Shay Stallings Memorial Scholarship Fund

Danny and I would like to thank everyone for their support during Shay's battle while at OU Medical Center, Children's Hospital in OKC, as well as those who were able to attend the services for Shay. Your love, prayers and support is what has gotten us through each day.

Danny's cousin, Rick Hughlett, was gracious enough to set up a Memorial Scholarship Fund in Shay's name for us. This fund will provide one scholarship annually to a Fair Grove High School graduate to attend Ozark Technical Community College while pursuing a degree in teaching, as Shay wanted to follow in his Uncle Chris' footsteps and become a teacher. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for this fund over the next year so that the interest from the fund can be used for the scholarship and it will live on and on...

If you would like to contribute to this fund, you can make checks payable to the "Shay Stallings Memorial Scholarship Fund" and mail them to Commerce Bank at 1345 E. Battlefield St., Springfield, MO 65804, please be sure and put "ATTN: Carolina Decker" on the envelope.

Again, we want to thank everyone for you continued prayers as we try to make sense of our loss, they are very much needed.
God Bless each of you!!
Love to all,
Danny and Christy Stallings

T-Shirts

If you are in the Fair Grove area and you ordered T-Shirts they will be available for pick up at Fair Grove High School.

Funeral Information and Obituary

Christian Shay Daniel Stallings, Fair Grove, Mo, passed away on Friday, December 18^th at the age of 17 at the University of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City after complications due to heart surgery.

Shay was born December 4^th, 1992  in Oklahoma City to Daniel and Christy Stallings. Shay resided in Moore, Oklahoma, St. Petersburg, Florida, and most recently Fair Grove, Missouri.

Shay had a true passion for sports. In his youth Shay competed in football, wrestling, and his ultimate love, baseball. Shay’s ability to continue playing competitive sports was cut short due to a heart defect but Shay stayed active in sports watching college football along side his dad, rooting on the St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently filming Friday night football for the Fair Grove Eagles.

Most importantly Shay had a passion for the people around him. What people will remember most about Shay is his loving spirit. Shay would never forget to say thank you, tell you he loved you, and he never missed a chance to give someone a hug. Shay was good at a lot of things but he was great at being a son, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a grandson and a friend. Shay loved his family and friends and they loved him.

Shay’s true character was revealed in the last few months of his life. Shay courageously battled a bacterial infection that attacked the organs in his body. Doctors and nurses alike were amazed at Shay’s strength and determination and would routinely shake their heads and state “this is one tough kid.” Despite the unfortunate circumstances Shay found himself in, he never complained. Even though Shay was gravely ill he would muster up all the energy he had to give you a thumb’s up. Shay is a champion and now a hero to many for his relentless effort to fight off a horrible infection. Shay will be greatly missed.

Shay is survived by his Parents Danny and Christy Stallings, Fair Grove, Mo, grandparents Jerry and Karen Lohr, St. Petersburg, Florida and Donald Stallings Fair Grove, Mo. Siblings Nickole Hanna, Tampa, Florida and Zayne Stallings, Fair Grove, Mo. Shay is also survived by a host of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends.

Shay is predeceased in death by a grandmother, Mary Stallings, 1996, an Uncle, Jerry Lohr, 2004 and a cousin, Joseph Jones, 2008.

Services for Christian Shay Daniel "Shay Boy" Stallings are set for Tuesday and Wednesday. The visitation will be Tuesday night from 6-8 at Greenlawn East. Greenlawn east is located just off of highway 65. In order to access Greenlawn you will exit off at Sunshine and make a right at Bedford (by Sam's club). Greenlawn is asking that we park on the Highway 65 side of the building.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon at the Fair Grove High School gymnasium. Regardless of how well you knew Shay we are inviting you to come celebrate Shay's life with us on Wednesday even if you only knew him through this blog. Shay's family has requested that service be kept casual. We are asking that everyone simply put on their purple. We want everyone to be comfortable and we want to celebrate in accordance to Shay's taste. Shay loved Fair Grove so it only makes sense that we surround him with the purple thunder.

