PEACHLAND VIEW
OCTOBER 25, 2013
7
COMMUNITY
Help Nate fundraiser event organized for Peachland family
CONTRIBUTED
Joanne Layh Peachland View A fundraiser event has been organized by friends and family of Peachland couple Lawrence and Vivian Cody, whose twomonth-old son Nate has been staying in Vancouver Children’s Hospital since the day he was born. Nate was unfortunately born with a perforated bowel, a serious health concern that has kept him and his family away from home until he can get better. The fundraising event, a burger and beer night at Whiski-Jack’s Pub in West Kelowna on November 2, is being organized to help raise funds for the family, who have faced many challenges over the past couple of months. “Nate was born five weeks premature on August 8. Up until his delivery it was thought that everything was fine, healthy. When he was delivered he had to go through an emergency Csection because his belly was so distended that he couldn’t be delivered the normal way,” Nate’s aunt, Lara Cody, told The View. When Nate was born doctors knew that something was up but they didn’t know what was wrong with him at the time. Cody says Nate was whisked immediately to Vancouver Children’s Hospital, where they discovered he had a perforation or hole in his bowel so his waste was going back into his body and he was going toxic.
Cody says when Nate was taken by air ambulance from Kelowna, he was given only a 15 per cent chance to survive. Soon doctors at Vancouver Children’s Hospital took Nate into surgery to fix the perforation, but about a week later his belly was once again distended
and black and blue in colour. Doctors unfortunately found another hole in Nate’s bowel so he had to go through the surgery again. “At that time they disconnected his bowels and he’s hooked up to sacks and tubes and stuff to make his body function right now to deliver his food and get his waste gone,” Cody said, adding that this should allow the perforations in his bowel time to heal. Doctors initially believed Nate had cystic fibrosis but tests later confirmed that was not the case. Cody says doctors now suspect the perforations in Nate’s bowel formed be-
cause his bowels were too small to remove waste so it kept backing up until the pressure caused holes to burst in his bowels and intestines. “They’re giving it time now to heal. The next surgery hopefully will reconnect everything together. He’ll still have to be fed through a tube for a while because they have to deliver nutrients to him slowly enough to expand his bowels and intestines to their normal size and hopefully it all functions well at that time,” Cody said. Cody says Nate’s third surgery had to be postponed when he developed blood clots in an incision where a pick enters in his foot. They removed the pick from his foot, put it in his arm instead and gave him blood thinners. However, that caused another problem when they couldn’t stop bleeding from different areas of his body so Nate then had to have a blood transfusion. During his stay at the hospital Nate also caught a flu virus that concerned doctors because of his very young age and fragile condition. “It’s just been a tough couple months, basically,” Cody said. Cody says if all goes well the family is hoping they
might be able to bring Nate home for the new year, but he could remain in hospital for many more months while he awaits further surgeries and ongoing medical care. Having one’s newborn
CONTRIBUTED
LAWRENCE AND VIVIAN CODY with their son Nate. baby face such difficulties would be horrific for any parents, but the Codys also have a three-year-old daughter and the distance from home has caused enormous stress for the family. “They travel from Vancouver to Peachland to care for their three-yearold daughter, Alexa, who is staying with her grandparents,” event co-organizer Kaz Zvanitajs said. “Gas, accommodations, groceries and being away from work is taking a financial and emotional toll on Lawrence and Vivian and we want to help.” Lawrence and his father are business partners at Cody Auctions so Nate’s grandfather has had to manage the shop without Lawrence. Nate’s grandmother also works full-time so sometimes Alexa stays with her aunt or a friend. In Vancouver, Vivien stays with Nate at the hospital while Lawrence, and occasionally Alexa, stay in a room at the Easter Seals House nearby, so there is nowhere the family can cook dinner and sit down together. “They’re just trying to piece it together day by day,” Cody said. “It’s been tough for them.” The Help Nate fundraiser will take place on Saturday, November 2 at 6 p.m. at Whiski-Jack’s Pub in West
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How you can Help Nate: • Attend the Help Nate Fundraiser on Saturday, November 2 at 6 p.m. at Whiski-Jack’s Pub in West Kelowna. The fundraiser will feature a silent auction with all proceeds going to the family. Tickets are $20, which gets you a burger and a pint. Tickets are available through the Cody family and will also be available at the door on the night of the event; • You or your business can donate an item for the silent auction; • You can make a cash donation at TD Bank to the Lawrence Cody in Trust account (#9151-6383817); or • Donate online at https://fundrazr.com/ campaigns/3chzc Kelowna. The fundraiser will feature a silent auction with all proceeds going to the family. Tickets, which are available from the Cody family or at the door,
are $20 and will get you a burger and a pint. Cash donations can also be made at TD Bank to the Lawrence Cody in Trust account (#9151-6383817).
ANGEL BAZAAR PRESENTED BY ST. MARGARET’S ANGLICAN CHURCH
saturday nov 2nd 9:30 to 1:00
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! ANTIQUE & COLLECTABLE APPRAISALS.
LOUISE KNELLER CPPA $5.00 PER ITEM
Men’s TABLE SEWING, CRAFTS, BOOKS DELI, BOUTIQUE BAKE TABLE FUN BASKETS, SILENT AUCTION ANIMAL KINGDOM GREETING CARDS NEEDLEWORK
PEACHLAND COMMUNITY CENTRE
PRESENTED BY ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH