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A Chicago woman was just weeks away from giving birth when a persistent cough led to a shocking medical discovery.
MaKenna Lauterbach, then 26 years old, began experiencing severe coughing attacks in the last three months of her pregnancy.
“They would be so severe that I would be out of breath and nauseated to the point of vomiting,” he told Fox News Digital.
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Lauterbach, who lives on a farm in Washburn, IllinoisHe also began to notice difficulty breathing while caring for his horses and goats.
“I feed the horses hay every morning and noticed how breathless I was with a dry cough,” he said. “My body felt like I had just run two miles, when, in reality, I had just walked to the barn and back.”
MaKenna Lauterbach, pictured with her husband, Parker, and their new baby, Colter, was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. (Northwest Medicine)
Some doctors dismissed Lauterbach’s symptoms, she said, repeatedly telling her, “It’s because you’re pregnant.”
However, eventually, when the cough caused vomiting, doctors performed scans and detected a large tumor, the size of a grapefruit, in the middle cavity of the chest and right lung, which completely blocked the artery to the right lung.
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“It is extremely rare to see this type of tumor invading the major blood vessels of the heart,” said Chris Mehta, MD, a cardiac surgeon with Northwestern Medicine’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, which specializes in complex cardiac reconstruction, in a news release.
“It is extremely rare to see this type of tumor invading the major blood vessels of the heart.”
“We may see something like this once every few years.”
The tumor had caused breathing difficulty for Lauterbach and her baby.
‘In real trouble’
Lauterbach was flown to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where a large medical team was waiting for her.
“MaKenna was in real trouble and we had to act quickly; this was not something that could wait until Monday morning,” said Lynn Yee, MD. maternal-fetal medicine Northwestern Medicine specialist, in the statement.
Although he was born three weeks early, little Colter is today a thriving and happy baby. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m still recovering, emotionally and physically,” Lauterbach said. (MaKenna Lauterbach)
“When you’re pregnant with a near-term baby, your lungs are no longer functioning at full capacity, and when you add a huge tumor, you run the risk of respiratory collapse and cardiac arrest.”
The baby did not tolerate contractions well and Lauterbach’s disease blood pressure was plummeting.
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The team performed an emergency cesarean section and a healthy baby, Colten, was born on Easter Sunday.
‘Surprising news’
After delivery, it was time to address the tumor.
“The tumor was located above MaKenna’s heart and extended into the right lung, impacting all three lobes and the entire main trunk of the pulmonary artery,” said Kalvin Lung, MD, a thoracic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute, in the release.
Doctors performed a biopsy and diagnosed Lauterbach with stage 3 melanoma.
The Lauterbach family lives on a farm in Washburn, Illinois. MaKenna Lauterbach first experienced severe coughing spells and shortness of breath while caring for horses and goats. (MaKenna Lauterbach)
Doctors believe he may have had melanoma on his skin at some point, and that “a cell or two escaped” and started growing inside his body.
“It was really surprising news,” Lauterbach told Fox News Digital. “When I was first diagnosed, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions“.
“I was mourning the birth plan I had spent months preparing, while also dealing with the news of my unexpected diagnosis.”
After feeling relief for the first time at having an answer, he said he felt some anger that his symptoms had been dismissed earlier. Then there was the fear of cancer itself.
“Because of the tumor, the birth happened very quickly. I was regretting the birth plan I had spent months preparing, while also dealing with the news of my unexpected diagnosis,” she said.
“My situation was serious, and although my clinical team “I was working on a plan to treat my cancer, it was comforting to know that the NICU nurses (at Northwestern) were taking such wonderful care of our son.”
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The Northwestern team recommended that Lauterbach undergo three cycles of immunotherapy before surgery, which helped shrink his tumor by 30%.
Dr. Lung and Dr. Mehta removed Lauterbach’s entire right lung, parts of the main pulmonary artery and his lymph nodes.
The Lauterbach family is pictured with, from left, Dr. Kalvin Lung, Registered Nurse Mary Schuessler and Dr. Lynn Yee. (Northwest Medicine)
“The surgery was risky compared to other cancer surgeries due to the need for cardiopulmonary bypass and the need to repair the main artery to both lungs, but it was performed under very safe conditions with well-proven techniques,” said Dr. .Lung. FoxNewsDigital.
“We were concerned that even with the extension of surgery“We couldn’t completely remove the tumor,” he continued.
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If the tumor had grown a little further into the main artery to the lungs, or if there was heart involvedIt would have been a different result.
But the surgery was a success and Lauterbach’s latest scans showed no evidence of metastatic melanoma.
Colter Lauterbach is pictured with Santa before his first Christmas. (MaKenna Lauterbach)
“Her outcome was very good,” Dr. Lung told Fox News Digital. “He has almost completely recovered from the surgery and his main problem is difficulty breathing, which is a consequence of having only one lung.”
“In terms of cancer prognosis, we expect it to be quite good, given that the entire tumor responded to the immunotherapy treatment she received.”
‘New normal’
Today, although he was born three weeks early, little Colter Lauterbach is a thriving and happy baby.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m still recovering, emotionally and physically,” MaKenna Lauterbach said. “My lung capacity is getting closer to ‘the new normal’ for me and I’m finally starting to get back into some sort of normal routine.”
“There are some days when bad memories and unknowns haunt my thoughts.”
Looking ahead, Lauterbach will continue immunotherapy treatments for a year and doctors will continue monitor CT scans to ensure that the cancer does not return.
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His cancer is currently considered a “stable disease,” doctors say, meaning no new tumors have appeared.
The new mother, who turned 27 in October, said she is looking forward to the arrival of her son. first christmas on the farm.
MaKenna and Parker Lauterbach are pictured with their son, Colter, after he was born via emergency C-section. (MaKenna Lauterbach)
“Emotionally, I try my best not to let reality weigh on me, but there are some days when bad memories and unknowns haunt my thoughts,” he said.
“Colter and my wonderful husband, Parker, are the ones who have given me the strength to get through it all.”
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For other women, Lauterbach stressed the importance of “knowing your body“.
She advised: “If you know something isn’t right, don’t take ‘I don’t know’ as an answer. Find someone who takes your concerns seriously and would prefer to do additional testing just in case, rather than skipping something that jeopardizes life.”