The family will be wearing their Team Shay t-shirts. If you purchased a shirt I will have those available to you at school. If you have a Team Shay shirt feel free to wear that on Wednesday.

Initial Funeral Information

Don't know some of the specifics but wanted to go ahead and get some information out to folks since we have some that will be traveling.

The visitation will be held Tuesday night at one of the Greenlawn funeral homes. I will know the specifics of location and times sometime tomorrow.

The funeral will be held Wednesday afternoon at the Fair Grove High School gym. Shay's mom and dad felt that having the funeral in the gym was most fitting because of Shay's love for Fair Grove and the outpouring of support from the Fair Grove student body. Once again we have not determined a time but we will solidify that tomorrow as well. I do want to go ahead and start spreading the word to the fair Grove student body and the Fair Grove community about the funeral. We are going to take a little different approach than the norm. We really want to just celebrate Shay's life. Shay never really was one for dressing up so rather than getting all dressed up in our fancy pants we are asking that you simply pack the house in purple. Essentially we are asking the purple thunder to dress like they would for any sporting event. Now I guess all you okies who don't have purple can simply wear the Oklahoma Sooner crimson and cream, one of Shay's other loves ;)

If you are traveling from Oklahoma and need a place to stay please let me know and we will work on finding you a place. If you are looking for a hotel try to find something around I-44 and North Glenstone. This will put you in close proximity to both Fair Grove and the funeral home located in Springfield.

I will post the final times on Sunday. Thanks everybody!

Goodbye to a True Eagle Warrior

Dear Friends, Family, and Strangers,

Our little buddy Christian Shay Daniel Stallings went to be with Jesus at 8:30 this evening. Shay passed quickly with his family at his bedside.

I remember when I was coaching I would hear the words "its not whether you win or los but how you play the game." I thought to myself that has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. But now I know exactly what it means. Sometimes you can pour everything you have into preparing for a game and the results don't come out they way you like. Shay gave everything he had. He fought and fought and fought some more. Shay's mom and dad gave it everything they hand spending every waking moment at Shay's side. The student body, faculty, and Fair Grove community at large gave their time, money, and hearts. Likewise Shay's Moore, Oklahoma community gave everything they had helping support Shay and his parents while he was in Oklahoma. Shay's mom's Acosta Family gave everything as well.  Those of you reading this blog have prayed faithfully every night for Shay.

My point is this we can all rest in knowing we gave it all our. Shay fought like a champ and we were all there to help in some way. Great job team Shay. Through this we have all grown in our faith and we have grown as a family and we have grown as a school and community and we have grown as a body of believers. My pain is to intense to express but we all need to rest in knowing that like Shay we fought the good fight and there will come a day when we will stand with Shay next to our Lord and savior.

I will post funeral arrangements as they come available.  I do know that the services will be in Missouri.

God Bless

Story Time

We did not receive the results from the MRI tonight so there is not a lot to report. I want to take a few minutes to share a story with you. As we are now all in this together you know what we are experiecing right now. As I left Shay's room tonight something really neat happened.

I am continously amazed at the cast of characters God is using in Shay's story. He has used so many people in so many ways that I can't even describe. Tonight he used the most unlikely character to really enourage me in a time of need. As I was leaving the unit the ICU housekeeper approached me. She is an older lady who quietly comes in and cleans Shay's floor and then quietly leaves. She was very hard to understand but I was holding to her every word. She asked me are you that young mans brother pointing toward Shay's room. I said no mam that is my nephew. She said "well I just want you to know that I have worked in the hosptial for several years and I have never seen anyone go through what he has gone through. He is the toughest boy I have ever seen. I want you to know that God has his hands all over him. God is going to heal to him. I pray for that boy every night when I go home." We went on and had a conversation about Job and the trials he faced. Shamefully I never got her name but God used her tonight to lift my spirits. I don't know anything about this lady but I would ask that as you pray for Shay tonight pray for the Lord to bless the houskeeper from PICU in some way.

