Clayton Health Update - 5/10/26

From Darby: A lot has happened since our last update. We came home from Clayton’s kyphoplasty surgery on April 4th, just in time for Clayton to be able to join the church for Easter for a minute and say hi before heading back to the house. After coming home from that hospital stay though, Clayton’s pain continued to increase in his legs and back, and he wasn’t able to move much out of the bed. We continued to work with his palliative team and kept adjusting his meds to help make him as comfortable as possible, but he was taking pretty much the max dose of 6-7 different medications. We ended up getting a second opinion of a neurologist with a spine specialization in Dallas to see what he thought after looking at Clayton’s scans, and he was sure he needed a spinal fusion from his L2 down to his pelvis. Dr. Staubs office was not in our insurance network, so he appealed to our insurance and within 3-4 days they accepted the appeal and we flew Clayton to Dallas for a spinal fusion and a laminectomy (cleaning out cement from his spinal canal) and off nerves on his right side. It was an extensive surgery, but successful and we felt very at peace in Dr. Staubs hands, and saw how God worked out every detail for us to be there. It was a whirlwind, but after being bedridden for 8 weeks, we are ready for Clayton to start some rehab and PT so that he can gain his strength back, and we can start back onto the road for clinical trials! Every step of the way, even when we have been extremely discouraged, or frustrated, God has continued to put people in our life that encouraged us that day, in the way we needed at that specific time. Our needs didn’t magically go away, but God met us in the middle of it with His presence, again, like He continues to do. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to fully express how tangibly God has loved us through the people around us. The thorn isn’t gone, but we are continuing to remember that when we are weak, that is when the power of Christ has the ability to work.