Two Mondays ago, I went to water polo practice at Emma Hood Pool, adjacent to Alameda High School. I play with the masters’ team. During the scrimmage someone grabbed my fingers and twisted them the wrong way. Pop! I ended up with a broken hand (see X-ray). It hurt!

I didn’t think it was broken at the time. I figured maybe some ligaments have been stretched or torn. I iced it up that night and then went to Kaiser Oakland on Tuesday when it still felt wrong. After a visit with a GP and a trip to radiology for an X-ray, I got the news through a radiology tech that I had “a little bit of a break.”

Eliza had come along with me so we headed upstairs to orthopedics. She took pictures. That’s where I first saw the X-ray. I’m no expert, but that looks like more than a little bit of a break.

The orthopedist looked over the X-rays, told the tech to put me in a brace for a week and sent me on my way.