Friday will be a big day of news. Shay's vitals are stable and he looks great. He actually looks better than I have seen him look through this whole ordeal he just simply won't wake up. Please continue to pray for a postive MRI reading and for Shay to regain alertness. Blessing to all of you. 

Headed down for the MRI

We will be going down to the MRI in about 5 minutes..

Just wanted to let everyone know, will post more when we have some more information.

Thanks!

Thursday Dec. 17th... still waiting

Well, it's almost 5:00 pm and we are still waiting to hear from MRI to see if they will get him in today.  Shay is stable, he is off of all the blood pressure medicine and holding his own.  His heart rate is good and they have turned the ventilator down to 50% oxygen.  He is doing fine on the Prizma dialysis too.

There hasn't been much of a change, his feet moved during the night while Aunt Kelly was keeping watch over him, but the nurse has a big huge name for what it was and apparently, it isn't anything for us to get too excited about just yet.  One thing that did happen today, while the nurse was cleaning Shay's mouth with this sponge that has this yucky mint flavored stuff on it, he bit down on the sponge and kind of scrunched up his face, he did it again when she cleaned his mouth later on.  The nurse again told us that she is not sure if it was a reflex or if he just didn't like that sponge, but I am betting that he didn't like that sponge.  :)

If we do get to go down to the MRI later, I will post again.  In the meantime, please continue to pray for the whole and complete healing of Shay, mind and body.  Thanks so much!
Love,
Danny and Christy

Talk with the Doctors

Hey, it's Christy again.  Danny and I talked with the Doctors and here is what we know...

Shay did not wake up after his surgery on Monday, this could be due to the fact that when they did the dialysis last night they tested the fluids they pulled off of him and he still had quite a bit of the sedation medicine in his blood, in fact they found that he still had traces of other medicines that they had not given him since Friday.  Shay did have some type of siezure yesterday evening, from the chest down his body was shaking, and after they gave him medicine for siezures, it stopped.  Siezures are not a good sign, but since it was not a typical siezure that is normally seen in these cases, we are hopeful.  The CAT scan done yesterday did not show any swelling in his brain.  Shay made it through today's operation without any real issues.

Game Plan:  We wait.  We wait for Shay to go through about 48 hours on the Prisma Dialysis machine in hopes that the machine will clear most of the medicine from his blood so that he can wake up and the Dr.'s can evaluate his brain function.  We wait to see if he is stable enough to have the MRI done tomorrow.  This would hopefully give us a better picture of just what is going on in that beautiful head of his.  :)  We wait to see if the lower portion of his left lung will heal and re-inflate properly.  The next couple of days are all about waiting.

I think God may be testing our patients on this one, we have nothing to do for the next couple of days but wait, and yes, you guessed it, pray.  God is allowing us time to lift Shay up in prayer once again, and that is exactly what we are asking you all to do.  Pray for Shay's healing, his strength, that God will comfort him through this trying time.  Please pray for Shay.
Thank you all!
Danny & Christy

Out of Surgery

Well Shay has made it out of surgery and is on his way up to ICU. The surgeon stated that they did everything they needed to do and there were no issues with Shay during the surgery. There is still a small air leak and how this heals will depend on what Shay's body can do. Simply his repaired lung needs to inflate. We are now entering into a waiting game. In order to determine the level of the brain injury we will need to have an MRI. At this point Shay is not strong enough to go through that. For the moment just contine to pray for Shay to get stronger and pray that any brain injuries would be minimal.

Shay in Surgery

Shay has just went into the operating room. Shay experienced some leg twitches over night that appear to be some sort of seizures. The doctors told Danny and Christy that this is an indication that there is probably some brain damage. They are uncertain of the severity. They told Danny and Christy that they would not put Shay on the bypass machine if his hearts stops. So today becomes a very big day. In order to stay in the fight Shay's heart will have to make it through the surgery. I will post after the first update. Pray.

