Hi!!!

I am sooo sorry that it has taken me so long to update my blog! You are probably all worried about how I have been doing. Well I have actually been GREAT! My hospital stay was pretty successful despite the lack of sleep I got. They do not let you sleep there I tell ya. From IVs beeping to nurses waking me up I was ready to sleep in my own bed after the second night. I had many friends and family that came to visit me which was really nice. I played cards, cribbage, and even guess who! I watched some movies and played on my new iPad (thanks to an amazing group of family friends who bought it for me)!

I left the hospital on Thursday morning and have felt great ever since. No side effects yet but I’m still crossing my fingers! My energy, appetite, and everything else has been great. I’m sorry it took me so long to post my status I have just been busy and boring haha. Thank you all for the support and encouragement. Next appointment is on Wednesday to check out my blood counts. I’ll keep you all posted. I promise.

Hope all you moms had a great Mother’s Day!

Love, Lauren

Hii!

So yesterday was the big day when the amazing Piny shaved my head and gave me my wig! It was the weirdest experience ever but it turned out great in the end! I love love love my wig and am already getting used to it. However, I don’t mind hanging around the house without it already too. Here’s some pictures of the day! My mom, sister and three friends (Marissa, Chelsea, and Kara) came with me. They were an amazing support group to have there! No tears just laughs

So there’s the pictures! I decided to be doctor evil for Halloween

Helloo!!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. I know you all have been so worried (which I hate). To be honest, these past few days have been full of nothing. I have felt better and better everyday. My appetite has gotten a lot better too. Yesterday I had my check up appointment where they checked by blood work. Bad news :/ my white blood count was really low. They said it’s normal at this stage of the game because it goes lower everyday after my chemo and after the 7th day it will start to go back up. However, I was planning on going to Stagecoach this weekend but with that white blood count my doctor couldn’t give me the green light. I bascially don’t have an immune system right now and could get sick really easily.

I’m going to break down the blood work stuff so that when I refer to some of it you guys will understand. You are all going to get so smart after this

Ok so the four main things they look at are the:

WBC which is the white blood count and it should be 4.0-10.0 for a normal person, > 3.0 with chemo

The Neutrophil which should range 1.56-6.13 for a normal person, >1.0 with chemo

Hemoglobin which should range between 11.2-15.7 for a normal person, >9 witth chemo

Platelets which should range between 163-369 for a normal person, >100 with chemo

That being said, my WBC was 1.0, Neutrophil was .03, Hemoglobin was 12.4, and platelets were 144. So i’m hoping that in the next few days my WBC and Neutrophil will go up. Once again they said this is very common for the first set of chemo and that it will only go up from here. I just have to be very careful, wash my hands a lot, and eat a lot!

I’m schedueled to go back on Tuesday to check my blood again. After that is my appointment with Piny, the wig maker. That is when my head will be shaved! Wish me luck and hope that my head isnt odly shaped or that I dont have any disgusting moles!! I promise to post pictures! Based on my blood work on Tuesday tthey will let me know when my next chemo is. My doctor wants to aim toward Thursday the 3rd. That’s when I’ll be there for 5 days. Yucck!

I will keep you all posted with the finalized dates.

Love, Lauren

Hi!

So I’m four days into my chemo treatment. I did get beat up a little but I feel better now. I’ve had my ups and downs already but I think it can only get better from here. My main nurse (my mother) has been amazing. There’s too many medications for me to handle so having her here makes things a lot easier. I’m starting to gain an appetite again which is exciting! I’ve been having jaw pains, a side effect to one of the chemos, and have been pretty tired but I feel better each day.

I have a check up appoitment on Wednesday which will determine my blood count. I’ll find out my next chemo then too. Thank you all for your support and concerns. I’m hanging in there so don’t worry!

Love, Lauren

Hiii!

So I am currently sitting in the treatment center in Santa Monica receiving my first chemo!! I’m fortunate that they were able to get this process going as fast as they did. I’m feeling great right now. My infusion nurse, Gilbert, said that I won’t feel a difference for another 7-10 days. So now I just sit back and wait to see how my body decides to react.

Ive been here for about 3 hours and have 3-4 more hours to go! My mom and friend Marissa are here to keep me company. Marissa made me a cute blanket and a chemo kit filled with food, magazines, gum, lotion, cards, and coloring books! I’ve already had two bags of chemo and have one moreto go.

Thank you all SO much for your support! I’ll probably post again when I start feeling the side effects. Hoping for none

Love, Lauren

Hello!

