Lauren Murphy

First post: Apr 21, 2013 Latest post: Jul 3, 2023
Welcome to Lauren Murphy's CaringBridge site. Lauren's six siblings (Sam, Erin, Shannon, Kelsey, Ryan and Maggie) created this site to keep friends and family updated during these difficult times. As we've been saying all along, Lauren is one TOUGH woman and we are confident she will pull through this.  In the meantime, please send your thoughts and prayers her way.

Murphys don't quit!

Early Friday morning (April 19, 2013), Lauren was running in Los Angeles and was hit by a car while crossing the street.  A policewoman told my parents that Lauren was crossing Hollywood Blvd at Fuller when the accident happened.  The man who hit her was holding her hand and talking to her until the ambulance arrived. Lauren was carrying her American Express credit card with her on her run, and this is how they were able to identify her. She is being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood.  Our parents, grandma and a few, close, family friends are with her now.  Overall, her status is described as extremely critical but stable.  Additional details surrounding her condition are outlined in the paragraphs below.


Lauren was admitted at 9:20AM PT Friday morning at Cedars-Sinai. Based on results of two early CAT scans, the doctors decided that immediate surgery was necessary.  They removed a portion of her skull and placed it into her stomach (to keep it sterile and nourished, and to reduce the risk her body will reject it when they replace it). This procedure was performed to allow the brain to swell (as the skull cannot expand in response to the brain's swelling). The doctors also had to remove a portion of the front left lobe of Lauren's brain (lobectomy).  When asked specifics surrounding the lobectomy, the doctor only said that they took enough to save her life.  We do not know what that means exactly, but we are grateful Lauren is alive and stable. We are extremely thankful that the area of her brain controlling critical functions, like breathing, was not damaged.  On a positive note, the neurosurgeon told our parents that no additional surgeries are believed to be necessary at this time.    
  Lauren's heart rate, blood pressure and other vitals are in normal ranges and she is being continuously monitored.  The doctors and nurses are periodically performing reflex tests on her arms and legs. While she is responsive to the tests, her left side is more responsive than the right. As the left side of her brain was damaged and the left side of your brain controls the muscles on the right side of your body, this appears to make sense based on everything we know.    


The outpouring of support is incredible right now and our family is extremely appreciative.  Please keep our sister Lauren in your prayers.  We know she WILL get through this, but we need a ton of prayers in the meantime.  All we can do now is wait and pray, and then pray some more. 


We will update this website as we obtain additional information.
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