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Want to meet a tough woman?
Since 2003,
Amy Furlan has been through six brain surgeries, five radiation treatment series, three drug trials, and is on a pace to have a procedure every two months for a while to come. Because of the rare and aggressive tumor in her brain, Amy and her husband Joey will head to Switzerland shortly for a particularly progressive procedure.
I first started praying for Joey in the mid-1990s when he was a non-Christian and we had a mutual friend. It has been a great joy to see him come to faith and grow to be a godly man who has loved his wife like Christ loves the church through the trial of her battle with cancer. Grace and I love this couple very much, pray for them often, and appreciate anyone who can pray for them and
support their efforts to raise money to cover her treatments.
On June 18, the Mars Hill family will rally around this couple like we
have done for others in difficult situations. Mars Hill will host
a benefit concert at the Ballard campus and I’d appreciate all the support we, as a church, can give them. I sent Joey and Amy a few questions by email so they could tell you more of their story. The full interview is after the page break, or jump to see Amy and Joey's responses to individual questions:
PM: Amy, what is your current physical condition and why are you seeking more treatment?
AF: This began as two benign tumors 18 years ago. By God’s will and
grace, we are down to one tumor as a result of many surgeries and
radiation treatments…but it has become very fast in its growth
pattern. While it is not "cancer", it is a rare and aggressive tumor
in an area of the brain that contains a lot of important nerve and
arterial structures.
I’m currently 10 days in post-op from brain surgery #9,
with some significant side effects from the tumor growth putting
pressure on critical nerves. I’ve lost most sensation in my face and
all vision in my left eye. My right eye retains very limited vision.
Other than that, by God’s grace my speech, movement and general health
remain unaffected.
Since the increased growth rate is requiring
brain surgery every two months at this point, we are going to
Switzerland to have a pretty progressive, targeted treatment that has
a very good chance of freezing or shrinking this tumor (God
willing). The tumor I have is
receptive to a compound called octreotide. The treatment is able to
bond radiation to the octreotide and send it through the blood
directly to the tumor cells without compromising surrounding tissue.
According to the doctors at the University of Basel this treatment has
had a significant impact on all octreotide tumors they’ve treated.
Our medical team here has been in contact with the
Swiss team and feels we have a very good shot at stopping this thing
with this treatment.
PM: Has Joey loved you through this challenge as Christ loves the church?
How?
AF:The best way to explain Joey is a complete and total gift from God.
The first word that comes to mind when I consider Christ’s love for
the church is "sacrifice". That very well sums up how Joey has, and
continues to love me through each and every step of this challenge.
Sacrifice is not a "comfortable" idea in our culture, and it stands
out brilliantly when it is actually carried out in a righteous way.
Joey stands out in this way. He loves me on every level that would be
imaginable, while sacrificing every detail of his life to run this
marathon with me and lead in a humble, gentle yet strong Christ-like
way. He continues to remind me that he is committed to our marriage,
and not going anywhere. That is a genuine gift when faced with the
difficulties of this particular challenge. I know wholeheartedly that
I can trust that he is here with me. Joey is unmatched in his
commitment to Jesus, and clearly understands how to love me the way
that Christ loves the church.
PM: What has been comforting and/or helpful through your suffering?
AF: God has brought so many comforting things, people and resources into
the mix with this story. There are too many to count. However, the
fundamental comfort and help has come through the knowledge that our
lives are out of control in so many ways daily, and only God is
sovereign.
Recently within the last week struggling with new loss of
sight in one eye, this verse came through my inbox, 2 Corinthians 4:18
:
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This is all temporary. That
was a huge moment of comfort. The verse quickly
reinforced for me the truth that the focus here on Earth is God’s
kingdom, not earthly desires.
Another big comfort for me has been to see the amazing character
changes that God has brought about in me as a result of the struggles
here. I can best explain him as the most amazing pool player. He
hits one cue ball, and knocks all of them into the pockets with one
shot. He accomplishes much with little. A sharp and brilliant God.
PM: Joey, you married Amy knowing she had brain tumors and that these could
present serious challenges in your life. Why did you marry her under
those circumstances?
JF: When I married Amy, what she had was a couple of slow growing brain
tumors. One of them had been dormant for many years and the other one
we thought had been pretty well dealt with by the surgery she’d had a
couple of months before we got engaged.
I knew kids may not be in the
plans or that adoption may be the safest option for us rather than
having biological children and I was OK with that. In a church with
so many children and with a couple of wonderful nephews in my
immediate family, I knew there would be lots of ways to be involved
with children. Because the doctors categorized her tumors as
benign, I didn’t see an early death as likely.
Don’t get me
wrong, it was still a leap and I had fears especially after
experiencing that first surgery. But I felt so strongly about this
amazing girl and felt such a clear call in my heart that this is who
God had for me, that once I made my decision I knew it was the right one.
PM: What have you learned by leading your wife through her battle with her
brain tumors?
JF: I’ve learned a lot about myself. As a new Christian, I knew I had a
lust problem and a bit of an ego but I had no idea the depth of my
self-centeredness, my cowardice and my tendency to despair and
negativity until the heat in this situation turned up. I’ve learned
what it is to be a soldier and a hero.
It turns out it’s not all
romantic and exciting all the time. The majority of my major battles
have been with myself, crushing those parts of me that expected
life to be different and the parts that want what they want regardless
of the mission I’ve been called to. It’s been and continues to be a
journey away from self and towards Christ, away from me and towards my
wife. I’ve learned about an intimacy and love that goes far beyond the
surface stuff.
I’ve learned how to be a man, how to love well, and
how to lean deeply into Christ when everything seems utterly hopeless
and hard.
PM: How would you be reacting to the life challenges Amy’s condition has
brought had you not met Jesus?
JF: It’s hard to say. I know the despair and darkness would be much
stronger. It turns out I can tend towards those emotions and it’s my
dependence on Christ and my hope in the promises of God that keep me
from going far down that road.
It would be so much more lonely.
Again and again I’ve asked myself "How do people do this without
their brothers and sisters to help hold them up?" I hate to admit it,
but without Christ I may not have hung in there through the hard
times. I may have just bailed out thinking that classic modern
excuse "Everyone deserves to be happy." If I’d hung in there, I would
have medicated the pain with tons of porn on the side and dreams of
moving on to another woman. I would have been phoning it in, faking
it.
I wouldn’t have had the courage, the hope and the example to
really dive in and live it, to fully open my heart to all of the
beauty, all of the pain that is revealed in this kind of journey.
The Ballard campus will host the Amy Furlan Benefit Concert along and Kinship in an effort to help defray the Furlans' ongoing medical costs, which are currently at $40,000. Please join us for a night of rad '80s music to celebrate the work that Jesus is doing in and through Amy and to share and bearing one another’s burdens as Galatians 6 encourages. There’s a $20 suggested donation at the door. Click here to RSVP.
If you cannot attend, but would like to donate, please go here.
Amy Furlan Benefit Concert
Music by Joey Furlan's '80s cover band: 80something
Friday, June 18 @ 7 pm
Ballard campus
