Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. 

We are beyond grateful for your generosity thus far and utterly overwhelmed by everybody's kindness to our family.

Damian is undergoing scans- he did an MRI today, and a PET and CT tomorrow. He is feeling very fatigued everyday, but he is a champ- pushing through his treatments, staying on course. 

We are praying for good news. We ask for your prayers to cover Damian with healing and our family with strength and courage. 

 Thank you

Joyce

Below is a recent photo of Damian and our 7yr old having a father-son lunch. 

The last 2 weeks have been very challenging. Damians oncologist told me 2 Sundays ago that the brain swelling was extensive and had crossed the midline and that he would die within a few days if the swelling doesn't go down.

Damian was progressively deteriorating within two days - he was shaking, extremely fatigued, his vision was blurry, and he struggled to pick up a cup. He was lying down most of the time in bed, unable to get up, very dizzy and woozy.

I really thought he was on his last legs. I felt that his life force was very weak. Our priest came to give him the Last Rites. The palliative care team was ordered to come in.

 We stepped up the his treatments and I took him to have hyperthermia, hydrogen inhalation and photodynamic therapy, frequency treatments. And continued patching him.

We monitored his BP and heart rate and pupils to track the intracranial pressure everyday. I was told to take him to hospital if there was uncontrollable vomiting or seizures.

He had an almost miraculous turnaround on the 3rd day . He is walking, the shakiness in his hands are improved, more finger dexterity. The extreme wooziness is slightly better . He's been able to go to church, go out for lunch and a birthday dinner.

What we could deduce from the MRI is that there is extensive swelling. But also that the tumour itself has many dark spots within it which could mean it is trying to liquify , hollow out, break down- and the breaking down of the tumour (which is what we want) is also causing the edema. The immune cells are going to the tumour site to try to break it down, and in doing so, causing more inflammation.

The edema is extensive - most of it concentrated in the right hemisphere, but it has crossed the midline. This is causing intracranial pressure, and could potentially cause brain stem herniation, where the liquid pushes the brain stem out of shape, whereby the body system will shut down. The pupils would dilate unevenly, the eyes would not be focused, there would be uncontrollable vomiting and seizing, etc.

Thank God, there are no signs of this yet- although his heart rate is low, a sign on existing intracanial pressure.

We have had many prayers said for him and over him. It is the prayers that is lifting us up everyday.

I ask that everyone continue praying. Because as long as the tumour is there, and if it's trying to break down, there is will inflammation and swelling that could touch the brain stem and cause death.

He is very fatigued and tires easily. He is unstable on his feet. It is a bit hard to concentrate or focus . But we are thankful that he has no pain or seizures - which is extremely unusual given that this is a metastatic melanoma in the brain and several sites in the body. I pray we are doing something right.

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Another update

It's been 2 weeks since we were told he had a few days to live. We are so grateful he is alive, still able to walk, talk, eat and drink. Even his oncologist is surprised.

However he is very sluggish. It is very hard for him to get out of bed. He manages to get up eventually, but he does not feel very good. He will push himself to go for hyperbaric and hyperthermia treatments but it takes a lot out of him by the end.

He fell a few days ago because he tried to kick a ball back to the children and lost his balance. The dexamethasone is weakening the adductor muscles which is crucial for stabilising the body.

Just now I hugged him and I could feel him swaying around struggling to stabilise himself. He cannot feel his feet and hands due to one of side effects of the medications.

We are doing everything we can to stabilise his condition and to prevent further deterioration. Because he is under palliative care, there are not a lot of options on the table. We are paying for weekly hyperbaric and hyperthermia treatments out of pocket with the hopes that it will enhance all his other treatments to give him the best quality of life possible.

He is in the process of resigning from all his organisations and political positions and appointments.  It's really brought him down that he is not providing for our family anymore.

Dealing with Damian's condition while juggling family life with 7 children ages 2 to 13, is challenging. We would not have been able to do this without your help.

Thank you so much for your prayers, meals, offers to help. We are blessed beyond measure.

We are going overseas for treatment for Damian's stage 4 metastatic melanoma. After much research and prayer, our hearts are pulled towards investigating this option to give Damian the best chance of reversing his disease. We will be going there for an extended period of time for the best outcome, at great personal, emotional and financial cost. Damian is still in good shape and fine form mentally and physically, and we feel that this is the best time to take the advantage of his current state of health to do this treatment before it is too late to do anything.

However, our hearts are breaking at the thought of being separated from our children for so long while being away. The grandparents will have all the young ones with them, bearing the burden of school runs and meals and running a household of 7 while we are away for months. The children have been champs, organising a joint birthday with cake for for 4 family members whose birthdays we will miss in that time. The little ones may not have realised how long we will be away as we said our goodbyes tonight. 

Many have asked what they could do for us besides pray. The most practical and best way is some small help to cover the cost of treatment and expenses overseas and living expenses at home while we are away would be so greatly appreciated . 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and God bless you.