Lauri's Fight Against Brain Cancer

March 16th 2018 changed the lives of many when our sweet Mother/Wife/Daughter/Friend Lauri Irwin was diagnosed with brain cancer. She is a wife, a mother to 6 children, Grandma to 1 grandchild, a daughter, sister, and friend to MANY! She was brought to Rochester General on March 15th due to complications she was having with not having any use of her left arm and left leg. She was very clumsy and was tripping and fell into things quite often. When she arrived, they immediately did a cat scan and the results showed a mass on her brain. Doctors were unsure if the mass was caused by a stroke or if it was a tumor. In order to figure that out, Lauri needed an MRI which was performed on Thursday night. We wouldn't know results until the following day. Friday morning the Doctor came in to speak with Lauri about her results and that's when they diagnosed her with brain cancer. It's very rare for cancer to start in the brain. It almost always starts somewhere else in the body and then travels to the brain. Doctors wanted to do another cat scan of my moms entire body to see where else the cancer was. Results showed NO CANCER in any other part of her body!!! :) There are only 16,000 cases in the entire United States where a person has cancer in their brain and no where else in the body. Unfortunately she is one of those 16,000 people. Saturday March 16th, a neurosurgeon came and spoke with Lauri and her family. He told us that her tumor is buried 2 inches into her brain, in a very dangerous spot. Due to the location, he will be unable to remove it. If they removed it, she will be permanently paralyzed on the left side of her body. That news didn't sit well with Lauri and she is now very afraid of having a tumor in her brain that can't be removed. She was scheduled to have a procedure done on Friday March 23rd so they could do a biopsy and figure out what grade the cancer is. Grade 1 and 2 are NON aggressive and anything above is considered aggressive. She was sent home to relax and be in the comfort of her own home until the procedure. Unfortunately on Tuesday March 20th during the early hours of the morning, she had to be readmitted to the hospital. She wasn't eating or sleeping and was becoming more weak on the left side of her body. On top of everything she is dealing with, she developed a fever Tuesday night and was tested for the Flu. Sure enough, they came rushing into her room late Tuesday night to tell her results were positive. She has the flu! :( Because of the flu and her fevers, she is not able to come home and her procedure was moved to Monday March 26th.  As of today, she is doing MUCH better than she was. She still has no use in her right arm, but she IS able to take baby steps with assistance. Monday morning they will be drilling a hole into her head and using a GPS probe to get to her tumor. They will have about an 80% idea of what grade the cancer is but won't be 100% sure until the biopsy results come back 3-5 days later. Due to the procedure, her brain will be very swollen and she will be in a confused state of mind and may not know where she is etc. She will be placed into the ICU for 24 hours and then a "regular" room for an additional 24 hours after that. If all goes well, and she doesn't experience any brain bleeds, she will be HOME on Wednesday. However, with all that being said, she has a VERY long road to recovery. Since they are not able to remove the tumor, she will continue to have no use of her left arm and leg. She will require rehab, PT and OT  for 6-8 weeks after the procedure. So many people have asked for ways to help Lauri and her family strongly feels that any donations will greatly help them. She is unable to work and is 99% sure she wants to treat her cancer working closely with her holistic Doctor, Dr. Alexa. Unfortunately insurance will not cover any visits or treatment with a holistic doctor. We want to respect her wishes and do everything we can to make this happen! We covet your prayers, well wishes, and all the kind words you have all spoken to us. Lauri is very well loved, courageous, and she WILL beat this because of the outpouring of all your love and support! :) Thank you!