Tuesday, November 3rd

Hello to all. We had some good news and a bit of a surprise yesterday, and wanted to keep everyone posted. Clay and Deidra went to Children's in Dallas for a follow up appointment. They were hoping to be put on the schedule for the neck release. We felt that time was of the essence and we were not sure we were going to be able to have it done before December. Deidra called yesterday around 1:00 p.m. and said that they have scheduled the neck procedure for next Monday, November 9th. We are thankful they could accommodate us and give him some relief sooner than we anticipated. The doctor was pleased with the results of his work on the hand. He has written orders for Clay to see a hand specialist for rehab. Deidra is trying to set up those appointments today. Deidra and Clay are staying busy with doctors, rehab, and school. Cody and Carson are just busy being second and fifth graders. Carson is on his way to a livestock judging contest this weekend at Texas A&M. I am trying to get our cows AId and hopefully sow some wheat if it every dries out enough to get back in the fields. Hope everyone is well. Thanks for all your help and comments. Come see us whenever you can.

Wednesday, October 28th

Hello to all. We realize it has been a while since we have posted. Don't think we have been idle. Last week was quite busy for all the Fite's. Clay completed his 40th trip to the hypebaric oxygen chamber. He now is able to sleep a little later each day. On Wednesday Deidra, Carson, Cody, and Clay packed up and headed to Mt. Peak Convention near Midlothian. On Thursday Clay had double doctor appointments in Dallas. I left Olney about 5:30 a.m. and picked them up at the convention grounds. Carson and Cody stayed at convention under the watchful eye of relatives. Our first appointment was at Children's where Clay had the cast he has been wearing for the last 6 weeks removed. We then were able to see one of the hand specialist who removed the pins from Clay's fingers. Clay handled the procedure well, but Mom took it pretty hard. After the pins were removed they built Clay a new splint for his left hand. He is supposed to wear it whenever he is not exercising or bathing. It is still very sensitive to touch and he is pretty protective of it. He has been working his good finger and we hope he will soon be able to hold something between it and the part of his thumb that remains. We indicated to the physicians assistant that we would like to be put on the schedule as early as possible for the next surgery. They are going to try to block out some operating room time and Clay will go back on November 2nd to find out what the plan is. After our visit at Children's we went to burn clinic at our old home Parkland. We were able to visit with Dr. Purdue and let him know what our plans were. He was very helpful and is willing to act as a consultant on the upcoming procedure. We value his many years of burn experience. After our burn clinic visit we raced back South to convention and were able to catch the last speaker of the afternoon meeting. I was able to stay until after the last meeting and then drove back into Olney for work the next day. DeeDee and the boys had a good day Friday and I drove down early Saturday to rejoin them. We enjoyed the opportunity to see everyone that was so helpful during Clay's hospital stay. Saturday was very memorable in that Carson made his choice that evening. We are very happy and excited for him and are looking forward to meeting tonight for his first testimony. Busy days for all. We appreciate all the thoughts and continued prayers of everyone. There were so many at convention and elsewhere that we have never met that have been praying for Clay. We are humbled by the experience and will be eternally grateful.

Photography Fund Raiser

Hello everyone this is Jenae....

I got a message from my friend, Shanda Miller, who is doing another photography fundraiser for Clay.

Here is the letter and information that she sent me:


Jenae,

Annie Drake and I have rescheduled our photography fundraiser for the Fite Family for November 7th. Could you please post it on Clay’s blog again like you did last time?

Thank you so much! We just really want to help them!


Just wanted to let everyone know about a photography fundraiser for the Fite Family. Annie Drake and Shanda Smith will be having sessions on Saturday, Nov 7th in Grapevine, TX. Please visit www.ShandasShots.com for more information.

