Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. Thank you for taking the time to read our story and your continued prayers.
David Harbarth is a husband to Sarah, and they have 5 children, Katelyn (18), Allison (10), Hannah (8), Andrew (4) and Madelynn (1). They love going on adventures and finding joy in the little things in life.
David works for Target and also loves coaching football for the Hutchinson Tigers.
On Monday December 31, 2018, Sarah took David to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. After some labs and a CT scan they were told that David had swollen lymph nodes throughout his abdomen. These lymph nodes were swollen most likely due to cancer. David was sent home with pain medication and told to follow up with oncology as soon as possible.
After some amazing people made things possible, they had an appointment scheduled for Thursday, January 3 to see Dr. Larson, oncologist. At the appointment they were told that he had cancer but they had to find out where it was coming from. At the time they were leaning towards a diagnosis of lymphoma or testicular cancer.
They followed up with multiple tests, including PET scan, ultrasound, and lab work on Friday, January 4th. Friday evening Dr. Larson called and told them that David has Stage 3b Testicular Cancer. Testicular cancer does not have a stage 4, but only goes to Stage 3c. Basically this means that he has high tumor markers in his labs and the PET scan shows that it has spread throughout his body.
At this time, David will be returning to Abbott on Tuesday, January 8th for a biopsy, to find exact type of Testicular cancer. He will also have an MRI to make sure the cancer has not spread to his brain. This week will also include lung function testing and he will have placement of a port for chemotherapy.
As of right now they are looking at treatment and surgeries to last up to a year.
They will have more updates as the week goes by and will keep everyone updated through their journey.
Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers.
A GoFundMe page will also be available if you wish to help fund medical expenses along with family and travel expenses. David, the sole provider, will not be able to return to work for several months to a year or longer.
https://www.gofundme.com/davidh7 
