Hi, I'm Lauren Leonardo,
I'm 23 years old,
I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia,
and I'm ready for a whole new look,
for a whole new chapter in my life.
I was 22 years old and living in Hawaii with my boyfriend
and I started experiencing some
weird symptoms where just things were not feeling right.
I went to the ER because I was unable to breathe
and I was diagnosed with stage two non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
I had a grapefruit size tumor
sitting in my chest as well as
a smaller tumor in my left armpit.
I received six rounds of chemotherapy.
As the tumor was growing,
it was pushing on my esophagus and my trachea
which is why I was having difficulty breathing,
why I was having difficulty swallowing.
Once the chemo started working
and the tumor started shrinking,
it just left behind like this massive hole in my esophagus.
I couldn't drink anything,
I couldn't eat anything.
So their course of action,
&was to just put a feeding tube in me
and beat the cancer first.
So for just over a year,
I had my feeding tube in me
and I was unable to eat or drink anything by mouth.
Because of the pandemic,
I had to be completely isolated at the hospital
and could only communicate with my boyfriend
through a glass window at the hospital.
Just got my scan results back
and I think I'm in remission.
A little less than a year later,
I received news that I was in remission
and I had beat cancer.
I struggled and was in a lot of pain for a long time and
just being able to hear that I was healthy,
was the biggest sigh of relief.
On TikTok I began documenting
how I was reintroducing food
after a year and a half of not eating.
I would show my first glass of water
to my first Starbucks drink
and finally my Mac and cheese burger.
My little old Italian grandmother
promised me that as soon as I was able to eat again,
she would make her family famous pasta and meatballs
with her homemade pasta sauce and as soon as I was able to,
I went over to her house and enjoyed it.
Being able to share my story
to all of these people and inspire so many people,
is truly what kept me going.
And after what has been the craziest year and a half,
I recently got engaged,
so now I get to start wedding planning.
After not being able to eat anything for a year and a half,
I have obviously gained weight.
I obviously look a little bit different
than I did this time last year
and so being able to get a whole new look
and a whole new makeover from Tommy DiDario
is such a blessing and I am so excited.
So Tommy,
you need to tell her about the Surprise
for her.
Okay.
So Lauren and I were chatting
and I learned that you're a really big Marvel fan
and there's a certain actress
who really helped you during your journey with cancer
to channel your own superhero.
Well, guess what?
I have a special guest who wants to send you a message
because she was so touched by your story.
Take a look.
Hey Lauren,
I just wanted to say that I've heard your story and
it's just incredibly meaningful to know that
the work that I'm doing
is in any way helped you get through a very difficult time.
You know, that's very very meaningful for me
and it's very humbling.
So I just wanted to say,
thank you for so much for sharing your story,
I'm glad that I can share parts of mine
and I wish you a lot of luck and light and happiness.
Yay, Scarlet (laughing loudly)
is a real life superhero.
Thank you Scarlet so much for doing that for Lauren.
Since you guys were also recently engaged,
we wanted to help check another little thing off your list.
How does a little bit of a honeymoon sound, not bad?
That would be amazing.
So we are sending you for five nights and six days
to the Fort Lauderdale, Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa
which includes,
a couple's massage,
a private three course meal on the beach,
daily breakfast,
$300 resort credit,
airfare is included Of course,
a total value of almost $4,500, I think it comes in at 4414,
but that's pretty cool, huh?
That's amazing.
(laughing loudly)
Will he be psyched too?
I wish he was here, he's stuck at work right now.
I can't wait to tell him.