December 15th Update

Sorry for waiting so long to post again, but Danny and I have been up at the Hospital all night and most of today, just waiting.
Here is what is going on with Shay...

Since last night's surgery we have been waiting for Shay to wake up, this has not happened yet.  The Dr's don't know why exactly so they did a CAT scan of his brain today to look for any swelling that might have occured due to the CPR, the CAT scan did not show any signifigant signs of brain injury.  We were encouraged by this, although the Dr. did warn us that the CAT scan is not always the best way to view these types of injuries, an MRI would give us better information but Shay is just not stable enought to endure that procedure, so we can only go by the CAT scan for now.

So why hasn't Shay woke up from surgery?  They can't really say.  A person with normal liver and kidney function would most likly have woke up by now, but as we know, Shay's liver and kidney function is comprimised so they just don't know how long it might take him to metabolize the medicine from surgery.  His brain could be in a state of 'shock' from the trauma he went through yesterday and may just be protecting itself, or there could be some brain injury that the CAT scan did not pick up.  These are all explanations that the Dr.'s have given us.  Some other information about Shay's condition; one of his pupils is responsive, one is not, his Carbon Dioxide levels are high and his oxygen has been turned up to 100%, his potassium levels are very elevated.
Game Plan: they are putting Shay on the Prisma Dialysis overnight, this should help his potassium levels and make him more stable for surgery tomorrow which is the next step.  They will be taking him to surgery at 7:30 in the morning to remove the packing they left in his left chest last night to help with bleeding issues, check the lung to make sure it is sealed and then properly close his left chest.  They believe this should help the Carbon Dioxide levels in his blood.  We will also continue to watch Shay closley in hopes that he does eventually come around and wake up.

This is everything we know to date.  We will post throughout the day tomorrow as we get new information.  Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support.
We love you all,
Danny & Christy

Surgery is Over

They have finished with surgery, they removed the upper left lobe of his lung, the remaining lower left lobe is still infected but they are hopeful that medicine will heal this in time.  They were able to get Shay off the bypass machine and for now, he is holding his own.

The big test will come later tonight, the Dr.'s want Shay to wake up so they are not going to give him any sedation medicine.  They want to do some tests to see if he has suffered any signifigant brain injury while they were administering CPR.  Please concentrate your prayers on Shay's brain function.  Please Lord, continue to show us your miricles and preserve Shay's brain, keep him whole, show him your love.

This will be my last post tonight, I will follow up in the morning.  Thank you again for your continued prayers!
Christy

Prayers are needed

About 5:15 pm this evening the nurse came out and let us know that Shay was in full Code and they had shocked his heart and given him medicine, but they were administering CPR and doing all they could.  About an hour later she came back out to let us know that Shay was given CPR for about 40 minutes before they were able to get him hooked up to the Ekmo (bypass) machine.  He was having bleeding issues and they were trying to get his blood pressure stable and they would proceed with the lung surgery.
Our last contact with the nurse was about 30 minutes ago, they will be removing the upper lobe of his left lung, he is still having bleeding issues and they are going to attempt to get him off the bypass machine when they complete the surgery.

At this point, all we can do is ask for your continued prayers and support.  I will report again later once we get word that they are completed, it is going to be a very long night.

Second Surgery Update

Just got a call from the nurse, they have just finished up with the bronchoscopy and have just made their first incision.  They didn't have a lot to report except that so far Shay is tolorating everything pretty well so far.

Keep the prayers coming and I will continue to post with updates.  Thanks!

First Surgery Update

Just spoke with the nurse, they are still doing the bronchoscopy, (going into lungs with camera), they found A LOT of puss in the lung that was bubbling up.  Not exactly sure what to make of that just yet, but it's not good.
The nurse said that they were waiting on a special tool to be delivered from a neighboring adult hospital and when it arrived it was broken, so we are going to be a bit behind, but we have come to understand that when we are told 3 - 4 hours, it usually means add a couple of hours to that time.  We were prepared for that.

