Donate to Aid Lauren's Medical Journey

My twin sister Lauren has been privately dealing with very serious health issues for the past several months. She is the strongest person I know and has been trying to balance most of this on her own. She has been in the hospital more than she has been home for most of the last 2-3 months, and unfortunately, she was admitted again last night. She has undergone several surgeries and extensive testing. Most recently, they have tried a biologic infusion that they fully expected to provide relief. After several infusions, they have not. We do not know when she will be able to be discharged and return home this time. Each admittance she has had is different, and right now they are just trying to get her body stable enough to be home and come up with a plan to hopefully put her on a path to remission. Our hope is that her upcoming appointments with a group of specialist doctors will provide answers and actions to get her healthy and living life again. I’ve set this up to help aid her with all of the medical bills that are incurring and to help her be able to continue all the things she has always been able to provide for her daughter Lily. Currently, she is not able to leave the house very often and has been unable to work consistently due to all of her hospitalizations. Any donation our family would be greatly thankful for. Lauren is the strongest person I know, and watching my twin sister fight every day to be able to live a normal life again is heartbreaking.

Lauren’s message from a few weeks ago gives some insight into what she has been battling.

This past few months I have been dealing with some health issues and recently got some answers that I have Crohn's Disease. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get better and finally went to the hospital for help. Thinking it would be a quick turnaround in the ER turned into something I never imagined. I spent the last 10 days in the hospital fighting some pretty serious infections within multiple organs of my body that I did not even realize I had. To say it was scary is an understatement. I was finally able to have a surgery that provided a temporary fix to help get the infection in my body under control and allow me some time to get stronger for the next surgery that is needed.

Being away from Lily that long was truly the hardest part, but I am so thankful for my parents and my village for jumping in and taking care of her and giving her all the extra love and snuggles when she needed them. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and given me support and helped pick me up when I felt things were just too hard. A special thank you to my parents who were there when things were really hard and assured me I would be okay, and making sure Lily was snuggled in every night knowing Mommy would come home soon.

I am finally back home and taking it day by day to get stronger and healthier so I can have the final surgery and start learning what my new normal is. The next few months are going to be tough, but I know as long as I keep my faith strong and have my village supporting me, I can get through this. Please keep myself and my family in your prayers that the next few months go smoothly. I know that I am in God’s hands, and I am optimistic that soon I will be stronger and healthier with a whole new positive outlook on life.