Special Thanks To....

Mike Herman of FULL MOON RACING!! Ever since Carter became ill, Mike has been "racing for Carter" at each of his Motorcyle races. He hasn't lost a race since!! Congratulations Mike! For each of the races that Mike has won, he has donated 50% of his earnings to the Harris family. To this date, he has donated $1750 to the family! He has a very big race coming up soon, so GOOD LUCK, MIKE!!! And thanks, again!

Just A Reminder....

Mark your calendars for the following events:

Friday, June 5th 6pm-8pm
Steak Dinner ($12) @
11317 Cherry Road
Fredericksburg, VA 22407
Includes marinated NY Strip Steak, Baked Potato, Texas Toast and a salad.

Saturday, June 6th 2pm-6pm
Family Fun Day BBQ @
56 Well Lane
Fredericksburg, VA 22405
FREE ADMISSION!!
Smoked BBQ and all the trimmings
Tons of fun stuff for the kids
Live bands
Silent Auction
Raffles, Raffles and more Raffles!!

I'm hoping this will be just as successful as the Golf Outing which raised over $16K for the Harris family!! The medical bills aren't going to stop anytime soon, so I don't think we should either!! Thanks again to Chuck Harris, Chad Sale and Lee's Hill Golf Club for organizing such a successful event!

Please Turn Your Prayer Buttons to HIGH....

After a celebratory homecoming last Tuesday, Carter Man and family tried very hard to wrap their heads around what was to come now that he no longer "lived" in the hospital. Carter was home from Tuesday until Friday and never really was able to fully settle in. Just as was the case in the hospital, he continued to experience difficulty with his breathing even while getting the same treatments at home that he was receiving in the hospital. He had a routine checkup on Friday (5/22/09), at which time it was decided that he would better off being readmitted to the hospital to be monitored more closely.

He was admitted Friday and had a "post-treatment" MRI to see where we are with this tumor and the intricate makeup of it all. The MRI showed that the most dangerous part of the tumor (located on or around the PONS of the brain) has shrunk considerably. The part located in the mid-brain showed a minimal increase in size, but this could just be due to general swelling from the radiation.

After continued issues with Carter Man's breathing, he was transferred to the PICU yesterday afternoon in order to have a breathing tube (respirator) inserted to aid in his breathing. He appeared to breathe more peacefully almost immediately, allowing his heart rate to return to normal.

Today, a second MRI of his spine was administered. The family is still awaiting the results of the scan. The plan is to try to wean Carter off the respirator as soon as possible.

Your prayers and concerns have not gone unheard and the family is eternally grateful for the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. Please join us in continuing to pray for Carter Man and his road to recovery from this whole situation.

"CARTER-MAN HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!"

Okay, so we've heard this phrase before many years ago in reference to Elvis, himself...but I think another Elvis has just been born in FredVegas!!

Little Carter-Man came home today!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if I could type enough exclamation marks to truly express my emotions of excitement at this point - I can't, I've just decided!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard the great news earlier this afternoon and rushed to the school to pull Madison and Kaelan out of class early to come to Carter's house and help us all celebrate his homecoming. Needless to say, their excitement was squeal-worthy! They worked diligently on poster boards for "welcome home" signs and helped to blow up balloons to hang on the trees in the front yard. Several different friends and family members were there to get the celebration started (Jenny Romack worked it with some recreations of Carter's favorite cartoon characters on some of the signs/posters that awaited his return home!!) It was quite a sight to be seen, and I saw many of you "slow to 20" to check it out :).

After a little trepidation upon his initial pulling into the driveway and seeing all the ado that was awaiting him, he experienced a bit of anxiety - this is all a HUGE adjustment after spending 4 weeks in the hospital. Imagine having to get used to your own house again! Once he was carried inside and repositioned into his favorite spot on the couch, he began to settle in and wanted to see his friends and family that had been so patiently awaiting his arrival. One by one, we all slowly greeted, kissed, touched and loved him at as slow a pace as we could all muster. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we all wanted to tackle him with love and hugs, but had to play our obedient roles, when it comes to the health and safety of our Carter-Man!!

His home nurses visited him shortly after his homecoming and very diligently went over any and ALL duties that now fall upon Courtney and Skip after Carter's discharge from the hospital. It is overwhelming what they now have to undertake after having it be an automatic provision during his constant care at the hospital. No matter how daunting it is, it is still better to have your baby boy back under his own roof! Look at the smile on that sweet face in the above picture!!

We are as happy to have you home as you are to be home! WELCOME HOME CARTER HARRIS!!!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!!...

There is a chance that Carter will be coming home from the hospital in the next day or so!! He has been doing much better now that they have started an anti-mucus breathing treatment. They did culture the junk coming up from his chest and determined that it is bacterial, so he will be going back on an antibiotic to treat it.

Carter's right side is still very weak, so he will be super busy with physical therapy in the coming weeks to try to rebuild the strength of his right side.

Courtney has wanted to get on this blog spot and personally address all of you, but has been very busy and hasn't had a chance to do so. Stay tuned for a special message from her in the coming days!

Please say your prayers and keep your fingers crossed that CarterMan will soon be bound for the "Burg"!!

"Carter's Carnival"

The Learn and Serve team at Stafford High School has organized a Carnival to benefit Carter and his family. It will be held this Saturday, May 16th from 10AM - 3PM on the Football Field. There will be all sorts of fun and games for you, your family and friends (moon bounce, dunk tank and much more)!! There is also a special “Kiss the llama” event. Teachers have been collecting money for the last couple of weeks. For the teacher who gets the most money in their classroom jar, they will WIN and get to kiss the llama at the Carnival!! Sounds interesting, to me!

Please bring your family and friends to a fun-filled day at SHS's Football Field this Saturday to benefit the Harris Family!

Cash Cow Car Wash ~WOW~

Thank you Mikayla Bonner for the fabulous idea to host a Car Wash For Carter!! We washed countless vehicles this past Saturday from 12pm-4pm and were able to raise a little over $580!! A big thanks to all who stopped by to support this event. I know Mikayla and her friends had fun all while raising a super amount of money for Carter and his family!