Please continue your prayers and I will post again as soon as we receive any news.
Thank you!
Christy

1st Update from Christy

This is Christy, I am filling in for Chris since he is working very hard today.  We have made it through our first hurdle today, they were able to do the CAT scan and could see what they needed to see without having to use the contrast dye.  This is very good news because the dye could cause his kidneys to shut back down and we just got them to start working the tinest bit, so this was very good news.  They believe that the chest tube is actually inside the hole in his lung and that is why the air is coming straight back out of it.  This could mean that the hole may not be as bad as they originally thought.  We won't know for sure until they get him in surgery.  The surgeon is going to clean out an infected area between his lung and chest wall, and then repair the hole in his lung.  We are hopeful that a repair will be all that is needed, but there is still the possiblilty that he could loose part of his lung.  Prayers, prayers, prayers!  Please continue to pray for Shay's lung and for God to watch closely over the Dr.'s during his surgery.

They had begun the hemo-dialysis after we got back from the CAT scan but they have stopped it and have told us that they should be up to get him to take him to surgery in about 30 minutes (around 2:15 p.m. CST).  I will post again as soon as we have more information.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers, we thank God each day for our loving family and friends and all of the prayer warriors out there.  You are all such special people, we couldn't imagine getting through these past weeks without you!
Thank you!!!  Christy

Surgery Update

Shay's surgery will be closer to noon so we will not know have a lot of updates right away. Here is what Shay's mom had to say this morning:

christinestallings said...

Good morning, it has been a long night. Shay really made me work for him last night, every 15 minutes or so, he had me scratching his head or rubbing his feet, he had a little trouble getting comfortable. The surgery has been moved back a little bit so that the Dr.s can do the hemo-dialysis on Shay as well as a bronchial scope to try and see the tear. Just spoke with the surgeon and they are taking him to CAT scan, then doing the dialysis, then the scope and then surgery. We have a busy morning. Please continue to pray for Shay and for the Dr.'s to guide them in helping him. Will keep you posted, God Bless! Christy

Emergency Surgery

Well the string of good days have come to an end and we have our backs to the wall again. I am going to do my best to explain what is going on but I don't have a firm grasp so I am sure Shay's mom may blog a response later that will provide more insight.

Things looked good this morning with his liver and kidneys but he was having a very hard time breathing. Shay's dad said he did not look good and was really laboring in his breathing. His latest X-Ray on his lungs showed that there was a tear in his lung. Shay will be going back down to the operating room in the morning. They are going to open him up and see what can be done. The doctors informed Shay's parents this morning that there is a chance they may have to remove part of the lung or worst case scenario all of his lung. I don't know if that is tomorrow or over time. This is obviously another major setback and we pray that God will see Shay through yet another major hurdle. Shay is a fighter but we are growing  concerned about the number of  procedures. Please be in prayer for Shay tomorrow as he undergoes surgery.I am understanding this situation to be very critical. My sister just told me that they were not allowed in the room to see Shay because his mom was not there. Typically they have been very open with incoming guests so I was a little taken back by that. Shay also has a high fever and his vitals have been unstable today. Thank you for the continued prayer.

December 11th

The morning started off a little rocky.  His left lung had air around it so they had to put in a chest tube. They got a lot of air and crud to come out which is good. He had hemodiaylisis  today. They put a catheter in to check his urine and they got some out. They said there is a slight chance that his kidneys may be coming back. Shay had physical therapy in which they worked him out pretty hard doing bench presses Coach O'Neal style. Shay's nurse said his muscles were popping out.

Next Wednesday will be big care meeting involving the cardiologist, kidney doctor, ICU doctor, social worker, and rehab doctor. In this meeting they will be talking about the expected outcomes. They will be talking about the expectations for his heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver and possible dates for starting rehab. This will be a big meeting and we need continued prayer for the healing of Shay's organs and his mental health. Shay is having a difficult time now that he is aware of the reality of his condition and is appearing to be a bit depressed.

