member, who was able to arrange for Liam to have an appointment with a top specialist the very next week. That appointment was yesterday and we received some positive news regarding the immediate future. The doctor confirmed that the tumor is not cancerous, and that it is not at present putting pressure on his brain or on blood flow and is thus not an immediate threat. We are certainly thankful and giving praise that we have a temporary respite.
Liam will be having an MRI scan done in the next few weeks to help us get a better understanding of the exact nature of the tumor. Based on what the scan reveals, we will be determining the next steps to best deal with the tumor. There are a number of possibilities as to what the mass may be, some of which can be treated non-surgically. It could also be a tumor that has stopped growing, and not a threat to Liam’s health in which case we would just have to have it monitored over the next few years to ensure it does not become a problem. There is still the possibility, however, that a very difficult surgery will be required in order to remove the tumor which is right in the middle of his brain.

We would ask that if you are the praying type, you would consider joining us in praying over these next few weeks or months as we seek to determine the next steps. We would also ask that you pray for whatever opportunities God has in mind as we go through these next weeks. We have really been challenged to not dwell on the “why” questions but rather focus on the “what” and “how” questions. Reflecting on Romans 8:28 which reminds us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” we are asking that God would open our eyes and hearts to how He is going to use this for good and what He might do in and through this situation and in and through us. I have attached a picture of Liam and welcome you to print it out to use as a prayer reminder. Feel free to also pass this request along to anyone you know who might be willing to pray.

If you are not the praying type, I think that Liam would ask “why not?” (He doesn’t often miss the opportunity to ask spiritual questionsJ).

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family and supporters to walk with us. We give thanks for all the support that you have and continue to provide our family, our church and all that God is doing here in Milton.

If you have the opportunity to ask Liam about the situation feel free. The doctor did an amazing job of sharing with him and of showing and explaining the cool pictures of his brain! He has since nick named the mass “tubby the tumor”, so feel free to ask him about it.

Blessings,


The McGibbon Family

Breathe

There are moments in your life when it takes everything you have just to continue to breathe. As I sat in the office of my son's pediatrician last week I had one of those moments. Life does that to you. One minute you are fine and then in an instant you are in the midst of full blown gale. A storm that is so huge you have no idea where you are. As the doctor repeated the words "We found a mass in Liam's brain. He needs to see neurosurgeon," it seemed as if all the air was sucked out of the room and walls around me began to spin out of control. I was trying desperately to concentrate on the words that the doctor was saying but I felt like the room had gone so cold that I could no longer get any air into my lungs. I have no idea if my prayer to Jesus was audible and I know that my mind could not have formed anything other than to call His name but I became conscious of His presence. The room was still spinning but a warmth was beginning to return. The thoughts just breathe started to run through my head. Just breathe. God knew this was coming. He was not surprised, or shocked, or out of control. He has got this. I need to just breathe. Scripture began to flood my heart and my lungs were able to expand. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." John 14: 26-27

I don't think that there has ever been any other time other then when I first realized that Jesus is who He says He is, that I have ever been so thankful that God made a way through His Son back to himself. I also have never been so aware of the power of Jesus in contrast with absence of my own. As His peace began to sink in amongst the chaos in the room I felt it permeate my thoughts. His strength carried me to the door to open the handle and smile at my son in the waiting room. "Come on buddy." I heard my own voice say. "Let's go home."

In the week since this time, we have seen God's hand in many moments. Through my sister-in-law we were able to get into see a top pediatric neurosurgeon. We were able to get Liam in for an MRI a few days after that even though they told us it might be a month. Finally, the initial news from the neurosurgeon has been mostly positive. They think we found the mass accidentally and that they are not related to Liam 's migraines, there is no evidence of cancer or pressure on the brain from the mass and it is slow growing because it is calcified. All of these things have God's fingerprints all over them.

There has been so much to thank God for in the past week that I would have to use up several posts but he has been with us for every breath, every step and every moment. Liam knows about the mass and has nick named it "Tubby the tumor", he has been so excited to read about all of the people that are praying for him. We are printing out all of the prayers that come over email and putting them in a book to take to future appointments. We are praying for healing for Liam. There are several things that the mass could be. Some do not require surgery but some would require surgery which we have been told because of the location of the mass would be difficult.

If you would like to be on our email list for Liam updates just send me your email. If you are praying for Liam please let me know so we can put your name and message in his book.

Please join us in praying for Liam. Pray that all of our family would continue to trust in Jesus for all of our needs. Pray to Yahweh Rolfe (Yahweh our Healer) in the name of Jesus that Liam would be healed.