A Lifetime of Cancer, a Double-Lung Transplant, and Now Breast Cancer

I’ve known Lauren since kindergarten, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve watched her face challenges no one should ever have to. Through it all, she has shown strength and resilience, and I’ve always admired her for the way she continues to push forward despite it all. “Giving up” has never been in her vocabulary.

On her ninth birthday, Lauren was diagnosed with stage 3 Wilms tumor. When it relapsed to in her lungs at 11, she was over-radiated, and the damage to her lungs was severe and irreversible. At 15, she received a double-lung transplant, and she has lived on those lungs for more than twenty years. Now she has been diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread to a lymph node, and she is facing it with a body that has never had an easy road. This is going to take everything she has, and I'm asking for your help.

How this started

Six weeks ago, Lauren found a lump and began the mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs. During those weeks, she was offered a full-time position at a company she was excited to join. A few hours into her first shift, the radiologist called. There was cancer in her right breast and her lymph node, and two high-risk spots in her left breast.

Lauren and Corey got married seven months ago. They started planning IVF and talking about where they would live next with their three dogs. In one phone call, all plans stopped.

Why this is harder for Lauren

Every day, Lauren takes immunosuppressive drugs so her body does not reject her transplanted lungs. Those same drugs weaken her ability to fight cancer and infection. Many cancer treatments can also put stress on the lungs, so her doctors will have to balance treating the cancer against protecting her transplant. That may mean more specialized care, closer monitoring, and a slower, harder recovery.

Lauren has dealt with medical issues her whole life, and she knows better than anyone what treatment asks of a person. She is facing it again, and this time it threatens the lungs that have kept her alive for two decades, along with her recovery and her future.

The road ahead

Lauren won't be doing this alone. Her husband, Corey, and her family will be beside her at every appointment, every hospital stay, and every long night, and Corey will be the one caring for her at home. Treatment will take them to Philadelphia again and again, 1,400 miles round trip from Chattanooga each time. It is the city where Lauren was first treated as a child. Travel, lodging, and time away from home add up quickly, and we want to take some of that weight off them.

How your gift will be used

Your gift will go toward Lauren's medical care, the repeated trips and stays in Philadelphia, care for their dogs, and the everyday bills that keep their home running while she goes through treatment, for as long as it takes.

Thank you for standing beside them.

— Maura