Monday, August 16, 2010

Monday, August 16

Hello to all! Well, once again, a month has already slipped by since we last posted. We enjoyed our annual church convention in July. Carson & Clay went to South Texas again, the week after convention, with my sister and aunt. Cody wanted to stay with us & enjoyed all the special attention without his brothers around. My older sister and her family had to fly back to Argentina on Aug.2. They spent most of their summer in the states visiting family & friends. They get to move back to the U.S. next year & it will be nice to have them back home. We enjoyed our time with them this summer.
We took a family vacation to Colorado on Aug.5. My twin sister and her family live in Denver & there's so much to do around that area. We enjoyed the cool mountains and came back to Texas to face triple-digit temperatures. Clay enjoyed the cooler temperatures the most! A strong storm moved through our area while we were on vacation. We found the boy's swingset in pieces when we arrived back home, and an insurance adjuster is coming in the morning to asess our roof damage.
We met with Dr. Trussler (Clay's Plastic Surgeon) on Aug.3 and his next surgery is tenatively planned for Sept. 27. Dr. Trussler will take the tissue expander out of Clay's leg, remove the scar band on the back of his knee and wrap the expanded skin over that area. He will also excise a scar on Clay's back. This is the scar that itches the most and is very bothersome to Clay. Dr. Trussler will also place a tissue expander under Clay's hair at the front of his scalp. I guess it's time to start expanding his hair. I didn't exactly know how to react when the Dr. mentioned this; but, Clay started bouncing up and down and said "Yeah! Now I can be an alien for Halloween! Oh, and mom, could you tape two antennae to my expander?" If you can picture this......it will look like Clay has a bubble on the front of his head. Our reactions were both so different-Clay was excited and I was worried.
Clay will have his largest surgery (neck) closer to the Christmas holidays. Dr. Trussler wants to keep the tissue expanders in Clay's shoulders until December. We will put the last dose of saline in the shoulder expanders this week. Then Dr. Trussler wants to keep them under the skin for 3 more months. This will enable the stretched skin to become stronger. I hope this makes some sense. Sometimes it is difficult to explain. All these procedures, that were once so foreign to us, are now what we have become accustomed to. As a result, my explanations may be as clear as mud to you.
School starts next week. Carson will be in Jr. High, Cody will be in 3rd grade, and Clay will be in 1st. Clay will only attend school for half a day. He can still be qualified as a "homebound" student if he attends no longer than half a day. We need the "homebound" services for when he has his big surgeries this year. We are praying & trusting that God will show us what to do about our "school" situation.
I need to post some more pictures when I get a new camera. I accidently dropped my camera into a bag that I was delivering to Goodwill. The camera and memory card are gone. The memory card had pictures of Clay's hospital stay, and pictures throughout this past year of his recovery. I called the Goodwill store and went and searched through boxes myself; but, to no avail.
Thank you again for your continued care-we are grateful! Take Care!

11 comments:

  1. Good morning,
    We are always glad for a new update and enjoyed all you wrote. Sounds like Clay will be laid up for awhile after his next surgery, but we know it is a needful surgery to put him in a more comfortable situation. Bless his heart, I just feel pain for him. We are glad you explain things like you do even tho we don't understand it all, we have an idea. Glad you could take a family vacation to Denver where it would be cooler. It is school time again, summer went so fast. Everything will work out for you and your family. Sorry to hear about your storm damage, we have had a lot of high wind this year also, no damage yet. We had tornado warnings last night and it did look wild, but ended up with a half inch of rain which we were very glad for. Too bad you lost your camera and pictures.
    Love B&E

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  2. Glad for the update. Touching to see the reaction Clay had to scalp expanders vs. his Mom's reaction! I'd like to have a more childlike reaction to the things God sees necessary in order to "expand" my spiritual life!

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  3. So enjoyed the update again, as your little family is still in our hearts. What a joy Clay is with his lets-find-fun-in-this-situation- spirit! Like the above commenter mentioned....a real lesson could be learned from him!! I'm feeling badly about the camera...I've had the same experience of digging through boxes at the Goodwill store because something accidently got dropped off. However, it wasn't as special of an article as a camera and camera card. Sure sorry about that! Happy school year!

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  4. Thank you for the update. I just wanted you to know that the kids at Happy First United Methodist still remind us to lift Clay up. We continue to pray for you all!

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  5. DeeDee & Chance and Boys - what a wonderful privilege to read the most recent post. It was so special to see you at convention and to see Clay in action! I understand your concerns DeeDee, but I love Clay's reaction to the hair expander. It is wonderful sometimes to see the world from his eyes. The Great Physician has done a wonderful work in Clay's life. We'll keep watching for an update and you will as always be in our prayers.

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  6. Glad to hear things are progressing. Thank you for the posts. Love Clay's attitude, but completely understand yours as well. I'm hoping that some good person will find you camera, see the pictures and realize how special they are to you and return to the Goodwill - make sure they have your contact info just in case!
    You all remain in our hearts and prayers.

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  7. The Shriners hospital in Galveston is now open. If I can assist you in any way please call me.

    Phil

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  8. Rusty got Mrs. McElroy and he is looking forward to seeing Clay at school. I'm sure that you all will do great this year. Good luck with your first year of Jr. High with. Be glad that you will have a 6th grade boy and not a 6th grade girl. I don't know about boys but it seems that 6th grade girls have some sort of major dramatic issue a lot of the time. We are still praying for you all. See you at school. God Bless.

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  9. I love walking into rehab & seeing your sweet family!! Soo glad my mom got to meet all of you -- she has heard so many wonderful things about y'all, & she loved meeting everyone. I definitely think you're making the right decision about school. There will be challenges, I'm sure, but I think it will be a very rewarding experience. Clay will do great - he has the best little attitude of anyone I know (young or old!). He's such an inspiration. Love to you all - & hopefully see you soon during our "workouts"! :)

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  10. Thank you so much for updating us! Have thought of your family often! So sorry to hear about your camera! Glad to hear that Clay is adjusting to his life so well. Also glad that you all made it to convention.
    The Stark Family

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  11. Fites...We still check your blog periodically and love to read updates on the family, especially Clay. He is such a little trooper as he continues his journey of healing. You all are an amazing family, and an inspiration to all of us!
    The Southerland Family in Austin Texas

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