Thank you for your prayer and support! Update on Courtney 27 September 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010 at 9:31AM Dear friends,
We wanted to send out a brief update about Courtney today and express our thanks to everyone who has so faithfuly prayed and lovingly supported us!
Megan, Courtney, Liam and I want to thank you so much for your love, prayers and support over the last few weeks.
We rejoice to tell you that Courtney’s surgery went extremely well, the tumor was removed entirely, and that the biopsy showed that the tumor is benign!
There is no cancer and no further treatment is needed! All praise to our wonderful Lord for His Grace and Power!
The surgeon said to us that this truly is an answer to prayer!
While he had anticipated something worse the histology came back with wonderful results. If you’re interested you can see the following link which describes the kind of tumor they found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choroid_plexus_papilloma
Courtney came out of ICU on Saturday afternoon and is currently recovering in the children’s ward. She has been struggling with nausea and is still a little sore. This morning the doctor came to see her and has said he will do a lumbar puncture to remove some pressure from her brain. However, she is on a great recover path and will be home in the next day or two!
Praise God! Thank you so much for sharing in our joy and bearing us up through the tough times (it seems like a distant memory!!) God’s grace is truly so magnificent!
Our friend Greg Long has arranged a time of prayer and thanksgiving on Wednesday evening at 18.30 at the Coronation Ave Methodist Church. If you’re able to join us that would be great, if not please do offer God all praise and thanks from wherever you are.
May the Lord bless you and your families even more richly than He has blessed us – truly God is able to do so much more than we can think, hope or imagine (Eph 3.20).
With much love and blessing,
Dion, Megan, Courtney and Liam
So please spread the word! God bless you.
Reader Comments (3)
Dear Dion, I am delighted to hear the news, and that your trial has been mercifully eased at an early time. With your keen interest in neuro-science, how did they remove the growth? I can't imagine. Thomas.
Dear Dion and Megan, Courtney and Liam. I am just filled with adoration for the Lord for answering prayers! We prayed exactly this - that it would be benign! We pray for her speedy recovery and soon she'll be dancing for the Lord once more! We rejoice with you!!!!! Love from afar, die De Villiers'e
Thanks for sharing in our joy friends! Indeed, God is truly awesome! We are overwhelmed by God's answer to our prayers!
I cannot tell you what a weight has been lifted from our shoulders.
Thomas, the procedure to remove the tumour is known as a maximal surgical resection. It is a surgical procedure that relies quite heavily on the detail and information that is visible from the MRI scan (indicating the size and location of the tumor itself).
In this instance the particular tumour that they found and removed is extremely rare (it accounts for 0.4% of brain tumors). The far more common tumour in that area of the brain is an aggressive cancer called a medulloblastoma.
It is an immense blessing - truly a miracle and an answer to prayer, that it was not a medulloblastoma but rather a chlorio plexus papilloma (which is benign).
Indeed, I have given thanks to God many times for the privelage of my training and research in neuroscience. It allowed a great deal of calm and information. At least I knew the terminology, understood the risks of the surgery, and the possible complications of working in that area of the brain. It has also allowed us to approach Courtney's recover with a measure of calm and peace, knowing that the nausea and sleepiness are normal parts of her recover. However as with most 'training' the most valuable part of it was having a network of relationships that one could call upon for advice, insight, and expert opinion.
Thanks so much for your care and prayer!
God bless,
Dion