What a difference a week makes. Last week Lauren was hopeful, but waiting and still often in pain. Now she has some answers. The doctor in Dallas called to let her know that she is a good candidate for the gastric stimulator. As you can imagine, Lauren is extremely relieved.
Now, for the details: The doctor needs her to get two more tests done before the surgury. He feels that her problem might not only be her stomach, and he wants to examine how her other organs handle food. These procedures wil be a bit difficult to get through, but she's willing to do them. Both she and her doctor hope that, with these tests, they will have a much fuller picture of what is going wrong in her body.
The tests will take a little time to set up, but should be completed with results back before her trip to Johns Hopkins. However, the surgury to implant the gastric stimulator will not be completed until after her first appointment at JH. The doctor in Dallas wants the doctor from JH to go over all the results before her surgery, but still feels confident that it will happen.
Lauren is thrilled to have steps in place to move forward. She's less thrilled about the invasive tests, but understands why they have to take place. Her biggest concern now is paying for it. Her insurance may not cover the tests. The doctor is hoping, however, that the test results will force her insurane to cover the gastric stimulator. Nothing is confirmed, but he will do his best.
The most important thing is that Lauren is feeling more positive about what is coming. She asked us to convey her thanks to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. It's been tough (and may get tougher), but she knows she's gotten through it because of all the love coming her way.
I know most of you have donated and we so appreciate the help. We are continuing to post the donation information because as new readers come to the blog, they may want to know and because there are still financial difficulties in her future. Again, we so appreciate every one of you that have sent money, good wishes, prayers and notes.
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 and the funds are transfered to her bank account. 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
This goes directly to them. 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.
Please share this with anyone who may want to know or who may be going through similar issues. Thank you all for your continued love and support. We'll keep you informed on how the tests go.
It's been almost a month since we posted last and thought it was time we updated everyone. There has been some good progress made. The doctor in Dallas does think she is a good candidate for the gastric stimulator, but he is still researching a few final things before making his ultimate decision. We appreciate this because, while Lauren really wants some relief, she obviously prefers making a decision based on all the facts so nothing gets missed and problems aren't exacerbated. She's really hopeful about this.
The other piece of good news is that we are right at the two month mark for the Johns Hopkins appointment. The flights have been booked. She was really relieved to find out that her current primary care physician sent her entire medical file to the doctor at JH and that they are already going through it. Lauren got to speak with the assistant to the JH doctor and she reassured Lauren that they are going to do whatever they can to make sure that she isn't having to fly back and forth. It sounds like he will go through the file and try to set up any tests or procedures he thinks are necessary even before her first appointment so she has a clearer idea of how long she will be there. This is a relief because initially, she thought she'd go out for the first appointment and potentially have to go back to NM to wait for any follow up information or appointments.
We wanted to thank all of you for the donations that you have sent. Lauren asked us to share with you that it has gone towards the recent doctors' visits in Dallas and towards the flights and hotel to Baltimore in May. Still money is needed to insure things are taken care of at home while her husband is away from work with her in Baltimore. She has been so grateful for all that you have done, whether it has been emails and phone calls, donations, texts, and even Facebook posts. She appreciates the support and has mentioned many times how much it has helped.
And we, as her family, would like to add our thanks. It's been wonderful to see how much love is out there and how much people care.
We are going to repost the donation information below in case any one would like more information on how to help.
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 and the funds are transfered to her bank account. 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
This goes directly to them. 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.
Thank you again to everyone who has so generously donated and who has shared this with the public.
Please feel free to share this with anyone who you feel might want to be kept up to date. And, of course, you are welcome to show your support in emails, texts, calls, prayers and Facebook messages. Lauren appreciates it all and it all helps her keep going.
Thank you!
