Tuesday, April 7th

Hello to all. This is Dad I made an unexpected trip back to Dallas today. Thank goodness Grandma was here to make the exchange. I received a call from the Burn ICU at 3:30 this morning. Clay's heart and respiratory rate were elevated and they could not stop the vomiting. They had to place him back on the paralytic to stabilize him. Talk about knowing how to panic a father. I hesitated to call Deidra and Joy hoping they could rest until the 6:00 visit. I called DD at 5:30 and they already knew because they had called the ICU. We made plans for me to get the boys off to school and then head east. I explained the situation to the owner of my company and he was very understanding. They have been great through this entire ordeal. Deidra and I wanted to visit with Dr. Purdue and see if he had any solutions for Clay's recent problems (heart, vomiting, respiratory). We did not know that Purdue was in surgery most of the day, and we never had the opportunity to talk with him. Stephanie was his nurse today and she worked overtime trying to figure out what was causing Clay's problems. We are also thankful for the doctors, therapists, & dietitian who were trying to figure it out too. The dietitian told us that his calcium, sodium, electrolytes, etc. were balanced. When we came in for the 2:00 visit Clay had a new feeding tube and had been placed back on his original pain medication. These were adjustments that we were hoping might ease some of the problems. At 5:00 tonight Clay was alert and wanted several stories read. This was a good sign and we were more than happy to comply. He was given a new monkey pillow today and we showed it to him during this visit. It had a soft plush on one side and Clay indicated that he wanted the pillow in his bed. We gave it to him and he squeezed it in both arms, as well as he can, and started rubbing the plush side with his wrapped right hand. I asked if I could unwrap his hand and was told it would be fine. I did and he rubbed that pillow for the rest of the visit and he still had it in his arms at 7:30. He wanted more books read at the last visit and we were glad to help out again. We are so encouraged by the afternoon and felt much relief as we left the hospital. We called the Burn unit around 10:15 and our nurse told us Clay was doing well and was preparing to go to sleep. Thank you to everyone, our prayers and yours were answered. We are thankful everyday that God is in control. Sweet dreams to all.