I often struggle to share Lauren's story. It's a story of miracles and hope and one strong little girl who bounces back from adversity -- a story that can't easily be condensed into a few paragraphs.
When Lauren was born seven weeks early, our family entered a complex new world of medical terminology, specialists, medicines, therapies, and equipment. Lauren was born in heart failure as a result of a congenital heart defect. As she says, "My heart was mushy and didn't work well at all."
Three years later, she spent months riding a tricycle around the halls of a hospital while she waited for a heart transplant. During that time, we tried to prepare her for the surgery and recovery. Apparently, we forgot to tell her that a heart transplant was a big deal. About a week after her transplant, the surgeon joked that he hadn't seen her on the tricycle yet. She was up to the challenge and happily showed off by riding around the ICU not attached to an IV pole.
As a military family, we've moved often. Unfortunately, Lauren collected additional medical diagnoses over the years. When we moved to Colorado about a year and a half ago, her new medical team at Children's Hospital Colorado hardly blinked when we started explaining everything.
I could tell stories for hours about how amazing our doctors here in Colorado are. I could tell about the Friday afternoon just a few weeks after we moved here because I was worried about Lauren throwing up. Her transplant nurse practitioner reminded me that I knew Lauren best and asked for my opinion as to which of several options would be most appropriate. I could also tell about the cardiologist in Colorado Springs who squeezed Lauren in for an emergency appointment on a snowy day last winter. Of course, if I tell about that appointment, I'll also have to share about the amazing nursing staff in the CICU in Aurora who met Lauren when she arrived by helicopter and kept her happily entertained until I could get there a few hours later.
Of course, I could share happy stories of other departments too. Perhaps Lauren's favorite part about seeing the GI team here is that she doesn't need anesthesia when they do an endoscopy to check on the status of her Eosinophilic Esophagitis. She also has fond memories of getting to order breakfast from the cafeteria while she was doing her photopheresis treatments last winter.
At some point, I have to stop sharing stories (at least for now). The bottom line, though, is that Children's Hospital Colorado is an amazing place. They handle all of Lauren medical needs and allow her to focus on the most important things in her life -- performing in a church drama production, singing with the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale, and adding to her collection of Junior Ranger badges when we vacation at National Parks.