How did this happen to you?
Fun answers: Happened in bed. Escalator accident. Sneezed too hard.
Reality: Fell off the end of a waterslide. I went down too slowly because I didn't do a run up, and I wasn't heavy enough, and it was too short for me to build up critical speed. Instead of flying off into deep water, I fell over the lip of the ramp directly onto my head in waist-deep water.
I was more shocked and surprised than in pain, but fortunately two legends with paramedic & surf life saving experience came running over and did exactly the right things.
1) They prevented me from moving.
2) They stabilised me by strapping me to a board.
3) They held my neck steady.
4) They called an ambulance.
I'm going to make a big call and say they are the reason I am doing so well today. They earned themselves a carton for sure.
At the time though, we all thought I had a little bump on the head and would be up and about in no time. It wasn't until the MRI four days later that we realised I'd really done a number!
What did you DO?
I fractured my T1 to T4 in my spine, as well as bulged some discs and damaged some ligaments. T1/2 (turns out they are developmentally fused in me) was fractured in two places. T3 and T4 got squashed down in the back. I did not damage my spinal cord which is downright miraculous and probably due to the excellent first aid received.
In doctor speak,
TLDR: Shit's all kinds of f'd up.
How do they put it on?
The halo is screwed into your head in four places. It doesn't actually screw into the skull, but presses very firmly (8 pounds of pressure) from four directions. If you were to look at my skull, you would only see the smallest little indents in the skull. It might sound like it's screwing through the bone, but it shouldn't be if they're doing it right.
I was awake and they did it from my hospital bed. They put a local anaesthetic in four places on my head. Then it gets pretty low-tech... two doctors basically screw it in with a screwdriver, on opposite opposing sides of your head (say, the front-right, and back-left). Then, when you think you can't handle the pressure any more, they switch to the other two sites. This is actually an improvement as it equalises the pressure on your head and you stop fearing your head is going to split in two (see: Game of Thrones, Season 4).
They gave me 12 hours with just the ring, then put the vest on. After that, I was allowed to sit upright. The next day after that, when I showed I could walk, they let me go home.
How do you sleep?
Actually pretty well! I have gotten used to the feeling of my head floating in space, and can have a full night's sleep. At the beginning I was lying on my back and waking during the night for a couple of hours. Now, I go to bed and can sleep right through the night.
The things that work for me:
- Lying on my side.
- Having the pillow a bit lower down my body.
- Mastering the art of rolling over. It's a full-body experience.
- Used to need a towel rolled up next to my cheek, but gotten past it now.
I still need more sleep than usual due to my bones healing... actually that's a cop-out-- now I just have an excuse for sleeping in.
How do you shower?
I wrote a post about this. Basically I hose myself down. LIKE AN ANIMAL.
How do you get dressed?
Loose clothing, stretchy neck holes, and pulling everything up over my hips. I have an undershirt which changes every couple of days. Hopefully it doesn't get too smelly.
What do you do all day?
I'm working from home! The commute is fantastic, but my coworkers suck.
My extremely generous workplace have been kind enough to work with me to determine what jobs I could do remotely. It turns out there are a number of things that I can do. However it is a bit lonely working in the home office so hopefully once I am mobile again, I will be able to return to civilization.
Before that, I watched a lot of TV shows, and a lot of movies. Probably 50% shows like House of Cards, and 50% shows like Law & Order: SVU. I had plans, like I was going to learn R programming and crochet a million things. Nope.
Can you drive?
No. I ~could~ but it would be incredibly unsafe since I can't turn my head to do the safety check.
How are you coping so well?
I don't think I am handling this any better than anyone else would in this situation. Things happen, and you just deal with it. Having a halo is so far from the worst case scenario. Breaking my back was bad luck, but everything else worked out the best possible way.
I'm incredibly lucky that...
How do you share ~special hugs~?
You just do whatever you are comfortable with. But don't let anyone pull you around by the bars!
How has this affected the other people in your life?
