Its been a year

I am sorry that there has been no updates since July. I guess in a way that is a good thing as it means that there have been no dramas for Cody.

Amazingly a year has passed. I look back and can only say that I am still bewildered that we are here at this point with Cody healthy (as healthy as he can be) and that he is now positive and looking a head towards a future. Not the picture we were all told a year ago. He was not meant to survive Xmas let alone a year.

It truly is a testament to Cody that he is where he is today. He has never given up and has fought harder than anyone I know and survived. Yes there have been times when I am sure he has wanted to give up ...... but he didn't and more importantly..............none of us gave up fighting for him either.

The latest news is of his fiscular. This was an operation performed in Auckland back in July. Where they joined a small vein in his arm to an artery (at the base of his bicep just above the crease of the elbow) This is normally used for Dialysis patients and is still only new for the use of TPN use. Cody's only viable arm was his right arm so accessing this is going to be tricky for him as he is right handed and it is fiddly. But the use of this method is less infection risk and will save his two good veins for transplant and that could now be 10 years away....all going well.

The annoying thing for Cody is that accessing the fiscula is not easy. He has had two training attempts at the hospital....with the last one ending up spraying blood all over the assisting nurse. Only to repeat it later that night at home when trying himself. He has to inject an long and larger than normal needle into this artery and of course if it goes wrong .... you get an arterial bleed. As Natalie and Cody discovered that night.....this means the roof, walls and floor get covered in blood. It looks more alarming than it actually is and it certainly knocked Cody's confidence with using this fiscula. Plus it is very painful so he has to use a numbing cream called Emula Gel.................and you guessed it..........this is not a funded item and at $18 for a 5ml tube ... is very very expensive. At the moment he will use 1 tube per day, so lucky we have the fund going as that will now be used to cover this cost.

So please....next time you pass by the Westpac Bank.....pop your lose change into his fund account or pop it into one of the many tins around collecting for him and pass this blog link on to as many people as you can.

Thanks to everyone who stop by and leave messages....Cody does see them and appriciates them alot.