A young cancer survivor has been left ‘permanently on the run’ after recovering from a rare spinal tumor.
Lauren Wagner, 26, said doctors chided her for sitting awkwardly at her desk and blamed her poor posture for her sudden back pain.
“I would have loved to believe that my back pain was due to my workstation not being ergonomically friendly, but it was actually one of the worst case scenarios for me,” revealed the young Canadian.
Her back pain started in March 2020, right around the time she started working from home. By June she was very serious.
“In that time I saw three doctors and they all released me,” he said.
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Lauren Wagner has been ‘permanently giving the finger’ after recovering from a rare spinal tumor
It wasn’t until she went to see a chiropractor who revealed her symptoms were “worse than people who’ve been in serious car accidents” that she realized something much more sinister was going on.
She talked to her doctor and requested an MRI, which was booked for the following August.
Within a few hours, her doctor called her to inform her that the MRI had detected a large mass in her spine.
“My heart sank at that moment,” she said, admitting that she was blown away by the news.
“The scariest part is that I was only weeks away from being permanently paralyzed,” she said.
The next few years would be “the most traumatic” of his life.
“I’m glad they found it when they did, but I wish I had found it sooner,” he said.
Only one million cases of the tumor have been recorded.
‘Because of how rare it was, there were only two surgeons in Canada who would do the surgery. They told me it would be a very intense surgery, it lasted 23 hours but they managed to remove the tumor. However, I didn’t realize the complications until later.
Lauren had back pain since March 2020, but the doctors ruled it out as they said it was due to poor posture.
She has had six spinal surgeries totaling more than 60 hours to remove the mass, which she says along with the complications has left her with a permanent disability in her hand.
“Nobody knew the severity of the nerves involved in the tumor and I had a lot of nerve damage. I didn’t know I was going to lose the ability to speak, swallow and use my hands until afterward and I didn’t know if I would ever be able to do it again,” she said.
“It was so scary when I woke up and couldn’t speak that I was pretty worried because my vocal cords had nerve damage and we didn’t know if I would ever recover.” It took a couple of months for me to speak again as not only did I wake up to it again, it came back very slowly.
Lauren was comforted by her diagnosis, and despite being let down by the medical system from the start, she thought removing the cancer would be “so easy.”
She even told her mom not to stress before her first surgery.
“What I thought was going to be 3 weeks in the hospital turned out to be 8 months,” he said.
‘What I thought would be 1 complex surgery turned out to be 6. I lost the ability to swallow, speak and use my arms and hands.
She has undergone six spinal surgeries totaling more than 60 hours to remove the mass, which she says, along with the complications, has left her with a permanent disability in her hand.
‘My surgeries have left me with nerve damage and weakness in my hands, making some tasks impossible. Originally they told me that in a year I would be recovered, but that did not happen. If anything, I have learned that recovery is not linear and you cannot put a time line,” he continued.
She was then transferred to a spinal rehab room and worked with therapists to regain some strength.
“The surgery affected my lungs, so they had to isolate one of my lungs to remove the tumor, making it hard for me to breathe. When I realized that I could speak again, I was really surprised, there were a few times where I tried to project my voice, so when I did, it was really exciting.
‘However, I couldn’t swallow, which was the hardest part. She could not eat or drink and was very hungry and thirsty.
Lauren is grateful that she has been given a second chance at life.
“They weren’t sure if I could eat and drink again and the fact that I couldn’t speak or swallow went hand in hand as in order to swallow I had to be able to speak so every time I tried to swallow it would go right into my lungs and it would create more problems like pneumonia.
‘However, my hands are still damaged, and it seems like I’m constantly cursing people.
“I just try to see the humor in it and the positivity that I went through hell and back and survived.
Lauren is grateful that she has been given a second chance at life.
She wants to remind people that they are their own best advocate and need to push for answers when they know something is wrong.
