You might be surprised to hear that Dallas has a great hockey program, with five Dr. Pepper Star Centers and a few more independent rinks across the metroplex. They have kids’ leagues, women’s leagues, and all levels of adult leagues; I have been playing in I-League (instructional—or not-awesome-yet) with True.com, my husband’s employer, for about 9 months.

In my third career game, I blocked a slap shot with my thumb and cracked it at the very base. I ignored my gut feeling that it was broken and played out the period. From that experience, I realized a one-handed hockey player is pretty useless and sat the bench the remainder of the game. Beers and ice did not dull the pain over night, and I confirmed my suspicions of a full-on break at the ER the next day.

Following up with the orthopedic specialist, I found out Doc is also a hockey player--and come to find out, he gets a lot of work from the Euless rink. It was nice to be treated by a fellow hockey player; upon asking when I can compete again, Doc said 6 weeks … but he’s not likely to follow his own recommendation.

So … this Friday’s game … during warm-up … I got taken out by a team member (not sure why I am admitting this publicly)… he lost an edge and slid into my feet, inverting me. I landed on my shoulder. Heard a little pop. “Manned” up and played three periods. Survived for a couple days on a left-over prescription from my wisdom teeth extraction before being urged by my husband to visit the hospital. Confirmed that that pop was the separation of my shoulder (torn ligaments). Now I get to follow up with the Doc again. My orthopedic specialist loves hockey.