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For boy, rough and tumble means life or death

By GINA PACE
Published December 11, 2006

HOLIDAY - The best part of Cody Langham's school day is recess where he can pretend he's a Power Ranger with superhuman strength like in the cartoons.

If only he could be that mighty and invincible.

Cody, a pale kid with light blond hair and intense blue eyes, is 6. And since he was an infant, his heart has had trouble getting enough blood to the rest of his body. He takes two different heart medications to stay alive.

His doctor says strenuous activity is too dangerous. Recess is okay, as long as someone watches to make sure Cody doesn't overexert himself.

Cody doesn't understand the intricacies of his condition. Sometimes, he says, he forgets he's not supposed to tire himself out or that he can't run and jump in gym class like the other kids.

But he knows that his parents love him and get really afraid if he plays too hard.

"I could get a heart attack," he said. "It scares my mom and my dad."

* * *

Cody's parents walk a thin line between allowing him to live his childhood, while doing all they can to make sure he stays alive.

He has a condition called aortic stenosis, which means one of his main arteries is narrowed, making it difficult to get enough blood out of his heart to meet his body's demands. Compounding the problem, he also has aortic regurgitation, which means some of his blood flows in the wrong direction, forcing his heart to work that much harder.

A procedure Cody underwent when he was a month old has helped open his aortic valve to get blood through. According to his medical files, his condition has improved as he's gotten older, changing from a severe case of aortic stenosis to a mild one.

Still, Cody's parents are careful. Doctors say they have to be. If he engages in too much activity - jumping rope and running during gym class at school, for instance - his heart could stop, his pediatrician, Dr. Russell Bain, said.

Cody lives with his father, Dave Langham, and visits his mother, Justine Greer, on weekends.

She watches him closely in her yard, making sure he doesn't get tired out playing with his three sisters. She worries about when he's older and playing with other kids more - if there will be pressure to push himself.

"Cody is always going to have this," she said.

His dad shoots basketball with him outside and plays other games - games that don't require too much exertion.

Langham wants to take every precaution he can for his son.

"He could have a heart attack," Langham said. "Why take a chance?"

Dr. David Fulton, who specializes in pediatric cardiology at the Children's Hospital in Boston, said doctors and families like the Langhams must strike a balance between protecting children from overexerting and causing a health problem and giving them freedom to enjoy childhood.

"We want to strike the right course in the middle," Fulton said. "It's impossible to predict in any one person when they might have a problem. We're stuck - we're never good at being prophets."

Scary reminder

As Cody grows older, he can't always be under the protective gaze of his parents, and misunderstandings can occur. An example is what happened after Cody started kindergarten at Sunray Elementary this past fall.

His father gave school officials a note from Cody's cardiologist and, for about two months, Cody took extra art and music classes instead of going to gym.

Then one day in November, Cody went to gym class and told his dad. Langham was furious, calling school district offices, the Department of Children and Families, even the Sheriff's Office to make sure Cody never went to gym again.

He got another note from the doctor's office that specified no gym class for Cody and rushed it to the school.

The original doctor's note on file at Sunray said Cody could not participate in strenuous activity or contact sports, but that he could do recreational sports.

So school staff believed it was okay for him to kick footballs and throw foam balls in gym that day, said Renalia DuBose, the county's assistant superintendent for administration.

The school did nothing wrong, she said. But after the doctor's second note, Cody won't go to gym class again, she said.

Now, after hearing his father's anger and fears, Cody said he'll be more careful.

He won't get too worked up at recess. And if necessary, he'll remind his teachers that he can't go to gym class - at least he'll try.

"It's hard because I keep on forgetting," Cody said. "I wish I could do it."

Times staff writer Chuin-Wei Yap contributed to this report. Gina Pace can be reached at 352 521-6518 or gpace@sptimes.com.

What is aortic stenosis?

Aortic stenosis is the narrowing or obstruction of the heart's aorta, which delivers blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The condition can be present at birth or develop later in life. It occurs in five out of every 10,000 people.

Sources: National Libraries of Medicine and National Institutes of Health

[Last modified December 11, 2006, 00:00:10]