Thanks, Shanda

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Hello to all! We mentioned a few months ago that we would post more frequently, but that has not happened. We want to thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. Clay's eyes, hand, and donor site seem to be healing well from the surgery he had on Sept. 18. If you place your hands under your eyes and pull down hard, you will have an idea of what Clay was experiencing before his surgery. The skin grafts placed under his eyes are full-thickness skin grafts (contains all the layers of the skin including blood vessels); therefore, theses grafts are less likely to contract.
Clay has skin grafts on about 65% of his body (chest, back, head, face, hands, and a portion of his left leg). These grafts are split-thickness grafts (top layer/layers of skin only) and these types of grafts really contract because they do not have the elasticity that full-thickness ones would have. Therefore, this makes his skin resistant to stretching and prevents his normal movement. The scar formation has pulled his chin down to his chest & his bottom lip is almost totally inverted. Clay's next surgery will be a neck release. They will cut into those scars to release them and this will give Clay the ability to lift his head. I am not a doctor, but I have explained some of what we have learned with Clay.
We went back to the doctor about 2 wks. ago (Sept.28) and they cut his cast off to look at the pins in two of his fingers. The doctor wanted to keep the pins in for 3-4 more weeks; so, Clay got to pick the color for his new cast. He picked a "fluorescent" yellow-he can't hide with this one. :-) After two weeks of wear, his cast is now a dull looking color (it's hard to keep little boys' casts clean).
Chance gave us quite a scare on Sept. 24. We were getting the boys ready for school and Chance told me he thought he was having the symptoms of a heart attack. We called his cousin who is a doctor in Seymour (30 miles away) & he told me what to do and that he would be waiting for us at the emergency room. Some of our neighbors came down to get Carson & Cody to school and to watch Clay. Of course, by this time, the boys and I were all in tears and I was trying to reassure the boys that everything would be okay. Chance's cousin (Dr. Martin) had all the tests run on him and everything looked fine. Could have been angina, pleurisy, indigestion...... Could it have been caused by the stress of the past months? He will go back for a stress test soon. We are just so thankful he is feeling better. We also celebrated Chance's 40th birthday on Sept. 27th. We had a potluck birthday party at lunch and then a surprise party that evening. He was surprised! Now he's "over the hill" and feeling fine!
Carson showed a steer at the Texas State Fair last Thursday (Cody will be old enough to show animals next year). It was our first trip to Dallas, in a long time, with no doctor appointments or hospital stays. After the steer show, we had an appointment at the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. They wanted to interview our family for their Fall newsletter. It was special to see the wonderful staff and volunteers again.
We continue to drive to Clay's therapy appointments 2 days a week and have therapists at our house 2 days a week. Clay is enjoying his schoolwork and "homebound" teacher. He is enrolled in a Kindergarten teacher's class at school and this teacher sends all of Clay's lessons with the "homebound" teacher. The homebound teacher takes his work back to his Kindergarten teacher to grade and then returns it to Clay. He really likes to look at his graded papers~it makes him feel like he is part of the class. He looks forward to his brothers coming home from school each day because he's always ready to play.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again! We will never be able to say this enough for all your care, prayers, support, and kindness. ~Chance, Deidra (DD), Carson, Cody, & Clay Fite

Tuesday, September 22nd

Brief note on Clay's surgeries last Friday. Clay spent about 5 hours in the operating room at Children's medical center last Friday, as many of you know. While sedated an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor scoped above and below his trach to make sure everything was in order with his airway. The plastics team spent about 4 hours working on his left hand and releasing under his eyes. We had planned on an overnight stay in the hospital but after the procedure the Doctor told us it might be best if Clay stayed in the hospital for 5 days until the stitches were removed from his eyes and his donor site. Deidra and I were not very excited at this prospect but we thought we would see how Friday night went. After our stay on Friday night we called the doctor and asked to be released. He agreed and we arrived back in Olney around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Clay seems to be doing well and is recovering. He is being treated like a little king. We carry him from room to room at his request and Grandma and Mom are at his beck and call. His eyes are not sutured completely shut and he can see over the tops of bandages sewn beneath his eyes, so it is bearable for him. He has kept a good spirit throughout and will return back to Dallas Wednesday of this week to have some stitches removed and visit a trach nurse at Children's. Thanks for all of the thoughts, prayers and concerns. We will keep you posted as progress is made.

