Thursday, December 25, 2014
EDITOR’S NOTE — As 2014 winds down, The Vindicator is taking a daily look back at the people and events that made this year unforgettable. “The Vindicator Rewind” will highlight and update a memorable story from 2014.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
POLAND
Cody Denmeade simply loves Santa Claus.
“He lights up when he’s sees Santa and wants to kiss him,” said Cody’s mother, Lisa Denmeade. She’s taken her special-needs son to see the Christmas icon “quite a few times.”
That’s the bright side of the season for Denmeade, who adopted Cody as a 4-pound, 11-ounce newborn in March 2006. The 81/2-year-old, who now weighs about 60 pounds, will be 9 years old March 9.
The downside is that “Cody’s health has declined,” Denmeade reported. “He keeps turning blue, and the doctors don’t know why,” Denmeade said.
Those incidents occur most often when Cody is in a walker or standing with support. Next month, he is scheduled to see a specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital. In addition to the physical upsets, Denmeade said Cody is “having behavioral issues” and is seeing a specialist. “And he’s having grand mal seizures.” Previously, medication was controlling seizures.
Denmeade and her son were featured in an article published May 9.
Denmeade began Creations for Cody, a handmade-jewelry business, to supplement care and supplies for her son. Creations for Cody is on Facebook or call 330-770-8622. Denmeade tried a store environment, but the demands of caring for Cody didn’t mesh well with that situation. She now does the jewelry out of her home.
Her Christmas wish comes straight from a mother’s heart. “I will never give up wishing this is the year that Cody will walk and be healthy,” she said.
Cody was born with partial absence of the corpus callosum. Denmeade explained that the part of the brain connecting the left and right hemispheres is missing in Cody. “He’s mentally and physically challenged,” Denmeade said. Whether he’ll ever walk is unknown; Cody is in a wheelchair. “I want him to be as independent as possible,” she said.
Cody also has a feeding tube; he is able to eat but he doesn’t like the textures of many foods. “We don’t know if he’ll ever eat on his own,” his mother said.
Denmeade said she hopes that they can attend a Christmas service at Bethel Evangelical Friends Church. “He likes the singing,” she said.
She said her family includes her sister, Elaine, who has special needs and attends Mahoning County Adult Services Workshop, and friend Karen Flanery, who helps Denmeade in jewelry making and with whom the family makes their home. They plan a quiet Christmas. “We’ll have a special dinner,” she said.
As for Christmas gifts, “Cody likes things that light up,” Denmeade said. “Organizations have helped me this year,” she said.
Cody attends Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown and has physical, speech and occupational therapy at Easter Seals in Youngstown. Cody also delights in knowing his vowels, and his favorite number is 13. “Cody loves TV,” his mother said. “‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Family Feud’ are his favorites.”
Surprisingly, Denmeade added, news programs also hold his attention. “I think he thinks they’re speaking right to him, and he likes that.” Cody also likes “Sesame Street” and “Dora the Explorer.”
Though Denmeade faces uncertainty daily with Cody’s health, she remains upbeat. “I’ve been through a lot. I’m used to taking care of people,” she said. She has fibromyalgia, a chronic condition of widespread pain, and experienced the losses of her mother, Jackie, who died in 2007; her brother, Jeff, who died of a brain aneurysm in 2012; and her father, Harry, in 2013.
Denmeade was in her 40s, unmarried and wanted a child. She saw Cody’s photo at a Christian adoption agency in Florida. “I was ready to be a mother and knew he would be my one and only,” she said.