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WELCOME
TO
KODY'S STORY
~*~My Son....My Hero~*~
Hey ya'all....The names Kody...Welcome to my crib, my own little Korner of the internet...my home page dawg!
I guess this is the part where I tell you all about myself, well let's see....I'm 11 years old, single {and really enjoying every minute of it}, I am a non-smoker and big into Wendy's chicken sandwiches and root beer.
I have a Mom and Dad...their names are Kim and Karl. They're pretty cool...My Mom stays at home so she can take part in every minute of raising us six "K" kids and one spitfire of a grand-daughter, Alona...not a real easy job but made much easier by an occasional soap opera and box of bon-bons.
My Dad works like a bull...six days a week. He's alright though..you know, who else is gonna keep me on the newest, fastest anything on wheels?
I have three sisters, Karyelle {loves to shop}, Kayara {Dude..this girl can talk!}, and Kaysha {can we all say Drama Queen?!}. I also have two brothers, Kyle {my man..I taught him everything he knows about skating..HA!} and my little bro Kolin {this kid is hilarious!!}.
I've got three dogs...Boomer who weighs something like 180 pounds and another reason why Dad works alot, the pups got an appetite almost as big as mine. There's Mollie, a golden retrevier who really belongs to my sister, Karyelle but I figure if she's on my turf and eats my nerf footballs..she belongs to me too, right? Then there's my new Rottweiller pup, his name is Zeke, my Mom says if Zeke and I ever grow into our feet it'll be a miracle. I also have two black cats...Bam {named after my all time crazy whacked out skater, Bam Margera} and Lola {Drama Queen named her}. Then there's Leonardo, a cute lil' gray kitten with blue eyes my Dad rescued from being squashed by a few cars on a busy street.
Some things I think are way cool and I couldn't possibly live without....
SKATEBOARDING!! And a few more things are...Tang Soo Doo {Karate}, Choppers..as in Orange County Choppers, Tony Hawk is the shiznick, Blue Angel Jets {I plan on being a Blue Angel pilot one day so watch out, or at least watch the sky!}, music {Linkin' Park, Good Charlotte, Emeniem, D-12, Disturbed, Green Day, Papa Roach & Slipknot}, I like cool sneakers, cool clothes and my hair...Dude...I have some awesome locks!
So...you might be wondering why my Mom decided I should have my own site...well, let me tell you all about my past few years, they've been a pretty rocking roller coaster ride so buckle up and hold on.
On January 8, 2002 after having some pretty nasty bouts of headaches a/k/a monsteraches, a turned up eye and some other unpleasant side effects of headaches, my Dr. told my Mom and Dad I had an inoperable brainstem tumor. Even though this really seemed to upset them alot...I thought it was just a bummer since it kept me from getting on my board for a while.
On January 10, 2002 my pretty cool neuro-surgeon, Dr. Pincus from Shands Hospital at University of Florida did some surgery on me to find out just what was going on in there...I mean I knew I had a pretty fine brain but what in the world was this tumor thing growing in there anyway?
What he found out after doing a stereotactic needle biopsy and a third ventricularotomy {a hole popped in my third ventricle for hydrocephlus a/k/a CSF swelling} was very unique, not great and pretty unusal. By the way...nothing I do is easy street, I kind of like standing out in a crowd if you know what I mean.
Six weeks later Mom and Dad got the pathology results back..my tumor was called a "microglioma", for lack of a better word it was called this because the tumor was orginating from "microglial cells". Want to hear something even crazier? They say I am the only living person in the world with a microglioma, cool beans..don't ya think?
Anyway...I recovered from surgery with no problems at all and was back on my board in three weeks.
The next year or so wasn't so bad..a headache here and there, an upturned eye, some balancing issues but all things considered...I rocked Baby!
Then along came May of 2003 when I started getting those headaches way too often and tripping was becoming a part of my everyday self.
Another Cat Scan and would you believe my luck..the third ventricularotomy failed and I needed more surgery to implant a VP Shunt.
Fast forward to the day after this brain surgery and I was so outta that crazy hospital...hey, I'm a kid, I have much better things to do then lay around sleeping.
Fast forward again to a week after surgery...a brand spanking new more snug fitting helmet and I was ready to ollie my way into skating Heaven once again.
September of 2003...remember that eye problem I mentioned? Yeah well it was getting worse so Dr. Levine, my pretty awesome eye doc, decided it would be a great time to allign that eyeball and that's what we did. A few hours later...this kid was on his way back home! Two days later...guess where I was?
Now...things had been going pretty well, but recently those rotten headaches decided to rear their ugly head again and as things go on this roller coaster...there are ups and there are downs and in October, 2004 I had a big let down.
One day I was flying on my Bam Margera skateboard...down hills, over curbs, up ramps, grinding rails and the next day...BAM...my whole right eye and face were paralyzed...crazy, huh? Another MRI and guess what? Yeppers..things were not going well at all...another surgery I could have lived without but, as things go...Dr. Pincus and my parents thought otherwise and so on October 25th, 2004 Dr. Pincus preformed my biggest one yet..try saying this..."Stereotactic guided craniotomy for interhemispheric transcallosal approach and microsurgical resection of a brainstem tumor".
