Helping Gregg Cook on his Cancer Journey

Fam and friends,

My longtime best friend is in need of support. Courtlyn is the friend that asks for nothing but drops anything and everything for everyone around her. We met through swimming as kids and have remained close ever since--through 5 am practices, high school, college, being in my wedding and all the good times and bad times over the past 15 years. From volunteering in third world countries and swimming at Georgetown, to crushing marathons and qualifying for the Boston Marathon, Courtlyn is the supportive friend you dream of. Now she needs our support.

Her Dad and best friend, Gregg Cook--"The Mayor"--is battling Stage 4 Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer and was initially given 3 months to live. Gregg is a man that is loved by many, and lots of people have reached out to them to ask how they can help. On December 13th, they were hit with devastating diagnosis. Since then, it is been a long journey. They have a local Oncologist that gave him a better prognosis and wanted him to start on an aggressive treatment regimen of Chemo + Radiation. Things have changed since then and it is not currently in Gregg’s best interest to proceed with that plan. He has already lost over 50 pounds, and as a result, is very weak. His cancer attacks the digestive system, making it difficult to eat or drink. He will undergo 5 days of cyber knife radiation this week, in hopes of it shrinking the main Pancreatic Tumor, leaving him in less pain and less nauseous. After this, they will reevaluate next steps based on how Gregg responds to the treatment and how he is doing physically. If he is strong enough, they hope to do more treatment.

 

Without sharing too many details, while he has insurance, there are still a lot of increased expenses right now due to medicine, doctor’s visits, supplies needed for him, adaptions that need to be made to the house, private care, etc. We’ve decided to set up a GoFundMe to alleviate some of the financial expenses right now. He lives with his daughter, Courtlyn, on Saint Simons, who is taking currently taking care of him full time and overseeing all of his needs. Gregg had to stop working when he got sick and hasn’t been able to work since a little bit before he was diagnosed. Courtlyn has happily set aside almost everything to focus on taking care of her Dad and making sure that he is as comfortable as possible and that he has the best care. It takes up almost all of her time during the day and night to oversee the full scope of things while she is also trying to get insurance to approve more in-home medical care and palliative care. They have already hired professional in-home help out of pocket since he needs a higher level of care and needs help getting around 24/7.

We think the best way to help them is to give them the financial resources, alleviating a small amount of the burden. It is a lot to take on all at once and while Courtlyn is doing an incredible job and taking excellent care of him, it is a lot to manage at a young age. If you feel like making a contribution, all of the proceeds will go to managing his care and needs. Much love.