I will probably be blogging every other day from now on unless significant news occurs. Just wanted everyone to know that nothing is wrong but as Shay's become more stable there is less to report.  

A Little Update

The main thing going on right now is Shay's infection with the catheter. They are going to try and treat this with an antibiotic. If this does not work they will have to pull it and go through the procedure again. This would not be the best case scenario because it would probably push his stay in ICU back two weeks. Danny met with the kidney doctor this morning and he explained some things with the kidneys. He basically stated that if the kidneys are not functioning with the next month and half then they will most likely not come back. Shay can live up to twenty years on dialysis but ideally we would like to see them just heal. If Shay becomes healthy and strong he could be considered for a transplant. I am not sure how all that would work but I know Me or Kelly would be happy to donate one of our kidneys if need be. Hopefully it will not come to that. I know I am still very hopeful that as Shay comes around more and more that we will see things improve. Shay's lungs are still messy and it looks like he will probably be with the trach for a while. It looks like Shay and family will be in Oklahoma for quite some time. The childrens rehab hospital that Shay will eventually go to requires a parent to be with the child through therapy for some reason. So what that means is Shay's dad will work with him through the day while mom works and then when mom gets off work she will come to the hospital and dad will pick up little brother. Fortunately they have found a church daycare that is going to watch Zane for a minimal cost. This is going to be a hectic time for Shay and family.

Holding Steady

There has not been a lot of changes since the last post. The catheter in his stomach tested postive for bacteria that is resistent to the to antiobiotics he is currently on. We are not sure what that means just yet except that that visitors have to wear gowns and gloves when they are in the room. Shay asked again today how long he would be in there and Shay's mom had to explain the rehab process again and one tear fell. Shay's mom said he is doing okay now.

The doctors discussed a bit of a time line with Shay's dad this morning. They said that if things continue to go good Shay could get out of ICU within a couple of weeks. Shay may not be completely off his machines at that point but he could still get out of ICU. Now the discouraging part is that after Shay gets stronger he will be moved to a rehabilitation hospel. They are expecting the stay in rehab to be a couple of months. That was the news that caused Shay to become a little upset. With that being said if I were a betting man I would bet that Shay will rehab a lot quicker than they are expecting but none the less Shay is looking at best case scenerio a couple more months in the hospital. Bummer I know but at this points I fill fortunate to have this problem.

On the Road

Shay has had another pretty good day. Shay is becoming aware that he has a lot of work ahead of him and he is trying to get a head start on things. He has been asking the nurses to help him exercise his legs. Last night they told him that he could not exercise his legs because it had not been long enough since his last workout. He reminded them again at 2:00 am that he wanted to exercise his legs. With a little help from the nurses Shay sat himself up in bed today. Shay's dad reported that it took all the strength that he had but he managed to get himself most of the way up.

Other than that there is not a lot to report. It looks like at this point from the what the doctors are saying that we are on the road to recovery. It will be a long hard road but we are on the road!

Praising the Lord

Shay's morning started off a little rough but the news has improved throughout the day. At the time we left Oklahoma Shay was experiencing high fever and what would appear to be anxiety. However his condition really improved throughout the day. Before we left Shay had convinced the nurse to give him some ice chips. The nurse just a day before told us that it would be a "quite a while before he could drink anything." Well Shay proved them wrong today. He first whispered the words water to the doctor and the doctor said do you want some water? Shay then thought he would push his luck and whispered "sprite." The doctor allowed Shay to have a drink and Shay swallowed just fine! Shay also had a popsicle and was sweet talking the nurse and his mom to let him have a sonic slushy in a few days. 

The most important news today to report is the biopsy report. The doctors have reported that the biopsy showed that his liver his healthy and not in failure!!!! His liver is very sick and enlarged with infection but doctors believe that antibiotics will heal it in time. Shay's bilirueben levels were down to ten today which is an extreme improvement. Just a few days ago they were in the thirties. Shay is off dialysis right now but there is a good chance he will have to go back on. Last night they moved him to a special bed that rotates him. This is to help with the bed sores that he has developed.

