Last week I had a meeting with USSA about where I am in the process of being cleared to ski and compete with the ski team. I met with my head coach, the vice president of athletics, our sports psychologist, and our medical director Richard Quincy.

Three weeks ago I started the process of being cleared to ski, hoping that I could get back on snow for training camps in August. First thing I had to do was see Doctor Chuck Rich in Salt Lake. After talking to him for thirty minutes and running through a few tests he told me "I cant find anything wrong with you." The next thing USSA  needed was for me to take an impact test. Which is designed for people who have had a concussion. It tests processing speed, memory, and cognitive thought. I  took the test back in 08 and that is my 'baseline' score. Now I have to score very close to my baseline score before I am cleared. My thought was to wait another month before taking the impact test again so I could be at a point where I knew I would be in a 'acceptable range' of my baseline score. I explained this to Richard Quincy and he didn't have a problem with my decision.

In my meeting today I was told that I will not be cleared to compete for USSA . The reasons they stated are "current impact testing scores, and clinical evaluation by expert physicians."

The impact scores Richard sent to the expert physicians were from a test that I took in October of last year three months after my severe traumatic brain injury. When I took the impact test last October it was to see where I was at with my cognitive thought and processing speed. The reason I was taking it was to help me with my therapy at the time so later on I could get to a point where I could get to an 'acceptable range' of my baseline score. We were told it would be an 'off the record test' and I would be tested again at a later date.

The meeting lasted about an hour and at the end of it we came to an agreement to meet again under these conditions. I take the impact test again and we send the current information to the ski team physicians to review. I am also going to get some other opinions from Doctors who believe I can compete in skiing again without a high risk of injury.

Not the best news from USSA but I will continue to fight and keep you informed on my progress.

Cody

I Just arrived home last night from a week long trip in Whistler. Originally I was hoping to go to the Olympics as a competitor but this time around I was there as a supporter and spectator. The US team did a great job making the spectating part fun, so far they have won eight medals, making it the most successful Olympic team in US history. It was really great for me to be up there and watch not only the success of the US team but to see athletes put themselves on the line and give it everything they have to achieve their goals. It was inspiring to to see Bode come down and win the combined event. I haven't seen him ski Slalom like that in a long time and to watch people do things they have to for the win is inspiring. I know he wanted the Olympic  gold for a long time, even if he pretends he doesn't. Julia Mancuso was another athlete who skied well above where she has been in the last couple seasons during the Olympics. To be able to move yourself to a different place mentally and just go out there and preform that well is something only a few athletes can do. And I have never seen anything like what Julia has done this last week.

My sister was also racing in the Super G. Chelsea helped me so much in my recovery so it was time for me to show whatever support I could for her in her big day. Chelsea started off having a great run but her skis hooked up and she skied through a gate ending her run. It was too bad she went off course but she was safe with no injuries and she won best crash of the day by NBC! Ha, so not all bad news. If you guys want to check out the crash you can see the top 5 crashes here

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=11e00cd1-23bc-46d3-9426-04eb0f68dc3e.html#womens%20super%20g%20best%20crashes

After catching my 3am bus to Vancouver, flying to Seattle, Washington, Burlington, then driving home I am certainly glad to be back. It was awesome to see everyone up in Whistler. It helped remind me of where I want to go and what I am fighting to get back to.

Cody

When I talked to my good friend Mikkel about a month ago about helping me drive my car back to Vermont from Utah he was all for it. I waited a couple weeks and called him and asked him again. This time he wasn't quite as excited with the plan. He was on break from school in Vermont and had one week left before school started. Being the amazing friend that he is he agreed to help me out. We only had a week to drive back so it wasn't the leisure trip cross country that I usually take, but we did have time to see some people in Utah and Vail before the long drive begun.

