Cominsky maintains positive attitude despite illness
The volleyball floated over the net, sending an echo through the SHS gym as it hit the floor in front of Courtney Cominsky.
Kristy,” said Cominsky to her volleyball coach Kristy Bunner, “I can’t see anything.”
For the remainder of the 2014 volleyball season, Cominsky sat in the bleachers watching the girls that she started playing volleyball with compete without her. Cominsky, remaining as positive as possible, viewed the season as a “temporary suspension” until it became apparent that her unidentified condition may result in the end of her volleyball career.
“I really hope I get to have a high school volleyball experience. It would be heartbreaking not to because I’ve been with these girls since the start,” said Cominsky. “It’s an end for me, not for them.”
During the 2015 SHS volleyball preseason doctors, unable to find a definitive diagnosis, once again told Cominsky that she would be unable to play volleyball. Cominsky was willing to work through her pain, as she “begged doctors” to let her play this season.
During the season, Cominsky was in and out of the emergency room once or twice a week when her pain became unbearable. Her teammates, on the other hand, were in and out of the gym that she was begging to be in.
Cominsky noted the irony in that she struggled to walk some days while her teammates loathed running eight laps around the gym at practice.
It’s frustrating,” said Cominsky, “If I could practice, I would do it until I passed out.”
Cominsky lacks the energy she once had, but her strength is unwavering. Her peers still see her walk through the halls of SHS laughing, even as her symptoms increased from headaches and dizziness to physical aches, pains, weakness and constant exhaustion. The annoyingly long school day everyone dreads and complains about is even longer and harder for Cominsky. Every day is more of a challenge for her than for the average teenager as she wonders what her mystery condition has in store for her future.
Will she get her energy back? Will they ever know what’s wrong with her? Will she be able to achieve all of her goals? Will she ever be able to play volleyball again?
Her curious condition caused Cominsky to set a new goal for herself: Share.
“I want people to know about what I’m going through,” said Cominsky, “Not for me, but for them.”
Cominsky tries to share the knowledge she has gained from this experience with her friends. She wants people realize everything that they have in life and appreciate it.
Many people have a hard time completely comprehending the knowledge Cominsky tries to share with them, because they haven’t had to face the fear of never recovering from a masqued threat. Meanwhile, this isn’t Cominsky’s first experience with such an obstacle. Although she doesn’t remember much from her experience with neoblastoma cancer, Cominsky did see pictures of her pale, hairless 7 month old self.
“It was unbelievable,” said Cominsky. “It made me more grateful for where I am now.”
Cominsky has courageously opted to “accept and push through it” as opposed to letting her condition stop her from living her life.
“She’s the same Courtney that I know and love,” said her friend Alexei Belzer. “But you can tell it’s more work to be that way now.”
Keera Frye
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Courtney is my cousins granddaughter. She is a brave young lady and we are all proud of her!