A changing table stands in the corner, stuffed toys hang from cribs and family photos grace the walls. Babies cry and dogs lay on the lounge. Nothing, it seems, is amiss.

But nothing is ordinary in Lauren Koppers’ world, least of all her extraordinary spirit.

This is her story. 

To tell the story of Lauren Koppers with expected words and relevant cliches would be to do her no justice at all.

So, instead, let’s start with joy.

“The boys have been a miracle really,” Lauren says of her twin babies Charlie and Elijah ‘Eli’, now 13 weeks.

 “They give me a lot of hope and happiness and it also means my husband and I don’t have to focus on the bad things because we have the boys to look after.

“They make us so happy.”

Cancer first intruded on Lauren’s life 15 years ago when, at age 13, she was diagnosed with lymphoma after discovering a lump during a family summer sojourn.

Lauren, 28, endured the necessary treatment and went into remission.

But hope was to be short lived when Lauren relapsed and a stem cell transplant was needed to save her life.

There was a 25 per cent chance the transplant would claim Lauren’s life but she survived and, ultimately, made the decision to study medicine.

“Throughout my treatment I became really interested in what was happening to me,” Lauren said. “Because trying to learn as much about it as I could helped me cope.

“I always asked my doctors a lot of questions because by gaining a bit of knowledge I felt I had more power.

“I knew medicine was going to be a long, hard track but it’s what I really want to do.”

Following her graduation Lauren worked as an intern across the Hunter New England  Health Service.

It was here, in 2012, the disease returned, this time wearing the sombre guise of breast cancer.

“I was working as an intern when I started to get some chest pain and a scan revealed lesions in my sternum, spine, liver and my hip,” Lauren said.

“Straight away we knew there was some type of malignancy but we weren’t sure what the primary was. 

“I think everyone thought the lymphoma had returned, but just to be sure I had a biopsy of my sternum and it actually came back as breast cancer.

“And it was a huge shock, particularly because once breast cancer has spread outside the breast and into the bones and organs it’s just not curable, it’s basically a life sentence.”

Shortly before the diagnosis Lauren became engaged to philosophy student Adam Koppers, now 30.

“We had a couple of months before our wedding when I was diagnosed again and we didn’t know if we’d have to bring the wedding forward because we didn’t know if I had weeks or months to live,” Lauren said.

“We really didn’t know what we were dealing with.

“It was one of the most stressful times of our lives but we decided that we didn’t want this diagnosis to stop the plans that we had for our life, one of which was to become parents.”

The young couple is now pinning their hopes on pertuzumab, a cancer-blocking drug that could well proffer more precious time.

“I have been cruising along OK for the last two years on a medication. But my cancer has shown signs of progressing and it’s not being controlled any longer by the current medication so one of the newer drugs (pertuzumab) that has recently become available might give me a shot at keeping things under control,” Lauren said.

“The idea is to keep the cancer in control, not to cure it.”

Along with regular doses of pertuzumab, Lauren will also need to have chemotherapy.

“The last two years I’ve been lucky to avoid chemotherapy (Lauren has already endured about three years worth of the gruelling treatment) but I’ll have to have it again so I’ll have all the side effects that go with it,” she said.

Yet in the face of a rather grim prognosis – doctors have given her four to six years– Lauren remains calm and considered.

“I always knew there was a high risk the cancer would return,” she said.

“The long-term side effects of the chemotherapy and the radiation I had are secondary cancers and also because I had cancer once obviously I am more predisposed to developing more cancers.

“Once you get cancer it doesn’t mean you’ve had your go, unfortunately.”

Cancer has been Lauren’s unwanted companion for most of her life and while she knows the disease will accompany her to the very end, she will also become one of its fiercest opponents.

“Obviously this is devastating and every now and again I’ll think about it and I’ll be reminded of that and I’ll become really upset,” Lauren said.

“But you can’t really sit around thinking about it you have to keep going moving forward.

“Some people might have been a little bit sceptical about us starting a family with this prognosis, knowing that I’m not going to be around for the boys’ 18th birthdays, their weddings or to see their children, but just having one day with them was worth it. “Even if I had died the day after the boys were born it would have been worth it.”

A fund-raiser will be held for Lauren at Marcellin Park, Lorn, on August 30. All tickets for the event have been sold but organisers are seeking further sponsorship.