Once we arrived in Salt Lake TJ Lanning picked us up at the airport. TJ is doing well, and on the path of recovery as well. He crashed in his first race this season breaking vertebrae in his neck and dislocating his knee. He is wearing a neck brace full time which will be coming off in a week or so. I had to wear one of those for a little while in the hospital as well. I hated that thing, I kept trying to rip it off! I think TJ was actually one of the guys around that would make sure I wouldn't pull off my neck brace. He is doing full rehab for his knee and things seem to be going well. He is in good spirits and I'm sure he will be back on snow next season doing what he loves. We spent the night in Salt Lake with the Lanning's before heading on to Vail...

The first day of driving was pretty short and easy. About seven hours to Vail from Salt Lake. Thats really what my pace is usually like when I'm driving across country anyway. My friend Kate lives and works in Vail and Mikkel's brother lives down in Denver so it was a great place for us to stop for a night. I had a nice visit with Kate. We were thinking about going skiing in the morning but slept in and made a pancake breakfast instead..... Ha, I had to write about it, it was awesome! She made the pancakes but I made some delicious  hashbrowns! After a late breakfast I picked up Mikkel in Denver and the real driving started....

I drove for about four hours through Colorado and in to Nebraska before Mikkel took over. At some point I fell a sleep so I could get some rest and drive a little later. Everything was going smoothly at this point, or so I thought. At about 2am  Mikkel pulled off an exit to go to the bathroom. We were in the middle of no where Nebraska off  some random exit. When Mikkel was about to get back into the car a police car comes up behind him with his lights on. The cop comes out and yells "GET AWAY FROM THE CAR, HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM"  Mikkel at this point is just thinking oh my god what is going on? I'm just starting to wake up in the passenger seat and see Mikkel getting questioned by the police. Apparently in the town we were in there were two businesses that had just been robbed and the police wanted to see if we were involved. After looking at me half a sleep in the passenger seat and running our ID's they turned out to be really cool and let us on our way.

Other then our one run in with the police we had a smooth trip back. I am glad I have my car back home now. Makes life a little easier. For now I plan to be home for a while..... I have been talking to Warner Nickerson about a possible trip over to Europe in February to travel with the guys and watch some racing and be around the scene. I'm not sure if that will happen or not.

Thats all for now,

Cody

P.S. You easterners will be happy to know that there is more snow in Vermont then there is in Utah!

It's time Blogger's to send out all the positive energy we can. As you may know Kevin Pearce a US Snowboarder and fellow Vermonter has been in a serious accident. He is currently at the same hospital as Cody and in critical condition. We want to extend ourselves to the family and let them know if there is anything they need we are here. Having been through this with Cody for 6 months I/we know what you are going through.

If there is anything you may need at all or if you have any questions we are here for you. Being the main caregiver for Cody I know all the Dr.'s and the routine so please feel free to use me and/or us as needed. I will tell you he is in very good hands! Please don't hesitate if there is anything you may need.

I cannot express how sorry I/we are to hear about this. I know there have been a lot of people there showing their support and we are with you as well and as available as you need us to be by phone.

The people that have been following this blog are incredible and we ask all of you to send all of your energy to the Pearce family now, please send your wishes, thoughts and energy out to the Pearce family in this time of need.

Candles lit, positive energy and all the love for the Pearce family!!

Hugs and Best Wishes,

Draven, Cody and The Marshall Family.

New years is upon us! This is a big one too. We can look back on a whole decade and reevaluate our lives. Or not. Sounds kind of stupid to me. It's just another day passing, who cares what the calendar says? I look back on 2009 and I'm glad its over. Not that things are suddenly going to get easier for me once 2010 comes around. We are all going to have challenges to face throughout our lives and no matter what the calendar says I am going to try and enjoy the journey.

My journey has taken me all over the place in the last week. Up to the mountain for my first day of skiing! A trip to the hospital at 4am with my mom.... I will stick with the skiing story.....