For all of you who are saying "What??"...here's an easy way to think of it...My head was cut right down my middle part, the two lobes of my brain were cut and gently parted and then Dr. Pincus went into my brainstem to remove a whole lot of my tumor and relieve the swelling that the tumor was causing around my brainstem.
Waking up from that one was tough...but as I like to say "Life is tough...But I'm Tougher".
It took a few days to come around but I did it...it took even longer to learn to walk and talk right again...but I did it.
It will take a little longer to get back on my board...But I WILL do it!!
Oh...the pathology results this time...just my great luck again..another tumor so that makes two. This one they call a Grade 2 Astrocytoma with inflammatory microglial cells.
Do you think this Astrocytoma thing is gonna get the better of me? HA....I am Iron Man...nothing can get me down!!
Thank you all for stopping by...read on...have fun...love you all! {especially if your a babe!!}
Love...Kody Bear
Update on the intro....
"Dudes...As of November 28, 2004...one month and three days after brain surgery....I am BACK ON MY BOARD and better then ever!! Couldn't of done it without the prayers...keep um' coming...I love you for it!!
Luv, Kody
Update on the update to the into...
Hey Dudes and Dudettes...March 17th of 2005 will be a night to remember in our house. Now, I have to admit I don't remember much of it but from what they tell me my Mom and Dad aged a few years and got a whole lot grayer. All was pretty normal till I went to bed and not long after that I officially became "Kody...Unplugged".
Yep, you read it here first...I had my first seizure, a whopping "Grand Mal" that lasted a lil' more then 12 minutes.
It cost me a ride in an ambulance twice before I finally landed at my "Home away from Home", Shands Hospital. It also cost me a few days of hanging around that hospital and a brand spankin' new medicine to remember to take everyday.
But, this Keppra {anti-seizure med.} stuff totally rocks cuz other then some small tremors, I am doing just fine.
No more "Funky Chickens" for this kid!
Gotta go for now, the sun is shinin' and my skateboard needs ridin'!
Love and other good stuff...Kody
"If God brings you to it, He will see you through it"
"I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love"
Kody Jacob Kruppenbacher....Our Angel on Earth
"MIO FIGLIO...IL MIO EROE"
~*~*~My son...My hero~*~*~
Journal
Sunday, May 17, 2009 9:07 PM EST Hi everyone..
I know, it has been a while. In all honesty, I seriosuly didn't think anyone checked Kody's Story anymore till it was pointed out by Karlio tonight that Bear has over 2 million hits.
TWO MILLION...HOLY CANNOLI!!!
SO, to make good again..let's get on with some weekly updates..or so. LOL!
Kody has been doing awesome..just awesome!!
He came through his shunt surgery in September without a hitch and that new programmable shunt has worked like a charm, no problems at all.
When he has an MRI, we just take him over to the Dr's office down the block and have them reset it, cuz the magnets in the MRI really mess up his setting.
His last MRI was last month and his Dr. told us "Mr. and Mrs. K, if I didn't know any better I would swear I was looking at the scan of a healthy child"
We darn near fell off our chair...as you can imagine, seven years of dealing with a kid with brain cancer, a kid we thought we would lose before his 8th birthday..to hear those words was better then music to our ears, better then anything in the world.
Kody of course, being 13 and all...took it in stride. LOL!!
He is still taking anti seizure medication and will be for probably the rest of his life.
Also, he has been oficially dx. with "Spasmodic Dysphonia" and although there is no cure, it can be treated every few months with Botox injections to his vocal cord muscle.
The problem with that is, since Spasmodic Dysphonia" is so rare in children, we can't find a specialist that is willing to treat him..liabilty issudes or something like that.
We keep trying though and we do have confidence we will find someone, somewhere, even if it means traveling out of state. Whatever it takes to make Bear feel beter about himself.
This past January Kody and Kolin took and passed with flying colors thier next black belt testing making them now, second degree black belts in "Tang So Doo" {Korean Karate}. They are on thier way towards gaining thier black belts on PWCST as well. That is a SPansih style combat/knife fighting class. It's super cool and they love it.
School is just about out and that spunky, chubby cheeked , spikey haired boy we used to know will soon be leaving the 7th grade and making his way into the 8th grade. Can you believe it?
Oh..and for anyone wondering..yes, Kody does have a girlfriend who's name is Ashley and who is made crazy about him.
Here are some recent pictures of him...
And a couple with his trusty sidekick Kolin...
I'll add some new ones to the photo album as weell...probably tomorrow if I can't get to it tonight.
Thanks for stopping by and continuing to check up on our Bear.
As he always has been..Kody continues to be are "hero" and our miracle boy.
"Kickin' Cancers Butt For SEVEN Years Baby!!!!!!!!"
Take care everyone!!
Love, Kim and the "K's"
PS. Remember you can still find us at: www.lookingthroughtheglass-kim.blogspot.com
or you can always look me up on Facebook.
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Florida Hospital & Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children
Orlando, Florida
Kody Kruppenbacher
2402 Myer Avenue
Leesburg, Florida 34748
Links: http://www.lookingthroughtheglass-kim.blogspot.com The
http://www.frommyhearttoyourhead.blogspot.com Cool and Funky Kiddie Hats, Soft and Seamless For Chemo Kids
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