So today I attended my first chemo class! Who ever knew I would have one of those! It was with my nurse Sandra who I really like. She basically went over every side effect and step of chemo. She started from my head down and told me every possible side effect but not every side effect actually happens. I am interested to see what my body plans on doing! She prescribed me with about 8 different medications that help each side effect if they do come.

I was a long but informative day! She ended with telling us we’re aiming to start chemo on Wednesday. Yes, this Wednesday! We’re still waiting on that last genetic test and then we should be getting things going. So now we’re just waiting for a call tomorrow to let us know when I start!

I will definitely post something tomorrow when I know more!

Love, Lauren

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday we received an email from Dr. Eilber stating that the pathology reports look like Ewings. There is still one genetic test begin done to make sure but my chemo doctor, Dr. Singh, said it is a 99% chance that it is Ewings. Which is fine because I prepared myself for it! The treatment plan is the same as I explained last Tuesday.

Today I had my surgery to install the port. It went very well and took only a couple of hours. I had a twilight which is a lower grade of an anesthesia so I wasn’t completely under. However, I did fall asleep and don’t remember anything! When I woke up my mom was already taking videos and pictures of me! The recovery was fast and I am already at home feeling great. The vicodin helps though

I have an appointment on Monday to get an Echocardiogram which is a standard procedure before recieveing chemo. After that I have a meeting with my chemo nurse, Sandra, who will be going over every detail of chemo and will answer any questions we have. Dr. Singh said that there’s a chance I could start chemo by the end of next week!

I am ready to get this process going!

I’ll let you guys know how that meeting goes on Monday!

Love, Lauren

Hello again,

So here is my new website! I am still trying to figure it out and make it look as pretty as the last one. I reposted the previous comments I received on my last blog too!

Yesterday my family and I were in Santa Monica for two appointments; one with a wig guy in beverly hills and another with my surgeon. Before our appointments we had to stop at the Santa Monica pier which was gorgeous.

Then we went over to Piny Salon in Beverly Hills. We walk in and there are pictures all over the walls of him with different celebrities. We were worried he might be some stuck up Hollywood guy. However, he turned out to me an extremely nice man. He showed us a few wigs and went over the whole process and everything. He wants to turn my own hair into extensions which is amazing! I could tell that he is VERY experienced and will be fun to have there during this whole process.

After that we went over to our appointment with Dr. Eibler, the surgeon. Let me just say that I am very confident in his abilities but his personality was slightly abrupt. We found out great news! THE BODY SCAN CAME BACK AND IT SHOWED THAT IT IS ONLY IN THAT ONE SPOT ON MY ARM!! So it has not spread! Which is the news we have been waiting for! Unfortunately though he had not received the pathology report for an exact diagnosis yet. He informed us that he set up a conference on Thursday with a bunch of different doctors, including my chemo doctor. So he told us email him on Thursday to hear what that conference concluded for my diagnosis.

As of now I am scheduled to have my port inserted on Friday. The port is basically a target for my chemo so that my arms don’t have to get stabbed with needles over and over again. It is surgically inserted near my clavicle under the skin. However, we still need to hear an exact diagnosis before all that happens. My doctor put it this way, “chemo is a beating and you don’t want to take that beating unless you have to”. Therefore, we need to know that is for sure Ewings Sarcoma before we start the treatment because we want to make sure that I actually NEED the chemo. So fingers crossed!!

My next post will be on Thursday after we hear the exact diagnosis!

Love, Lauren

First of all I just want to thank each and every one of you for your support. I feel more loved now than ever. I figured this was the best way to keep everyone updated on the whole process. I won’t post something everyday, just on the eventful ones. Which I hope there won’t be too many of those! I promise this blog will always be positive and uplifting! In the about me section of the blog I posted everything that we have been told and went through as of now.

Today it has been a week since I was diagnosed with Sarcoma. Wow! What a week it has been! I am so blessed to have so much love and support surrounding me. It is going to be a long road ahead but I know that I will get through this and hearing all of you reassure of me of that is amazing! Today I had a full body scan to check if the Sarcoma is anywhere else. It took two hours and I had to drink this discussing glue-textured drink. Yuck! But it’s over so now we wait. I am meeting with Dr. Eilber, the surgeon, for a consolation on Tuesday. We are hoping to hear an exact diagnosis and the results from the body scan at that appointment. I truly believe that we will receive good news. It can only go uphill from here! From now on any news I receive I will post on here. I might even post a picture when I chop my hair off!

I feel awesome today because Stephen comes home tonight for the weekend! I hope everyone has an amazing Easter weekend! I love all of you so so much!!

Love, Lauren