Scars and Broken Bones

Here's a fun topic: Let's all talk about broken bones, scars or other notable injuries that we've had. I'll start. These are in somewhat chronological order.

Broken Collarbone - I broke my right collarbone when I was playing football in my neighbors' driveway. I was running to catch the ball, slipped, and must've landed on my right shoulder. **SNAP** Mostly I just remember the pain. The bone snapped clean. The doctor had to set it by hand, and I didn't get any pain killers. Yeeesssh. I must've been about 7 or 8 years old. I had to wear this funky cast around my shoulders. It was really hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in for a while. I still have a know on my collarbone to this day.

Disclocated Pinkie - I was in middle school and playing a game of pickup basketball. I jumped up with my right hand to rebound the ball, someone tipped it, and it came down straight on the end of my pinkie. The middle knuckle joint popped out of place and suddenly my pinkie was pointing awkwardly away from my ring finger. I quickly grabbed my pinkie, and thankfully it spontaneously popped back into place. I had to wear a splint for a couple of weeks.

Broken Wrist - This one happened when I was senior in high school during baseball practice. After taking batting practice, I had to run the bases and slide into second and third. When I slid into second, I landed awkwardly on my right wrist. It hurt, but I kept on going and slid into third. This time it REALLY hurt. I got some ice and sat out the rest of the practice. After I drove home (with one hand - thankfully it was an automatic transmission!) my mom took me to the ER. Yep, it was broken. Thankfully it was just one of the small bones in the wrist itself, but the next day it hurt like a son-of-a-gun. Man, I really remember that pain. I missed the second half of the baseball season, but I came back and was able to pitch in the playoffs.

Sebaceous Cyst - I had a benign cyst removed from the middle of my back that left about a 2 inch scar on my back. The night after I had the procedure done, I went out drinking with a buddy and we drive the little go karts at a local Scandia. When I got home, my incision hurt quite a bit and it had bled enough to leave a nice red spot on the back of my shirt. Not my smartest move...

Disclocated Kneecap - My buddy and I were goofing around with firecrackers in his driveway; the same driveway we were playing in when I broke my collarbone. I lit the fuse of a firecracker, backed away, and the back of my right knee hit the bumper of one of the cars in the driveway. I must've hit it just right (or wrong) because it caused my kneecap to dislocate to the side of my knee. My parents weren't home (they were in the Delta on their boat) so my oldest sister called the EMTs and they came out. They diagnosed the problem, put me on a backboard, and put me in the back of our station wagon so my sister could drive me to the ER (anything to save the cost of an ambulance!) It was a long, bumpy and painful drive. In the ER, the doctor put my kneecap back in place by just straightening my leg. It popped back into place, and for an instant I was in excruciating pain...but then it was better. I still had some torn cartilage or ligaments or something, as well as a small bone chip, so my knee swelled up to the size of a cantaloupe and I had to wear a big brace on my leg and walk on crutches for a little while. I also got to enjoy several visits to the physical therapist to strengthen my leg since the quad muscle had atrophied quite a bit.

Skin Cancer - About six years ago I had a benign cancerous growth removed from my forehead just above my left eye. Since I had neglected to go to the doctor to get it checked out when it was relatively small, it had grown to about the size of a dime. Kristen and I got to spend all day at UCSF in San Francisco while they scraped out all of the cancerous cells. When the scraping was all done, I was left with a hole about the size of a half dollar. A plastic surgeon sewed my head back together, and now I'm left with a 2 inch scar above my eye. For a couple of years, my eyebrow was pulled up like I was pondering a difficult question. It's normal now, and the scar doesn't look too bad. I don't even notice it anymore.

Those are the biggies. I've probably broken a toe or two as well, but I don't really count those. There are also the countless scrapes and bruises from when I was a kid as well as the bloody knees from playing softball.