Well... the first part of the day was good!

Lancer had his final race of the year on Feb 28. He did really well. He improved his time a lot and I couldn't be more proud of him! Before the race, Richie's Aunt Janet, my Dad, and I went to the top of the race course to wish him luck and he got embarrassed and said " Can't you guys go to the end of the race course with the other parents?"

He is only 7 and I am already embarrassing him....I LOVE IT!!!

Anyway, after the race we had lunch and Lancer had his usual. 2 large slices of pizza, a bag of Doritos, a kit-kat and Gatorade. Then he left his family to go ski with his team, and that is where the day starts to go sour.

At the end of the day, I am getting ready to leave and have a exhausted 3 year old sleeping on me in the lodge when I get a phone call from Richie. The connection was really bad and this is what I heard... "Lancer...hurt....ski patrol.....John Paul.....Life Flight...meet us at hospital" What? Apparently, Lancer was skiing with his group on the top of John Paul, heading over to the Women's Downhill. He went off of a jump he had never hit before, and didn't know it had a flat landing. So he fell, hurting his leg. Luckily, the ski patrol came up about a minute later and then they radio the team and Richie hears it and arrives a few seconds later. They decide because of the injury and how far they are up on the mountain, they have no choice but to use

Life-Flight.

So I go out and pack up the car, just in time to see the red helicopter flying over Earls Lodge on its way up the mountain. That is when I lost it. I couldn't stand knowing that it was on its way to pick up my 7 year old. Richie said it was pretty surreal for him too, having it land 50 feet away, blowing snow all over everyone.

The Life-flight crew load him up and because of weight reasons, wouldn't let Richie go, and headed to Primary Children's Hospital. Lancer was so brave and when he got there, let the nurses know he had been there before for a febrile seizure when he was a year old, and he was allergic to penicillin. He still wasn't crying, but was very upset that they had to cut off his racing suit and his ski team jacket! My dad and I arrived first, followed shortly by Richie, just in time to find out he had a broken femur and would need surgery. The Surgery had to be postponed however because of the HUGE lunch Lancer had consumed a few hours before.

Lancer had surgery at about 8:30 pm and they inserted a titanium rod down the center of his bone and a screw above his knee. The doctor mistakenly called the rod a nail,and Lancer freaked out, probably picturing the doctor hammering in a old rusty nail down his leg with a hammer! After surgery, he spent the night in the hospital, and got sent home the next day with crutches and a shiny new wheelchair!

He is still in quite a bit of pain, with Richie and I taking turns sleeping downstairs, tending to his every need. He took his first shower last Saturday, and the screams coming from the shower when Richie took off the top bandages, where reminiscent of the psycho shower scene. He still hasn't returned to school, but he are doing it from home for a while, until he gets the hang of using his chair on his own.

In 6-9 months, we will go back to Primary Children's, to get the rod taken out. He should heal completely, although the break was very high, it did not damage the growth plates. He should be back skiing next year. (Hopefully, not hitting any jumps!)

I am grateful for all of the cards, letters and kind words that have been given to us. I am grateful that his injuries were not worse, and that he was wearing his helmet.