All In For Andy Harmon

As you may know, my brother Andy Harmon had brain surgery on Friday, May 28 to remove a cancerous tumor from his right temporal lobe. Since June 3, he has been under the care of amazing physicians and therapists while working very hard during his daily rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.

For those of you who know Andy, he rarely has a bad day, and if he does, he never shows it, and he will likely never tell you. These past few weeks, he still has reason to laugh and take on each day with a positive attitude – and this is largely due to all those who have texted, posted a note on the ‘All in for Andy’ Facebook group, sent cards, dropped in for a quick visit, sent flowers, food and more!

Andy is scheduled to be discharged to our parents’ home within the next week where he will continue to work on his recovery. His diagnosis of Grade 4 Glioblastoma (GBM) requires daily radiation. The surgery caused him to lose function of his left side and is currently using a wheelchair as well as working with therapists to regain mobility. We are fortunate to have identified a transport service to get him to and from his treatments at Northwestern Hospital. Until he regains full use of his left side, he will require a daily home health care nurse and at-home occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy sessions. While we hope this is not long-term, it is the best plan for Andy and our parents.

So many of you have asked how you may help. As we prepare for this journey with Andy, we know the treatments, home health care and so much more will be costly. Your consideration of a donation to Andy’s medical fund is greatly appreciated.

As you can imagine, this has been a difficult path to navigate. Seeing all of the support Andy receives from his family, friends, and co-workers helps to keep us going. He is lucky to have such an amazing support system!