Cody Blevins

Family and friends of Cody Blevins Jr are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a catastrophic illness. Cody has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.

Cody is 6 years old and a 1st grader at Gordon Barbour Elementary School. Cody was born September 18, 2019 and flown to VCU Medical Center due to being unresponsive amongst other health concerns. While in the NICU, Cody began having upwards of 12-20 seizures a day. He was monitored daily by EEG for all brain/seizure activity. After two weeks of going through various cocktails of medications to help treat his seizures, my husband and I were able to bring him home. Because of the start of Covid, my husband and I became his therapists. This was such a learning curve, but we all went in with everything we had to give Cody the best chance to succeed.

Cody was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (Mixed) and Epilepsy. These are just the two major diagnosis that we struggle with on a daily basis. Every day, Cody is making strides to overcome all of the obstacles thrown his way.

When we were able to transfer the care of Cody to UVA Children’s, we met the amazing team of specialists there. The first we met, was Dr. Kristen Heinan, Pediatric Neurologist. She was personable, understanding and patient with all of our questions. We had to figure out if he truly had Epilepsy, or this was trauma from his time invitro or with the trauma of his delivery. Working with her was truly a test of all of our patience as we often heard the “It’s a waiting game” phrase. But we were doing what was needed and little Cody, or “Bug”, as we call him, was down for the ride. Second we met his specialist Dr. Kenneth Norwood. He had been a developmentalist for Cerebral Palsy for over 30 years. He was the “Debbie Downer”. He told me things I didn’t want to hear, but were the possible realities we could potentially see. Cody could not sit up on his own, roll over, or be in the crawling position. Dr. Norwood’s words to us were, “If he is not able to sit up on his own by the age of 2, then he will likely never walk”.

While Cody has certainly surpassed that unpleasant prediction, there are still things he struggles with. Cody requires the use of a wheelchair. While he is sitting up and walking, it requires the assistance of a gait trainer. But he is walking, and running for that matter! Cody is non-verbal, and uses an AAC device for communication (We are still learning). Cody is working to feed himself independently, but right now he is able to eat finger foods with the food hitting his mouth 8/10 times. Cody is incontinent and still requires the use of diapers. He requires 24/7 care. At this time, we have chosen to do this campaign for the bigger expenses that we struggle to make happen. The most pressing at this time, is the need for a handicapped accessible van. Being able to safely transport Cody and for him to be comfortable is our biggest priority. He likes to feel as though he is in a seat just the same as my 2 older children. He loves to be beside the window and feel the breeze in his hair. He loves listening to the music loud and for everyone to be excited and loving it just as much as he does. Cody loves the movie Cars with his favorite Lightening McQueen, and Blaze and the Monster Trucks.

Cody loves to show everyone a good time. His smile and laughter are infectious. He is such a happy and joyous child that you can’t simply deny him anything. We want the world for him. Thank you potential donors, families with similar trials and tribulations, friends, supporters, and don’t forget the Medical team. Cody loves life, and to him and our family, the sky is the limit.