A Mother's Love

For Courtney Grass, Mother's Day means a lot more than an opportunity to receive flowers and well-wishes. The mother of an 11-month-old girl, Grass became a mom after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, leaving her to raise a child and battle the malignancy at the same time. 

Everything about Grass' life changed on Dec. 31, 2009.

Grass, 25, had married the love of her life, Travis Grass, a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force, just four months prior. Courtney, a Greenville native and Wade Hampton High School graduate, felt peculiar. 

"On New Year’s Eve, I experienced some strange sensations on my right side and I knew something was wrong," Courtney recalled. "I called a friend of ours, who is also in the Air Force, and she came over and took me to the hospital."

Courtney's first hours of 2010 were spent at Tuomey Hospital in Sumter, later being transferred to a neurologist at St. Francis Hospital in Greenville. 

Her parents rushed there, and her husband, Travis, was sent home from Afghanistan to be with his wife. Courtney, the doctors initially said, had suffered a stroke. But when Dr. Charles Kanos saw Courtney in a follow-up visit, he gave them disturbing news - the previous neurologist had made a terrible mistake. 

Courtney's maladies weren't derived from a simple stroke brought on by birth control, as previously believed.

Doctors suspected Grade II Astrocytoma, a non-malignant tumor. Doctors in Greenville and at Duke Medical Center told Courtney to live her life, and in the meantime, they'd monitor the tumor for growth. 

"It was decided that we would take the 'wait and watch approach and repeat MRI’s every few months watching for any changes in the tumor," Courtney said. "We would treat the seizures and hope that everything remained the same for a long time."

For her, living life meant one thing, in particular. 

"They felt that it would be safe for me to become pregnant," Courtney said. "I spoke with my neurologist who put me on the safest seizure medication known to take while pregnant. Travis and I both wanted children and once we decided that we would try, we became pregnant right away."

On May 26, 2011, Travis and Courtney's daughter, Addison, came into the world. But among the immense joy from that event came trepidation from another. An MRI had shown the tumor had grown. 

By July, a major surgery had been scheduled to try to remove as much of the tumor as possible. It was a procedure filled with inherent danger. 

"We were given no assurances and all the risks of this type surgery were told to us in very plain words. I could die," Courtney said. "I could have a stroke or hemorrhage. I may not be able to speak or understand what is spoken to me. My face may be drooped on the right side or I may not have full use of my right side. Any of these effects of surgery were terrifying. 

"One of the hardest parts was kissing sweet Addison as they wheeled me down to surgery as my family stood by with tears in their eyes with none of us knowing what to expect," she said. 

The surgery by most measures was successful, with much of the tumor being removed. But the following Friday, a pathologist's final report on the tumor revealed it was a Glioblastoma - an aggressive, malignant tumor that required radiation and chemotherapy. 

"The radiation was very difficult to get through. The fatigue was unbelievable. The fact that I had to go five days a week for six weeks was hard to endure," she said. "I was having to do these treatments while still having a young baby and myself to take care of."

"This has been a very difficult journey. The shock of learning that I had a tumor, then the surgery, the diagnosis, the treatment, the loss of hair, the learning to walk and talk again and just the realization that my life has been changed forever," she said. 

Courtney just recently celebrated her 25th birthday with friends and family in Greenville. She still battles fatigue, slurred speech and the emotional distress of her journey, but continues to lean on her family - and of course, her new little girl. 

"We thank the Lord for what he has done so far and pray for his grace to help us fight the fight," Grass said.