Monday, December 21

Hello to all! We just wanted to give a quick update on our doctor visit this past Thursday. The skin grafts that we were worried about looked great and adhered perfectly. We were told that it was normal for the top layer (of skin) to slough off - this was the part that we were so worried about. We are very relieved and are thankful for the great job that Dr. Bidic did. We are also thankful for Kaylee and Savannah (Dr. Bidic's PA's) who have helped so much with Clay. We are still keeping a light dressing over the neck and treating the areas of hypergranulation (overgrowth of granulation tissue) around Clay's trach.
On one of our frequent trips to Dallas, a few weeks ago, we took Clay to Parkland to see the nurses in the Burn ICU. It was great to see them and they were glad to see Clay. We were also able to attend the monthly "burn support group" meeting at Parkland hospital this past Saturday. Two OT therapists that helped Clay, while he was in the burn unit, attended the meeting. We told them "thank you" for being so aggressive with Clay's therapy from the start. We now understand that Clay's therapy is so essential throughout the healing process and beyond. Thank you to all the therapists who have and are working with Clay.
We hope you all have a wonderful week and nice holiday! Thank you again - our hearts are filled with gratitude.

P.S. We will be sending the letters within the next few weeks - thank you for your patience with us! :-)

Wednesday, December 16

Hello to all! I had a minute so I wanted to post an update and apologize for our sporadic postings. As you recall, Clay had his neck release surgery on Nov. 9. He had a wound vac dressing on his neck and carried the pump with him for about a month. During the month of November, we took him to Dallas for four dressing changes. They had to sedate him each time they changed it; therefore, it was basically like a day surgery (OR, anesthesia, recovery room, etc.). On December 3, they took him back to the OR and placed skin grafts over the Integra (neck) and then placed the wound vac over the grafts. We took him back to Dallas on Dec. 9 to have the wound vac removed. He was so relieved to have it off that he was jumping around saying "I'm free, I'm free." The grafts still needed to have a dressing over them for awhile and we were told how to do this dressing change at home. Clay's PT comes to our house on Thursdays; so, she helped us with the first dressing change. She was able to come back to our house on Friday (Dec. 11) to help; and, we ended up calling and sending pictures to Clay's doctor because there were areas of the grafts that were not adhering. We have continued to change it each day and we are not sure if there is enough skin attached to grow and cover the neck area. We go back to Dallas tomorrow (Dec. 17) and the doctors will tell us more. We are not sure, at this point, if they will have to place another skin graft on Clay's neck. There are also some areas where the tissue is hypergranulating (big word I learned this past year).
This is the last week of school before the holidays. Carson & Cody have early release days tomorrow and Friday. Clay's homebound teacher was able to complete his lessons on Monday and Tuesday. Depending on the weather, we may be going to Omaha, NE next week to see Jace & Dana (my twin sister, her husband, and girls). We also would like to stop in Wichita, KS to see the family of Larisa (a friend that was burned in October). We have been following her blog since her accident http://www.larisahertz.blog.com/. We want to thank each one of you for your encouragement this past year.
We are planning on sending a "New Year" letter out with pictures of Clay's progress & pictures of Carson and Cody. I'm sure that you all would like to see the progress that Clay has made since February. Since we do not feel comfortable in posting his pictures online, we will send these letters via "snail mail". :-) Thanks for everything!

Friday, December 4th

Quick update before the day slips away. Clay's surgery went well yesterday. So well that he has been at home with Mom all day today. We had planned to spend last night in the hospital, but the Physician's Assistant came out of the O.R. and told Deidra and I that Dr. Bidic thought Clay would be able to go home after the procedure. They took two strips of skin from his upper right thigh and placed them over the Integra on his neck. We anticipated them being very painful and they were. They placed his wound vac back on his neck to keep the grafts in place. When he awoke in the recovery room he immediately started complaining and crying that his leg hurt. Our recovery nurse was very attentive to his pain and put several doses of pain medication into his IV to get it under control. Clay was disappointed that he was not going to stay in the hospital overnight, because he wanted to watch cartoons and eat popsicles in his hospital room. Mom and I were not disappointed at all. We left the hospital around 6:00 p.m and arrived home a little after 9:00. Clay had one bout with nausea on the trip home but it quickly subsided and some food seemed to solve the problem. He slept well at home and rested all day. He asked this morning if his brothers had school today? When I said yes he told me, "I need someone to play with." We would like to offer a special thanks to all of the Doctors and staff at Children's that have helped Clay. We appreciate the care he has received and the extra efforts that have been made on his behalf. Thanks to everyone keeping up with Clay. We will post more specifics when we can.

Wednesday, December 2

Hello to all! Clay and I went to Dallas on Monday for his dressing change. He is scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:00pm at Children's Hospital of Dallas. He has had a wound vac on his neck for about 23 days now. If you recall, it takes 3-4 weeks for the Integra product, on his neck, to generate a dermal-like tissue & accept a skin graft(http://www.integra-ls.com/). They will take skin grafts from his legs (donor sites) and place them on his neck tomorrow. From his 4 month burn unit experience (Feb.14-June 15), these donor sites have proven to be the areas where he has experienced the most pain (superficial wounds). I think about the times when I have accidentally cut my legs, when shaving, and how painful it is. Clay will feel this pain on large areas of his legs, because they will shave the top layers of skin off to place on his neck (thank goodness for pain meds at this time). He underwent many surgeries, in the burn unit at Parkland, for skin grafting. This will be his third surgery since he was released from Parkland in June and his second "skin grafting" surgery outside of the burn unit. We hope he recovers well. Remember all the weeks when he vomited while he was in the burn unit & we couldn't pinpoint what was causing it? Clay has had four dressing changes since Nov.9, and each time they change the dressing an anesthesiologist has had to sedate him. He did okay with the the anesthetics used on the first 3 dressing changes, but he was sick all the way home on Monday because of the anesthetic used. We will ask what drug he was given before surgery on Thursday.
Thank you for remembering Clay and our family this past year-we are grateful for each one of you!

