UPDATE ON COURTNEY (BY MOM)

I know a lot of you have been checking for updates on Courtney, but we've been so busy no one has had time to post one. Thank you all for being so patient and for all the calls, messages, cards, etc., to let Courtney know you are thinking of her. Here's a brief update...

Courtney is back in North Fulton Hospital and has been in since Friday, July 13th. She was admitted with severe pain in her abdomen that we couldn't get under control, and increased nausea again. A CT scan that day revealed that the chemo she had been taking for the last two months had not been effective; the tumors had grown and she had some new ones in her liver and abdomen. After conversations between the doctors in Tampa and her doctor here, the decision was last week that she would return to Tampa for assessment and possibly a new clinical study. We were frantically trying to make travel arrangements, etc., so we could go down last Friday. As the week went on, Courtney's condition just didn't seem to improve a lot; she was not eating and was on so much medication she couldn't even stay awake but for short periods of time. None of us thought she was in any condition to travel, including Courtney, but of course she wouldn't say that. She was willing to give it a try.

As it turned out, she didn't qualify for the initial clinical trial that her Tampa doctor had in mind, so it was decided that she would start on a new chemotherapy here in GA. They also have a new study that she may qualify for that would only involve testing some of the slides from her tumors that were removed in March, and all she has to do is sign a consent for them to test them. If her tumors contain a certain enzyme that causes rapid cell division, she will qualify to be started on a new medication that is being tested to slow (or hopefully stop) cell division and rapid tumor growth. In the meantime, she is waiting approval from her insurance company (again) to receive the new chemotherapy and hopefully that will be started today or tomorrow. Courtney was happy not to have to go back to Tampa, and her condition has improved a lot since last Friday. She has been eating much better and her pain is more manageable. They have determined that the severe pain in her side was partly due to some nerve damage, probably from her last surgery. She is on a new medication for that and it seems to be helping. The plan now is to start tapering her IV pain meds so she can get out of the hospital soon.

I ask that you all continue to pray for Courtney, that God will give her strength and that her faith will be renewed daily. I know that God is able to heal her and that He has been with us each step of the way through this battle, and for that I am so thankful. And again, thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for Courtney and our entire family. I can't tell you how much they are felt and how they lift us up when we are down.

May God Bless You All,

Melody Cook

Matthew 21:22 'And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'