Shay has become more alert and consequently more anxious to get out. He is starting to ask more questions about what has happened and he is also wanting to get out of the hospital and home to Fair Grove. He asked his mom if he could be home by Christmas. Today Shay was also telling the doctor that he wanted to try walking. Shay then started trying to move his legs around like he was riding a bike to try to show the doctor that he was strong enough to walk. We have said this time and time again but he is such a strong kid.

This is spectacular news. Our hope is that there will be no more major setbacks or disturbing news from this point on. Shay has a long long long way to go but once again it looks like we have crossed a major bridge. Thanks for all the prayer.

Team Shay shirts will be in on Friday. The cost is $11. You can send payment to Christy Stallings 2809 Angela Francis Place, Moore Oklahoma, 73160 or if you are in the Fair Grove area you can pay Mr. Stallings.

Saturday Dec 5th

Shay is resting and his vitals are good. The experimental medicine given to lower the level of bilirueben in Shay's liver does appear to be working. Shay's bilirueben level was down all the ways to 15 today. It had been at 33. The X-Rays on his chest did not show any improvement in his lungs between yesterday and today. Shay is a lot more alert now and can answer all of your questions with a yes or a no. Eventually he should be able to whisper and maybe even talk as he adjusts to the trach. The biggest problem for Shay at this point is methadone withdrawals. Shay has been receiving so much pain medicine that his body is going through major withdrawals much like a drug addict would go through. This is causing Shay to be very sick to his stomach. On top of that he is still coughing up a bunch of crud so he is having to deal with some vomiting. All in all though Shay is doing very good.

In addition to praying for Shay's liver I want everyone to begin praying for Shay's mental health. Now that he is becoming more alert he is becoming more aware of his situation. Shay is not one that likes to be in the hospital but the reality is that he will be here for a long time. I am certainly not complaining because it is a great alternative to the unthinkable. However its going to be a mental battle for Shay so please pray for his mental health as well.

Shay was visited by friends from Fair Grove today and you can tell that this really lifts his spirits. The students at Fair Grove made Shay a video on Friday and we were able to play that for him yesterday and today. Shay's eyes got really big. I think that he was really shocked by the outpouring of support. I know everyone has heard me brag on the students of Fair Grove already but I am going to do it again. Fair Grove students and staff are simply the best!

Shay's Happy Birthday Video

Shay Whispers

Today was a relatively quiet day. Shay was pretty sedated and appeared to be quite comfortable. The doppler ultra sound results will be back tomorrow which will show how his blood is flowing to and from the heart and liver. The big biopsy test results will probably be back on Tuesday.

Shay and family recieved an unexpected guest today. Austin Miller was passing through Oklahoma and stopped in to see Shay. Danny and Christy were extremely happy to see another member of the Fair Grove community and enjoyed the visit.

Shay did have a few moments today where he would wake up and whisper to mom and dad. This is the first time in many days that mom and dad have been able to communicate in some way with Shay. One of those moments involved Shay waking up and saying "mom I lover you" only to fall right back asleep. Then later on Shay woke up again and mom told him that tomorrow was his birthday and his eyes got really big and then fell back to sleep again. Then when he woke back up he asked what day is was and mom told him that it was December 3rd and that he has been really sick but he is getting better and SHay shook his head yes. Shay then proceeded to go back to sleep again. Then when he woke up again he asked mom if grandma and grandpa really got him an ipod touch for his birthday. Mom had told him about the ipod a week ago when he was really sick and out of it. Apparently even though he looked like he was out of it he was very aware of what people were saying.

I think that is it. We are looking forward to a good weekend with Shay. Hopefully I will have some good moments to share with you later on this weekend. We will be on the road late tomorrow so there will not be a post for Friday night but I will get everyone updated on Saturday. Until then please pray with all your might for the healing of Shay's liver. Tuesday will be a big day.

