Five weeks since I lost the halo! It's gone by so fast.
I'm physically back at work now, which is nice. It's still another couple of weeks until I'm allowed to drive. That's not due to any lack of function. It's a legal thing-- insurance doesn't cover you until you're a month out of a neckbrace. Which I didn't know until I mentioned driving to my doctor-- I wonder if he would have even brought it up if I hadn't!
The follow-up appointment was pretty straightforward (apart from the four hour wait we had when they tried to jam every spinal patient in Perth into a single afternoon). I had some xrays shot in me, and all that could really be seen is that everything's in the right place. The doctor had me move my head up and down-- down's really good for me, but up is still pretty stiff.
I have to go back at the beginning of May to have some more x-rays done with the same movements before he'll sign off on physio. I'm not allowed to have any rough massage or physio, because he doesn't want anyone else to try force my neck, but am free to try and move it around under my own steam.
I mentioned last time I thought I had a quarter of my usual range of movement. I think it's now something like 80%. Left and right are almost to where they should be, down is excellent, and up is still stiff but getting better. I feel like I've got pretty good mobility back, but a couple of people have noticed that I do still tend to move with my torso. That might be as much psychological as physical at this point.
Scars are looking pretty good! They're a bit pink but mostly covered by hair. The scar on the left has bonded to underlying tissue and I've been rubbing it pretty hard every day to try loosen it up. Not sure if it's actually doing anything, but it makes me feel better to be doing something.
Apparently the dents in my head are here to stay. The doctor said it could be necrosis of fatty tissue due to that raging infection. They feel pretty deep, but the flesh on the skull is actually 5-8mm deep-- plenty of buffer before the brain case. He said it's definitely not the infection having turned my skull into mush. What a relief! I think there's a bit of nerve damage in the area because touching it seems to prickle the top of my skull. The other rear pin site is still a little tender, but otherwise ok. I'm happy that the two most problematic sites to heal are completely hidden by hair.
So that's the state of me! I'll check back in again after the first week of May.
I'm physically back at work now, which is nice. It's still another couple of weeks until I'm allowed to drive. That's not due to any lack of function. It's a legal thing-- insurance doesn't cover you until you're a month out of a neckbrace. Which I didn't know until I mentioned driving to my doctor-- I wonder if he would have even brought it up if I hadn't!
The follow-up appointment was pretty straightforward (apart from the four hour wait we had when they tried to jam every spinal patient in Perth into a single afternoon). I had some xrays shot in me, and all that could really be seen is that everything's in the right place. The doctor had me move my head up and down-- down's really good for me, but up is still pretty stiff.
I have to go back at the beginning of May to have some more x-rays done with the same movements before he'll sign off on physio. I'm not allowed to have any rough massage or physio, because he doesn't want anyone else to try force my neck, but am free to try and move it around under my own steam.
I mentioned last time I thought I had a quarter of my usual range of movement. I think it's now something like 80%. Left and right are almost to where they should be, down is excellent, and up is still stiff but getting better. I feel like I've got pretty good mobility back, but a couple of people have noticed that I do still tend to move with my torso. That might be as much psychological as physical at this point.
 |
| Foreheads hella messed up |
Scars are looking pretty good! They're a bit pink but mostly covered by hair. The scar on the left has bonded to underlying tissue and I've been rubbing it pretty hard every day to try loosen it up. Not sure if it's actually doing anything, but it makes me feel better to be doing something.
Apparently the dents in my head are here to stay. The doctor said it could be necrosis of fatty tissue due to that raging infection. They feel pretty deep, but the flesh on the skull is actually 5-8mm deep-- plenty of buffer before the brain case. He said it's definitely not the infection having turned my skull into mush. What a relief! I think there's a bit of nerve damage in the area because touching it seems to prickle the top of my skull. The other rear pin site is still a little tender, but otherwise ok. I'm happy that the two most problematic sites to heal are completely hidden by hair.
So that's the state of me! I'll check back in again after the first week of May.
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