On Wednesday when Lisa went to the hospital to start her 2nd round of chemo things went a little differently than expected. Lisa was not feeling well and had not been herself for several days. She has been on a very heavy dose of steroids to prevent brain swelling and the side effects of the drug make her feel crazy. When I saw her on Mothers Day she mostly stared ahead but then fixated on something and was not rational about it. The family did manage to go out to dinner, but Lisa was not able to relax or eat much. The next day she was much better and they felt like they had "Lisa back", but it didn't last long. So when they went to the hospital Wednesday she was back in her daze and weak. This is when something happened that I have not seen in Lisa before...She refused chemo and said she was done. This chemo that she was taking is an experimental chemo and when you miss a scheduled chemo there is no going back and making it up. You are out of the program. So they signed the release papers and headed home. Lisa was very tired and wanted to give up. There were tears from all in the car as they headed home.

Their doctor in Salem will be their main contact now and he is telling Lisa to keep fighting. They believe the steroids have alot to do with her state of mind, and they are weaning her off them, but they are also not sure if it is a combination of her other drugs to they are trying to get her off most of them to see if there is a change.

Wednesday to today (Fri) Lisa has mostly laid in bed, eating very little and mostly in a daze. There have been, however, a couple very emotional physical reactions that Lisa has had today. She must be having some sort of hallucinations during these times and she is not sure if the people she loves the most are really who they say they are and she tries to escape or hurt herself. This is so scary and draining on everyone.

Gordan and Gail are getting sleep deprived because even though Lisa is in a daze alot, she sleeps very little and they don't know weather she will have a hallucination. They know they need to keep up their sleep so that they can care for Lisa, so they are working on getting some kind of schedule so at least someone is with Lisa and someone sleeps.

Today the principal from West High and some others came to visit Lisa and awarded her with her high school diploma. School has meant so much to Lisa, and any time she was able to go to class she was there. Her last report card she had straight A's. It is possible to graduate early after your Jr. year and Lisa earned that at West High.

They are no quite sure why Lisa all of a sudden has taken this turn. We are hoping it is the meds messing with her head, because the tumor in her brain has not grown, in fact it shrunk a little. So they are a little surprised.

So many of you have been faithful to pray for Lisa and the family. They have felt the peace that God has given them, but if Lisa continues to decline they will need extra support. I know many of you will want to help where you can. I will check with the family and see if anyone has organized any additional support item and let you know if and where help is needed.