Thursday, September 17th

Good day to everyone. I wanted to drop a quick update on Clay's week. His occupational therapist came to the house Monday morning and did some hand exercises. As soon as he was finished he and his mother packed up and headed to Galveston for a consultation with the plastic surgeon there on Tuesday morning. They were able to meet up with Grandma, "Joy" somewhere south of Olney and she went with them to help out. Tuesday after their visit with the surgeon they went to the beach for a few minutes. It was cloudy and overcast so Clay could run wild for a moment and not worry about the heat or the sun. They took him to lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, he enjoyed that, they then started home. They picked up grandma's car and made it back to Olney sometime before midnight. Wednesday Clay had physical therapy and school. His therapist worked him hard then his teacher graded some of his papers. We went to meeting in Seymour last night and Clay and Deidra are on their way to Dallas now for a pre-op appointment at Children's at 1:00. What I am trying to say is Clay may need the surgery, that is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, to rest. He and we are staying busy. We appreciated all of the comments on the last post. Please remember Clay tomorrow. They are planning to work on his left hand and place full thickness skin grafts under both eyes. We anticipate the procedure lasting about 4 hours. He will stay in the hospital for observation Friday night. Carson and Cody are at home under the capable care of Grandma. Thanks to all and take care.

Wednesday, September 9

Hello to all! Life has kept us busy around here. I wanted to post this before tomorrow. A team from the Parkland Burn Unit will be at Olney Elementary School tomorrow (Thurs., Sept. 10 at 1:00pm). They will present a program to help everyone understand about Clay's burns. This will be the first time he has been around all the students and I'm a little worried about it. Parents and others in town are welcome to attend. I feel like shielding Clay from any unfriendly stares or comments; I pray that it goes well. I am thankful for the support of the school and community. Our hearts hurt so much for Clay and also for Carson & Cody. We cry often and sometimes I feel like crawling into a hole to cry; but, we just pray for more strength and keep going forward because we have so much to be thankful for. We want to say thank you to all of the parents who have taught their own children, by example, how to love Clay. Some children keep their distance from Clay & others play with him as if nothing ever happened. We do understand that it is difficult for young kids to understand. We have noticed that the kids who adjust the best (to Clay) are the ones who have watched their parents interact with Clay. We are thankful for the ones who smile, hug, talk, or pat Clay when they see him. We are experiencing what it feels like to have everyone stare when we go places. We are thankful for our family, friends, and community who make us feel comfortable and loved.
The boys have a new puppy. He is a Jack Russell Terrier and a little ball of energy. He chews on anything he can find; so, I'll be glad when he's past this stage. Some friends here in town invited the boys over for a "puppy picking" party. Clay picked the dog and named him; he named him "Chocolate" because he said that the puppy's face looked like chocolate. Our old dog is not very happy about having this new puppy around, but the boys are enjoying him.
Clay will have his first "outpatient" surgery next Friday (Sept. 18). They will perform surgery on his left hand and release his eyes. Clay and I will travel to Galveston next week to meet with a plastic surgeon at the Shriner's Burn Hospital. Thank you to Phil for helping us get in touch with the doctors at Shriners. The hospital in Galveston sustained damage during a hurricane and now they are opening it again. The soonest that these doctors could do any type of release on Clay would be November. We will inform you about decisions made & will know more after we consult with the plastic surgeon. The doctors (at Parkland)are planning on releasing Clay's neck during the first part of October. I'm sure I have confused you by now, but we are just praying that we make the right decisions.
Thank you to all for your continued prayers and care. Hugs from the Fite family!