Lauren’s Cancer Journey - Round 3

Hi everyone!

Update on Lauren’s Journey - December 2023:

This health journey update is about my dear friend, Lauren Gorski. Many of you may be familiar with part one of Lauren’s journey through cancer. A life & health update as of June 2023, and request for support below:

I had the absolute pleasure and honor of crossing paths with Lauren at North Central College beginning in 2011, where we both were on the swim team. Our friendship blossomed through early morning practices, lifting weights, evening swims, swim meets throughout the CCIW, and even traveling together for training trips. We both attended graduate school at North Central and stuck together like glue throughout our classes and being assistant coaches for the swim and dive team. Since knowing Lauren, she has been my rock through thick and thin, seriously everything. She is the most kind-hearted, intelligent, caring, and beautiful human being. Always thinking of others, putting them first, and doing all she can to help whenever possible.

Part One: Lauren was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine. She had surgery to remove a blockage and portion of her small intestine. Lauren’s course of action to fight her cancer was to endure 6 rounds of chemotherapy. After completing 6 rounds of grueling chemotherapy over the summer of 2022, Lauren was finally given a clean bill of health and a huge sigh of relief from this enormous health event!

Part Two: In April 2023, a routine CT revealed a mass on her ovary. Additional testing confirmed that her small bowel cancer had metastasized to her ovary. Lauren had another major surgery to remove the mass, which was quite the feat. Her treatment team decided it would be best for her to complete an additional 6 rounds of chemotherapy beginning in June 2023 and lasting throughout the summer months. By August of 2023, she was deemed cancer-free for the second time! She did it!

Part Three in Lauren’s words - December 2023 (scroll for additional history):

Thank you to everyone who shown me the

overwhelming love, support, and encouragement since this cancer journey started 1.5 years ago. It's not quite over. Cancer has found my body to be nice and cozy because

It's back.

I sit here, devastated, trying to find words. In August, I had the "all clear!". In September 2023, I started to try getting back to the woman I used to be - training for a half marathon that I would run on May 5, 2024. This date is significant because this day for the last two years was the day following two major surgeries resulting in cancer diagnosis. So, instead of waking up on the 5th in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of me, not being able to sit up or stand on my own, I would be crossing the finish line after 13.1 miles... ironically, probably not being able to stand on my own.

"It's back" has hit me a lot harder this time. I feel like the closer I am to getting back to being "me", cancer is like "SIKE! Just kidding! Here's another emotional roller coaster!"

Right now, we are in a waiting game. I will be traveling to Mayo clinic in Minnesota in January to meet with their oncology team to come up with a game plan...

Round 3: Lauren vs cancer.

Lauren has beaten small intestine cancer and the metastasis of it to her ovary. Her journey to Mayo Clinic to plan her treatment is coming up quickly. Round 3 of Lauren vs. cancer begins now. Lauren has the rest of her life ahead of her and with her drive, passion, and determination, she is guaranteed to be extremely successful and achieve all of her goals in this life! That being said, the last thing any of her loved ones want to see for her is to struggle financially due to her diagnosis and treatment of cancer (not once, but THREE times) at such a young age. If there is any size donation you may be able to contribute to assist Lauren in her journey through cancer treatment, I know she, her family, and all of her loved ones would be beyond grateful for such a kind act. The funds from donations received will be directly utilized for her medical bills. I’ll close with some wise words from Lauren, “go on the trip. Buy stupid stuff. Listen to loud music. Eat the cupcake. Go to bed late. Go to bed early. Sleep in. You only have one life. Make it count.”

Thank you all for your support, both financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Please feel free to share this fundraiser for Lauren, as well to spread the word about Lauren’s story. Never forget to listen to your gut instinct and fight for your health. Sending love to you and yours! ️

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Lauren’s Journey prior to Part Three:

Part One:

Looking back to the start of 2022, Lauren started having discomfort beginning in February 2022. Her discomfort quickly turned to pain in March when she had her first visit to the hospital to address this pain. She continued to listen to her body and try to get answers on what was occurring for months. Being persistent in her health, Lauren finally received some answers at the beginning of May. Her pain had been due to an obstruction in her small intestine. Surgery was the next step to remove this obstruction. However, through much testing, Lauren was diagnosed an uncommon type of cancer that was deemed high risk stage 2/stage 3 small intestine cancer at the young age of 28 years old. This was a shock to her family, friends, and physicians that would now be caring for her. Her age even earned her the title of her oncologist’s youngest patient ever!

From here, Lauren was to recover from surgery and then tackle the next steps in her journey with cancer of her small intestine. As one can imagine, until this point, her journey has included many doctor visits including genetic testing, fertility specialty, and infusions of chemotherapy.

Part Two:

Fast forward to the end of March 2023 when Lauren had a colonoscopy and endoscopy that confirmed her clean slate from cancer. This boss of a woman also BOUGHT A HOME for her and her sweet boy, Jack! There were lots of happy tears and celebrations to go along with this fantastic news! The vast amount of prayers to guide Lauren through beating cancer were answered.

At the end of April 2023, the completely unexpected occurred and Lauren’s world turned upside down once again. Lauren went to receive a routine CT scan for piece of mind. The result showed a 7.3cm size mass that grew in her pelvic region. A couple of days later, a MRI resulted in a 8cm mass on her right ovary. It wasn’t a matter of if she would need surgery, but when the surgery would occur. Before she could even process what this news brought to her, not even one week later, she was rushed to the hospital for a twisted ovary. The CT and ultrasound measured the mass at 10cm. Three days after that, on May 4th, a year to the day from her initial surgery to remove the cancerous portion of her small intestine, Lauren had surgery to remove the now 12cm mass and her right ovary. To put things into perspective, the mass grew 4cm within two short weeks - the change was sudden, quick, and there were no symptoms. Through testing, it has been confirmed that the origin of the cancer was the small bowel, so it had metastasized to her ovary. At this time, her left ovary is now at high risk of exposure.

After many appointments to confirm the best course of action to treat Lauren’s metastasis, her care team recommended six cycles of chemotherapy that began at the beginning of June 2023 throughout the summer months.

Lauren is tackling part two of her journey through cancer with the utmost grace in such an uncertain and truly scary time in her life. She has been an absolute WARRIOR throughout, finding comfort throughout the chaos. She is the strongest lady I know, pushing through all of these barriers, while remaining diligent with her care plan to crush this thing (cancer)!