Monday, June 15, 2009

Monday, June 15, 2009

Today was an exciting day at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Clay was discharged!! Something we have all been waiting for for a long, long time....121 days, to be exact :) He had a feeding tube in this morning and while we were feeding him blueberries he complained that he was choking on something. The feeding tube had come out and was wrapped around his tongue. It only took a second to have that thing out! We are glad to say that it is out for good...so far. He had to wait his turn for the bath and that seemed to take forever. He was finally able to go bathe around 12:30 or so. He was SO excited. He scrubbed himself good, dad washed his hair and got his trach cleaned and put back in. After the soap was washed off he was covered in warm towels. He put on a button-down shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. It's the first time he's worn shoes since he's been in the hospital. He was even able to zip his own pants. Quite the determined little boy :) He walked out of that room where they take a bath and headed down the hall to the exit. We had to stop him and tell him he couldn't leave until we had signed papers and got the approval for discharge. He was pretty disappointed at that. It took another 4 hrs until we could finally leave the hospital. Just for the record, quite a few patients were discharged today so it was very busy in the BACU. Before we left, Clay, mom and dad walked over to the BICU and told the nurses and others thanks for the great care and goodbye. While waiting for the final papers to be drawn up, grandma, Aunt Jenae, and the rest of the kiddos hauled the "furniture" from the room (that had been collecting for 4 months) down to the cars. That was a job in itself:) He was finally released around 4:30 p.m. and everyone was cheering as he was wheeled out in the required wheelchair "chariot". When he got to the front of the hospital he said, "Hey, look, there's a bird!" He took a deep breath of the outside air for the first time in a long time and said, "Aaahh". He was loaded in the car and we headed to the Ronald McDonald House. He has been looking forward to coming here because of what his brothers have been telling him. They have been wanting to show him around and were trying to show him all the rooms and exciting things all at once. He got to play air hockey in the game room and after a couple games (he won both) he went to lie down because he was exhausted! He has eaten very well since coming here and we hope it all stays down and he continues to get better. Chance and Carson headed back to Olney tonight. When Chance told Clay goodbye Clay asked where he was going. Chance told him, "I have to go back to work, buddy." Clay said, "Where do you work?" This made dad laugh! He will go in for outpatient therapy everyday this week and will get to go home for the weekend. Thanks and hugs to hugs to everyone in the BICU and BACU! We appreciate you. Thanks to all for standing by us during this time - we are thankful for you all!

41 comments:

  1. Praise God for miracles! Juda and Jerry

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  2. This is such great and wonderful news!!! We are so happy for you .......... Hip Hip Horray for Clay! Love from Nebraska......

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  3. GREAT NEWS. We are so glad for all of you. Sounds like you had such a full day, I'll bet he sleeps good tonight. B&E

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  4. We are so excited! I can't wait to share the news with all of the kids from church. Praying all continues to go well.

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  5. God is Good and Faithful!! What wonderful news for such a deserving family. We continue to pray for Clay's full recovery.

    Grady and Midge

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  6. I feel like I can exhale! :)
    Can't wait to see you guys again.
    Love you so much!
    Chuck, Lori and the boys!

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  7. WHOOOOOHOOO!! Praise GOD! He is GOOD! Hallelujah! Very Cool! I'm Excited! LOL We'll keep praying for you! (!!!!!!!!!!!!) :D

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  8. Great News! I hope that tomorrow is just as good...

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  9. Our 8 year old was just asking about Clay before he went to bed tonight. What great news I will be able to share with him in the morning! Your hearts must be filled with joy!
    Thinking of you~
    Andrea & family

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  10. Today is the day we were ALL waiting for and
    being at home this weekend will even be better.
    Thanks for all your faith and strength you have
    showen us all, we feel like you were always
    encouraging us when we should have been encouraging you.
    Love and Big Hugs to all,
    Elseners

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  11. WHAT A DAY OF REJOICING.. WONDERFUL NEWS INDEED. WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU ALL. YOU HAVE BEEN SUCH A BRAVE AND STRONG FAMILY THRU THIS
    VERY DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE. WE KNOW THAT GOD
    GAVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE IT ALL. WE
    HOPE YOUR ROAD AHEAD WILL BE A LOT SMOOTHER.
    THANKS FOR KEEPING US ALL INFORMED WHEN EVEN THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT AT TIMES TOO..

    LOVE YA ALL SARAH & JIM L.

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  12. Congrats Clay your a true inspiration to us all. Keep up the fight your a true fighter. God bless all of the Fite family and hope they can be home soon. God Bless you and have a great night.

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  13. I have been following your blog for the past few months. What a wonderful day! I will continue to keep Clay and the Fite family in my prayers.

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  14. this is such great news and what a HAPPY day!! Clay is such an inspiration to all of us with his "can do" spirit, and he is a lucky little boy to have such a wonderful loving family.

