Houston students rally to help Dennis family

HOUSTON — This time last year, Cody Dennis, 14, was just an average boy dealing with ordinary teenage challenges.

That was, until he came home from a friend’s birthday party complaining of pain in his leg.

But when his mom, Misty, asked if he remembered how he’d hurt his leg, he couldn’t recall an injury.

“What were you guys doing?” she asked.

“Stomping in puddles,” Cody replied.

They thought it was the kind of mild injury that would mend itself. During basketball practice, Misty said she could see her son was in a lot of pain and was limping down the court. At the doctor’s office, she said they were surprised when the doctor looked at the X-ray and asked how Cody had broken his tibia.

Now Misty and Brian Dennis were really puzzled. The tibia, the bone below the knee, and the femur, the thigh bone, are the largest bones in the human body, the doctor said, and aren’t the sort of breaks that goes unnoticed.

The bone density test the doctor did next showed Cody’s bones were very thin. Misty said they thought the test was explained because Cody grew as much as a foot in height last summer.

“We just thought he grew a lot, his bones got thin and it just broke,” she said.

At that time, October 2010, they had visits to the doctor scheduled every few weeks to check the bones’ progress, she said.

“We thought he was getting better,” Misty said. “What we didn’t know is all along this was the tumor.”

‘They were able to save the leg and foot’

Doctors wouldn’t discover the tumor until Friday, Dec. 9, when they had another X-ray done.

That day Cody had basketball shorts on sitting on the edge of the doctor’s table when his parents noticed one leg was much bigger than the other.

“Why does it look like that?” they worried to each other.

The doctor looked at the X-rays and came back to talk to the family. They knew from the look on his face it was bad news. Likely, cancer, but he wouldn’t be sure without an MRI, Misty said.

The doctor scheduled an MRI that night for the boy at Alaska Native Tribal Medical Center and advised the family to pack their bags and be ready to fly to Seattle for treatment if the diagnosis was cancer.

“We had the weekend to stress and cry and pack,” Misty said.

The MRI confirmed cancer as the culprit and the family flew to Seattle, where they have remained since December 2010.

Misty said the plan was to remove the tumor below the knee, knock down the cancer with chemo and then do a second surgery to remove two nodules from Cody’s lungs.

A note from Feb. 23 on the family’s page on the Caring Bridge website — caringbridge.org/visit/codydennis — describes the successful surgery to remove the tumor.

“His surgery went really well and they were able to save his leg and foot. They put in a replacement knee that has a long prong that goes into his femur (thigh bone), and there is a section of rod under the knee with a long prong that goes into the tibia (calf bone).”

For now, Misty said Cody’s goal is to get comfortable enough with his new knee to feel comfortable riding a bike. “He wants to ride a bike so bad.”

Fundraisers help family

The plan was to address the nodules in the lungs as soon as the chemo had the cancer at bay, Misty said. But when the chemo failed to halt the cancer’s growth, doctors tried another type of chemo.

Last week, a CT scan showed that form of chemo isn’t helping either.

“Last time they counted he had eight nodules,” she said. “Now there are more and they are bigger.”

Houston Middle and High School basketball coach Dave Porter said Cody is an inspiration to his classmates on and off the basketball court.

“Cody’s a great kid. He’s in a bad circumstance right now, but he’s inspired his peers by how hard he’s fighting,” Porter said.

That Cody’s classmates organized a car wash and bake sale June 11 to benefit his family is the sort of selfless, caring act Porter said is Houston’s hallmark. The car wash fundraiser, combined with one of Porter’s own, raised about $3,000 for the family, Misty said.

Both Brian and Misty have lost their jobs due to their extended absences and several additional fundraisers are planned to try to help the Dennis’ keep their home.

“None of this means anything if we don’t find a cure to fix Cody,” Misty said

Misty, Brian and Cody met with doctors Thursday to consider options and decided that Monday they will enroll Cody in a cancer study using a drug that has been found to work on a different form of sarcoma. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll regroup and try the two remaining kinds of chemo.

Misty said they still hope to make it back to Alaska for a visit before summer is over.

Less than 10 percent chance

Doctors have told the Dennis family that Cody’s odds of beating cancer are less than 10 percent, so Make A Wish moved his wish up on the priority list and flew the Dennis family to California to meet Adam Sandler at Sony Studios.

Misty said the family wasn’t even out of the limo when Rob Schneider pulled up in a Tesla and drove off with Cody. That’s about the time Sandler walked out looking for Cody, too.

“We’d also like to say thank you to Adam Sandler for being such a caring individual,” Misty wrote on the family’s Caring Bridge page. “We knew you were funny, but until we met you, we had no idea just how amazing you truly are.”

Beyond the director’s chair with Cody’s name, personalized balloons and banners, Misty said Sandler also has checked on Cody since then.

“We’d like to say a huge thanks to all of our friends and family and Houston Middle and Houston High schools,” Misty said. “It’s hard to be here. But it makes it a little bit easier to know there are so many people who care about us.”

Misty’s sister Dottie A. Coughlin lives in Wasilla and said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of local residents and business that contributed, including Sicily’s Pizza, J Brewed Awakenings, the Wasilla Police Department and a legion of volunteers and motorists.

“The Valley really came out to help my family from donating time, baked goods, supplies, lunch, coffee, as well as financial help,” Coughlin said. “The Valley is truly the best place to live.”

Northern Industrial Training and Arden Charles of NC Machinery in Wasilla are organizing a garage dale July 9 at NIT's location on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Proceeds will go to the benefit account for the Dennis family. Drop off donations for the fundraiser at 1740 N. Terrilou Court in Palmer.

Promoted with his class

May 27 was a special day for everyone at Houston Middle School. It was the evening of the eighth-grade promotion ceremony. And they had a surprise planned.

Thanks to technology, Cody and his parents were able to use Skype to see and hear the ceremony, Misty said.

“They made us feel like we were in the room with them, and not sitting in a hospital room 2,236 miles away,” she said. “Cody was given an award for bravery, and much to our surprise, was also presented with his promotion certificate to the ninth grade.”

His brother, Jeff, 20, was there to accept the bravery award for him and when it was time to receive his promotion certificate, his brother, grandma, grandpa, aunt and two cousins all came up to accept the certificate on Cody’s behalf.

“We were able to watch the whole ceremony on a laptop we borrowed from the hospital, Misty said. “Cody loved being able to see and talk to his friends, his teachers and his family that he’s not seen since December.”

Misty said never for a moment have Cody’s Houston classmates forgotten him and his fighting spirit. Support from friends like Amanda Carver who spent a week visiting in Seattle this summer helps Cody keep fighting.

A Cody Dennis Donation Fund has been created at Wells Fargo Bank, account No. 5535270820. People also may send cards to Brian, Misty and Cody Dennis, 7001 NE 186th Place, No. 103, Kenmore, WA 98028. Or, people may leave messages for the family online at caringbridge.org/visit/codydennis.

Contact Heather A. Resz at heather.resz@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.