It has affected my parents because I've moved back in with them. They now have to deal with me all up in their grill and eating all of their food. But they love it. My Dad has been my main carer, in that he has been cleaning my pins the most. Despite his care, they got infected. I know this has been an awful task for him because the commentary has never changed. "Oh no, oh dear, this is terrible. I don't like this. This must hurt you terribly." It really doesn't, but there's no convincing him. Despite this, he has heroically and steadfastly volunteered to do it every single day he has been able! I'm thankful for his care and consideration, even if not for the commentary.
As for Greg, he has been great with coming up to see me, and picking me up to go to places. It has been challenging because we are both back with our parents again, and only see each other a couple of times a week instead of every day. I think we are both looking forward to the day I can be independent again. At least in the meantime he gets to borrow my car.
What's the worst thing?
Can't drive! Can't shower! Can't smush my face into a pillow! Can't hug! Have a shapeless body and greasy hair! Wah! So many things to whinge about!
What's the best thing?
People are super nice to you. And when you are in an argument, "But... I have a broken back." is an instant win. Apart from with Greg, which just goes to show that life goes on.
Fun answers: Happened in bed. Escalator accident. Sneezed too hard.
Reality: Fell off the end of a waterslide. I went down too slowly because I didn't do a run up, and I wasn't heavy enough, and it was too short for me to build up critical speed. Instead of flying off into deep water, I fell over the lip of the ramp directly onto my head in waist-deep water.
I was more shocked and surprised than in pain, but fortunately two legends with paramedic & surf life saving experience came running over and did exactly the right things.
1) They prevented me from moving.
2) They stabilised me by strapping me to a board.
3) They held my neck steady.
4) They called an ambulance.
I'm going to make a big call and say they are the reason I am doing so well today. They earned themselves a carton for sure.
At the time though, we all thought I had a little bump on the head and would be up and about in no time. It wasn't until the MRI four days later that we realised I'd really done a number!
What did you DO?
I fractured my T1 to T4 in my spine, as well as bulged some discs and damaged some ligaments. T1/2 (turns out they are developmentally fused in me) was fractured in two places. T3 and T4 got squashed down in the back. I did not damage my spinal cord which is downright miraculous and probably due to the excellent first aid received.
In doctor speak,
Forced flexion compression. There are fractures at T1, T3 and T4 with developmental interbody body bony fushion at T1/2.
In the cervical spine above the fracture, there is moderate nuchal muscle oedema from C2 to T1. There is facet fluid and capsular oedema on the left posteriorly at C6/7. There is less marked capsular oedema in the posterior right C6/7 facet. Low grade cervical disc bulging is present at C4/5, C5/6 and C6/7.
At T1 there is a compression fracture of the anterosuperior T1 vertebral body and a fracture through the left T1 supera-articular process. There is some prevertebral haemotoma at this level but there is no disc protrusion or cord impingement. T1 and T2 are developmentally fused.
Below the fusion there are superior endplate fractures of T3 and T4 with up to 20% loss of vertebral height contained to the anterior half of the vertebral endplates with no posterolateral injury. The mid and lower thoracic levels show no other abnormality. No intrinsic abnormality of the cervical or thoraric cord or canal stenosis is shown.
Comment: Complex injury with posterior facet capsule injury at C6/7 and adjacent nuchal muscle oedema.Anterior and posterior element T1 feactures in a conjoined T1, T2 vertebra. Superior endplate fractures T3 and T4. No canal stenosis or cord compression.
TLDR: Shit's all kinds of f'd up.
How do they put it on?
The halo is screwed into your head in four places. It doesn't actually screw into the skull, but presses very firmly (8 pounds of pressure) from four directions. If you were to look at my skull, you would only see the smallest little indents in the skull. It might sound like it's screwing through the bone, but it shouldn't be if they're doing it right.
I was awake and they did it from my hospital bed. They put a local anaesthetic in four places on my head. Then it gets pretty low-tech... two doctors basically screw it in with a screwdriver, on opposite opposing sides of your head (say, the front-right, and back-left). Then, when you think you can't handle the pressure any more, they switch to the other two sites. This is actually an improvement as it equalises the pressure on your head and you stop fearing your head is going to split in two (see: Game of Thrones, Season 4).
They gave me 12 hours with just the ring, then put the vest on. After that, I was allowed to sit upright. The next day after that, when I showed I could walk, they let me go home.
How do you sleep?