Out of Surgery

Shay went through surgery this afternoon and it went well. He is stable right now and was asking for mom as soon as he got out (mommas boy). Shay did have some bleeding during the biopsy but they did get that under control by giving him four units of blood. They also put the peritoneal cathater into his stomach which will be used for dialysis beginning tonight. They successfuly got the trach tube in. The tube that they pulled out from the vent was very infected with brown smelly stuff. They are going to keep him sedated for 24 hours to keep his body still. They don't want him moving or coughing so that he can rest and heal. They are going to continue to suction out his lungs every hour. We will not know the results of the biopsy until probably Friday at the earliest. Please continue to prayer for that liver until then.

Shay's mom wanted to express a gratitude of thanks to her co-workers at Acosta foods throughout the United States. They have currently raised over $2800 in cash. Every Wednesday the company is having pot luck fundraiser dinners in which employees donate cash. Someone has agreed to pay $500 toward their electric bill, pay their car payments for the month of december, volunteered to pay their mortgage for January, provided them with a gas card, and purchased Shay's older sister a plane ticket to fly in over Christmas to see Shay. Acosta foods along with the community and school of Fair Grove have been a blessing in removing the financial burden associated with this tramautic time. It has allowed Shay's parents to be by his side without financial worries. Most importantly we want to thank Acosta Foods, the community of Fair Grove, and the entire blog team that have dedicated themselves to praying for Shay and encouraging the Stallings family.

Danny and Christy wanted everyone to know how grateful they are for all the financial gifts. Like myself they do not have the words to express how we feel. There are simply not words to explain. A close friend of mine gave me a good piece of advice and said sometimes you just have to graciously accept. Please know that we are eternally grateful to each and everyone of you who have given your money, your time in working to raise money, writing encouring words on the blog, and commiting yourself to prayer. My prayer is that you will be richly blessed in return. God bless all of you.

Lots to Report

Chest X-ray looked good today but Shay has developed pneumonia in one of his lungs. His white blood cell count was down today from yesterday so they think his pneumonia is getting better. The rash on Shay’s body is now mainly just on his legs. When the dialysis machine runs out tomorrow they are going to see if his kidneys will work on their own. They are also putting a new experimental medicine in his fluids that they are hoping will attach to the bilirueben in his liver and pull it out. This drug has mainly been used on people awaiting a liver transplant but it has only been used on people whose bilireuben levels are in the fifties. Shay’s is currently in the thirties. It has been very effective when used with people in the fifties to bring theirs down but typically it is not used under these conditions. They also stopped his benadryl and lowered his methadone so they are expecting him to be a lot more alert. They are going to go ahead and do a liver biopsy. To prepare him for this they are giving him plasma to help prevent bleeding issues that may arise. They are putting a new catheter in his stomach for a new dialysis machine. They are also going to put a trach in his throat to get the tube from the vent out of his mouth. All three of these procedures will be performed at the same time but we are not for sure when they are going to do this. They have to make sure his blood is clotting at the level they need to. The best guess is Wednesday or Thursday.

Shay was in very good spirits today. Mom always asks Shay “do you know how much I love you” and Shay responded with several head nods. The other highlight of the day was when Shay pushed his dad out of the way so that he could watch the basketball game on TV. I heard a great comment today that I wanted to pass on as well. During an admin meeting today my boss said that he heard a very fitting comment at church on Sunday. The comment went something like this “God sometimes waits for the impossible to show his mighty work.” That is good stuff.

I also wanted to pass on that Friday will be Shay’s 17th birthday. If you live in the Fair Grove area we will be leaving on Friday afternoon for Oklahoma if you would like to send cards. The other option is to mail them to the address below. I do believe that in some ways this is going to be one of Shay’s best birthdays ever.


Christian Shay Stallings
OU Medical Center/Children’s Hospital
ICU Room 9228, Bed A
1200 Everett Drive
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 73104