Help Support Lauren O'Shea's Medical Expenses

On the afternoon of April 25, 2022, Lauren (29 years old) wasn't feeling well at work and thought she might be coming down with a migraine. She called her mom, Becki Wright, saying she might need a ride home. Just minutes later, Lauren began seizing and collapsed onto the floor, and (thankfully) her colleagues at A Family For Every Child called 911.

 

When Lauren arrived at the hospital, they discovered she was suffering from a brain hemorrhage. The doctors now think it was caused by a bursting of her brain's blood vessels from complications caused by a rare condition called an Arteriovenous Malformation she may have been born with.

 

In order to save her life, doctors at Riverbend had to cut into her skull to relieve the increasing pressure the bleeding was creating. The prognosis was that (if she survived) she most likely would suffer from brain damage and possible paralysis of at least her left hand (and maybe leg). That night, she was then life-flighted to Oregon Health Science University hospital (in Portland, Oregon, 120 miles north of Eugene), the only hospital that may be able to perform surgery to try and fix her malformation.

 

On April 26, 2022, at OHSU, they conducted an angiogram to try and see the extent of the malformation of her blood vessels. They determined it was too risky to perform any surgery to fix it at that time. The hospital staff continued walking the fine line between trying to raise her blood pressure enough to wake her up yet keeping the blood pressure low enough that the bleeding does not start again.

 

She also went in for an MRI to assess her brain function in the afternoon. We still don't have official results from MRI scan yet, but they aren't expecting anything new to come from it.

 

As of today (April 27th), early this morning (or late last night), when the nurses were trying to elicit a response from Lauren (pinching her for a response to pain), Lauren lifted her left hand all the way to her head. This is good news, as her left side was the side they thought might be paralyzed.

 

They are also going to do another angiogram today and are putting the idea of surgery to fix her arteriovenous malformation back on the table. Even just exploring this as an option again is very good news.

 

She still hasn't opened her eyes yet, but that would be the next step, so we'll keep praying. The hospital is taking amazing care of her, waiting on her 24 hours/day. Even braiding her hair. Her mom (Becki) is with her during daytime visiting hours, and Theresa (Becki's sister) is there as emotional support for Becki. She is well-loved.

 

As you can imagine, medical bills can be quite expensive, and with Lauren having just started her new job, and Becki living on a tight budget already, the medical bills will be devastating for them (a word the doctors keep using to discuss Lauren's condition, and a word that Becki is really coming to dislike). Please consider donating to offset the medical bills and provide for the set up of any after-care that will be needed to create care for Lauren after she is released.

 

If you would like to donate outside of GoFundMe, you can also use the friends and family option through PayPal (paypal.me/believehealthfitness) or Venmo (@jenniminer, last four digit of phone 1277) through my (Jenni Miner's, Lauren's aunt and Becki's sister) account. All monies from both this GoFundMe and from other sources will go directly to Becki and Lauren for hospital and medical-related expenses. Any left over funding will go toward her Celebration of Life. 

 

We all know Lauren is a fighter.

We have great hope for a good recovery, even if the circumstances look bleak right now.

 

Lauren and Becki are both people of prayer, so all prayers are also encouraged and welcomed.