Courtney

Courtney was approaching her 30th birthday when she discovered a lump in her left breast. Her gynecologist dismissed it as dense tissue typical of a young woman, which a radiologist subsequently confirmed. Courtney was young, healthy, with no family history of breast cancer.

Courtney was an environmental lawyer whose career was taking off. Her husband was starting his own business. They were talking about starting a family and buying a condo. Things couldn’t have been better. And then things began to fall apart.
Over the next several months, Courtney noticed strange symptoms: chest pain, back pain, side pain, pelvic pain, leg pain. As the months wore on, her symptoms grew worse. Before long, Courtney wasn’t able to do some of her favorite activities like yoga and swimming. The pain became so bad that she could barely walk. Finally, after numerous tests and doctors, Courtney was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. Her cancer had spread to her bones, lungs, and liver. Her oncologist told Courtney that her cancer was incurable and that she would have, at most, two years to live.

After finding a new doctor, Courtney took a leave of absence from work and started aggressive treatment, including chemo and other targeted drugs. Courtney and her husband met with a nutritionist and made changes to their diet. They read. They meditated. And they prayed.

Courtney continued to work as an environmental lawyer and active athlete, completing the Alcatraz Challenge – swimming from Alcatraz Island to the shores of San Francisco.
Courtney passed away in 2012 at the age of 34. A fund has been established in Courtney’s memory to support the causes she believed in.