September 15th-ish, 2012 - Diagnosis

Here I am again out climbing because that is all I ever do... No wonder I can't heal, I haven't had any significant rest since day 1, five years ago! This time its a V7 with the crux being powerful mantle off a right jack-hand. I really shit the bed on this one... It hurt. alot. But because i'm a finisher, I tried a few too many times and got it done. In retrospect, this was a bad idea. However, this was when it hurt enough to finally get it checked out. I stopped climbing (for real this time) for a few weeks and it didn't get better, so I got an MRI.

This is not my actual MRI, because I am too lazy to photoshop in any fancy arrows like this one has.. but you get the idea. From this angle you can really see how much that hook helps protect the carpal tunnel. I was worried at this point. 

Oh, also I am a testicular cancer survivor as of about 2 years ago... This hamate hook fracture, in my mind, was WAY more serious. Rock climbing is my life. You don't see Daniel Woods or Chris Sharma out there missing any hamate hooks... How will this effect my climbing and progression? Losing a nut is actually not big deal. I was climbing full strength 6 days after that surgery. Losing a link in the chain of the rock climbing machine? That scares me.

So now what do I do? 

Heres the 3 options:

1. Do nothing. - as climber you can not just do nothing. The hamate hook is floating around in there, and its rough edges are rubbing directly on your ring and pinky finger tendons. It will continue to do so until they rupture, which has happened to people who don't do anything athletic.

2. Screw it back on. - Duh! That is the obvious solution for just about every other small bone fracture in the history of orthopedics! Sorry climbers, not this time. If you want it screwed on, you'll have to goto Switzerland and be someone's guenea pig. Over there all they have to do is drill in from the back side of your hamate bone into the hook, cinch it down, and three weeks later you'll be full strength ready to go! In the US they won't do it because it is too dangerous to risk missing the hook and damaging the ulnar nerve that sits too close. That means your pinky and ring fingers would be paralyzed. I have read about some places in the US going in through the palm instead, and screwing it on with headless screws. This way they can move the ulnar nerve, and also have nothing protruding from the hook. Good luck finding a surgeon close by who will do this one, but in my opinion it would be the best solution. Problem with this - after being fractured for so long, the hamate hook will loose blood supply, it is not always possible to reattach. Most likely, in my case, It would not have reattached.

3. Take it out. - Sounds pretty barbaric, yeah? If something is broken, rip it out. Since this is basically the only option, I had to accept it.