
A Chicago woman was just weeks away from giving birth when a nagging cough led to a shocking medical discovery.
McKenna Lauterbach, 26, began having severe coughing attacks in the last three months of her pregnancy.
“The symptoms would be so severe that I would feel nauseous and nauseous to the point of vomiting,” she told Fox News Digital.
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Lauterbach, who lives on a farm in Washburn, Illinois, also began noticing shortness of breath while tending to her horses and goats.
“I give the horses hay every morning and I noticed how tired I was with the dry cough,” she said. “My body felt like I had only run two miles, when in reality, I had only walked to the barn and back.”

McKenna Lauterbach, pictured with her husband, Parker, and new baby, Colter, has been diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. (northwestern medicine)
She said some doctors ignored Lauterbach’s symptoms, repeatedly telling her: “It’s because you’re pregnant.”
Eventually, when coughing led to vomiting, doctors performed scans and discovered a large, grapefruit-sized tumor in the middle chest cavity and right lung, which was completely blocking the artery leading to the right lung.
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“It is extremely rare to see this type of tumor invading the major blood vessels of the heart,” Chris Mehta, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute who specializes in complex heart reconstruction, said in a press release.
“It is extremely rare to see this type of tumor invading the major blood vessels of the heart.”
“We might see something like this once every few years.”
The tumor caused Lauterbach – and her child – to suffer respiratory distress.
“In real trouble”
Lauterbach was airlifted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where a large medical team was waiting for her.
“McKenna was in real trouble, and we had to act quickly — this was not something that could wait for Monday morning,” Lynn Yee, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine, said in the statement.

Although he was born three weeks early, little Coulter is today a thriving, happy baby. “For me, I’m still recovering emotionally and physically,” Lauterbach said. (McKenna Lauterbach)
“When you’re pregnant with a baby who’s almost full term, your lungs aren’t working at their full capacity, and when you add a huge tumor on top of that, you run the risk of respiratory collapse and cardiac arrest.”
The baby was not tolerating the contractions well and Lauterbach’s blood pressure was dropping.
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The team performed an emergency caesarean section, and on Easter Sunday, a healthy baby boy, named Colten, was born.
“Shocking news”
After giving birth, it is time to treat the tumor.
“The tumor was located above McKenna’s heart and extending into the right lung, affecting all three lobes and the entire main trunk of the pulmonary artery,” said Calvin Long, MD, a thoracic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute. release.
Doctors performed a biopsy and diagnosed Lauterbach with stage III melanoma.

The Lauterbach family lives on a farm in Washburn, Illinois. McKenna Lauterbach first experienced severe coughing attacks and shortness of breath when caring for horses and goats. (McKenna Lauterbach)
Doctors believe she may have had skin cancer at some point, and that “a cell or two escaped” and began growing inside her body.
“It was really amazing news,” Lauterbach told Fox News Digital. “When I first got the diagnosis, I had a rollercoaster of emotions.”
“I was grieving the birth plan I had spent months preparing, while also dealing with the news of my unexpected diagnosis.”
After initially being relieved to get an answer, she said she felt a little angry that her symptoms had been ignored earlier. Then there was the fear of cancer itself.
“Because of the tumor, the birth went very quickly,” she said. “I was grieving over the birth plan I had spent months preparing, while also dealing with the news of my unexpected diagnosis.”
“My condition was serious, and while my clinical team was working on a plan to treat the cancer, it was comforting to know that the NICU nurses [at Northwestern] They took great care of our son.”
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The team at Northwestern University recommended that Lauterbach undergo three courses of immunotherapy before surgery, which helped shrink the tumor by 30%.
Dr. Long and Dr. Mehta removed Lauterbach’s entire right lung, parts of the main pulmonary artery, and lymph nodes.

Pictured are the Lauterbach family, from left to right, Dr. Calvin Long, registered nurse Mary Schussler, and Dr. Lin Yi. (northwestern medicine)
“The surgery was risky compared to other cancer surgeries because of the need for cardiopulmonary bypass and the need to repair the main artery to the lungs, but it was performed under very safe conditions and with well-tried techniques,” Dr Long said. Fox News Digital.
He continued: “We were concerned that even with the extent of the surgery, we would not be able to remove the entire tumor.”
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If the tumor had grown a little further into the main artery to the lungs, or if it had involved the heart, the outcome would have been different.
But the surgery was successful, and Lauterbach’s latest scans showed no evidence of metastatic melanoma.

Coulter Lauterbach is photographed with Santa before his first Christmas. (McKenna Lauterbach)
“Her outcome was very good,” Dr. Long told Fox News Digital. “She has made an almost complete recovery from surgery, and her main issue is shortness of breath, which is a result of having only one lung.”
“In terms of the prognosis for the cancer, we expect it to be very good, given that the entire tumor responded to the immunotherapy she received.”
“New normal”
Today, even though he was born three weeks early, little Coulter Lauterbach is a happy, thriving baby.
“For me, I’m still recovering emotionally and physically,” McKenna Lauterbach said. “My lung capacity is approaching a new normal for me and I’m finally starting to get back into some sort of normal routine.”
“There are some days when bad memories and the unknown haunt my thoughts.”
Looking ahead, Lauterbach will continue immunotherapy for one year, and doctors will continue to monitor CT scans to ensure the cancer does not return.
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Doctors say her cancer is currently considered “stable,” meaning no new tumors have appeared.
The new mother, who turned 27 in October, said she was looking forward to her son’s first Christmas on the farm.

McKenna and Parker Lauterbach pictured with their son Colter after he was born by emergency cesarean section. (McKenna Lauterbach)
“Emotionally, I do my best not to let reality affect me, but there are some days when bad memories and the unknown haunt my thoughts,” she said.
“Coulter and my amazing husband Parker are the ones who gave me the strength to get through everything.”
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For other women, Lauterbach emphasized the importance of “knowing your body.”
“If you know something is wrong, don’t take ‘I don’t know’ for an answer. Find someone who will take your concerns seriously and prefer to do additional testing just in case, rather than pass up the opportunity,” she advised. “Something life-threatening.”