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!