Brave in the Cave

So Pilot went on his Scout Camp this weekend and had a blast! They went to the Lava Tubes, he went there last year with the Scouts and was hoping they would go again. So off they went Friday afternoon. It was very cold, windy and snowy but inside the tubes, (the caves) it was not windy. It was a balmy 27 degrees at night, when they went to bed.

They had trouble keeping their water for their hot chocolate from freezing, but hey, what a wonderful experience learning about survival in the harsh winter weather.

The guys went hiking in the snow, snow boarding and sledding down the volcano sides, cave and tube exploring and soaking in the hot springs. They always have a great time.

On Saturday morning, while most of the camp was still sleeping, Pilot, another Scout and an adult leader went snowboarding and sledding. Pilot had a wonderful first sled ride down the Volcano, it was so fun he went up for another ride. This time he sat in the sled and held on to the sides with his hands. However the ride was not as fun, this big squarish boulder hid itself under the snow right under Pilot's path. The sled and Pilot's right hand hit the rock and pushed it out from under the snow out of their way. Unfortunately Pilot's hand took the brunt of the impact and hurt like heck. His decided to let his hand rest. He knew he had bruised it.

So he said he was done for the day and went back to camp. He descended into the lava tube and packed up his stuff. Thank heavens he had a buddy who could help stuff his pack and sleeping bag. He did most of the work himself and asked for help when he needed it. Then he and a buddy took their stuff upside and packed it in their vehicles. Then it was clean up time. Pilot and another Scout cleaned and packed up the kitchen that was upside. Downstairs in the cave, the others were cleaning up their sleeping campsite. I'm glad he was able to stay upstairs and not have to descend into the cave with his sore hand.

When Pilot got home, at nearly 5pm he was pretty sure he had sprained it. So because it was very swollen, we decided to have it checked. So off he went with his dad and sister to Insta Care. After a check of an Xray, they found that Pilot did indeed injure his hand. He had two broken bones! He truely was my Brave in the Cave son. Here are photos of his x-rays, I will doctor them up after church.

To be completed later....................

Well it is later. However, I can not get the printer program to load on my new laptop, so I am not able to edit the photos yet. I don't have another program I know to do so. If paint can do it, I just don't know how to use paint. But I used it enough to label a photo, not crop it. So here is the one photo I labeled. Click on the photo to enlarge it and to read the notes.

The guys at church were all surprised to see that Pilot with his arm in a sling and his hand bandaged up. The leaders were all amazed that it was really broken because he did not complain much at all and did not even try to get out of any of the work. They all figured he was bruised and going to be fine. A couple of the leaders asked him if he had a good time, Pilot said Yes! Then I asked him what was his favorite Scout trip and he said this one! He was able to bring home a reminder of his trip. So this trip will be in his present memory for several weeks. He came home with a trophy, another friend said.

Hopefully he will get into see Dr. Mitch Larsen tomorrow or when Mitch thinks the swelling should be low enough for his hand to be wrapped in a cast.