I was a little nervous for my first day back on snow, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. With all the physical training that I have been doing off snow I have found that for the most part I haven't lost much athletically. Other then a lot of strength. When I started working on coordination and speed I was a little shaky at first but after spending a little time on it I could get things back to where they were before. Once I clicked into my skis and started skating over to the lift I knew I was going to have no problem skiing. Just moving on the snow and feeling the snow underneath my skis was enough for me to know that I was going to be fine. I skied all morning with my family and it felt like I had been skiing the whole time. It's funny because I had been worried about coming back to snow for months and other ski team athletes were telling me I was crazy and I had nothing to worry about and that it was just like riding a bike! Now I have say they were completely right.

Now the not so fun story....

I wake up at 2am to severe stomach pain. I'm not sure what's going on, but this is bad. I try to wait it out maybe I will feel better soon..... I started throwing up and feeling deathly ill by 3:30. My parents are awake now and of course think I have a stomach flu. I think yeah, maybe, or maybe not! I feel like I'm about to die, we have to go to the hospital. After five hours in the hospital and numbers of tests the Doctors found a kidney stone. I have been through a lot in the last six months two brain surgery's, 8 fractured ribs, a splenectomy nothing hurt as much as passing a kidney stone.

I wish everyone a happy New Year! Don't forget to enjoy the journey!!!

Cody

Life in Vermont is great. I have a clear focus on what I want toaccomplish in the next six months and very few things are around todistract me. It's so quiet here and you're isolated in a lot of ways.It was amusing to have Fox sports come in to my living room to do astory on my recovery last night. If you guys are interested it will beairing on Wednesday night on the East coast.

My older brother Jesse will be coming home for Christmas! I called hima couple nights ago and asked him when the last time he skied was. Veryquickly he answered "February 13, 2006" I thought wow that's reallydepressing you know exactly when you skied last. Jesse had backproblems for years while he was on the national team and finally onFebruary 13th he couldn't ski anymore. He flew home from Europe and hadto have surgery on his back ending his career. I suggested that we bothhave our first day back on snow together. It's been a little longer forhim but it will be a huge day for both of us. He loved the idea and weare going to head up to Killington (where we both learned to ski) nextweek. It means a lot to me to have Jesse with me on this day and therest of my family will be there as well.

I hope everyone is doing well, Merry Christmas!

Cody-

I just arrived back home in Vermont last night. I was in Colorado for a week watching the World Cup at Beaver Creek. It was awesome to see everyone and spend some time with my second family. I also stopped in to see TJ Lanning at the hospital in Vail. TJ is a good friend of mine who has been through a mess of injures in his career. TJ missed most of last season because of a torn ACL in January. While competing in his first race back in Lake Louise he dislocated his knee and broke vertebrae in his neck. Injures are a really hard thing to have to deal with as an athlete and TJ has been through more than anyone I know. TJ was so supportive and helped me a lot in my recovery while I was in the hospital so send all your healing powers to TJ.

One plus about not competing this season is that I dont have to travel as much. I forgot how much I hate flying. Checking in the first day my bag was one pound over weight. I could either pay $150 or take a shirt out of my bag. This stuff drives me insane! I did get to see Chelsea on the way home. We were in Chicago at the same time. We were both connecting, she was on her way to Munich. Chelsea will be in Europe training and racing for the next couple of weeks before she comes home for christmas.

The snow is starting to fall here in Vermont so it wont be long before I will be writing about my first day back on snow!! I will be waiting a little bit longer for there to be a little more terrain open at Killington before I head up there.

Cody

I'm sitting here enjoying a nice cup of green mountain coffee roasters made with my french press that I have in my room in Vermont. Luckily when I was younger I was smart enough to set myself up with the important things. This coffee is delicious!  Its funny and a little weird to be moving back in with the parents at this point in my life. I have always been someone who lives in the moment and goes his own way. One of the things I have been struggling with in the last few months is my lack of independence. I have come very far in the short time that I have been out of the hospital and being around my family with their support and love creates a great environment for my continued recovery.

Packing, packing, packing. Well, that's what I am supposed to be doing anyway. I have successfully procrastinated for the last three days so now I have one day to pack everything. That is typically how I operate when I need to pack for a couple month trip for skiing so I am confident I will get everything done at the last minute as always. Or I will make Chelsea do it for me. Sisters are good for stuff like that.