Sunday, November 29th

Hello to all. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a nice day and are so thankful to be home and with all of our family. You don't appreciate the small things until they are taken away from you. It is good to have all three boys underfoot. We usually head to South Texas for Thanksgiving but we had it in Olney this time. There was plenty of good food and we enjoyed the visit with everyone who came. Clay and Deidra are headed back to Dallas tomorrow, minus grandma who has been here helping, to have a dressing change done on his neck. We are not sure of his next surgery date but we expect to have it set after tomorrow's visit. The wound pump that Clay carries with him is very temperamental and we have usually exhausted our tricks trying to keep it functioning between the dressing changes. Clay seems to be doing well. On Thanksgiving day after lunch his brothers and cousins were playing in the arena. Clay said he was going out to play. We watched as he scaled two pipe fences with his wound pump tucked in his backpack. When he reached the ground on the other side he took off running to join the fun. Apparently all the therapy is paying off. He eats like a horse and is very active. We realize that there are still many battles to be fought but we know that the Lord has a plan for Clay's life and we as parents have to help any way we can. We miss all of the contact with everyone who graciously comments on the blog, but we are thankful that God and Clay are steering us back toward a semblance of normalcy. Take care, and we are always thankful for the prayers, help, and encouragement we have encountered on this journey.

Thursday, Nov. 12

Hello to all! Sorry for the delayed post. Clay had surgery Monday of this week at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. He arrived at 11:00 a.m. and went into the operating room at 12:30. He was in the O.R. for about 2 hours and in the recovery room for another hour or so. The procedure was done to release the burn scars on his neck and chin. As we have said in the past all burn scars contract and for the past months Clay has been unable to raise his head. He really had no chin or neck to speak of. His skin had pulled his lips and chin down to the point where there was only a centimeter and a half from his chin to his trach. After the surgery there were 13 centimeters separating the trach and the chin. When they let us come into the recovery he was still asleep from the sedative. Deidra and I were shocked and thrilled to see him sleeping on the recovery bed with his head stretched out and lying flat against the bed. We have become so accustomed to him walking around with his little head down that we had forgotten what his regular head and neck position was supposed to look like. Clay had a little bit of more good luck in the operating room. Clay has had a loose tooth for quite sometime and he would not let anyone help him pull it. During surgery he lost this tooth and one of the doctors told us that the tooth fairy came to the O.R. and left him six dollars and put his tooth in a jar for him. The doctor was very pleased with the procedure and told us that the Integra product was the way to go because he was not limited by lack of skin(you can google this product sometime-it's pretty interesting). Clay is wearing a Wound Vac pump over the bandage and a C collar neck brace. The wound vac attaches through a hole in the neck brace right above where his trach comes out. The Wound Vac provides constant suction to the wound and Clay will carry this machine everywhere he goes for a month. These are quite a few contraptions for a 6 year old. On Tuesday the resident doctor told us that we could plan on going home. We anticipated discharge around noon. To make a long story short we had to wait on a portable Wound Vac pump and were not able to leave the hospital until 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday night. This made for a late night or early morning back to Olney. We are thankful to be able to spend a few days at home. Deidra and Clay are back to Dallas tomorrow (Friday) for wound care. Clay will have to be sedated and it will be like a minor day surgery to do his dressing changes. He is very uncomfortable and hopes the time goes by quickly until the next surgery when they will graft his skin over the Interga on his neck. He will have to wait for four weeks until the next procedure. We are thankful that he is progressing and we truly appreciate all of the help and prayers of family & friends.

Saturday, November 7

I had a few minutes this morning, so I wanted to post something that touched my heart. Cody, Clay, and I were sitting at the dinner table last night (Chance was in Oklahoma for business and Carson was at a 4-H judging contest). Cody was worrying about Clay's surgery on Monday & was also wondering if he could just miss a few days of school to sit with us at the hospital. I reassured him and told him that there was no need to worry about tomorrow until tomorrow comes. I then said, "And this could be the day that the Lord returns." Then Clay said "Oh, I hope this is the day because then I will have a new body." The things that children say touches the depths of our souls.
We will get Carson & Cody to school Monday morning and then head to Dallas. We are to be at Children's Hospital by 11:00am. Clay will have his pre-op and then head to the O.R. at approximately 12:30pm. We are not sure how long the surgery will take, but he will stay in the hospital overnight. My twin sister has been really sick; so, my mom is in Nebraska helping them with our nieces. My mom has been away from home so much this year-thanks, Dad, for holding down the fort while she has been away. The boys will be staying with some friends here in town. We are grateful that we have many wonderful friends willing to help with Carson & Cody. Thank you so much! We are very thankful for all the help and encouragement near and far.