Much to the surprise of many people, there is a dodgeball league here in town. I’ve been playing the last few years, and although I don’t throw strong, I can usually be counted on for a game changing catch.
Until two weeks ago…
We were playing against a fairly agressive team with some great throwers. It was the second game of the night. I wanted to see if I could shake the confidence of one of their top throwers by catching a ball even though we had no teammates off yet (usually the advantage to catching is that the thrower goes out plus you get an out teammate on). I saw my opportunity, I went in for the high speed catch… and…
The ball had a bit of spin to it and although I usually follow it in to my torso the ball went off to the side a bit and I caught it in my fingers. My right hand immediately crumpled and I let the ball fall to the floor. This wasn’t the usual jammed finger, infact although the contact was with my fingers I could feel the pain in my hand.
I sat through the rest of the game, with only a small detour to go stick my hand in a snowbank (this however didn’t happen because we play in a elementary school in the evening and a janitor spotted me clutching my hand and offered me some ice from the teacher’s lounge). I drove myself home after. Then, after some contemplation I decided to go to the hospital, with a stop for a large tea first because I assumed I would be there for a while.
The wait wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was in and out within two hours. I got a kick out of the x-ray guy fast asleep in the x-ray room. Night time healthcare is awesome. The x-rays showed a fracture just below my ring finger knuckle. They splinted me up, told me to come back in 10 days, and sent me on my way.
hand spint = arm splint
The good news is that I have a lot of free time now. No more dodgeball, had to cancel out of my wednesday night fitness class (I am not ready for one-arm pushups yet), no snowboarding for a while, and the worst part… I’ve had to drop out of my band for a while. I am not skilled enough to play the trumpet with 2 fingers. The bad news is that with one hand it’s hard to capitalize on having lots of free time.
I think the worst part is explaining to people that I hurt myself playing dodgeball. One person asked me if I was a teacher. heh.
I am also paranoid now that I haven’t been drinking enough milk.
I went for my 10 day check-up, things are looking good and healing up. Should only be two more weeks in a smaller hand splint. The doctor advised me to try to avoid falling on my hand and punching anyone. Seems like sound advice.
Last year, my Mom broke her wrist one day when we were cross country skiing. She tells people that she broke it cross country skiing. She actually broke it in the parking lot, falling after losing her balance.
I hope you heal quickly!