Lori's Fighting Cancer!


Lori West is a strong woman. She has been through a journey that most people would not survive mentally, emotionally or physically. She is a woman of strong faith and that faith has carried her through this journey. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in Fall of 2016. Let’s back up about a year and let me share what she has been through.


Lori is my cousin and was the first best friend I had ever had. We were inseparable growing up. She spent every Summer with me where ever we lived. As teenagers we did EVERYTHING together.


In the picture above Lori and I were enjoying a day by the pool at my parents house last Summer (June, 2016). As we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs I’ll never forget the story she began to tell me. Lori had not been 100% for a few months while studying to be a nurse, something she always wanted to do. She began to share that she had many tests run and biopsies taken to try and figure out what was going on in her body. Doctors couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong. I remember her telling me that her case was so special, they were using it to teach medical students. Lori never let any of this stunt her faith. We stood there and agreed together that God would reveal what was happening in her body and give the doctors wisdom to figure it out. She continued to share with me about nursing school and how excited she was to be finishing up in the Fall. Her heart was to be in the mission field and allow her degree in nursing to help others. After many tests the doctors said Lori had necrotizing pneumonia. She had a mass in her lung that needed to be removed. They were pretty confident it was not cancer. She was scheduled to have surgery September 21st to have it removed.


On September 16th, Lori’s birthday, her step-dad, Richey, called her and told her that her mother, Jan, had overdosed and was on her way to the hospital in an ambulance. As Lori was in the hospital with her mom they kept trying to call Richey and he would never answer. They thought it was odd that he had not made it to the hospital. The next morning Lori and her husband, Vaughn, went to Jan and Richey’s house to see why he had never come to the hospital and they found him dead in his bathroom. Jan was in a coma at the time. When she came out of her coma she kept asking where Richey was and called him repeatedly wondering why he was not there with her. Lori and her family wasn’t sure they should tell Jan that Richey was deceased, due to her being weak from the coma. After much consideration they felt they needed to tell her. She was devastated and ended up back in a coma for almost 3 weeks. This was not a good time to be having surgery. Lori’s step-dad had died, her mother was in a coma and she had a scheduled surgery to remove the mass in her lung just 5 days later. She was thinking of putting her surgery off. It was an 8 week recovery and all Lori could think is what if I have surgery and my mother dies too. At the time they were waiting to see what happened to Jan before they could plan funeral arrangements for Richey. Needless to say this was alot to have to decide. The doctors told Lori that if she waited on surgery it would be November before they could do it. I encouraged her to go ahead with the surgery as did Vaughn. After much prayer Lori decided to go ahead with the planned surgery on September 21st. When they removed the mass it was so rubbery that they had to take it in one piece. They had planned to take it in parts. The lower lobe of her lung was removed and sent off to pathology. Cancer was not a thought since she had already been told it wasn’t cancer. When they got the reports back she was told she had cancer. There was a tumor in the middle of the mass. She immediately thought this was a blessing that it was not removed in pieces and they had to take it in one piece. Removing it in pieces could have allowed the cancer to spread. We were all so thankful she had not waited until November to get the surgery. Lori had an 8 week recovery ahead of her.


As Lori was recovering from surgery, her mother came out of a coma and was well enough to go home. With in a couple of weeks, Jan was back in the hospital again with pneumonia. When Jan was released to go home it wasn’t long before Lori’s sister, Janlyn, found her mother dead in her bed (Dec. 1st, 2016). At this time Lori had recovered well and was going to start preventative chemo, suggested by her doctors. They said they got all the cancer, but chemo was a good idea and just preventative. So in December Lori began her treatment. She was on a road to better health. She had decided to change her eating habits to a clean eating diet and was excited about the changes she was making. As most chemo treatments do, it made her sick. She shared with me the ups and downs of the treatment and how it was taking a toll on her physically and mentally. She had 4 rounds and she was looking forward to completing her last one in January, 2017.


On Thursday, February 2nd, Lori was a guest on our first Ladies Nite Line with Mary & Toni. We were excited to have her on the show to share her story and all she had been through in the past few months. To hear Lori share from her heart and pray a powerful prayer over our viewers you can watch with the link below.
 https://youtu.be/bO3JCUuUbXY ‌

Before the program that night Lori asked me to pray for her. She began to cry and say she was in a good bit of pain in her hip. She came into the studio limping that night. She shared with me that she had told her doctors about the pain in her hip and they did not feel it was related to the cancer or chemo. I prayed with her before the program went live. God used her that night to touch many people.
Four days later on Monday, February 6th, Lori was given a clean bill of health! Cancer Free! They were beyond excited, sharing with all of their friends and family the good news. The next day, February 7th, Lori sneezed and chipped her femur bone. She said she screamed so loud the whole neighborhood heard her. They called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. This is when they found out that during her chemo the cancer had metastasized to her bones. This explained all the pain in her hip she had been having. Can you imagine the emotional roller coaster this was after just being told you were cancer free the day before?
They immediately did surgery on her, placing a rod in her left leg. Her bones had become so brittle that her sneeze chipped her femur. Doctors were afraid the bones in her left leg would break without the rod. They found a large tumor in her left arm as well. Lori & Vaughn were devastated finding all of this out. How could this had happened? She was just ready to start treatment to get rid of it. They began radiation to help with pain. Her pain had been consistently at a 7-9 and sometimes reaching a 10. She was believing God for her healing. At the same time she was frustrated and confused as to how all of this had happened. Lori spent 52 days in the hospital before she was able to go to a rehab facility. She finally was able to go home and she began immuno therapy treatments.


