On the Road to Recovery

Cody is doing very well considering what he just went through. He finally got the breathing tube removed yesterday. He still has to have breathing treatments a few times a day but the tube is gone. They removed the drainage tube from his nose today and the other IV lines from his hands and arms so the only IV he has now is his central line in his chest that he had before for chemo. He still has a few drainage tubes (G-tube and a J-Tube) and the feeding tubes which will be in for awhile. He can't eat another 2-3 weeks. They probably won't start feeding him through the feeding tube for at least a few more days. They need to make sure his intestines and other digestive organs "wake up" and start working again before they try to give him anything.

They did get him up and into a chair today so he is making leaps and bounds as far as the recovery goes. It is going to be a long process but he continues to move forward which is all we can ask for. They have his pain under control so he isn't in any pain but he has said he is hungry. We aren't sure how long he will be in the ICU. Our parents have asked but nobody has an answer, it all depends on Cody. Once he gets moved out of the ICU he will be on the Ped/Adolescence Unit for at least another 2 weeks.

As far as the plan for the future we know he will need more chemo and radiation. I know a lot of people are asking and wondering if they got all the tumors (all 100 of them!!!) why does he need more chemo. While the doctors were able to remove all the tumors they can't always remove all the cancer cells. There are sometimes microscopic cancer cells that still remain which is why radiation and more chemo is necessary. Nobody wants to chance having the cancer come back so they really try to make sure they kill it all especially the stuff you can't see. We don't know when they will start that or how many treatments he will need and honestly it doesn't really matter right now, one day at a time and sometimes one hour at a time. No plans can really be made at this time because so much just depends. Once he recovers from the surgery then they can decided where to go from there.

In the meantime we will continue to pray for Cody's recovery and are thankful for the love and support shown by so many.

Cheryl