On Wednesday morning, I landed in the ER with severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and more. The inability to keep my body nourished combined with my first Enhertu Chemo finally caught up with me, and my body completely crashed.
I spent 6 days in the ICU. I have never been in the ICU in my life prior to this experience. In those 6 days I had 3 procedures and countless blood infusions, protein and nutrition infusions, and more.
I had pancreatitis, collitis, malnourishment, and an infection in my colon, which is where all of the pain came from.
The good news is that the 3 procedures they did WORKED! After procedure #3, I was able to go home from the hospital nearly pain free. After the first procedure, my liver levels, bilirubin and overall health on labs started to return within HOURS. My body desperately needed the ERCP procedure to unblock my liver.
Now I am at home and recovering. I am slowly working my way back up to eating solid foods. i am chugging protein shakes. Today I graduated to chicken noodle soup, a huge victory!! It feels absolutely amazing to be able to be able to eat without immediate pain. It is the relief of a lifetime.
During this time, my Rise for Lauren team, community, and friends rallied. Neighbors, Church members, family, and friends took over everything for us. Meals were delivered to my husband, family friends took our children so that Steve could be with me in the hospital around the clock, friends flew in to visit, and more. I can{t begin to share the gratitude I feel towards my community. They made this experience bearable for me, my children, and my husband. The silver lining is seeing the absolute power and impact of a strong and loving community. We are so lucky; our hearts are so full.
When I got home from the hospital, my girls shouts of “MOMMY!” made my heart melt. Our girls are clearly trying to recover from this experience themselves. It is heart-breaking to hear my 3-year old say “When are you going to get better, Mama?” “Soon, baby, don’t worry, soon.” I assure her. I know that I can do this.
When I got released from the hospital, I found a patch of grass and threw myself on to it. Earth! Sky! Light! I hadn’t seen these things in what felt like a LOONNNGGG time. It felt great to roll around in the grass ;-).
I am now completely off of pain medication at home and doing well.
I will persevere. I will bring my body back to health, continue with the Enhertu Chemo, and pursue my next treatment in Mexico shortly after. I have discovered and am pursuing a new treatment line that has proven results outside of the country, and I’m going to take a big swing and try it as soon as I’m healthy enough. More to come soon about what I’ve disovered and the science behind it in the next few weeks. Right now, I’m focused on getting my body healthy enough to handle Chemo to beat back these tumors.
