Today was the consultation with the doctors at Doernbecher. There were some very mixed emotions going into this meeting, they would be told how much good the chemo had done and what the plans were for the near future.
They were told that Lisa's arm will be saved during surgery. That had been a real concern to Lisa and her family and it was such a relief that the surgeons will be able to save her arm. They will take tissue from her leg and stomach areas to rebuild her shoulder. It will be a long and extensive surgery, but it will be worth it.
The spots in her lungs are still there, but they have not grown, which is very exciting news. At this point they are going to just watch them as they deal with her shoulder.
All of this was good news for the Harders, and they celebrated at Fudruckers on the way home. They understand that the fight is not over, but God has answered their prayers and Lisa will keep her arm and continue to fight the cancer.

The surgery is scheduled for April 15th at this point. Very soon after the surgery Lisa will continue with the chemo. because that is a very crucial point to fight the cancer. So take a deep breath with the Harders and say a pray because they are entering the next stage of this process.

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Lisa is home and doing pretty good after having chemo last week. They were allowed to come home on Sunday and she only was sick to her stomach a few times. While they were in Deornbecher waiting for the chemo to get out of her system Gail had the biggest urge to just kidnap Lisa and so somewhere... anywhere but there. But instead they asked permission and got a pass to go to Fudruckers and get something to eat.

Lisa also had a MRI and a cat scan to see what was going on with the cancer in her shoulder and her lungs at this point. The results will not be in until Tue. They have an appointment on Tue. to talk with the doctors regrading surgery and treatments. As you can imagine this will be a tough meeting with the doctors because Gordan and Gail will need to make decisions regarding Lisa's treatment. Please pray for them and the doctors. Pray for wisdom and peace and healing.

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I have been out of town, therefore a little out of touch with what is going on with Lisa. I think she started chemo about 6 last night and has been doing fairly well. I will try to get more info. and update this a little later. We miss you Lisa!

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Gained 3 lbs. Strangley this is good news!

Lisa, Gail and grandma got to come home today after spending 8 days in the hospital. After the blood transfusion and being prayed over Lisa just kept getting better and today her blood counts were up and she was feeling spunky!
She had a dentist appt. to check out her teeth because she had been having alot of pain on one side. They wondered if it was wisdom teeth or problems with side affects from the chemo. Everything checked out ok for now, so possibly it was from the sores in her throat area.
The sores are cleared up. I guess once Lisa's white blood cell count went up the sores clear pretty quickly. Her count has been at zero. That is so dangerous especially if she catches something, she would have no immunity to fight it.

So when I went next door this evening Lisa was eating ribs, rolls, salad and Now and Laters candy, that turned her teeth blue. (I think she should have gone to the dentist with those blue teeth complaining of pain and seen what the dentist thought then!) Lisa was smiling and talking just like old times. She was telling us how grumpy she had been while she was in the hospital and how the morphine made her angry.
Gail said she was telling the nurses how they needed to changed the parking lot and get more beds for her parents and all kinds of off the wall things.
But she certainly was not grumpy tonight...she was kidding Kyle about eating too much, and making fun of him. That only egged Kyle on and before we knew it they were pushing and tugging on each other. Mom stepped in on that one because Lisa has to be very careful with her shoulder. It must feel so good to feel good!

Lisa will still be fed the liquid calories and vitamins at night through an IV. They were waiting for the nurse to arrive from Portland with the bags to show Gail how to work it. She is off the pain pump and back on pills for pain meds. They do plan on starting chemo again on Wed. so they will only be home for a few days, but that is better than nothing...There is no place like home.

Being Blessed

After all the blood transfusions and medication changes it seemed that not alot had changed. Lisa had a little of her color back and she she was quieter, but she still was no well enough to go home. They are watching the sores in her mouth and throat very carefully because it they do not heal they can not start the next session of chemo. I guess they do not have to be completely gone, but they have to show signs of healing. Some are at that stage and others are not. Emotions are raw and everyone is tired.
Today the elders and some pastors from Salem Alliance went up to visit the Lisa. They spent 2 hours singing and praying over Lisa. They prayed over the family too to keep up the faith and give them strength. This was such a blessing to everyone. The prayers were heard and Lisa had a great afternoon. She sat up and was even joking around, but the most amazing thing is that she started eating. I got a text that she was eating roast beef, rice and a milkshake. It wasn't more than about 20 minutes later and I got another text that said she was now eating oreo pie! Yum, and it sounds like Lisa is making up for lost time. You go Lisa! We'll keep praying and you keep eating!

This may be a little hard to see, but this is Lisa's room. They managed to set up the computer so that Lisa can see it on the big monitor screen. This is Gail reading it to her. I guess Lisa requested more pictures, so I will do my best. If you have some good ones, e-mail them to me @

sheriestom@comcast.net.

By the way...Hi Lisa.

