Our friend and colleague Courtney has been fighting and surviving Thyroid Cancer for the past 5 years. She was diagnosed in March 2015 and has undergone multiple surgeries and treatment options available to her here in Alberta. Recently her doctors have told her that the previous treatments have been unsuccessful, and they have given her an unfortunate diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic Thyroid Cancer, with a prognosis of 2 years. There is however a treatment option available to her in Mexico! This treatment comes with a price tag of greater than $35,000. The treatment, coupled with the difficult travel schedules (thanks to COVID), have made this a very expensive option for Courtney and her family.
Courtney is a 34 year old, partner to Jason and mother to 2 young children: Kinsley 6 & Nixon 16 months. She is a dedicated and hard-working member of the Unit 21 family at the RDRHC as a Unit Clerk. You can often find Courtney smiling, laughing, with coworkers, patients, and their families while at work. While at home, you can find Courtney spending time with her kids, enjoying the company of her family and loving on her many animals.
Courtney leaves for treatment in Mexico early June. Please join us in helping Courtney ease the stress of finances and focus solely on her health at this time.
Any questions can be directed to
courage4courtney@hotmail.comPlease see below a note from Courtney!
I am 34 years old, and have two beautiful children, Kinsley aged 6 and Nixon 16 months old. We have a 10-year-old rescue pup from Mexico, 2 rescue kitties and 2 mixed dwarf bunnies which are Kinsley's support pets!
I have been fighting Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma the last 5 years diagnosed in March of 2015. Usually, thyroid cancer especially in the younger generation is highly curable and stays very local to the thyroid gland. I underwent a surgery in July 2016 which involved a full thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy and central and lateral neck dissection removing all my muscle tissue and quite a huge number of cancerous lymph nodes.
In December of 2017 I again went under a lateral and central neck dissection removing large new cancer tumors and many cancerous lymph nodes again. Both my surgeries I was lucky enough to have the same surgeon who became so close to my case and really tried his hardest to fight on my side.
Unfortunately, from my first surgery my specialists found out that my body cannot produce and hold onto calcium which resulted in severely low levels of calcium in which my heart would stop, and I would seizure. This put me in the hospital on large amounts of iv infusion calcium more times than we could count.
In January of 2020 I underwent rescans on my neck and chest and was told by my oncology team at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre that my aggressive cancer had spread not only throughout my central and lateral neck but down into my collarbone, lungs and chest cavity with a high amount of coverage on my left lower lung lobe. They discussed the idea of me again going through radiation and a targeted chemo but needed to send my tumors from my previous surgeries to be watched at a pathology lab for 6 months and determine what they were dealing with.
December 2nd of 2021, we received the dreadful news that my cancer was a very rare, mutated gene form of diffuse sclerosing papillary thyroid carcinoma that affects less then 2%. It is resistant to radiation and any available forms of chemo in Canada and the US. At this point there is no treatment for my cancer, so my oncology team will stay with me to observe every 3 months and have placed me to a terminal state with a 2-year life expectancy. They are not sure what to expect but we are not giving up. I had done quite a bit of research into a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, where I had followed a few other cancer patients I have met along my journey and had amazing results to surpass their life expectancies with undergoing treatment at this clinic.
With the hand that has been dealt to me, I feel as if Mexico is my best bet at surviving this cancer and being able to watch my beautiful little kids grow. We have booked for me to go to this clinic in June of this year where I will undergo many treatments for 28 days.
Anyone who knows me as a person, knows that I am not one who likes to accept help, and have silently suffered for 5 years. I work very hard and love even harder. But I know that if I want to still be here on this earth for my children and loved ones and friends, I need to put my guilt and independence aside and accept that I need help, and that there are so many who love me and just want to see me get better. 💜💜💙💙 I am so grateful for all who have been here to listen and provide love and support through these difficult times it means the world to me and my family!
