Friday, April 30

Hello to all~once again, it has been awhile since we have posted any news. Clay had his surgery yesterday morning and we were able to bring him home last evening. Today was a day of rest and healing for Clay -he was in bed for most of the day and likes it that I (mom) brought him everything he needed. :-) Clay rarely complains about pain but this surgery seems to be the most painful, so far, for him. Doctor Bidic placed three tissue expanders under his skin during the surgery. Clay has expanders in his shoulders and one in his left leg(below the knee). The incisions need time to heal before the skin expansion begins; therefore, it will be about three weeks until we put the first dose of saline in the expanders. His left leg is bandaged and wrapped in a splint. His shoulders have bandages as well. We will go back to the doctor next week to have his dressing/bandages removed. At the hospital, a PT helped Clay learn to walk with a walker. A little walker and wheelchair were delivered today because Clay is not to put any weight on his left leg until the incision is healed. The discharge orders also state that he is not to do strenuous activity for 3 weeks. We may be looking at a loooooong three weeks. :-) After this, Clay will have the expanders for up to 6 months with weekly saline injections! For all of you who will be seeing him this summer, he may look a little "puffy".
We received sad news from our plastic surgeon (Dr. Bidic) this past month. He is moving to the East coast in June (we wish him the best but will miss him greatly). We met with him a few weeks ago in Dallas and discussed our options. We will not make any decisions until we know what is best for Clay. Clay will have another surgery with Dr. Bidic before he moves, and we hope to have it scheduled for the end of May. Dr. Bidic will do another surgery on both of Clay's hands.

Clay was being too rowdy a few weeks ago; so, I told him that eating a piece of broccoli would calm him down. Carson and Cody don't mind eating broccoli but Clay doesn't like it. It took him about 10 minutes to swallow his small piece of broccoli. I told him that if he got too rowdy again he would have to eat another piece. He calmed down quickly!
Clay also got hit with a baseball on April 1st (not a joke). Cody accidentally hit a foul ball and it hit Clay's left eye. He wanted to practice baseball with the boys and ended up with a black, swollen eye.
Cody and Clay got to show a miniature steer a few weeks ago at a steer show in Stephenville. Chance was allowed to help Clay show his steer and then Cody got to show it by himself in front of a different judge. Clay got second place in his class and Cody got third in his class (two different judges). It was good practice for Cody since he will be old enough to show animals, through 4-H, this next school year. Clay received a $3.00 check and was so excited. Uncle Mike, Aunt Susan, Chloe, Uncle Justin, Aunt Heidi, Lily, Cadence, G'Pa Jake and Karen all came to watch the boys show their little steer. I may have to post some pictures of that on here....
I didn't mean for this to get so long. It is almost midnight, so I need to close for now. We will continue our sporadic posts and want to thank you again for your care! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!