LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Lauren Weyl has always wanted to help.
As a kid, the career paths she liked centered around assisting others, particularly kids.
“I knew when I was younger I either wanted to try and be in the medical field or be a teacher. I think working with kids has always been an interest as well," Weyl said.
That interest born at a young age has come to fruition as Weyl walks into work everyday at Markey Cancer Center.
Her journey at UK Healthcare started in 2015 working in the ICU before making her way to Markey as a nurse care technician.
“She goes into the patient’s rooms, gets vital signs," RN Richard Zerbee said.
"They’re kind of the eyes and ears or our nurses here because they’re in there spending time with the patient. They see them. They notice things when something’s not right.”
Weyl may have a more keen sense for what patients are struggling with than the average healthcare worker.
That's because years before she ever walked the halls of Markey Center as an employee, she was a patient.
“I was 16 and I was working at a summer camp at my high school and all of a sudden I started sweating and I felt really sick like I was going to throw up," Weyl said.
"My dad came and checked me out. My heart rate was really high and my blood pressure was really high so he took me to the hospital.”
Doctors opted to perform an exploratory surgery on Weyl to figure out what was wrong.
It led to an alarming discovery, two liters of blood in her abdomen and her ovary bloated to the size of two grapefruits.
After months of tests being performed, it became clear that cancer was the diagnosis.
“I was immediately admitted to Markey Cancer. I had to do three months of chemotherapy where I was in the hospital for five days, getting chemo every day. I got pretty lucky and had minimal side effects. I never got sick. I did lose my hair," Weyl said.
Cancer is seen by most as a scary challenge to learn to live with, but for Weyl, she recalls thinking of her diagnosis as just a minor hurdle to get over.
As she walks the hospital floor today, Weyl is cancer free.
The only thing she's kept is perspective to share with those going through a shared experience.
“I’ve known her since she’d been a patient here. She’s living her life 13 years later and doing all the things we’d hoped that she’d be able to do," Reed said.
“If you look at me you’d have no idea I ever had cancer. Regardless of your prognosis you have people behind you and people that will help you with whatever you’re going through," Weyl said.
