Broken wrist is keeping me benched… permanently and Mason Dixon plays Hanover

It’s been a long time since I wrote that I broke my wrist in April during roller derby practice with my old team the Hanover Black Rose Rollers. I actually ended up leaving the team earlier this summer. I realized that even when my wrist healed it would take a long time, if ever, before I would be able to take another hit from a derby girl.
Even now, over three months later, my wrist still hasn’t completely healed. I’m not able to grip things tightly with my left hand or do a push-up. I can’t touch my left thumb to my left pinky. Because of this, a hand and wrist doctor I met with during vacation in July requested that I have an MRI.
An image from my MRI pictured at left

I had my MRI appointment at the OSS here in York. I was put in the huge machine, wrapped in a sheet, with a restraint keeping my broken wrist from moving. I actually found the humming from the MRI machine relaxing and feel asleep during the hour-long scan. I got my results a few days later. The MRI revealed that I had a lot more problems than originally suspected.
While I initially was told I had broken my scaphoid bone, the MRI results showed that I had healing contusions on the base of my radius and first metacarpal, meaning I probably broke those bones too. I also had healing tissue on my trapezoid, so there was probably a fracture there as well.
Out of curiosity, I had a family friend who is a doctor take a look at the images from my MRI. He told me that at the time of the MRI, I had extensive bruising, edema, and inflammation throughout the hand involving the radius (one of the big arm bones). The tendons on the back of my hand took a heck of a hit especially around the base of the thumb. I was told that my tendons were very inflamed, bruised and edematous (filled with fluid). My family friend wrote to me in an email, “It in a way describes a very traumatic event to the left hand from the thumb and first finger where the hand was bent severely backward severely stretching the tendons of the left hand. The kinetic energy stress was transmitted all the way to the arm bone of the radius and the weakest link was the scaphoid which broke and the base of the thumb which probably broke. It is remarkable to me there is so much remaining edema, bruising and inflammation.”
I’m still dealing with all of these issues. The last time I saw my doctor at the OSS, he told me that a shot of cortisone would help with my tendon pain but I didn’t notice any positive effects other than some initial numbness.
Last week I had a dream I was roller skating. I had so much fun and felt so carefree. But for now, my skates are hung up, my derby pads stacked neatly away. I would love to skate again once my wrist and hand are completely healed but playing derby might never happen again. The thought of being knocked down by hard hitters like the Black Rose Rollers’ Olive Pain or Charm City Roller Girls’ ThoroughBled makes me pretty damn nervous. I have utmost respect for what these ladies and their teammates do though.
I will still be covering area teams and their events as a fan. If you have any roller derby news, please send it my way at eclare@ydr.com.
Want to see some derby action this weekend?
Check out the Black Rose Rollers vs. Hagerstown’s Mason-Dixon Roller Vixens. The game is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Aug. 6 on the Mason-Dixon’s turf in Hagerstown, Maryland at Turners Skate Palace,17333 Virginia Avenue. Admission is $7 for for 12 years old and up, and free for those aged 11 and younger. VIP tickets $12 at the door, or $10 online. Beer and refreshments will be sold. Bring your own chairs or blankets for a track-side view. RSVP on Facebook. Who do you think will win?