‘You Can Do Hard Things’: A Story of Inspiration

Many people have a mantra that helps them persevere through difficult times. It’s hard to think of anyone who needed the mantra, “You can do hard things” – more than Lisa Lund.

Lund discovered she was pregnant in the spring of 2019; her healthy daughter, Quinn, was born Feb.3, 2020. After three weeks at home, however, Lund spiked a fever of 103 degrees. More tests were run, and after two weeks of no improvement and worsening bloodwork, she was admitted to the hospital on March 13.

The very same day, COVID-19 was declared a national emergency.

“Lisa’s primary care physician contacted me about her patient, a young mom who had recently given birth and was now experiencing high fevers, enlarged lymph nodes, and just wasn’t feeling well,” says Tara Graff, DO, Lisa’s oncologist and physician at Mission Cancer + Blood. “We typically do not admit patients to the hospital we have not met, but something about her case concerned me.”

To complicate the picture, the hospital was on the verge of shutting down due to the pandemic.

Graff wanted to make sure Lund could be admitted to receive the care she needed.

“Not only did we have this young new mother being admitted during a global pandemic, she was also diagnosed with a rarer type of Hodgkin’s lymphoma that actually behaved like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” Graff says. “I actually cried after I met her because I couldn’t imagine having a baby girl and not being able to hold her.”

Graff sat with Lund and her husband and family that first weekend and informed them of the diagnosis, what it meant, and the steps of how they were going to treat the disease. She believes in the importance of making the patient and the family a part of the care team.

“Lisa’s strength was what I remember most,” Graff says. “She didn’t falter. She didn’t crumble. She didn’t fall apart. Her grace and strength were truly inspiring.”

You can do hard things.

Then, the hospital shut down to visitors, and Lund had to embark on her first chemotherapy treatment alone.

“Dr. Graff was a really strong rock for me from the beginning,” Lund says. “She told me how it was, and she never doubted that I was going to be OK at the end of this.”

Lund began to improve quickly once chemo began, and the daily joy of taking care of Quinn got her out of bed every morning and helped her recover from her treatments.

Lund completed her chemo at Mission Cancer + Blood, where she met the rest of Graff’s care team, including physician assistant Alecia Raymer.

“I knew Lisa’s story, and when I first met her, I thought she would be having a really hard time with managing everything, especially when she had to go through it alone because of the pandemic,” Raymer says. “But from the first day, she handled every step with grace and always had a smile on her face.”

After three chemo cycles, Lund’s scans showed a very encouraging response, which fueled her positivity — an important part of her recovery. and a quality that impacted everyone she met at Mission Cancer + Blood.

“Everyone here loves her,” Raymer says. “I don’t think she realizes how strong she was to go through what she went through. Not a lot of people would handle it the way she did.”

You can do hard things.

Lund was thankful for the care she received from everyone at Mission Cancer + Blood. During a stressful time for her, she also understood how difficult it must have been for everyone there with the pandemic shifting the way they had to do their jobs.

“With everything changing, it was a scary time for them, as well, because they were risking their lives every day to come to work and take care of me and others,” Lund says. “But they always treated me with the utmost respect, and provided the best care, even when their lives were also turned upside down.”

Lund finished chemo in July 2020, followed by a course of radiation. In September, she was in full remission, and follow- up tests in December 2020, and March 2021 showed no evidence of disease. In May 2021, she her port was removed. Graff says her prognosis was excellent and is excited to see her living her life to its fullest.

Part of that full life for Lund was focusing on her family. She and her husband wanted more children, but given what she went through, they weren’t certain another pregnancy was possible.

You can do hard things.

“When I was diagnosed, we made the decision to start chemo immediately rather than harvesting and freezing my eggs,” Lund said. “We were comfortable that if we couldn’t have more children of our own, we’d adopt.”

Then in the summer of 2021, Lund found out she was pregnant.  She and her husband were thrilled and can’t wait to welcome their second daughter into their lives in March 2022.

“When we learned we were going to have a girl, we made the decision to honor the person who I credit with saving my life,” Lund says. “Our daughter’s middle name will be Tara, after Dr. Graff. It’s the least I can do for what she did for me.”

Lund is thankful for the team at Mission Cancer + Blood that helped her through a tough time.

“The word that comes to mind is ‘grateful,’” Lund says. “Dr. Graff was the perfect match for me in so many ways, and Alecia was a blessing. The facilities are top- notch, and the nurses were wonderful, always taking good care of me. I was so grateful I was able to get my treatment there.”

You can do hard things.

Lund heard this statement on a podcast while she was in the hospital, and it is what helped her through her cancer journey.

“On the difficult days, when things seemed impossible, repeating this really gave me the strength to get through all of this. Giving up was never an option for me. Getting healthy for my daughter kept me going. and now I have so much to live for and I am so thankful.”