Grandma Verdie

This is Lisa's Grandma Harder. She is also fighting cancer right now. They started their chemo on the same day. If you look at their family tree you will see that Verdie is the oldest member of the family and Lisa is the youngest. We pray that they will both beat their cancer and get to spend some good times together sharing their experiences and just hanging out!

Here is a little more accurate information on Lisa. Michelle, her youth pastor, visited today and gave me this information. Lisa was sitting up and doing better than she had been for the past several days. Her temp. was down just a little more to 99.4. She was working on an art project that she had started earlier. Even though this sounds better, Lisa still is very weak and her blood counts were still very low. She has, however, stopped throwing up constantly and was sipping on a Capri Sun and eating a Popsicle. They switched her off of Morphine and onto a different drug that will give her just as much pain relief. The Morphine was giving her an adverse side effect and this new drug will hopefully correct that. They are giving her 2 units of blood in a transfusion. The first started about 4:00 this afternoon. Each one takes about 4 hours to complete. Like I mentioned before they hope this new blood will help correct her low counts. Pray that her body will react positively to it.
They have also decided to postpone the next session of chemo until Wed. (instead of Mon). Hopefully this will give her body a few more days to build some strength and give Lisa a little break. Gail and her mom did get a break to come back to Salem and get some fresh clothes and re-group before heading back up to Doernbecher. They really do not know how long each stay will be, it all depends on how Lisa is doing.
They had a visit from Randy and his family the other day and enjoyed that. The cancer has given them a real bond. We want them both to know that so many people are praying.

Today Lisa is feeling just a little better. They did go ahead and give her a couple units of blood so that should help stabilize her blood counts. Gordon is up with her while Gail takes a little break.

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Hard times

I guess the doctors said some of this would happen, but it doesn't make it any easier when it does happens. Lisa is having a hard time even keeping water down and they are feeding her some milky white stuff and some yellow stuff through an IV. They give it to her 12 hours on and 12 hours off. I am sure it is full of nutrition and calories. They also have her hooked up to a Morphine pump that drips the drug 24 hrs. and she can also push a button to get an extra shot when she needs it. The sores are very painful, she has about 1/2 doz. in her throat, a few on her tongue and the roof of her mouth and now she has some on her cheeks and the side of her mouth. They are about the size of a dime. There have been 7 different doctors in her room today checking on Lisa trying to figure out how to help her. Her blood count is way down. 1500 would be normal for a patient on chemo and Lisa's is at 40 right now. They are talking about giving her a blood transfusion tomorrow if the counts don't improve. They also can not start the next session of chemo if her counts are so low. Lisa is very weak and can only whisper. They really do not know if she will be home in the next few days like they were hoping. When Gail asked the doctor if he thought she would be able to go home before the next session he just kind of smiled and shrugged. Her fever has dropped from 101 to 99.7, so that is an improvement.

I text Gail around 2:00 to say that Connor passed his permit test and she said that brought a big smile to Lisa's face and she said she was proud of her buddy. After that Gail said she has been able to sit up some and a teacher came into her room and is going to work on an art project with Lisa. So don't know if Connor getting his permit had this effect on Lisa and made her smile, if so that is good cuz it makes me sorta want to cry!!!! (just kidding).

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Pizza Fundraiser
Thanks to Figaro's-All 6 locations in Salem will be giving 50%of net proceeds to Randy and Lisa's accounts.
When: Monday April 20
Time: 4-8pm
Where: Any Figaro's location in Salem
Please put this on your calendar and enjoy pizza that night

Lisa had a hard night, poor girl. She has had such a problem with throwing up and feeling sick that last night they decided to start feeding her with an IV. She has lost a significant amount of weight and has gotten very weak from not being able to eat. Hopefully this will help her build up some strength and control the nausea. She also spiked a fever again last night so they are watching that very carefully. I am sure these are long and wearing days for all of them, hopefully Lisa will stabilize so that she can come home for awhile before the next chemo session.

Well they did keep Lisa overnight, and she is still up at Doernbecher. Her blood tests came back and the results were not good; her blood count is very low. Lisa has developed sores in her throat and in her ears and it is very painful to swallow. They have her on Morphine but even with that it is hard for her to feel comfortable. She is still fighting a fever and is sick to her stomach. Gail said that she thought Lisa might try to eat some ice cream tonight but they are not sure if she will be able to keep it down. The next session of chemo is supposed to start on Monday, I am not sure if that will change if she is still so sick. So as you can tell Lisa and the family need your prayers, as always, and are thankful for all the support. They want to pray for a miracle for Lisa that when her lungs are tested again they will be cancer free and that the cancer in her joints will be gone. We will pray for this and her total healing. We have hope for Harder.

Lisa and Randy.

Lisa in front of her barn with her new look!

Hanging out with friends!

After Lisa got home from having her blood tests at Deornbecher last Wed. she felt really good. She had a wonderful 3 days. The family was able to go out to eat several times and also took in a movie at Northern Lights on Sat. afternoon with her grandma and some friends. Gail said that she seemed like she was practically back to normal. But I guess Sun. was a different story. Lisa started throwing up again and developed sores in her throat. She now has so many sores that she can not swallow. She has started running a temperature so Gail put a call into the doctor to see if they want to take a look at Lisa. Pray that Lisa will start to feel better and that the sores will go away so that Lisa can eat and keep up her strength.

