Kody

    My son Kody was born with "Trisomy15/21 the only person known to have this date.  In his 3yrs. he has had neck surgery, double hernia surgery, balloon cath, numerous heart caths, blood transfusion, and open heart.  He couldn't walk, talk, sit, or crawl but he rolled Everywhere he wanted to.  He was mentally at about a 2 year olds level, his body just wouldn't due what his mind wanted it to.  One week after open heart surgery (May,99) he stopped breathing at home but the Doctors didn't know why so they sent us home 3days later.  About 2months later it happened again and i had to revive him, this time he went to a hospital he'd never been to before so the Doctors ran every test under the sun on him.

    The results were terrible, he had "tracheal stenosis" that meant whenever he cried hard his trachea would collapse and he was suffocating!! This time put a lot of strain on his heart and his body, so we decided the next time it happened we wouldn't intervene.  The only other option was a trache hooked up to a vent and that's no type of life.  We put him in the Hospice program but he stayed at home with us, until about 1 or 2months later he was starting to show signs of congestive heart failure and we needed to up his morphine but his Dr. said she wanted him to watched at the Hospice house while they increased his medicine.2 days after being admitted he went into distress, I was at home with my daughter and my sister was with my son.  They called and said we needed to come there as soon as possible cause he wasn't doing well.  When my husband and I got there Kody was in a medically induced coma, he was lying in my sisters arms fighting to breath.  My heart shattered!!! I took him from my sister and held him and sobbed!!!  I wouldn't let anyone else hold him, I COULDN'T let him go.2hrs. later I felt a lightness go from his feet to his head and I looked up at the nurse and said "He's Gone".  The nurse said "No not yet"
but I knew he passed, I Felt him pass!!  About 3min.later the nurse said he was now gone, I still held him for 1 more hour.  Throughout the day we laughed, we cried, we Celebrated, we knew he wasn't in pain anymore.  I can't get over the pain I feel about not seeing him for 2days before he passed but he was supposed to come home after a couple of days of being watched, he wasn't supposed to die.  His spirit was amazing and his smile was indescribable, he had a cute yet spunky personality.  He was a best buddies with his cousin Katie, he loved to pull his other cousins hair (cause he knew he could get away with it), and he tolerated his little sister as much as any little boy would.  He touch many hearts and taught many minds in his short 3years,he will be missed greatly!

Kevin and Jennifer Harris