New Idea

A big thanks to the New Idea for publishing Cody's Story. It has brought about a large interest in this blog and has increased the donations at the Westpac Bank.

Cody has had a very quiet week...............which is actually GREAT news!!!! No flying trips to the hospital, no dramas.......... just Cody being his normal self. Right back to his wacky sense of humour even :0)

A fundraising idea has been born from the Nelson Half Marathon held here in May. I have given out sponsorship forms to approx 40 people competing in it and have also got the Athletics club behind it too. They have the forms on their website for anyone to down load. The idea is that each competitor asks at least 10 people to sponsor them at $1 per km. Meaning the most anyone person would pay out is $21 or more if they wish to just donate. If I can get 100 people to do this and get at least $210 from each form....................well you get the picture. So to all in Nelson..................get behind anyone you know competing in this event and listen out for the advertising on the radio and in the paper.

Cody's Hickman Line

On Thursday, Cody goes back into hospital. This time for general surgery to remove his old split hickman line. This is normally done under local but when they inserted the new line they discovered that Codys old hickman line has grown into his body and now needs to be surgically removed.

This is not the best news for us as we really dont want Cody to have any surgery he really doesnt need to have.

With the last hickman being inserted into a new vein it was a little distressing for us to be told that he has used 3 of his 6 available veins. He must have 2 good veins left for transplant.

We have a meeting in two weeks with the surgical team and will be asking them to clarify what this means for us and Cody.

Cody's story has been published in New Idea. The feed back has been wonderful and very supportive. I just hope that NZ gets behind us and helps us to raise the funds and awearness.

Happy 17th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Cody.........Happy birthday to you....................

We are thrilled to wish Cody a very happy birthday and the fact that he is now at home again is the best present for Cody.

His hickman line has been reinserted but unfortunatley we have lost our first vein. They say there are 6 veins in the body that can be used for a hickman line (this line feeds him his TPN and also fluids each day) but for cody, our surgeon informed us that he only has the use of 3?? We know that they need 2 good veins for transplant and with loosing one vein we are down to our last two already. This is something that needs to be clarified with the surgeon next week.

How to keep a teenage mind active???

Cody is now well enough to be able to go home for a few hours during the day. They are doing this to try and spark his mind and lift the dark cloud he has hovering over his head. He dislikes hospitals (even more now than ever) and so if he is in the ward for more than a few days he starts to sink into a depression. He has been in over a week now and with possibly another week to come. He has been the sickest he has ever been this time round and so with all of that, Cody has gone down hill - mentally. We are all concerned for his state of mind.

So I ask you.....What can you do to lift the spirits of a 17 year old boy???? I have some ideas and will try to make them happen.

1 - a helicopter ride around Nelson
2 - some time out on a boat going fishing
3 - shooting clay targets or even a row of cans off a fence
4 - a ride in a flash sports car (like a ferrari)
5 - 4wd motor bikes or the skywire

Its hard to think of things that he can actually do. Some of the things that he loves, he cant do. He loves playing Paintball with his mates and playing soccer. But for obvious reasons he cant do those.

It will be Cody's birthday FEB 7th, Please leave birthday wishes for him. We cant let his 17th go past with out making a big deal out of it.

Hi Ho Hi, its back to surgery we go....

Today they gave Cody a CT scan and they found an abscess in his bowel. So back down to surgery where they have inserted two drains and given him another CT scan just to be safe. Plus they checked his blood and found that his hemoglobin levels were very low......no wonder the poor guy didn't want to move or do anything. So they started a blood trans at lunch time and by the time the first bag was finished we were looking at a different guy. Once he gets back up from surgery they will give him a further bag or two of blood and Cody should be feeling like a box of fluffy ducks.

But wow, he scared us. I guess the first big infection is scary as hell and then the next time you know the drill and after the 10th one you hardly blink. I cant ever see my self getting used to this roller coaster ride. But the best news is that he will be ok and no damage has been done by the high temps etc.

Cody still serious....

Weds last week (the day of the New Idea photo shoot) Cody had been released from hospital and was so thrilled to be home. BUT.......and theres always that bloody BUT..........he was feeling weird. He had a funny pain in his kidney. His mother and I both felt this was not right and rang to check up about it. We were told to take a urine sample and his temp and just watch him over night. 11pm saw his temp shoot up and off to ED they went. They were admitted immediately and put into the ICU room on Ward 10 and was classed as serious but unstable. His temp spiked at 41 degs the next day. I don't think I have held my breath for as long as I did that day......waiting for his body to respond to the meds and his temp to drop. Friday afternoon he was settled and was down graded to Serious but stable. Just when we thought he was responding and getting better his temp spiked again. Not as bad as earlier but scary enough. This carried on over the weekend. One minute thinking he was responding the next praying he can still fight. Now his temp has finally leveled out BUT........his oxygen levels are dropping....which I am told is not good. So he has been graded Serious but unstable. Sadly he has little energy and so even playing his fav games on play station tires him out so he lays and steers out his window and now says very little. I think I am most worried about his mind at present. There is not much else for him to do but lay there and think...........................................................

Update...
The reason why cody has not had the energy to do anything is because his hemoglobin levels had dropped so cody needs a blood transplant. They say within 12 hours or so we should see a brighter happier cody. Yay...I could kiss that doc!! Also big Kudoos to Powerstore. they have donated a Phillips Ipod for cody. So now he can listen to his fav music and concentrate on getting well again.

Thank You

I would like to take a moment and thank all those who have donated to Cody's Fund. To those who have taken a moment to stop by this blog and leave comments of support.

I wish to thank the Quilters Group who so kindly made a quilt for Cody. A special thank you to the Grandmother in Takaka who donated after the tins had been stolen and to the Collingwood Community and church who have been donating regularly. A huge thank you to Healing Hands for their very generous donation. A thank you to those who gave presents at Xmas time to Cody and that helped make Xmas an enjoyable time to him and his family. Thank you to the Trade Me community, you kept me going with your support. A heart felt thank you to the family's that have come forward offering advise and support as they too are on the journey we have just started. I wish I could name each and every one of you .... So please accept this as our personal thanks. You are all angels.