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CODY LEE KAUZLARICH WALKER
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Cody Lee Kauzlarich was born October 23, 1984. He was my first child born after an unplanned pregnancy. I am a diabetic who was nineteen years old at the time. I cared for myself very well. In my first trimester, I had our house sprayed for bugs and became very ill. Although the geneticist can not say, I am convinced that this episode is the cause of Codys midline defects.
October 23, 1984 at 10:15 PM , Cody entered this world weighing 8 lbs 8 = oz, length 19 = inches, apgar scores 6 and 8. We immediately knew that Cody had a cleft palate. This presented feeding problems. Cody was also jaundice and spent some time under the bilirubin lights. We had a consult with a plastic surgeon because of the cleft palate and a echocardiogram was done prior to our going home on the 25th of October.
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Feeding continued to be difficult and because Cody had no sucking reflex it consumed a lot of time to make sure he was getting enough nutrition. As I fed him one day I noticed that the pupil of his eye was not symmetrical and therefore scheduled an appointment with an ophthalmologist. I would have to say this was the rudest of physicians I have ever met.
He said he would never be this and he would never be that. Sent us to Iowa City for a pediatric consult as there were no pediatric ophthalmologist in the Des Moines area at the time. Cody was diagnosed with iris coloboma, dysplastic optic nerves, discs tilted with a dirty gray appearance and a prominent pigmented scleral ring, and both discs mildly hypoplastic. So this began our numerous trips to physicians that didnt seem to know much.
Cody had an apneic episode at 7 weeks of age. This presented a five day stay in the hospital and after a laryngoscopy it was determined that Codys larynx was underdeveloped and that he had a floppy tongue. We came home on an apnea monitor and had it until February 1985 when it was determined that we no longer needed the monitor.
Cody had his palate repaired at 11 = months of age.
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All went well but this had to be the toughest thing Mom has ever been through to this day. Maybe my skin has just gotten thicker as time progressed. Cody was in the hospital for three days and we returned home with no unusual problems.
Codys development seemed pretty normal at the beginning. He held his head up at 12 weeks, sat alone at 6 months. Walked up and down the couch at 9 months and crawled at 10 months. We moved to the Denver Colorado area when Cody was 13 months of age. I have figured out now how orally defensive Cody was as he would not tolerate anything but pureed food in his mouth. At about this time the delays began to show. Speech was definitely something delayed. Expressive more delayed than receptive language. Cody continued to be very ill and finally at 16 months he had his first set of tubes put in his ears. I still wonder how much this made a difference in his speech development and walking ability. Cody began to walk at 18 months, 2 months after the tubes were placed. Codys speech development also began to progress after the tubes.
As Codys development continued to slow, we were sent to a pediatric neurologist who ordered a CT scan and so begins our journey of information about Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum. No one seemed to be able to tell me much about this rare disorder. On to the genetics department we went, where we were told that Cody did not fit into a syndrome.
Cody began a program called developmental pathways where Cody became very sociable and enjoyed this program very much.
At 2 = years we moved home to the Des Moines area. Cody began riding a bus to the preschool program before he was 3 years and potty trained. I remember getting him on the bus and crying all the way to work as if it were yesterday. Cody continued in this program and attended the preschool program in the AM and then went to Kindergarten in the afternoon. When he went into first grade we placed him in a regular classroom where he struggled. During this time Codys father and I divorced. This lasted one semester until we moved to the other side of town. At this time, Cody started in a learning disabilities self contained classroom, which he attended through the fifth grade. During these years, Cody had a new school, new home, new stepfather and eventually a new baby brother in the house. Taylor was born October 28, 1993. Cody learned to ride a bicycle at the age of 7 years. HURRAY FOR CODY.
We built a house and moved to a smaller community outside of the Des Moines area in the Spring of 1996. Cody began 6th grade at the Middle School in an all inclusive program. This has been a struggle for Cody. Although they try to modify and adapt to Codys needs this is not always done. When I look back on Codys education it is not easy to know what is best. I still dont know the answers.
Cody is now 14 years of age and has taught me so much about life. He in a lot of ways made me who I am today. He always wants to please and is a beautiful, hard worker that always gives more than most to accomplish the things that we take for granted. Cody has accomplished amazing things in his life of 14 years and Im sure will continue to amaze us every day.
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