January 4, 2012 Happy New Year!

Larisa and Clay

Here is a picture of the PA cleaning the tissue expander

port before inserting saline into expander. As you can see,

the skin is expanding and the doctor can then surgically stretch Clay's

hair further back on top of his head.

Did you begin to think that we were not going to post on Clay's blog again? We haven't forgotten, just haven't taken the time to update for about 3 months!! I began to think that I might need to tie myself to my computer chair so that I could sit down long enough to post an update. Of course, it's always hard to remember all that has happened (during the past 3 months) when I procrastinate like this.

Hmmmm?? Where to begin? Last year (2011) seemed to fly by faster than the year before. It's hard to believe that it has been almost 3 years (Feb 14, 2009) since Clay's accident. Three years ago, we were wondering if we would/could ever survive such a tragedy. Here we are in 2012, and Clay is thriving - thanks to God!

Chance posted our last update on October, 14th. I'll give a few highlights of the past months. This past October, Clay had the privilege of meeting Larisa Hertz at one of our church conventions. Larisa was burned in an accident in the Fall of 2009. She & her family have become very special to us; as, she can empathize with Clay and vise versa.

November:
* Carson turned 13! We now have a teenager in the house and a son who is now taller than me (mom). If he grows into his long feet, he'll soon be taller than dad.

* We were asked and invited by The Transplant Services Center of UTSW Medical Center to attend "A Celebration of Thanksgiving For the Gift of Transplantation Medicine". Clay was recognized as a "skin donor recipient" (during Clay's first few weeks in the Burn ICU, his burns were covered with cadaver skin until the doctors could graft his own skin over the burns). It was very touching as the families of the donors were recognized. We had an interview with channel 4 (Dallas); then, Chance & Clay said a few brief words of thanks onstage. We had a pleasant surprise in that we had the opportunity to meet LTC (Ret) Brian Birdwell who is also a Texas State Senator. He is a burn survivor; as, he was in the Pentagon on Sept.11 during the attacks. His book, Refined by Fire, is a soldier's story of 9-11. He also has "Face the Fire Ministry" in Granbury, Texas. We also had the opportunity to meet his wife and brother(a Tarrant County Judge). Very special!

* We spent the Thanksgiving holidays on the Texas coast at Pappy & G'ma's.

* We were also invited to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. Katie Crosbie, from Channel 3-Wichita Falls, invited us to attend and gave us tickets. Clay was taken on stage at the end of the concert, took a bow with the band, and was given an electric guitar signed by the band. The boys also received T-shirts and CD's. That was an exciting evening for the boys!

December:

* Busy month with the holidays, etc.

* Most of Chance's family lives within an hour from us. We spent Christmas eve/day with his family. We didn't have to travel far. We made a couple trips to Dallas for Clay's tissue expansion. My older sister and her family spent New Year's eve/day with us.

January: Here we go....into a new year.

* Our county stock show will be held in two weeks; and then off to the major shows. Cody has been looking forward to showing again this year.

We had an appointment in Dallas yesterday. Clay's doctor put another dose of saline in his expander (we have been driving to Dallas every two weeks for this). We discussed Clay's next surgery & have another appt. in two weeks. His next surgery may entail: 1. moving expanded hair further back on his head 2. taking rib cartilage to reconstruct his ears 3. more work on left hand. We will discuss a surgery date at his next appointment.

Life is precious and Clay's positive disposition inspires us! Happy New Year to all!

~The Fite Family (Chance, Deidra, Carson, Cody & Clay)