By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

MALINTA -- One week from tonight is a special evening for the Toledo Children's Hospital Foundation.

It will be even more special for cancer survivor Chris Cody.

Cody, a freshman at Patrick Henry High School, has been tabbed as the ambassador of honor at the foundation's annual extravaganza dubbed, "An Evening With ... Toledo Children's Hospital."

He is the son of Jim and Cindy Cody of Malinta.

"It's been three years since I was in the hospital," said Cody. "In some

ways it seems like yesterday, in other ways it seems like a lifetime."

Now 5-3 and 163 pounds, Cody is better suited for his current roles as nose guard in football and catcher in baseball at his school.

"He's come a long way," said his mother. "When he first got sick he weighed 89 pounds and he dropped all the way to 63. To look at him now compared to the way he looked back then is amazing. The doctors and nurses can't get over how much he has grown."

Cody was diagnosed in September 2004 with Burkitts lymphoma, a rare form of cancer which involves very rapidly growing tumors that can double in size in 24 hours. He had tumors on his kidney, liver, stomach and intestines.

He spent the next three months in Toledo Children's Hospital, battling through chemotherapy and the accompanying side effects such as severe stomach pains and nausea.

The doctors were fabulous, especially his main doctor, Dr. Dagmar Stein," said his mother. "They gave us absolutely the finest care. If it weren't for them, he wouldn't be here today."

"I remember playing Game Cube (a video game system) with the night shift nurse when he wasn't busy," said Chris.

Cody finally returned home right before Christmas and rejoined his sixth-grade classmates on a half-day basis in early February. By March, he was back to school full-time.

"His teachers at the middle school in Hamler were wonderful," lauded Cindy.

Fast forward three years, as that scrawny boy has grown into a muscular young man.

"I played nose man in football and I'm trying out for catcher in baseball," said Cody. "It's a new position for me, but I've got the body for it."

Last fall the Cody family was contacted about Chris serving as honored ambassador at the hospital foundation's annual banquet. The fete is slated for Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at Gladieux Meadows, with local television personality Jerry Anderson serving as master of ceremonies.

"We selected Chris after an interview process which included his family," said Tammy Conway, development specialist and event coordinator, Toledo Children's Hospital Foundation.

"They have put together a multi-media presentation from the scrapbook I kept during his illness," said Cindy. "They came here to Malinta and shot some video. It's very well done."

"I'll also be giving a short speech," added Chris with a smile. "I really don't know what I'm going to say because I haven't written it yet. I like to wait until the last minute."

During the last three years the Cody family has made several trips back to the hospital for checkups, scans and other tests.

"The people at the hospital are always glad to see Chris come up," said Cindy. "They enjoy a success story coming back."

In spring 2005, during one of those early checkups, Chris befriended another young patient also suffering from Burkitts lymphoma.

"His name was Brian and he was from Elida," recalled Chris. "He was about two years older than I was, but I stopped to see him in the hospital every time I went to Toledo. He died that August. That was a rough time."

Cody hasn't experienced any further medical problems since his recovery, save for an emergency appendectomy.

"That was scary because at first the symptoms were the same," admitted his mother. "We were very relieved when we found out it was just his appendix."

Instead of doctors and nurses, Cody, now 15, is focused on sports, school and obtaining his driver's permit in early May.

"He's counting the days," said his mother. "He also is getting his braces off. He has already started baseball practice, so this is a busy time. But this is a good problem to have. I'm not going to complain."

Cody remains an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Yankees, but in the last three years he has switched his college football allegiance from Ohio State to Notre Dame and Rutgers.

Rutgers?

"I like to be different," he smiled. "I'm the only Rutgers fan in Malinta."