Radiant Resilience: Lauren's Story

On Sunday, January 7th, Lauren woke up with a neck that was very sore to the touch. Her neck had been sore in the days leading up to this, but never this bad.

We looked around for a walk-in clinic, but not very many are open on Sundays. With no other options left, Tash and Lauren went to the emergency department of Langley Hospital, where a doctor examined Lauren’s neck with an ultrasound, and some blood samples were taken. She was given a prescription for antibiotics, as she probably had an infection.

On Thursday, January 11th, we received a phone call from our family doctor requesting that Lauren come in for a consultation that same day. Lauren’s white blood cell count was off the charts, and this was the first time that the possibility of lymphoma was mentioned. Our doctor ordered a CT scan and referred us to a surgeon for a biopsy of the lymph nodes in Lauren’s neck.

On Wednesday, January 17th, Lauren had her scan at Langley Hospital, and after reviewing the results, our family doctor stated that there was a 95% chance that Lauren indeed had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

On Friday morning, January 19th, we had our consultation with the surgeon, and it was decided to perform a needle biopsy instead of surgery. Right after this, Lauren and Tash hopped on the ferry to the island for a basketball tournament in Victoria.

It took two weeks before the biopsy was performed on Friday morning, February 2nd. As Lauren loves nothing more than school, she went right back to class after making a quick stop at Starbucks.

From January 26th to 28th, Lauren played in a volleyball tournament with her FVVC Storm team. She had a great time with her teammates. Who knew that you could get a parking ticket in a 30-minute time span just from running ‘quickly’ into the gym to grab something?

Lauren’s friends came by on Tuesday evening, January 23 to rally around her and give her some love. It’s fantastic to see how much her friends care for her.

On Tuesday, February 6th, Tash had a phone consultation with our family doctor, who mentioned that she wasn’t waiting for the biopsy results and was referring Lauren to the cancer clinic in Surrey. Since Lauren is not the first child with cancer at Credo Christian High School, there had been conversations with other parents about Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. The overwhelming advice had been to get Lauren admitted there, as the care is second to none. As it wasn’t completely clear from the Children’s website if Lauren, at 17, was still eligible to be treated there, Tash made a phone call to their oncology department on February 5th. She was told to have the family doctor send the results of the CT scan to Children’s, and they would look at it.

On February 7th, the Credo girls’ senior basketball team played a home game against Unity Christian. Every year, there is one game with the theme ‘Call a Foul on Cancer,’ and this happened to be the day. Unfortunately, Lauren wasn’t allowed to play contact sports anymore, but she got to participate in the ceremonial tip-off and played one shift towards the end of the game.

On Thursday, February 8th, our family doctor referred Lauren to Children’s Hospital, and we received a call from their oncology department, asking Lauren to come in that same day for more tests and a PET scan. The blood tests were conducted on the same day, and the PET scan was performed on Friday morning. That Friday afternoon, we met with Doctor Harvey and the oncology team. The scan revealed Lymphoma in Lauren’s neck and chest. The good news was that none of the organs showed cancer; however, the PET scan did not rule out cancer in the bone marrow. A bone marrow biopsy was necessary to determine if cancer was present, and this was scheduled for February 14th. Since a full anesthetic was necessary for the biopsy, they decided to install a portacath (port and catheter) at the same time. This port is installed under the collar bone and makes it easier to receive IV treatments over a longer period of time. Lauren was happy to be heading home that afternoon and spend some time doing the things that she loves.

On Monday Lauren and friends had a photo session with Maddie Grim who generously donated her time to do this.

On Tuesday, February 13th, Lauren and Tash headed into Vancouver for a fitting at the wig store, as hair loss from chemo is pretty much inevitable. They also had another consultation with Doctor Harvey, and Lauren was scheduled for an echocardiogram that same afternoon to establish some baselines. There was no need to stay at the hospital, so Lauren and Tash headed home, where we exchanged some early Valentine’s cards and presents. Lauren went to her volleyball practice, came home late, and ate her last meal before the PET scan.

Check-in time at Children’s was at 8:30 AM, so Lauren and I left the house by 7 AM, and Tash joined us at 9:30 AM. We prayed together, and after meeting with the surgeon and anesthesiologist, Lauren decided she didn’t need Tash or myself to go in with her. As she put it, ‘you two need each other more.’ So, she went in solo, and we hung out in the waiting area. The anticipated operating time of 1.5 hours turned into 3 hours and really tested our resilience. We were told later that the portacath had kinked and required additional time to be fixed.

Lauren and Tash stayed for one more night, and I went back home. Once home, I dropped by Credo Elementary, where Cindy, Michelle, Lisa, Nadia, and Tess were creating shirts. These shirts are meant to be worn by family and friends showing support for Lauren. Once they got the hang of it, they managed to make a total of sixty shirts.

As Lauren and Tash stayed at the hospital overnight, they had visits from Oma and Tess in the morning. Also visiting were two dogs and their handlers. Lauren, who has a way with animals, got right in there and made new furry friends.

In the afternoon, Doctor Harvey came by with the results of the bone marrow biopsy. Out of four slides, three came back negative for cancer, but unfortunately, the fourth slide broke and needed to be redone. I picked the two of them up from Children’s, and we went to Cactus Club for a cautious celebration.

On Friday, Lauren had a pulmonary function test to set some more baselines, and after that, she was allowed to go home. Later that day, we received the news that the fourth biopsy result was also negative, the answer to many prayers.

I (Dad) am writing this post during the family long weekend (might as well have the ESL guy look after the blog…). On Monday, we are hanging out as a family to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. On Tuesday, Lauren and Tash will head out to Children’s to meet with the oncology team to discuss the chemo treatments that will start soon. It makes us nervous thinking about the chemo that will be put into Lauren’s body, but unfortunately, there is no alternative. We pray that the effects on Lauren’s overall health may be as minimal as possible, and lay this at the feet of our Heavenly Father. On Friday, we are heading out to Parksville to spend the weekend as a family and celebrate Natasja’s 50th Birthday. Even during these trying times, there are so many things to be thankful for.