Hi, my name is Kari. I am Cody's aunt and here is his story ♡

Cody and Nichole met in 2015, were engaged in 2019 and celebrated their wedding in 2020 during the middle of a pandemic, where many of their friends and family were unable to attend. A few weeks after getting married, they purchased their first home together. The day after Thanksgiving 2021, Nichole found out they were expecting their first child. In March 2022, they found out they were expecting a baby girl.

The pregnancy was totally uneventful and every appointment, things were always ‘perfect’ according to the doctors. On May 20th, 2022, Nichole was concerned because she hadn't felt their baby’s kicks in several hours and wasn't feeling the usual kicks and movement that a glass of orange juice would bring on. She went in for an ultrasound where it was confirmed that baby girl had no heartbeat. The hospital got her set up in a room and induced labor. 

On May 22nd, baby Everly Eden was born surrounded by her family and all of their love. We were able to get 48 hours with her thanks to generous donations from families to the hospital which allowed for them to have a cold cot to preserve her body, time to snuggle, and a photoshoot by Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Autopsy results showed Everly had passed from a blood clot in her umbilical cord, which the doctors said the odds of happening were the same as being struck by lightning. On June 3rd, they buried and had a memorial service for their first child.

Shortly after returning home from the hospital, Cody started to have a persistent cough throughout the day. He would wake up having fluid retention in his face and extreme pressure in his head. On June 2nd, he went to urgent care and the emergency room where they took lab after lab, telling him he was a healthy 31 year old male with allergies likely brought on stronger by stress.

On July 30th, Cody went in to urgent care after a night out with Nichole where they both agreed this was more than allergies. Park Nicollet took some X-rays and told Cody that he needed to be transfered to Methodist hospital, where he received more scans. They discovered a large mass inside Cody’s chest, about the size of a cantaloupe - 8 inches x 5 inches x 3 inches. This tumor is behind his breastbone and crushing his major organs because of its size. A biopsy was done on the tumor and Cody was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Hodgkins Lymphoma. Nichole and Cody told their doctor about how they had just lost Everly and were about to be able to start trying again for their family. The doctor told them that they needed to consider freezing his sperm if that's what they wanted for their future, as chemotherapy can have a huge impact on sterilization. Just one more blow for them to absorb. 

A treatment plan was enacted and on Wednesday, August 10th, just days before his 32nd birthday, Cody will begin chemotherapy. He is on lift restrictions up to 10 lbs, which doesn't allow him to continue working his job in construction while he undergoes chemotherapy. Cody will be highly susceptible to COVID, and because of this he is also unable to work his second job at U-Haul due to the amount of people he would be in contact with each day. Meanwhile, Nichole started a brand new job mid-July and doesn't have PTO available to use for doctor visits and chemotherapy appointments. 

With Cody being out of work, plus the hospital bills being so expensive, Nichole and Cody are going to need help. 

If you are able to help in any way, we would so appreciate it. God bless and thank you ♡