Chelsea will be coming back from Colorado tomorrow night and making the trip home to Vermont with me on Sunday. I haven't been home to Vermont since April and I am excited to see the family and spend the holidays with everyone. I will be In Vermont for ten days before heading out to Colorado to cheer on my team mates at the world cup at Beaver Creek in early December.

We received some exciting news from the doctor on Tuesday...

Everything looks good. She says I can drive. That's cool.... Oh, yea, and I can Ski!!

I'm thinking since I learned to ski at Killington and I will be with my family it seams like a fitting place to get back on snow. Maybe while I'm home for Thanksgiving.

I will keep you guys posted.

Cody

Hello All from Codyland,

I have spent the last couple weeks reflecting on our time since July 15th.

We first got the phone call from worm at 1 am about the accident, I remember having to calmly deliver the news to Jesse and while it was sinking in, I immediately began booking tickets to leave California at 5 a.m.  We had no idea if Cody would be alive when we landed or not and from what we were told it was highly unlikely. We began making phone call after phone call and receiving phone call after phone call.  "In the midst of this chaos, keep stillness inside of you" I remember repeating in my head several times so that I would keep level and calm for Jesse, friends and family calling on the phone.

I remember feeling every part of me tensing up as we exited the plane and made "the call" to see if Cody was still with us. Rushing to the hospitals 3rd floor, turning the corner and seeing everyone standing, sitting, pacing, cringing, sweating, with these looks of helplessness and desperation that mimic-ed ours. I remember just trying to get Jesse to Chelsea and them together to Cody. I remember absorbing the environment around me, the florescent lighting, empty used beds in the hallway, the families passing by crying dazed and lost in fear, I had idle conversation with whomever I was next to at any given time as we wore down the wax on the floor pacing back and forth, I'd listen to the double doors to the NCCU open and close over and over with no new words exiting to comfort, resolve or give us false hopes. Not knowing which one of the passing by families we would soon become. We were all just there, individually lost but together.  

Then just as we went from minute by minute, we went to hour by hour, then day by day, moving to week by week and then month to month. We continue on going through the months and the motions, trying to make progress, achieve goals, and make the right decisions in this confusing world of recovery.  

Cody and I have been charging through this together for over 4 months now and the day has come where we will be parting ways here on the 22nd Sunday of November. I have pushed for this and the trip to Vermont for a while now to happen and believe me it wasn't that easy, he is a stubborn booger sometimes. Though it will be undoubtedly more difficult for me as I have been the watchful eye, I feel it is the best thing for him to move forward in his recovery and to achieve his goals. I had many conversations with Cody about his recovery and getting on snow. He agreed about getting on snow of course but living with barb's turkey ankle wasn't so easy. I think it best for him to go to Vermont and get on snow so I became relentless about it and I set an absolute date and made him book a ticket. He needs to live and feel his passion everyday to move forward. He WILL NOT be racing but he will be on snow with as minimal risk as possible.

I think this is a key element to his future success in every aspect. Independence has been a theme for the past couple weeks with us although it is all with me supervising, he is doing it, He has been driving the car, again with me in it of course, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, going to the gym everyday etc. He is all grown up now and I will be an empty nester. Calling and nagging him, checking in too often, sending care packages, checking up on him through friends, inviting myself to visit whenever I want, You know, now that I think about it, I can't wait it will be so much fun to push his buttons. However, I think he will miss me more than he knows. I'm pretty cool and I let him beat me at chess 

The good thing is we will see how it goes and we will go month by month. No decision is set in stone. He can go to Vermont and ski see how he feels and we will go from there. We will be playing it by ear. I will be doing all the things above, plus we will still be posting blogs which will keep all 70,000 of us together and informed as we move forward. He has several options and we will be exploring all of them together. So the next month will be difficult for both of us I think, yet exciting, I am looking forward to him getting on the snow and then calling me the moment and I mean the moment he gets off....

So for now until then,
Draven