Striking Back with Cody: A Week of Mixed Emotions

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

A Week of Mixed Emotions

Last week was a rough week. Cody was very jaundice looking. His skin as well as the whites of his eyes were starting to turn really yellow. They called the home health nurse, Kayla, out to draw blood to see what his counts were. Yellowing of the skin and eyes could mean possible liver failure. Blood results showed elevated biliruben so they headed to Salt Lake City on Monday. Cody spent the week in Utah. Monday August 20th Cody had an Ultrasound and met with Dr. Spraker-Perlman . The ultrasound showed some blockages between the liver and gallbladder. They could not tell by the ultrasound if they were stones or tumors. Cody has been experiencing a lot of back pain so they did a chest x-ray Tuesday and a PET scan was done on Wednesday.

Cody turned 17 on August 23rd

so they took a break and headed up to Logan to spend the day with family.

Cody had a great birthday at his Grandparents house

and got to visit with several family memebers that stopped in to visit.

Friday Cody headed back to Salt Lake City to talk with the doctor. The test results were not good. The tumors have grown and radiation did not work on the tumors in his neck. There was a considerable amount of grown which explains all the nausea and pain Cody has been experiencing. Since the IV meds were keeping his nausea under control better than the oral ones they decided to hook him up to a pain pump that continuously pumps pain meds and he has a button he can push to give him extra as needed when the pain attacks hit. They are still giving nausea meds every few hours IV. The IV pain and nausea meds have helped to keep his nausea and pain under control. He still has a lot of both but it is a lot better than before. The tumors are putting a lot of pressure on his organs and pushing things out of place. Due to the tumors pressing on organs his body isn't processing and filtering things properly. The tumors in and around his liver are causing it to not function properly.

They headed back home after getting the pump set up. Cody is now back home. He has been doing better now that they have the pain and nausea better managed but he still has more bad days then good. At this point we are all just taking things one day at a time.

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A little about the Cancer

Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, also know as DSRCT, is considered a childhood cancer that is predominantly found in boys and young adults. It is an extremely rare, highly aggressive cancer that is usually found as masses in the abdomen. Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is frequently misdiagnosed which is why the prognosis remains poor. This is an aggressive, rare, fast spreading tumor.

There is no standard protocol for treatment but it usually includes aggressive Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Surgery.

A special thank you...

Russ and Janae want to personally thank their families for being so supportive. They wouldn't be able to do this without each and every one of you. There have been so many donations coming in and fundraisers being put together by members on both sides of the family. Thank you so much for all the love and support.

"You don't choose your family, they are God's gift to you, like you are to them" - Desmond Tutu

A big Thank You, also, goes out to the the Town of Winnemucca. The community has pulled together in so many ways to show their support it is overwhelming. Thank you!!!

Thank you to Connors Drilling and all of the employees. Connors asked the employees, Russ's co-workers, for a voluntary paycheck deduction that would go to Cody's Cancer Fund. A big thank you to all the many generous people who participated. Thanks to you a good chunck of money was raised to help with Cody's medical costs.

Upcoming Fundraisers

Striking Back with Cody Wristbands Awareness wristbands can be purchased at the HAMS in Winnemucca for anyone interested in showing their support. Family members also have awareness bands or know where to get them. 2 Brothers Communications Fundraiser 2 Brothers communications Verison Wireless 508 W Winnemucca Blvd. Ste B Winnemucca NV, 89445 (775) 625-2355 April 1st through May 31st 2 Brothers Communications will donate a portion of sales for ANY new activation or upgrade (no stipulations) to the families of Cody Nielson and Kylie Hilbish. Verizon Wireless has also agreed to match the donation with a contribution of their own.