After being gone for a week I got to visit with Lisa a little bit yesterday. She was eating a sandwich and watching Little House on the Prairie. She is still in staying in the living room so that she can be around people and whatever is going on. She is not able to get out of bed anymore as she is very week and moving too much makes her pain worse. Up till now they have been trying to control her pain with patches and oral meds, but a few days ago they put her on a pain pump that distributes meds right into her system every 10 minutes. Lisa also had the ability to hit a button and get extra meds if needed. That seems to have made quite a bit of difference and has allowed Lisa to sleep more peacefully and also be more aware of things while she is awake. She did have a very long seizure the other day and it was very traumatic for Lisa and the family, but hopefully that will not happen again.

Lisa's Friend Randy, who was diagnosed with this same cancer 1 week before Lisa, passed away a couple days ago. Lisa and Randy went through much of this journey together. Randy's cancer had also gone to his brain, but ultimately it was the tumor by his heart that shut down his body.

Just a little while before Randy passed he said to tell Lisa that "It's going to be ok". Randy had given his life to Christ during his fight with cancer, and that knowledge allowed Lisa to have comfort with his passing. But he will be missed so much by all who knew and loved him, and our prayers go out to his family.

Good days and bad days...God is still with us.

The bad days make us appreciate the good. Lisa had a couple of good days. She was able to eat a few small bites of different food and was able to talk some and smile. It was so nice to see her being able to cope even through her head still hurts. But this afternoon it hit Lisa hard again. She again is not able to keep anything down and now she is starting to see double vision along with a horrible headache. It's hard to understand why she varies so much from day to day, and it is discouraging when you see her dip so low after being able to interact with friends and family. But Gail said that when she starts to feel discouraged about it she turns it around and thanks God that she had a few more good days with Lisa. Everyday is a blessing. Thanks for your prayers....

For Lisa

I should have added my e-mail to the last post...if you are interested in making dinners for the Harders please contact me at
sheriestom@comcast.net

Every day has been a struggle for Lisa. She has had 2 weeks of constant throwing up. But today she got some relief. She went the whole day without getting sick. Hospice has been working so hard to find just the right concoction of meds to give Lisa that will help her pain, but not make her so sick. They might have found it today. They also decided to put her on oxygen at night because it seems she has a hard time breathing when she sleeps. Hopefully that will help give her more peaceful sleep. Gordon and Gail and a few other family members take turns sleeping next to Lisa at night to make sure she is ok, Lisa feels safer knowing someone is right there to help her and the rest of the family can sleep a little better knowing someone is there with Lisa.

So many of you have helped out with meals and many other ways. It has been so nice to not have to think about what to cook a few nights a week. If any of you that live near buy would like to do a meal just let me know and I will plug you into a date.

Thanks so much.....

Lisa is such a trooper. There has not been any significant changes to tell you about. Hospice has increased Lisa's pain meds by quite a bit. It has been difficult to control her pain and even the increased meds do not give her full relief. One side effect is that she has been so sleepy and has spent most of the day in her bedroom in bed. Lisa loves to be around friends and family, so they brought back the hospital bed and put it in place of a chair in the living room. That way Lisa can drift in and out of sleep but can still be part of what ever is going on.

Over this last week Lisa has been sleeping more and more. They have upped her medications for seizures and her headaches and this has really knocked her out. She has also been dealing nausea and keeping her food down. The combination of a headache and getting sick to your stomach is so miserable. Please pray for comfort for Lisa.