Las Vegas woman with chronic disease defies the odds during pandemic

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Living with a chronic disease like cystic fibrosis is a daily struggle and even more difficult during a pandemic. Lauren Molasky Fierst is from Las Vegas and has CF.

She not only defies adversity, but also inspires others on her way.

Designer, fashion blogger, author and mother. Fierst has achieved a lot in the past 37 years and much more than doctors expected.

“They didn’t expect me to live much longer than 4 or 5,” said Lauren Molasky Fierst.

She was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was two days old. It is a chronic disease that affects your lungs and digestive system. She developed more problems over time, but her world completely changed last summer when one of her lungs collapsed.

“The talking was too much. I couldn’t laugh. Breathe through a straw 24/7 and then try to do things while breathing through a straw. “

Her lungs were functioning less than 17%. It happened when COVID-19 was increasing across the country. Her husband was allowed to stay with her due to restrictions, but she could only see her two children for one hour each week.

“It was a very, very dark time.”

After being on the waiting list for a year and being in the hospital for four months, she finally got the call that there was a match. She received a double lung transplant last October.

“I’m very, very grateful for this second chance.”

Writing has always been an outlet for Lauren. She started a fashion blog years ago and recently wrote a book, The Sky Cracked Open, a series of poems written primarily for her children that she says are her motivators.

“My son has granted all of his wishes for years, be it a birthday candle or an eyelash or whatever for his mother to get new lungs,” she said.

These wishes came true.

She is still in quarantine at home with her family, but is much better.

“As dark as it is, there is always light and there is always something to be thankful for.”

May is the month of cystic fibrosis awareness. Lauren is an advocate of cystic fibrosis and has a second book in the works.