Date: Sunday, October 17, 2010
Location: Manhattanville College
Time: Sunday, October 17, 2010

Event Schedule
8-10:00 AM: Walker check-in
8:45 AM: TEAM SUE HARMON photo, Team Photo Center
9:30 AM: Walk begins

WALK DAY DETAILS: TEAM SUE HARMON will meet in front of the Survivor Tent starting at 8:00AM and go for a team photo at 8:45 AM at the Team Photo Center/Balloon arch. Registration forms may be turned in between 8:00-10:00 AM, there is NO online registration. Please indicate TEAM SUE HARMON on your registration form. There is no fee to join the walk. The walk begins at 9:30 AM and everyone walks at their own pace, as it is very difficult to walk as a whole team. The walk is 5 miles long around beautiful Manhattanville College, the town of Purchase, and on the campus of SUNY Purchase. Please arrive early, as parking can be difficult later in the morning. Hope to see you there!

My 9th grade daughter Kathryn asked me today if I would join her team at Hackley School’s second annual Relay For Life® event on Saturday, May 1st! Needless to say, I was honored and touched by her commitment to start her own fundraising team for the American Cancer Society’s signature event. As you may know, I have taught at Hackley for the past 17 years and it has been an honor to see Hackley and the ACS form this wonderful partnership. And better yet, I will step down as team captain (for this event) and follow Kathryn’s leadership role! Yes, life is indeed good when your child embraces such a worthy cause and role.

Students, current and past faculty, administrators, families and friends will come together on the Hackley Hilltop on May 1st to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society. I, along with my family, friends and members of TEAM SUE HARMON will be there to support this wonderful event, walking as a member of Kathryn’s Team, GIRLS RULE! I look forward to walking proudly for all those who have been touched by this awful disease.

I hope you will consider supporting me as a member of GIRLS RULE and support the work of these high schoolers with a tax-deductible donation by clicking on the RELAY FOR LIFE link on my web page. It goes without saying that we continue to feel the effects of the economic downturn yet we must remember that cancer does not take a break. I can attest to that first hand. While many of you generously supported my 2009 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, I hope that you will find in your heart to make a donation of any amount to this event as well. No donation is too small. Yes, I will continue my annual campaign this fall for MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER so expect to hear from me again later this summer. Your donation not only supports the ACS and its fine work, but it supports the effort of these Hackley Upper School students who are working together to make a difference in the world.

As always, I thank you for your ongoing support and hope you will consider donating to my efforts toward GIRLS RULE at Hackley’s Relay for Life event! Please click on the RELAY FOR LIFE link on my main page to donate on my personal Relay For Life® web page.

Love,

Sue

I am honored and proud to report back to you that I am, once again, the #2 fundraiser in the NATION for Making Strides. This year with the help of TEAM SUE HARMON, we raised over $88,000 bringing my eleven year fundraising total to over $542,000…and still counting! There is no way I could have raised this amount of money without your incredible generosity, support, love and well wishes. I know we all have charities we choose to support each year, and I am incredibly thankful that you continue to support my efforts with Making Strides! Even in tough economic times, cancer does not rest – as I have learned first hand! Together, we are indeed Making Strides in supporting research, funding patient services, spreading awareness and education about the disease as well as supporting advocacy. Our donations are making a difference in people’s lives.

This Thanksgiving, please know that I am thinking of you and yours, and how grateful I am for your unending support. I think of all of the people we have directly helped over the last eleven years, myself included. I also think of all those we know and love who have and continue to face hardship and illness and those who we have lost to this dreaded disease.

The Harmon family wishes you and yours a Thanksgiving full of love, good health, happiness and hope.

I am Thankful for you!

Sue



Facebook: Sue Guthrie Harmon

RELAY FOR LIFE, FOLLOW UP

Thanks to all who supported Hackley’s Relay for Life this past Saturday! It was a great inaugural event, raising awareness and nearly $26,000 for the American Cancer Society! I was honored to participate in the event and was amazed by how many Hackley students shared their stories with me about how cancer has affected their lives. One Upper Schooler introduced herself and told me of her mother’s recent bout with a double mastectomy, chemo and treatment. She thanked me and the American Cancer Society for supporting her by having an event that she felt supported her. Another student told me he was happy he could take part in such an event to support his friend who lost his mom to cancer. How wonderful that the event supported so many people in so many different ways.

SUE’S UPDATE

I came across this quote today and it made me smile,

Tough times don’t last, but tough people always do!~ Anonymous

That quote describes the Harmon family. We are tough! Yes, the last eight months have been very tough on our family and those we love, but we are indeed tough and are getting through it with the help of your love and support. Thanks to each and every one of you for your part in helping us get through this time.

Achilles: Last Thursday, the doctor felt that my Achilles has had enough time immobilized and I am now walking without the boot! I am taking each step carefully and am avoiding any miss-steps. As I regain strength in my foot, ankle and leg, I may pick up my pace and begin jogging in the near future. Nice to be back in sneakers and walking! One day at a time!

