Life-threathing surgery deferred...

Life-threatening surgery deferred


as per article in Nelson Mail Saturday, 19 July 2008

A Nelson teenager has had a life-threatening operation deferred thanks to a rare procedure performed by Auckland specialists.
Cody Walsh, 17, has been diagnosed with a rare birth abnormality where his bowel sits incorrectly in his body.
The problem led to the removal of most of his lower and upper intestines last year. His only chance of living normally again is a dangerous bowel transplant in Toronto, Canada, with a price tag of around $1 million.
Cody has been fed a glucose solution directly into major arteries, but repeated life-threatening infections mean he is running out of useable arteries, which have to remain intact for the Toronto operation.
He returned yesterday from Auckland, where doctors inserted an implement called a fistula into a minor arm vein.
Cody's mother Natalie Cozens said it was believed that only two other New Zealanders had had the operation, which was performed for feeding, although it was common for kidney patients on dialysis.
When the fistula is operational in about two months, it will mean Cody can be fed via minor veins, and the chance of infection is drastically reduced.
She said the hope was that it would mean that the need for the Toronto operation, which currently had less than a 50-50 five-year survival rate, could be deferred by up to a decade.
Cody, who had wanted to be a chef before he became ill, was hoping to soon start looking for a job, although it would have to be something that required little exertion.
A blog has been set up, www.codywalsh.blogspot.com, to help raise funds and awareness of Cody's plight.
Donations can also be made to the Cody Walsh Transplant Fund at any Westpac branch or in collection tins at bars and cafes in Nelson.

Photo above is of Cody and Natalie when they first went to auckland. Taken in the sky tower.

Codys Operation was a success.

Cody was prep and ready for surgery on Monday. They wheeled him off to theatre and sedated him....only to postpone op as there was a huge crash and three helicopters were bringing in the injured. So poor cody was put back in the ward and woken to be told he had not had the operation.

Two days later they wheeled him off and this time he stayed down and they completed the operation. He has been in a lot of pain since this operation and needing morphine for some time for his arm pain. The fiscula facinates cody....I am told it vibrates so he keeps playing with it. lol

The decision was made to leave Cody's hicman line in place as it is working and they dont want to risk damaging the vein. So with Cody doing so well, they boarded a plane and flew for home today. Not with out drama's, due to sickness on board the flight was diverted to CHCH and they had to do a mad dash to catch the plane to Nelson.

Back to Auckland

The Auckland team have called and finally both Cody and Natalie head back to Auckland this week.

Both are excited and apprehensive about this trip. It brings about the time for a decision to be made about what is the best option for Cody.

Do we take the risk and remove the blocked hicman line and replace it with a new one or do we go a head with the Fiscula operation on his arm.

Both have positives and negatives.

1) Codys blood is reacting to all the meds he must take and so clots faster than it should. This is why his hicman has been getting blocked. Its his own body fighting the line in his vein and there is not much to be done about this.

2) The fiscula does have less chance for infection....but its a new operation for TPN feeding and its in his right arm.....Cody is right handed so he wont be able to connect to it on his own.

This time while they are away there will be a full time house - sitter......so there will be NO chance of a re-occurrence of the last trip.

Please stop in and wish them both the best as it is stressful being so far away from family and friends in a strange city and with little support.

Another Blocked Line...

Well its been a week of it!!!

Weds 4th - Cody's hickman line is blocked. An emergency phone call is put through to Auckland and a trip to Nelson Hospital to await Auckland's instructions. We all know how much Cody dislikes hospital...........let alone Nelson hospital. So he was not a bundle of laughs to anyone. The decision is that Auckland medical team will meet on Monday and decide when to bring him back up to Auckland. He now has no choice but to go ahead with the fistula operation on his arm. Its no ones fault that the line got blocked. It appears that Codys blood clots too fast. Even with all the anti clot meds he takes. So it is no long viable to use his hicmans. At the moment he is feeding TPN via the fluids link into the hickmans but this is not suitable.

