HAVRE — Wynn Murphy is a three-year-old Havre cowgirl who lives an idyllic life on the family ranch south of Havre with her parents Brady and Lynsey and her two siblings Whitlee and Warren.
Wynn loves to play outdoors and especially loves taking care of her horse Bob. Her grandparents Lon and Stacey Waid describe her as “wild” and “independent”.
But a few short months ago, everything changed.
“She had some headaches, nausea and balance issues and just kind of stumbled around,” Brady said. “She was just not herself all the time.”
An eye doctor in Havre noticed swelling behind her eyes. A series of appointments led the Murphy family to the Seattle Children’s Hospital, where they received the diagnosis no parent wants to hear.
“They sent us down to the emergency room here, where they did some CAT scans, and that's kind of where they first saw the mass,” Brady said. “And so in test results, it came back as metastatic medulloblastoma. And so it's just a fast-growing cancer tumor.”
By the time the tumor was discovered, it was already the size of a mandarin orange and doctors predicted it had been growing for about three months.
It was centered at the base of her brain and prevented spinal fluid from cycling and draining which led to the swelling and symptoms.
At that moment their lives were turned upside down.
“It’s hard to hear the word cancer,” Lynsey said. “It seems like the world should just stop all the way around you. And it doesn’t.”
Wynn underwent surgery in early November, where doctors were able to remove 99% of the tumor. The remaining 1% was too close to the brain stem to remove.
“Honestly, two days later, she was herself,” Brady said. “And it was pretty remarkable.”
Her overall prognosis is good, but she will remain in Seattle to undergo two six-week chemotherapy treatments to try to eliminate the rest of the cancer. The road will be long and hard, but Wynn is Hi-Line tough.
“It's pretty intensive chemo. They've been aggressive with it,” Brady said. “There are some cruddy days, but I think she's won over most of the nurses and doctors. They all they're amazed at how well she takes her medicine and takes everything in stride.”
With an extended hospital stay comes hardships for the family. Brady is on leave from his job as a game warden but is only guaranteed six weeks, while Wynn’s treatment will last for 13 weeks.
They are hundreds of miles from home, navigating treatment and separation from the rest of their extended family.
Right now Brady and Lynsey are staying in Seattle with Wynn while Whitlee and Warren are back on the ranch in Havre under the care of Lynsey’s parents Lon and Stacey Waid.
“We’ve got extra rooms, there was just no question the kids would stay with us,” Stacey said.
But in the meantime, friends, family and complete strangers have stepped up to lighten the burden on Lynsey, Brady and their children.
There’s a Facebook page called “Win for Wynn” that has updates on Wynn’s medical journey and information about fundraising and support efforts.
T-shirts have been sold, bank accounts have been established and on Monday, December 9 the Waid family will partner with Bear Paw Livestock in Chinook to sell some bred cows and heifers with all proceeds going toward the Wynn Murphy Medical Fund.
“There's not much we can do here but one thing we do is raise cattle,” Lon said. “We just want someone to buy them for our granddaughter’s sake. And even if they can’t, they’re sending prayers. This family is covered in prayer.”
All in an effort to Win for Wynn.
“When we first got to Seattle, we started a list to try to keep track to send thank you cards and everything,” Brady said. “And honestly, we gave up on that. It's truly overwhelming. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
And if all goes according to plan Wynn and the Murphy family will return home in the spring with grateful hearts and a clean bill of health.
“It will just be nice to be back and be home and be back to normal, whatever normal looks like,” Brady said. “We hope to just pick up where we left off. Hopefully cancer-free.”
