COURTNEY'S LATEST UPDATE. When the going gets tough....the tough keep going!

[Laurel]

In the face of great odds, I can do it.

In the words of one of my one biggest heroes, “In the face of great odds, know too that you can persevere and succeed no matter what the odds.”

This is what is happening to me now. My doctors are telling me “no”, but my body and mind and my soul are telling “yes”. “Yes you can.” “Yes you can overcome this madness called cancer.”


At last week’s appointment, Dr. Smith told us that I had few options left, none of them very bright: alternative therapies (herbs, supplements) or palliative care – which means just taking medications to keep me comfortable (e.g., pain killers) and just let nature take its course.

My choice? Neither. I fought too hard to just give up. I’m not going to give up, just like that. So my next step is to seek out a second opinion doctor who I’ve seen before and see what chemos are left for me. If we find a new option and try it, we will see the results quickly; and if we don’t see results, well, we’ll be right back here making more difficult decisions.

In other news, life is good. It’s been filled with its challenges. Remember that after I got back from the hospital, I found myself slightly paralyzed and needing to work on my upper body strength and still find myself in a wheelchair. My body strength is coming back and I’m getting better. This improvement gives me great hope and encouragement, because when you see improvement you know that things are going in the right direction.

This week we will meet with another doc at UCSF. Please pray for me if you are the praying sort, so we can find out exactly what is going on.


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A note from Jay :
It’s been a month since our last update – and it has been a month of “bonus time” – days that might not have happened - and ones in which we are thankful for. We’ve done coffee and pastries in our neighborhood, countless lunches at Chow, strolls through Golden Gate park and Crissy field on the weekends, attended cocktail parties with friends, and a lot of special quiet dinner + movie + microwave at popcorn at home. This is also incredibly painful though. Courtney’s memory is affected by whole brain radiation, we are both struggling with an uncertain future, and each day sometimes feels like its own mental and physical Ironman. Thank you for supporting us, and for understanding us being in our own private island for the past month or so, while we wait to see how this all unfolds. We’ll keep you posted, and ask for your continued prayers.