Tough break, kid.

Ty, my five year old, has always been indestructible. Other parents cringe when Ty falls down, or takes a hit, assuming that he will be hurt. Instead, my little guy will stand up, say "I'm OK", and resume full speed play. I never worry about him getting hurt. Until now.

Saturday, I hired a neighbor kid to help me remove the wood shelving from my closet. We hauled a big, heavy set of shelves out to the back lawn. Ty grabbed a hammer and asked if he could destroy them. I said yes, and went back inside to get the next load, Ty happily pounding the shelves. Then we heard the screams.

When I got outside again, Ty was laying on the ground, clutching his right thigh. The shelves had fallen on him, and Mandy had dragged him out from under them. I pulled his pants off, and saw the classic signs of a femur fracture- the shortened thigh, externally rotated. I touched the thigh, and could feel the grinding of the bone fragments. A sick feeling welled up inside. I carefully picked up my son, and layed him on the back seat of the suburban. My helper for the day became my babysitter, and I drove him straight to my clinic. My prayers on the way were layered. "Please don't let it be broken. If it is broken, please don't let it be bad. If it is bad, please allow him to have a walking cast, not surgery or a spica cast. If it is surgery or a spica, please help me and Ty to cope with it."

Ty felt every bump in the road, and let out a wimper over each one, but bless his heart, he just toughed it out. His big concern was "Am I gonna get a shot?". When the x-rays, which you can see above, popped up onto the screen, I started to cry.

The Lord still watches out for my family. Dr. Wheaton, a gifted orthopedist, was in the clinic doing paperwork. He came down, peeked at Ty and arranged for anesthesia so he could be placed in the worst possible cast a five year old could ever have to endure. Becca came and sat with us while we waited for the OR crew to assemble, and I was allowed to be with Ty the whole time. Nate relieved my babysitter and he and the girls went to library to load up on books and videos for my now immobile boy. Becca arranged for several ladies in the ward to sew velcro into shorts and underwear to cover Ty's bottom half.

The poor kid will be in the cast for 5 weeks. The films after placement of the cast look really good-he should heal completely and do fine in the long run. He will not be able to stand, walk, swing, jump, wrestle, or any of the other main activities of his life. I feel for him. Yesterday, he sat on a chair in Becca's kitchen and longingly watched the other kids playing out in the backyard. It will be a long 5 weeks for the kid, and for his Dad. My layered prayer is being answered, with the help of friends and loved ones, we will cope with it.