Superman Kody loved his life and lived it to the fullest!

Headline

Getting Kody's story out there...

Nick Name

Kristi

About Me

I am a happily married mother with 5 wonderful, spoiled rotten boys! Cole is 14 and a freshman in high school. He loves to hunt and fish. Dalton is 13 and in 7th grade. living with his dad and step-mom in Idaho. He is a great athelete and is taking golf this year. Wyatt is 10 and in 5th grade. He loves animals and has many friends. He has a great imagination and is very loving and friendly. Morgan is 5 and in a private pre-school where he goes all day. He is very smart and already beyond where he should be in kindergarten. Kody will forver be 3. He was an amazing little guy who loved life nad lived it to the fullest. He took life by the horns and held on tight. He had the ride of a lifetime!
Over the last 3 years my life has taken a onward spiral down hill and I am trying to make sense of it all. In Feb. of 2005 my mom and oldest son were in a car accident that took the life of my mom. 2 months later my youngest son was diagnosed with cancer. From there our lives became custom to living out of suitcases, being separated from our family and taking the best care of Kody as I could!

Dedicated To:

My Superman and Angel Kody Cannon

Our Story

Then in May our world was shook upside down! On May 14th, 2005 we took our 14-month old son, Kody to our local ER with what we thought was constipation. After a battery of tests, and a Barium Enema that showed nothing really, and hours in the ER we were sent home with the directions to follow up with our local Pediatrician on Monday. With that in mind we spent the weekend with a son who cried and refused to walk.
On Monday, May 16th we took Kody to his Pediatrician, who felt a lump in Kody’s stomach, not too sure of what he felt he asked for me to come back in a few hours for a second opinion. During the wait we were sent to have Kody’s blood work done. Finally with a second opinion we were sent to have an ultra sound of Kody’s abdomen. My husband, Chris, myself and our doctor watched as we saw a huge mass what appeared to be on his kidney or liver. Our doctor requested us to come back to his office right away. With tears in our eyes we told work that we were unsure of what laid ahead for us and our son. Back at the doctor’s office we were informed that we were heading to OHSU Doernbecher’s Children’s hospital in Portland, OR.
With help from Chris’ sister, Veranda and my sister, Kimberly watching our other 4 sons Chris, Kody, Chris’ mother Alexis and I headed out to Portland. We arrived late Monday night and tried to sleep. Kody was miserable and cried most of the night. Tuesday May 17th came all too fast. We waited for Kody to have a CT scan we checked out Doernbecher’s Children’s hospital. At 2:00 pm Kody got his CT scan. With a slightly sedated child we waited for Kody’s Oncology doctor to come in. What may have been a few hours seemed like forever? The waiting was so hard. In walked our doctor with 2 surgeons. With tears in her eyes we were informed that our son had metastatic Neuroblastoma cancer. The odds were not looking the best for Kody. We were not given much hope. We were asked, “What did we want to do? Did we want to go home and watch Kody die or did we want to take extra ordinary measures?” Without hesitation, we decided to go the extra mile- anything to try and save our baby’s life.
Neuroblastoma cancer is the most common solid tumors of early childhood. It originates in the adrenal medulla or other sites of sympathetic nervous tissue. The most common site is the abdomen (near the adrenal gland but can also be found in the chest, neck, pelvis, or other sites.
On April 03, 2007 we got worse news regarding Kody. The latest CT scan showed that the cancer had spread now to Kody’s right kidney and his lungs had several new spots. This now explains all the pneumonia’s that he had been having and why he never lost his hair after the last chemo treatment… Kody’s doctors gave him about 2-6 months to live…Our doctors informed us that this is an extremely painful cancer. That eventually Kody will have tumors protruding out of his skin and that his pain will be intolerable. Eventually Home Health and Hospice will be coming to our house to begin IV pain meds to help keep Kody comfortable. Talk about something hard to swallow.
In the past few weeks Kody has been begging for his medicine and at some point I knew that he was getting worse. But this is one time that I wish I was so wrong. They did give us options to try experimental drugs but as of right now Chris and I have decided not to do that to Kody. Why put him through more pokes and prodding when the end will still be the same? I can’t do that to him any more…
All the boys now know about Kody, but how much they really understand is the question. Dalton keeps asking if they can cut out the cancer and why they can’t do that to help save Kody. I just don’t have the right answers for any of the boys at this moment. I don’t even have answers for myself…
So now I am preparing, as much as I can, to bury my baby. Just how on Earth do you do that? I would like the Earth to open up and swallow me, but I know that I have to go on for my other boys and Chris. They will need me more then ever when Kody is gone. How do you help someone when you are not sure even how to help yourself?
For that I am very thankful that I have my work. They are like my family and they help hold me up when I feel like I am falling. When I need to cry, they are there with me. I know that there are a lot of prayers out there for Kody and our family, praying for a miracle. But all I now want is for Kody to go before he gets to painful, for him to be at peace and pain free. He will be with my mom and I know that she is waiting for him to be his Guardian Angel. My Superman will always live on in our hearts and souls. He will forever be apart of all those that have meet him. He has helped change so many lives, to help people look at life different. I know that in the past three years, I have changed the way I look at life and see the world. I have seen life through Kody’s eyes and things just are so much happier and so much brighter in his eyes.
Kody’s trip to San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and Sea World was a hit for all the kids. Kody managed to stay awake for most of the fun. There were 14 of us; my mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law from Oregon, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and 2 nephews from California all got to go. Talk about a lot of people. We had so much fun. Kody seemed to really enjoy his self at Sea World the best. But I think we all enjoyed Sea World the best. It was amazing!
We made another wish trip in June 2007, this time by Dreamcatcher Wish which is through Oregon’s Children’s Cancer Association. We went to Pacific City to the Ocean. This time the family from both sides was able to go. My dad, sister, brother-in-law,2 nephews, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law all got to go. There were a total of 15 of us. We had a blast, enjoying the COLD water. I am not sure who had more fun in the Ocean, the adults or the kids. Our house had its own private lake with a canoe and paddleboats and the kids got to enjoy their own private sandy beach.
Kody is now on an IV morphine pump for his pain meds. He doesn’t walk much anymore and cries a lot. My poor baby! We seem to increase his morphine almost every other day to try to keep him comfortable.
After watching Kody’s health deteriorate over the last 2 months Kody got his Angel wings and flew away to Heaven to be with God and Grandma Patty, on July 29, 2007. I was with him when he took his last breath and his little heart finally gave up. Those last 5 minutes that he was alive he was finally at peace!
We will be having Kody’s Memorial Service on September 8, 2007 in John Day at the Rest Lawn Cemetery. His headstone will be placed by my mom’s so she can look after him forever.
Kody truly is my Superman, my Hero! He fought a long, hard battle as a brave soldier. He touched so many people’s lives. I am reminded every time

I'd Like to meet....

People who care about our children who are affected by cancer and are willing to make a stand to get our kids some notice and the support that they need.

Interests

my kids, cooking, baking, scrapbooking, hunging, fishing

Movies I Like...

10 Things I Hate About You, Sweet Sixteen, Dirty Dancing, The Dark Knight,

Music I Like

Country, Rock, oldies

TV shows i like...

One Tree Hill, Smallville, Law and Order,

Books I like

True Crime, Bible, but I mostly read children's books, self help books

I am here for

Support, Raise Awareness, Learn, Share, Friends

Occupation

Physical Therapy Aide/CNA

Current Job Title

Rehabilitation Therapy Aide

Marital Status

Married

Education

High School

Companies (name, web address, title, dates employed)

Grande Ronde Hospital
900 Sunset Drive
La Grande,OR
97850