Surgery

Sunday September 19th just getting checked into the hospital the day before surgery.

Cody with his parents in the preop room just before heading into surgery.


This is how we passed the time during Cody's surgery. We managed to put together a 550 piece puzzle and still had a few hours of just sitting around. That was the longest day ever.

After completing Cody's 12 hour surgery Dr. Hayes-Jordan(surgeon)came out to talk to us. The first thing she said before sitting down to talk to us was he gave them a "run for their money". She said he has no tumor left, so she was able to get them all. There were around 100 tumors total removed, give or take a few. The large tumor up by his spleen was a bit more complicated than they originally had thought. They did have to remove his spleen, 1/2 his pancreas and a small portion of his stomach. There should be no long term side effects for having to remove part of the pancreas, side effects are only if they remove 90% or more of the pancreas. The piece of his stomach was so minor she said it wouldn't effect anything. The other large tumor in his lower pelvic area was tricky and took quite awhile to remove but they were able to remove it without having to take any of his bowels, colon, or rectum. He did have quite a bit of bleeding with the one in his pelvis because of where it was located it was attached to his sacrum (the triangular bone at the base of your spine). There are a lot of blood vessels in that area so he did lose a lot of blood and was given a lot of blood products. They had to place 3 small "thumb tacks" that will always be there to stop the bleeding since they were not able to put sutures on the bone. Those will always be there. This is a very common thing and won't cause any problems.

After surgery they planned on doing the HIPEC (heated chemo wash) for 90 minutes and placed some drain tubes and the feeding tube. About 60 minutes into the perfusion (chemo wash) he had an allergic reaction to the platelets so they had to stop the perfusion early and deal with the allergic reaction. For any of you who have been following you already know that Cody has a history of reacting to platelet transfusions so they had to give him some extra medications. Other than that everything went very well. They were able to remove all his tumors and his vitals stayed stable though out the surgery and perfusion except for a brief period when he started having his reaction. The doctors were on top of it and were able to get it under control very quickly.

Cody was taken straight to ICU where he will be there for about a week depending on how well he does. So far he is doing very well considering everything he just went through. They had planned on keeping him sedated for the first 2-3 days until they remove the breathing tube from him mouth but he has been waking up a little more than expected. The breathing tube is there just to help his body to not have to work so hard and give it a chance to rest. He is able to breath on his own they are just using it to help him conserve energy. Cody has been waking up for brief periods of time he will open his eyes for a few seconds here and there and he is able to follow simple commands the nurses and doctors ask such as squeezing hands, he blinks in response to questions since he can't talk with the tube in his mouth. His chest x-rays look good he does have a bit of fluid in one of his lungs but that is normal after a surgery such as this. One doctor even said it looked better than he was expecting. They have him on some pretty strong medications and have an epidural in his spine to help with the pain. They should be removing the breathing tube tomorrow and they will probably start trying to get him to move around a little in the next few days.

Cody is a fighter and the nurses are already making comments on what a trooper he is. He is one of the strongest people I know and he does all this without a complaint. He has such a positive attitude and has never asked why. He is a true inspiration and I am blessed to call him my brother. The next few days and weeks are going to be hard but there is no doubt in my mind that Cody will come through. He has touched so many lives and inspired so many people in his short lifetime it truly is amazing. On behalf of Cody and the rest of my family we want to say thank you to everyone who has offered prayers, encouragement and support we all appreciate each and every one of you.

Thank you and God Bless,
Cheryl