Lauryn was diagnosed in May of 2017 at the age of 14 – 3 weeks before the end of her freshman year of high school. I was rubbing Lauryn’s head on the couch while watching TV. When rubbing behind her right ear, Lauryn exclaimed not to touch a spot because it hurt to the touch and was very sensitive. Amy felt the area lightly and felt a small lump, and noted it really wasn’t an area that should hurt. She asked Lauryn how long she’d had the slight bump, and Lauryn told her, “a long time, years”. (By investigating through digital photos, they were able to date that Lauryn had known about the lump for at least 5 years.) We were very surprised by this answer, and immediately knew we’d be taking her to the pediatrician to have it checked out, thinking it was probably just an inflamed lymph node.
Lauryn was scheduled for an ultrasound. Within just a couple days, the ENT called me with the news that the ultrasound radiologist spotted something “strange” about the results. The scans did not show a typical lymph node. In fact, there didn’t appear to be any lymph node involved. He told me they had three choices. 1) Leave it and “wait it out”. 2) Have a guided ultrasound where they would insert a needle into the mass and take a biopsy that would only be 80% accurate, or 3) Have a surgical biopsy, where they would remove the mass and have it sent out for pathology, and get 100% accurate results. After speaking with the ENT for a good 15 minutes on his private cell phone (highly unusual) he recommended to me that if it was his child he would have it surgically removed. That was the option that we both wanted as well if nothing else to relieve Lauryn of the discomfort and pain she was experiencing from the area.
Then we got the call that it was cancer. Even though her cancer is incurable and she’ll be facing it her entire life, as well as being high risk for other BRCA related cancers, she refuses to let it define her in any way. It’s something she’s starting to understand more now, which is heartbreaking to watch. In the first couple of years, she mainly ignored all the details. Now that she’s going off to college and going to have to be responsible for her own care, she’s starting to understand the details more.
We are so proud of her massive accomplishments during high school all while dealing with a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare.
Hope session by Andrew Stoll | Facebook