UPDATE: The doctor did want Lisa to go back up to Deornbecher, so just a little while ago they headed up to Portland. It is possible that they could keep her overnight if her temp. does not go down and she is still so sick.

Lisa has her good and bad days but most days have a little of both in them. Yesterday Salem Academy introduced Lisa to the student body during an assembly. Her uncle Gil spoke and her friend Cassie said a little about Lisa as a friend and what she is going through. Lisa made it through the assembly, but right after started getting sick again. Gail and Lisa had to head back up to Doernbecher for the scheduled appointment to do some blood tests. When they got there they had to hook Lisa up to an IV to hydrate her because she had been throwing up so much. They weighed her and she had lost 8 lbs. since Sat. They did her blood tests a little later and sent her home. I have not heard the results of the tests, but when she got home she was feeling much better. Much of the time she feels so bad she doesn’t want to see anyone, but last night Connor was able to hang out for awhile.
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Did I say "see" the horses, well maybe she went for a little ride too!

Lisa came home on Sat. morning not feeling very well. She was not wanting to eat and and had no energy. Today she felt alot better and with a little bribe "if you eat some crackers we can see the horses" she managed to eat a cracker or two. We even saw a smile or two cross her face as she visited with family. She will have 2 weeks at home. They will need to make at least one trip to the hospital for some blood tests, but she will get a little break from the chemo. There will be two more sessions before she will have surgery on her shoulder. Welcome back home Lisa.

Reminder

Just a quick reminder about the dance at Walker Middle school. It will be April 3rd from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the gym. All guests must be Walker students or parent chaparones. Proceeds from this dance go directly to help the Harders. Hope to see you there!
Questions? e-mail kjbennett914@comcast.net

Just a quick update... Lisa is doing much better this morning. She did have her chemo last night and is glad to have that over. She will have a 2 week break now before the next session. So far she is feeling pretty good. She tried on her new wig and was able to strike a pose!
I guess Grandma was not able to go to the hospital after all last night, so Sherri Austin drove up and spent the night with Gail and Lisa. She said that everyone felt alot better after sleeping last night. What a friend!

As far as I know Lisa started Chemo about 6:00 last night. They had a very rough day. As they headed up to the hospital Lisa kept getting sick. As you can imagine that did not get them off to a great start. I understand that that continued on at the hospital. The medication that they give Lisa has some other side effects too and is making her very irritable beside the fact that she is sick and that would make anyone irritable. That makes it more difficult for Gordon and Gail, as they watch their daughter go through this. Just pray that everyone will be able to cope with the hard things that they have to go through. Gail's mom was able to go up and give Gail a break for a little while. She had been sick for quite awhile so was not able to be around Lisa lately, so it is nice that she can be there now.

Let me see if I can keep it straight... she couldn't come home, then she came home but had to go back again, then they let her go home, only to head back up tomorrow (Wed) to start chemo again.
So did you get all that? Basically Lisa had a rough time with this chemo. They thought the pretty much had everything under control on Mon. so they let her go home for a little while before starting the next session, but Lisa just got so sick at home and could not stop vomiting and having the dry heaves. After calling the doctor, they were told to come back because Lisa was dehydrated and they wanted to make sure there was not something else wrong. At the hospital they determined it was probably the drug, Zofran, that she had during the chemo that was still causing her to be sick. They gave her some other meds to counteract that and got her vomiting under control.

Lisa and Gail just returned home a little while ago. Lisa is feeling pretty good and just asked Connor to come next door to see him. That is a good sign. I'll head over there in a few min. too because we have not seen Lisa quite a while. I am suspecting there might be a game of Sorry or Monopoly getting started by the time I get there!! That's always good news when Lisa feels good enough to play games.

So tomorrow they head up to start all over again. At least this is the end of what we called 3 weeks of chemo. I'll update what the next chemo sessions will be when I get that info. Pray that things will go smoothly for everyone. Gordon gets to spend time up with Gail and Lisa at Doernbecher during this next session. That will be nice for all of them.

Lisa was not able to come home on Sunday as they had hoped. In fact she has been having a really hard time up at Deornbecher. The level of Chemo left in her body was too high so she could not be discharged, but she also has been feeling very sick. She has been running a temp. of 100.3, has felt sick to her stomach and has had a headache that even pain meds didn't take away.
Gordon had to leave and go to work on Sun. morning and it was very hard to leave Lisa and Gail when the situation was so hard.
Please remember all of them in your prayers. Hopefully she got some relief last night since I talked with them. The sched. is, that Lisa will start Chemo again on Wed., but that will depend on several things being just right. Even though the chemo is hard on her, they want to stay on sched. because that is what kills the cancer.

Hang in there Lisa!