Then to top it all off - Codys best mate Kayne ( my son ) ended up in hospital that night with a burst appendix and had to have an emergency operation late that night to remove it. So Cody came up and sat with Kayne and reassured him all would be fine. It was a real eye opener for Cody to be on the other side and feeling how we all feel when its him on the hospital bed. Cody was able to explain to Kayne why he was feeling so ill and what it will be like when they put you to sleep. Kayne was so thankful as it was his first operation and it was very reassuring for him.

Charity Ball for Cody Walsh and Nelson Hospice

Charity Ball for Cody Walsh and The Nelson Hospice

21st June 7:30 pm at the Playhouse, Westdale road.
Tickets $95/person
3 course dinner with wine
Live music
Charity Auction
Spot prizes
Raffle
Dress: Black tie or Suit, Ball or cocktail dress
Tickets available from Clare 03 540 2868

Please contact Clare if anyone is interested in going. There are 16 seats left.

Time for some good news....

Over the weekend everyone helped Cody and Natalie move into a new house - in a much nicer area, one that is warm and quiet and not too far from the hospital. This house already feels like a home. Since they have moved Cody has slept better and has much more energy. He is warmer and feels great.

The new mix of TPN is giving him a much higher calorie intake and already he is gaining some weight.

With the horrid event of the burglary behind them, they now look forward to a brighter and happier future. One of hope and dreams. Cody aspires to be a chef and I truly believe that he will get there as he has proven beyond doubt that he has great courage and stamina.

With mention of the burglary I would like to take this moment to quietly thank a member of the nelson public for their generosity and kindness and how that they turned a horrid event into something so very heart warming. We all cant thank you enough.

There are still hurdles to cross and some obsticles that will be put in their path but I know that they now have the strength to face anything - how can they not with so much support from you all.

Cody went out to a birthday party over the weekend .... and was the centre of attention - as per photo

Burglars Inflict Cruel Blow.....

By TOM HUNT - Nelson Saturday, 10 May 2008
Having been given a glimmer of hope, seriously ill Nelson teenager Cody Walsh has had another "hideous" blow dealt to him, after burglars broke into his house and stole the few forms of entertainment available to him.
"It's the most hideous, cruellest thing they could have done to my son," were just some of the distraught words of Cody's mother, Natalie Cozens, who returned from a medical trip to Auckland to discover the break-in.
Last September, Cody, 17, almost died when a previously undetected birth abnormality, where the bowel sits incorrectly in the body, caused his gut to strangle and necessitated the immediate removal of most of his upper and lower intestines.
Since then, Cody has been fed a glucose solution directly into his bloodstream via a major vein but frequent line infections, some bringing him to near-death, mean he is down to the final useable vein.
His only hope of ever eating normally again is receiving a bowel and liver transplant in Toronto, Canada, which has a price tag expected to near $1 million, and a one-in-ninety survival rate.
In December, Jason Peter Rochford, 22, was convicted of stealing donation tins from around Nelson, including some for Cody's operation.
Despite it all, Cody has remained upbeat, at one point telling the Nelson Mail: "There's no point moaning about it, you know. That isn't going to help."
Family friend Nyle Sunderland said Cody's mood skyrocketed during a trip to see medical specialists in Auckland over a week ago.
Doctors not only managed to correct the mixture of the glucose solution, to reduce a weight loss problem, but started planning ground-breaking surgery where a major artery was joined to a minor vein, through which the glucose solution would be fed.
It reduced chances of infection and left the one remaining major artery intact and free for surgery, which they say is eventually unavoidable.
The procedure, a New Zealand first, could buy him up to a decade before the transplant was needed, by which time the transplant procedure's survival rates would hopefully have increased, Mrs Sunderland said.
"He came back from Auckland with great hope a great lease of life."
Cody had planned to start studying to become a chef, even if he would only be able to taste food and not eat it, she said.
But when Cody and his mother got home, they found their house had been burgled.
The only items stolen belonged to Cody and included PlayStations, games and a brand new external hard-drive that he had saved for.
"Of all the things to steal from Cody that was his life. That was all he could do.
"The money was bad enough but that's what he lived for."
A blog has been set up, www.codywalsh.blogspot.com, to help raise funds and awareness of Cody's plight.
Donations can also be made to the Cody Walsh Transplant Fund at any Westpac branch, or in collection tins at bars and cafes in Nelson.