Meet Lauren Colombo

Lauren Colombo is 4 years old and on April 2 she had a five hour surgery to remove a grapefruit sized tumor from her brain.
That was my story. But that is by no means the end of Lauren's.
Looking past the scar that circled the top of her head I didn't see a girl who was defined as having cancer. She had life to her and she ran around the basement with her two twin 6-year-old sisters like she had nothing to lose. They were like the three musketeers.
A Flint Journal photographer, Tyler Sutherland, and I had the chance to spend about an hour with the girls. And a smile never left my face. I never felt pity or sympathy for Lauren.
Here's what you should know about Lauren: She LOVES green and penguins. In total she has about 40 stuffed penguins (most of which she received while in the hospital) and she enjoys showing off her mad penguin dance skills. And in case you were wondering how it goes (you know you were) I will enlighten you.
Standing up, move your legs so they are about shoulder width apart and put your arms out about 45 degrees. Now lift the leg and arm on side of your body and then the other side, alternating... congratulations, you are now a penguin.
Lauren is really smart. She could talk to me about the stuff that happened to her and what she went through. She corrected me with I mispronounced the street her school bus goes down. She loves to play on the iPod touch and use an application that makes cupcakes. And guess what color her cupcakes were? Yup. Green.
And if you ask her if she likes her hair short, she will tell you yes... because it's like grandma's.


Photo by Tyler Sutherland: I also learned that sometimes you just have to sit on the floor and enjoy a good conversation... And also that Lauren had a crush on Tyler.

Yes. Lauren had cancer. But after spending a little time with her you will forget all about it.

There's a fundraiser coming up for Lauren's family. If you're in the Flushing area, consider attending and met Lauren Colombo for yourself.
Here's my story for The Flint Journal:

By Sarah Schuch
The Flint Journal

FLUSHING, Michigan — Besides the scar on her head and her very short hair, an outsider would never know that Lauren Colombo had a grapefruit-sized brain tumor about eight months ago.
Lauren, 4, was full of energy at her Flushing home Monday, wearing a green leopard print shirt and a grass skirt over her jeans.
But it’s been a long journey for Lauren and her family.
What started out as flu-like symptoms turned out to be a rare form of a brain tumor that took over Lauren’s brain when she was still 3 years old.
“It was very, very difficult to watch it,” said Gina Colombo, Lauren’s mother. “It was the hardest (thing) that I found out that she had it. I lost my voice. My body was just gone.”
After surgery to remove the tumor, blood transfusions and six cycles of chemotherapy, Lauren is back in school and trying to live a normal life, Colombo said.
However, treatments and taking time off of work was expensive for the family. A spaghetti dinner fundraiser sponsored by Power Video Relay Service will taking place from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 11 at St. Robert’s Activity Center, 310 N. Cherry St.

For the full story check it out at mlive.com.