A family from central Illinois is celebrating their first Christmas together with their baby, thanks to Northwestern Medicine doctors.
MaKenna Lauterbach experienced a persistent cough a year ago, while she was pregnant with her first child. Doctors discovered a grapefruit-sized tumor in her chest cavity that entirely blocked her right lung, indicating that she and her baby were not getting enough oxygen.
Lauterback had an emergency c-section and gave birth to her son Colter in March.
Doctors suspect she had a melanoma on her skin before the tumor grew inside her.
Despite the removal of her entire right lung, parts of the main pulmonary artery, and lymph nodes, her most recent scans show no signs of melanoma.