Surgery: Tomorrow, Friday, May 8th, I go in for what we hope is my last surgery. The procedures on Friday are basically aesthetic in nature and are a follow up to the many surgeries I have had since the initial October 1st surgery. My plastics team is incredible and they are very positive about the final “product.” While I am of course a bit nervous about being on the operating table yet again, it will be nice to have this all behind me. Time for me to heal and get back to feeling like myself.

Treatment: I will continue to go for infusion treatment every week or every other week through November 2009. I am experiencing some side effects from the treatment, but all in all it has been tolerable. (It is amazing how many women I know who are currently undergoing the same protocol and we are all experiencing similar effects. It never is as easy as they tell you…but we are tough!)

I look forward to the upcoming months to get back to feeling like myself. Our family will spend as much time as possible up at the beach cottage this summer to enjoy time together, celebrating! It has been a journey and I look forward to the next steps towards total healing. I have third graders who are waiting for me for the start of school in September. I plan to be back, and better than ever!

As always, thank you for your kindness, thoughts, prayers and well wishes. Please think of our family on Friday as I am in surgery. Your support has gotten us through so much!

I’ll be in touch.

Fondly,

Sue

P.S. Kathryn has NOT had any more run-ins with any sting rays, Dave is still networking and interviewing for a new job….and Yes, Molly is still is still being housed in a protective bubble…Humor, have to have it!

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/TEAMSUEHARMON

Since my last update to you, much has been going on with the Harmon family, especially over the last week. Let me start off by saying that we will all be fine, we just have some unexpected hurdles to cross. I thought about not sharing this update with you, as the last week seems unbelievable to us. We are digging deep to deal with what has happened and continue to rely on our faith, family, friends and HUMOR to cope.

“YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS UP!”

SUE: As many of you know, we went to Sanibel Island, Florida for our school’s two-week break with family and friends. As you know, I looked forward to this vacation throughout my treatment. It was the goal, the celebration. Before leaving, I was given the green light to step up my exercise and my surgeons even gave me the okay to start light jogging. This was music to my ears since I have been restricted over the last six months due to my surgery and level of fatigue and illness due to chemotherapy. I was fitted for an abdominal support to secure all of my muscles. To be outside and exercising on vacation is what I had looked forward to for the duration of my treatment. Six days after arriving on Sanibel, I was injured by a piece of a shattered ceramic bowl in our kitchen, a two-inch laceration to my rear heel. After five hours in the Ft. Myers, Florida ER, six stitches, X-rays, a nicked Achilles tendon, a full leg cast, crutches, and lots of tears my vacation did not turn out as planned. Dave and my Dad flew down to lend their support and I followed up with a surgical podiatrist in Florida. He confirmed the Achilles injury and suggested that I follow up with an orthopedic surgeon once I returned to New York. Today I met with an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in feet and Achilles tendon injuries. I was put in a permanent, stabilizing cast from my toes to my knee and will be walking with crutches for a total of 6-8 weeks. A follow up MRI will be performed on Friday to measure the damage to the Achilles tendon. The good news at this point is that none of the specialists believe that I will need Achilles tendon surgery. Fingers crossed. Due to this injury, my follow up surgery originally scheduled for this Friday to finalize my reconstruction has been postponed until I am back on my feet with no cast or crutches. Hard to believe, huh!?

KATHRYN: The day before my accident, Kathryn was stung by a stingray in the Gulf while we played on a sand bar. We spent the afternoon at a walk-in clinic on the Island and she was treated with aggressive antibiotics. The day before flying home, Kathryn took a turn and her foot became infected and inflamed. We arrived home this Saturday and Kathryn’s first stop was Northern Westchester Hospital’s ER. Further X-rays and testing proved that there was no barb from the stingray in her foot. She also met with a specialist today and Kathryn is on the mend. Heavy antibiotics will continue and the pain and swelling will subside with time.

DAVE: Just as we think that all is settling down, we get the next piece of bad news. Last Friday, Dave was very unexpectedly “let go” from his new firm. This came as a huge surprise to him and our heads continue to spin. Now we are in search of a good lawyer and a new job for Dave. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

MOLLY: She will be living in a plastic bubble for the next few weeks!
Needless to say, the last week has not been our best, but it has not been our worst. As down as we have been, we continue to rely on our faith, family, friends and HUMOR to get us through. We’ve cried and cursed but we have also laughed. We are grateful for your support and prayers during these trying times.

Thanks to so many of you who have supported me and the RELAY FOR LIFE event at Hackley School. As I will clearly not be able to walk by then, our family will be there to lend our support to Lauren and Tim, the Hackley Seniors, who have put the event together! Thanks for showing your support! A donation of any size is gladly accepted.

In the meantime, the Harmons will keep on truckin’ and look for the goodness in each and every day.
Good health, happiness and prosperity to you and yours…

Love,

Sue