September 29, 2024 Update

September has been a busy month.  Today marks 6 weeks since Lauren’s stepdad Irv unexpectedly passed away.  It’s still hard to think that he is gone, our Sunday dinners and visits to Lauren’s parents’ house are different.  Everyone experiences different punches in their life and when they come, you learn how to adjust and cope to your new normal.  We continue to remind ourselves how fragile life is and how important it is to make the best of the one you are given because you never know when your next punch is coming.  We talk about Irv every day, have him present in our home and are doing the best we can as a family to move through the days of losing a husband, dad and grandpa.   

Amongst all the chaos, we were able to take some time and celebrate Chris’s younger sister, Tamara, as she got married in Colorado last week.  It was a beautiful wedding set in Marron Bells, Colorado.  What was to be a 2.5-hour commute from Denver to Glenwood Springs turned into a 5-hour commute due to big rigs not knowing how to drive on the I-70…our return trip back to Denver unfortunately had the same issue – our luck in travel was becoming unlucky.  Despite all the traffic, we had a wonderful time and highly recommend a visit to the area, it was really beautiful. Congrats again to Tamara & Jason!  

September 26^th was a huge milestone.  It was 2 years ago that Lauren finished chemotherapy.  It’s weird to think that was that long ago, it feels so much longer than that, but it is all still so vivid in our minds.  As we are gearing up for Lauren’s annual PET Scan, which has been a bit of a shit show to get scheduled, we know that once we see Dr. Vandermolen on October 7^th and he confirms Lauren is still cancer free, we can fully embrace and celebrate being 2 years past chemo completion.  We are reminded at how ridiculous insurance companies are, yet how wonderful they can be at the same time.  2 years ago, they fully delivered on everything we needed.  Now, they are a pain in the ass.  They denied Lauren of her PET Scan, despite it being ordered by Dr. Vandermolen because they did not feel it was medically necessary.  Shocking for them to determine that since they are not doctors and they don’t realize that Lauren is a high-risk patient due to her BRCA2 gene.  Lauren’s PET Scan is scheduled for October 3^rd and we will receive the results from Dr. Vandermolen on the 7^th at her monthly visit.   

The walk for The Pink Journey Foundation is in 6 days!  We are excited to see everyone and celebrate this life we get to live.  We hope you can join us, if you don’t feel up for the walk – come out to The Beach House in Seal Beach and enjoy some breakfast!  If you want more details, check out our previous post from September 2^nd that outlines everything.  We know everyone is busy, but these walks make us really proud but also we feel so comforted to be surrounded by other families who have walked in our shoes and we love to share that with family & friends.  The support of everyone showing up for us means the world.   

 

Stay tuned for the results of Lauren’s PET Scan and for any October updates!

 

Much love,

Chris & Lauren

 

September 2, 2024 Update - Cancer Walk Time!

Hi All,

As BCA month quickly approaches, we wanted to share our plans for 2024.  We are doing things a bit different this year for a couple of reasons.  

1. The American Cancer Society (ACS) has shifted their 'Making Strides Against Breast Cancer' walk we have done the past two years to an exhibit for all cancers.  While we do appreciate the recognition of all cancers, the exhibit experience wasn't really what we are looking for.
2. Lauren has been volunteering over the past year with a few organizations and we want to support them versus ACS because we know that the funds raised will go back to the organizations vs ACS taking out funds for the event itself and employees.
1. Cancer Vaccine Coalition: is a new nonprofit organization with a singular focus: working to move science forward faster, by accelerating breast cancer vaccines to market.  Lauren has been helping CVC with their partnerships and working on exclusive products that will launch between October and the rest of the year, with funds going back to the first trial for metastatic triple negative breast cancer.  
2. The Pink Journey Foundation: is a nonprofit organization in Orange County committed to providing breast education to all women, peer mentoring to newly diagnosed breast cancer women, and mobile mammography for underserved communities.  Lauren is a Survivor Peer Mentor for their Angels Survivors program and has been leading the charge on their 1st Annual Walk.  Additionally, TPJF spotlighted our story back in February.

This year, we are asking for you to decide what YOU would like to support in terms of donations.  The above 2 organizations are obviously very important to us for different reasons, so we'll let you decide how you like to support if possible!

• Please note that if you donate for CVC, they do not currently have a place for denoting who you are donating on behalf of - we are hoping it will be added soon.
• If you do want to support either organization, please let us know as we'd love to not only thank you for donating but also let the CVC and/or TPJF team know as well! 

As mentioned, Lauren has been working hard to launch the 1st Annual Pink Journey Foundation's Hope in Every Step Walk, we'd love for you to join us as we dip our toes in the sand on Saturday October 5, 2024 in Seal Beach, CA.  If you can join us, please sign up using this Google Form  (or scan QR code below) and denote that you will be a part of the team, 'PINK CHICKENS.'  While you have typically seen us use TEAM LOLO, this year the chicken reference is in honor of Lauren's stepdad who unexpectedly passed away on Sunday, August 25th.  He loved his chicken references and so our team name is a nod to him and the synonymous color for breast cancer.  You can learn more about the walk by going to this link (or scan the QR code below).  If you can join us, please sign up by Sunday September 15th as we are not sure if we will do t-shirts again this year or something else, so we want to ensure we have enough time to provide everyone an update.

Thank you so much for supporting our journey the past 2.5 years.  Lauren has a PET Scan at the end of this month that we know will be clear as she makes her way to being 2 YEARS CANCER FREE this November!  We will be sure to update everyone once we have the good news from Dr. Vandermolen.  We hope to see you on October 5^th! 

Much love,

Chris & Lauren

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