    Please keep the posts coming, we want to keep up with his progress. Rest well tonight :))

    the southerlands in austin

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  15. Tears of joy! SO so so happy for you all! I can only imagine the joy you all must have felt as you left WITH Clay! I will pray that this week is a GREAT week and he makes huge strides in his recovery! Enjoy! I may not post much this week. We won't have internet anymore. We are leaving Mexico in one week! So I am VERY happy that I have heard the good news before we left! We will arrive in the US for a good long year of seminary next week. I will check on you then! So, don't fret, I will continue checking on you once I am back online!! I love you all and am so very proud of all of you, ESPECIALLY Clay! Love, Missy

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  16. What great news!!!! So wonderful to read your post tonight and rejoice with you - what an awesome milestone!! Thinking of you all and we are so glad for Clay's progress. I keep thinking how special it will be for you all to be home together again. Hugs & much care, Monique

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  17. What an awesome day!! I had to get past the lump in my throat before I could chuckle at all the things that happened and the things Clay said. What a thing to be so happy about seeing a bird. That is an inspiration to the rest of us to remind us what is truly important in life! I know you will be busier than ever now but IF you get a chance, would love to continue hearing! I WILL figure out a way to meet you sometime!!

    CLAY, YOU ARE MY HERO WITH YOUR "CAN-DO" SPIRIT!!

    Love, megahugs and prayers!
    Rena

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  18. This is SUPER news and I can't imagine how long you've been wanting to have him to yourselves again!! I will be praying for a speedy recovery so he can go HOME with his brothers!!
    Love & Hugs from WI!!

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  19. We have tears of joy and happiness, too!! Oh, what a day! And Clay was READY for it!! That is so cute. A whole new world for Clay again, and new appreciation for the little things. We are sooo happy with all of you, and hope the road ahead will not be as bumpy!! Thank you so much for sharing your story up to this point...we are interested in keeping up, as well...know your days will be much fuller now as you work back into a more normal schedule! Hugs to all of you!!

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  20. Praise God for this good news! We will continue to pray for your sweet family - and are so excited to hear how well little Clay is doing! Love and hugs from Indiana! (And from a friend of Janae's) :-)

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  21. This is wonderful news! Thanks for keeping us updated so we can share in the happiness with you all! We'll be anxious to hear how his days go. Maybe we'll even see you all at Happy!! Wouldn't that be wonderful!?!

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  22. My first comment, but I've been reading the blog updates all along. Our prayers continue that Clay will continue to improve and can enjoy this time with his family!

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  23. Yay!!! I love picturing Clay getting dressed and trying to walk out before you did the papers - he is ready to be out of the hospital! :)We're so glad to think of Jenae being there too! We're thrilled for all of you, thinking of how good it must feel to hit this huge milestone. I bet Clay can't wait for the weekend to go home and I bet his brothers are glad to have unhindered access to him!! Hugs and love!! Morgan and Michelle

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  24. aah -- so great to hear this - all the best and we'll continue to check for updates.

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  25. That is great news. We will have to come see you. Hunter will be so excited when I tell her. We all love you.

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  26. This is the best blog post ever!!!! Great news. Yall have done so well through this whole ordeal. We'll be praying for continued progress.
    Thanks for keeping us all informed this whole time.
    The Simpsons

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  27. Tears of joy filled our eyes to think of the celebration of Clay leaving the hospital. What a landmark in his recovery. We know the out-patient therapy will continue to strengthen his little body and soon - Olney! Clay, we do pray for your continued healing and this is a huge step in the healing for Mom & Dad and Carson & Cody. Families are meant to be together, now you are. The words of that hymn "rise Sun of Righteousness we pray, with healing in thy wings" comes to mind. We look forward to more blogs as Clay continues his journey. Our love and best wishes are sent to you all. Dawn & Pam

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  28. Great news!!!! So glad for all of you!!
    We pray for continued improvement in the days ahead!
    Charlus & Teresa B (KS)

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  29. YAHOO!! Keep posting and have a fun summer.

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  30. Like Missy and a number of others said...Tears of Joy! I think we all feel a kinship with you all whether we are family or not. God bless you as you step back into the world outside of the hospital. I am so happy for all of you. 121 days is a very long time to stay inside one building. God is good and faithful. Love, Carolyn

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  31. Dee Dee, If we run into you at RMH house can you kind of advise Clay ahead of time that Rusty can not say his name for anything. When Rusty says the Cl sound, it comes out "Sh" so basically, Rusty calls him Shay. Rusty also interchanges the T sound and the K sound, which really confuses some folks. Rusty wants to tell Clay about his new kitties. God Bless.

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  32. WOOHOO!!!! We are SMILING so big and know you are too. It will be so nice for all of you to be in your own home for the weekend. Congrats , we are so happy for you all.

    Brian, Vicki, Evan and Emily Schmer

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  33. tears of joy!! What a day!! Congratulations!! Can't wait for the weekend when you can be HOME together!! God is writing one awesome story of your family!!

    Ron FIsher
    Mustang OK

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  34. Yay for you Clay! Y'all have been such troopers through this whole thing...we are SO happy to hear you're out of the hospital. (I bet there were a few tears from the nurses as they watched a precious little boy walk away from them forever!)

    We've loved your postings, we've loved the hymns that have meant so much to you and we love that God will continue to be your Helper.

    If you have time, we'd love to keep up on Clay's progress w/your blog.

    Steve & Donna

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  35. YAY!! We are so happy for all of you guys. What an awesome day!
    Love,
    Kelly, Reno, Alyssa and Morgan

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  36. God is good! We are so happy for the Fite famiy. We will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
    God Speed to Clay!

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  37. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!!!!!!!!

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  38. This is the BEST news yet. We are all so happy for you CLAY and family.

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  39. What wonderful news!!!!! We are praising God and thanking Him for his continued blessings and healing for Clay. It's been a long, hard road, but the light at the tunnel is very bright and you all deserve that light.

    Butch and Carol Willis Graham, TX

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  40. That is great news!! Hope all continues to go well.

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