During this time Lori’s daughter, Bayleigh, was planning a wedding. She was to be married on June 24th. Lori’s goal was to be able to walk at the wedding.
On May 25th Lori was rushed back to the hospital. Her pain had gotten out of control. The main goal at this point was to get her pain under control so she could have some sort of daily function without being sedated 24-7. They spent weeks trying to figure out a combination of meds that would work. She continued to stay at high levels of pain. On June 8th she began to have problems breathing. The family was called in. The doctors said she may not make it through the night. Her heart rate was extremely hight as was her BP. As our family always does, we came together and prayed over her, sang over her and spoke the word over her. She was taken to ICU to be monitored closely. Within the hour, God showed us a miracle. Her heart rate began to drop and her BP came down. We were taking this as an answer to prayer. Lori told the nurse it was a miracle. They thought she may not live, but GOD! He showed up and showed out. The next day her heart rate was in the 90s. It had not been below 115 since February when she first went in the hospital. Through all of this, Lori still retained her strong faith in knowing Jesus is healing her. She remained in the hospital until June 22nd, just two days before the wedding. We were all believing with her that she would be at the wedding.


And another miracle happened. She was there!







Vaughn shared with me that day that they fought 100 demons to get to the wedding. Lori almost didn’t make it. She was in excruciating pain. She smiled and cried. It was a day with alot of emotions for everyone. As Lori was escorted down the aisle, everyone began to clap knowing this was another miracle God had given her. Lori had tears of joy and tears of pain that day. She wasn’t able to stay for the whole reception, due to the pain she was in. Lori and Vaughn left their daughter’s wedding about 40 minutes into the reception.
That night she was up most of the night with a fever. On Monday, June 26th, she began feeling worse and was taken back to the hospital where she currently is now (July 1st).
They are currently trying to manage her pain and will begin more radiation treatments. I was recently with Lori visiting her and reminded her that God is a YES God and that He CAN and WILL heal her. “As He is, so are we in this world” 1st John 4:17. She layed in that hospital bed and said “yes and amen”. Her faith is still strong. As we prayed for her she began to pray in the spirit. Her spirit man knows the truth! God is a God of miracles and He’s not finished with her.



Her husband Vaughn has been by her side this entire time. He is definitely holding up his vows of “in sickness and in health”. He has been her rock. He has spoken the word of life over her daily. He has tried to be with her and at the same time be a dad to two girls, Kayla and Bayleigh, as well as a grandpa to their grand-daughter, Riley, while trying to manage his job from the hospital room.



Vaughn and Lori’s focus needs to be solely on her getting better. The weight that hospital bills and monthly recurring bills brings does not need to sit on Vaughn’s shoulders. They need our help. As Lori is healing I am asking that you sow a seed into their lives and help them financially. The medical bills have quickly piled high. Vaughn’s parents have moved in with them to help in any way they can but now they need us too.
I want them to be blessed beyond measure with the generosity they see come their way. Any gift you sow is appreciated whether it’s $100, $10, $1000, $50, $25, $300 or whatever you feel led to give. Your gift will be sown in good soil.
Lori & Vaughn’s passion is to share the gospel. They've been on mission trips and plan to go on more sharing the love of Christ. (below Lori in Haiti)


Thank you in advance for your gift. You will be blessed!


Lori with her daughter Kayla above and below.



From left to right: Lori’s mom Jan, Kayla, Bayleigh, Lori’s sister Janlyn and Lori.

Lori at her church, New Image Outreach, sharing the gospel.


Can you be their next miracle? Please prayerfully consider what you can do financially to help Lori fight this cancer and tell satan to shut the hell up!
Because As He (Jesus) is, so is Lori in this world!
Jesus is whole and Lori's body is blameless in Christ Jesus!

7/15/17
Lori went to be with her Father in Heaven early this morning. I can now say that she has victory over cancer. As she prayed in her prayer on Nite Line, victory has been won, fear is gone, cancer is gone. She is whole.
When I visited her on Thursday, July 13th, Vaughn told me she woke up that morning so happy because she had a dream. He said she kept saying it was so beautiful over and over. She told Vaughn that Jesus was in it and kept on and on about how beautiful it was. I am resting in the knowledge that she got a glimpse of what heaven is and decided she was tired of fighting this earthly battle if something so beautiful was waiting on her.
Lori was a soldier in God's army on this earth. Now she is pain free, cancer free and resting in peace with her mom and step-dad. What a glorious reunion they must be having together. As tears stream down my face as I write this Father reminds me that we cannot comprehend the beauty he has waiting on all of us. Lori will be missed by many. She changed the lives of so many in that hospital. God used her until he called her home.
We love you Lori (Los Amigos, Lori-Lane, Ingles)

I am continuing to raise funds for this family as Vaughn will be left with all of the bills that have built up over the past 6 months of Lori being in the hospital. Let's continue to show Lori's family our support as they try and figure out their new normal on this earth.
Continue to keep Vaughn, Kayla and Bayleigh in your prayers.