Update - February 28, 2012

Well, it's less than 3 months until the appointment at Johns Hopkins and we feel like we are getting closer to helping Lauren find a treatment and get on the path to feeling better.  Again, we really want to thank everyone for the love, prayers, and donations that have been sent her way.  AND the birthday wishes she received over the weekend.

Last Wednesday, the 20th, she met with the new Gastroenterologist in Dallas, Texas. As a reminder, this appointment was to determine if Lauren was a good candidate for the gastric stimulator.  Nothing was officially decided at that appointment, but she left feeling positive for the first time in a long time.

The gastric stimulator is something that not every gastroenterologist or facility is equipped to do, so she had to wait for a referral and then travel to Dallas.  Travel can be hard on her, and this time was no different.  Luckily she has family in Dallas who she is really close to, so she had a lot of support.
The doctor was probably the best thing that came out of it.  He had a terrific bedside manner, but didn’t lie to her.  He wanted to go over all of her records and test results in depth before making a decision and he wanted to talk to her as well.  He let her know that he could not promise that she’d be a good candidate, but he seemed hopeful.  And that was what was so nice.  He didn’t seem…overwhelmed or baffled by the state of her health.  Again, he made no promises, but also didn’t make dire predictions.  And she was encouraged by how thorough he intended to be with her records before ordering new rounds of tests (which may sound logical, but unfortunately has not been the norm for her). 

He asked if she could stay in town for about a week, but she had more medical appointments in Albuquerque during that time period and he decided not to ask her to reschedule those.
Leaving that appointment feeling positive went a long way for her well-being.

Then it was off to Albuquerque for a birthday celebration with her mom (who shares a birthday with her), dad, sister, husband, son and mother-in-law followed by the medical appointments on the following Monday, the 25th.

Those appointments were mostly follow-ups on her the management of her other illnesses, but since all of her illnesses are being affected by her gastrointestinal issue there was definite “wait-and-see” feeling to all of them.  They would all like to see if she can find a solution to her stomach problems before they can make any other adjustments. 

She’s back home in southern New Mexico now, awaiting word from the Dallas doctor.  And while the travel did wear her out, her overall attitude about the future seems to be better.   We'll keep you updated on her progress and let you know what the doctor in Dallas says.

Again, if you want to help contribute to her donation account to help pay for her medical bills and travel, you can do so via the methods below.

Ways to contribute:

You can click the button below to contribute to a Pay Pal account that is linked directly to the Benefit Account for Lauren Heredia. Lauren herself does not have access to this account, so it is anonymous to her. If anyone wants proof of their donation, please email helplaurenheredia@gmail.com (this is not a tax-deductible donation).

You can also send checks made payable to Lauren or Fabian Heredia to:

Lauren & Fabian Heredia
PO Box 942
Carlsbad, New Mexico
88221

And you can go into any Wells Fargo location and ask to make a deposit into the Benefit Account for Lauren Heredia .  It may be necessary to tell the teller the account was opened in New Mexico.

Thanks to everyone who has so generously donated and who has shared this with the public.  We appreciate every positive thought, well-wish, and prayer that comes her way.

Please feel free to share this with anyone who you feel might want to be kept up to date. 

Thank you!

Update: February 13, 2013

We wanted to start off again by saying thank you to all those who continue to send Lauren your support and love through emails, FB messages, notes, letters and donations. She has been blown away by it all and we really think it helps her to push forward during the rougher times.

As we mentioned in the last post, she had a set-back recently when it was determined that the J-Tube was not a good option for her, but that perhaps a gastric electrical stimulator would be a better option. Unfortunately, she would need to see a completely different doctor for this procedure. This left her with a decision to make: Does she wait out four long months of being unable to really eat or digest, potentially getting weaker, to see the highly rated doctor at Johns Hopkins first (before doing anything else), or does she try to see a doctor nearer to her to potentially insert the gastric stimulator to help her get stronger for the Johns Hopkins appointments?

She received a call from her local surgeon reporting that he had located a surgeon who does the procedure in Dallas, where she has family close by.  After a lot of thought, she felt like she should at least meet with the doctor who does do that kind of implant to see if she is a good candidate. Her doctors in NM urged her to set up the appointment. So she will be heading to Dallas next week for a few days to do just that. It's a consultation for the doctor to see if this is a good option and if so to offer a recommendation on how quickly to move forward. She also wants to make sure that anything that gets decided next week is shared with the doctor at Johns Hopkins.

That trip, to Johns Hopkins, is still scheduled for the end of May.

Next week will be a busy week for her and potentially an emotional week for her. On top of everything else, she has a milestone birthday coming up on Saturday, the 23rd. I know she will appreciate any positive thoughts, prayers, birthday wishes, etc.

We're reposting the information on how to contribute financially as a few of us have had some new questions on where to find that information. We are so grateful to everyone who shared this. Please feel free to continue to share, especially if you want those people to have the updates.

Ways to contribute:

You can click the button below to contribute to a Pay Pal account that is linked directly to the Benefit Account for Lauren Heredia. Lauren herself does not have access to this account, so it is anonymous to her. If anyone wants proof of their donation, please email helplaurenheredia@gmail.com (this is not a tax-deductible donation).

You can also send checks made payable to Lauren or Fabian Heredia to:

Lauren & Fabian Heredia
PO Box 942
Carlsbad, New Mexico
88221

And you can go into any Wells Fargo location and ask to make a deposit into the Benefit Account for Lauren Heredia .  It may be necessary to tell the teller the account was opened in New Mexico.

As we've said before, every amount will help, no matter how big or small. 

Thank you all so much!