Farewell Harvey

I've blogged about Harvey in here before, but I haven't updated how he's going for a while now. He was clear of cancer for a while, but then his tumour returned late last year and over the past few months, he was having pretty heavy duty chemotherapy treatment in an effort to get rid of it again.

Last night, he lost his fight for life after developing a chest infection. Just a common cold virus that probably wouldn't be a problem for you or me, or even for him if he was well. But with his immune system so compromised, he couldn't fight it off. He passed away early this morning.

Harvey is almost exactly the same age as Rosie (they were born a week apart). His older brother Oliver was born on the same day as Liam. I have never met his Mum Cassie in person, but we have been part of an online mother's group together for over eight years now. She is a strong and brave Mum who has blogged about Harvey's journey with cancer on a blog called Harvey the Cure-ageous Lion. She has updated her blog just a few hours ago to share what happened during Harvey's last hours.

Farewell, Harvey. You were beautiful and brave while you were with us, and you will be sadly missed.  Praying that God's love, and that of Cassie, Gabe, Oliver and Genevieve's family and friends, will be surrounding them all now.

Sorrow and joy seem to go together

More than I'd expect.

Today I heard some great news about little Harvey, who has been having treatment for a rare brain tumour since the beginning of this year. I have blogged about him before here and here. He is now a big two year old and is going really well. His scan at the conclusion of all his chemo and radiation therapy has come back clear, and although he's not out of the woods just yet (he needs to keep having three monthly MRI scans) this news has come as a great relief for his family.

And this morning I was talking to another good friend of mine who is pregnant and due a few months after me. They have two older children about the same ages as our boys and had been trying to have another baby for several years without any success. We were both trying to fall pregnant before Rosie was born and so it has been lovely to share the pregnancy journey with their family this time around. She had her 18 week scan yesterday, which showed some abnormalities, which might be serious or might not mean anything. They are not sure yet but have been referred for more detailed scans to find out more information. I am praying so hard that it will all be okay for them, knowing that their journey to this point has been such a difficult road. Whatever happens, pregnancy has changed for them (for now anyway) from a joyful time to one of anxiety and worry about what might be going to happen.

The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that there is a time for everything under heaven. And so it is true. But it seems to me that there are times when these times just happen simultaneously.

Please pray for both my friends.

Harvey's battle is continuing

Follow it here.

He has started chemotherapy today. Praying that it works well for him and that the side effects aren't too traumatic for all involved. He has learned to say lots of new words this week so it's so encouraging to hear that despite everything else, his development is still going so well.

My friend's little boy has a brain tumour :(

She has started to blog about it here. We met with a bunch of other Mums online when her first child (who is the same age as Liam) was born.

Her writing is raw and honest and straight from the heart. Little Harvey is close to Rosie's age.

She is on the opposite side of the country to me. I wish I could do more than just pray for them.