Actually pretty well! I have gotten used to the feeling of my head floating in space, and can have a full night's sleep. At the beginning I was lying on my back and waking during the night for a couple of hours. Now, I go to bed and can sleep right through the night.
The things that work for me:
- Lying on my side.
- Having the pillow a bit lower down my body.
- Mastering the art of rolling over. It's a full-body experience.
- Used to need a towel rolled up next to my cheek, but gotten past it now.
I still need more sleep than usual due to my bones healing... actually that's a cop-out-- now I just have an excuse for sleeping in.
How do you shower?
I wrote a post about this. Basically I hose myself down. LIKE AN ANIMAL.
How do you get dressed?
Loose clothing, stretchy neck holes, and pulling everything up over my hips. I have an undershirt which changes every couple of days. Hopefully it doesn't get too smelly.
What do you do all day?
I'm working from home! The commute is fantastic, but my coworkers suck.
My extremely generous workplace have been kind enough to work with me to determine what jobs I could do remotely. It turns out there are a number of things that I can do. However it is a bit lonely working in the home office so hopefully once I am mobile again, I will be able to return to civilization.
Before that, I watched a lot of TV shows, and a lot of movies. Probably 50% shows like House of Cards, and 50% shows like Law & Order: SVU. I had plans, like I was going to learn R programming and crochet a million things. Nope.
Can you drive?
No. I ~could~ but it would be incredibly unsafe since I can't turn my head to do the safety check.
How are you coping so well?
I don't think I am handling this any better than anyone else would in this situation. Things happen, and you just deal with it. Having a halo is so far from the worst case scenario. Breaking my back was bad luck, but everything else worked out the best possible way.
I'm incredibly lucky that...
- I broke my back where I did (T1-T4-- the most stable part of the spine).
- There was no spinal cord damage.
- Skilled people came to my rescue at the time and prevented further damage.
- I have such a great support system in my mum, dad and sister, my extended family, my boyfriend and his family, my friends and my workplace.
- I live in a country that has a fantastic public health service (we complain about it a lot, but the orderlies, nurses and doctors couldn't have been more reassuring).
- that I didn't cancel my health insurance when I originally intended to!
- I'm not suffering any pain or discomfort beyond simply wearing the halo. Which isn't a barrel of laughs, but at least I'm not bed-bound.
How do you share ~special hugs~?
You just do whatever you are comfortable with. But don't let anyone pull you around by the bars!
How has this affected the other people in your life?
It has affected my parents because I've moved back in with them. They now have to deal with me all up in their grill and eating all of their food. But they love it. My Dad has been my main carer, in that he has been cleaning my pins the most. Despite his care, they got infected. I know this has been an awful task for him because the commentary has never changed. "Oh no, oh dear, this is terrible. I don't like this. This must hurt you terribly." It really doesn't, but there's no convincing him. Despite this, he has heroically and steadfastly volunteered to do it every single day he has been able! I'm thankful for his care and consideration, even if not for the commentary.
As for Greg, he has been great with coming up to see me, and picking me up to go to places. It has been challenging because we are both back with our parents again, and only see each other a couple of times a week instead of every day. I think we are both looking forward to the day I can be independent again. At least in the meantime he gets to borrow my car.
What's the worst thing?
Can't drive! Can't shower! Can't smush my face into a pillow! Can't hug! Have a shapeless body and greasy hair! Wah! So many things to whinge about!
What's the best thing?
People are super nice to you. And when you are in an argument, "But... I have a broken back." is an instant win. Apart from with Greg, which just goes to show that life goes on.
I thanks so much for sharing your experience with the halo brace. I’ve been wearing mine for 10 weeks tomorrow and hope to have it off in another couple of weeks. It really is an amazing piece of technology and people cannot believe I can sleep in it let alone go for walks, do some shopping and a bit of cleaning, cooking and socialising. Missing my golf tremendously but extremely happy I’m up and about. The guy that looks after me and my halo is fantastic. After y fortnightly shower he changes my linings, gives me a great towelling down and tightens all my screws to make me feel freshened up and comfortable. Does every halo wearer get this attention or am I just lucky? All the best with your continued return to normal life and than
ReplyDeleteKms again for your reassurance that it all gets bette given time. Lee Ellis