Here we are at day 38 with 36 to go. We are halfway if the CT scan is on Feb 26th and shows sufficient healing! The end is in sight.
Day 36 was the first night she tried to sleep without the time-released pain pills. She slept OK but not the whole night. The stiffness at the lower lumbar near the pelvic junction is still a problem. The majority of pain has moved to her lower back where we suspect the lack of a proper fit on the vest is causing secondary pains that have nothing to do with the accident. These pains only developed after about day 30.
She can lay on her left side but not her right due to terrible neck pain. Again, this thing is not immobilizing her neck like it should. In my opinion, pain is an indication of stress due to a lack of immobilization.
Day 37 was the first night she tried to sleep in the bed with pillows propping up her back and head. There was some success but she woke up as stiff as ever, especially in her neck. She can get out of bed by herself but I'm not sure we've found the solution yet.
The pin sites are looking better after several days of applying sparing amounts of Neosporin. I clean them completely of any old ointment at night to allow them to air and then apply a fresh amount in the morning after the peroxide cleaning. This has been keeping the scabs from caking around the pins. I read and agree that we do not want the skin to grow to the pins and start trying to cover them. They are not permanent and we want no adhesion when they come out. The one will most certainly leave a pencil eraser sized scar. As she says, "That's why I have bangs."
Another interesting development is the half-dollar sized bald spot on the back of her head where she actually contacts whatever she is leaning or laying on. No other part of her head can make such contact so this single place takes all the contact stress of her head and the extra weight of the halo.
Things have progressed well through the first four weeks. At this point, we are a bit stagnant. The improvements come slower now and the changes are not all good, such as the low back pain. Things aren't bad but they certainly won't be great until the halo comes off. I suspect this is as good as it gets until that day. Then we start a whole new phase with the neck brace and physical therapy.
Other than walking in stores, I can't get her to do much exercise. She had me get the two-pound weights shortly after the accident but she's yet to use them. I know she reads this. Perhaps it will incentivize her to use them to strengthen her arms and upper body a bit. Her weight limit is five pounds in case anyone is questioning the wisdom of this. The nurse said she could do this as well.
We went looking for some long sleeve v-neck t-shirts. Colors would be good as the joke is what color shirt do you want today, white or white? So far we haven't found any. We can get long sleeve regular t-shirts or v-neck short sleeve t-shirts in colors but not both long sleeve and v-neck, white or colors.
We settled on supporting my company by buying some jersey shirts, one with black sleeves and one with red sleeves. Not being v-neck means we will have to slit them a bit deeper down the back but it will work out. She says she hates cutting up a perfectly good shirt but it is nothing compared to what the halo costs. In relative terms, it would take a thousand shirts to come close to the cost of the medieval torture device modern medicine has concocted.
Day 36 was the first night she tried to sleep without the time-released pain pills. She slept OK but not the whole night. The stiffness at the lower lumbar near the pelvic junction is still a problem. The majority of pain has moved to her lower back where we suspect the lack of a proper fit on the vest is causing secondary pains that have nothing to do with the accident. These pains only developed after about day 30.
She can lay on her left side but not her right due to terrible neck pain. Again, this thing is not immobilizing her neck like it should. In my opinion, pain is an indication of stress due to a lack of immobilization.
Day 37 was the first night she tried to sleep in the bed with pillows propping up her back and head. There was some success but she woke up as stiff as ever, especially in her neck. She can get out of bed by herself but I'm not sure we've found the solution yet.
The pin sites are looking better after several days of applying sparing amounts of Neosporin. I clean them completely of any old ointment at night to allow them to air and then apply a fresh amount in the morning after the peroxide cleaning. This has been keeping the scabs from caking around the pins. I read and agree that we do not want the skin to grow to the pins and start trying to cover them. They are not permanent and we want no adhesion when they come out. The one will most certainly leave a pencil eraser sized scar. As she says, "That's why I have bangs."
Another interesting development is the half-dollar sized bald spot on the back of her head where she actually contacts whatever she is leaning or laying on. No other part of her head can make such contact so this single place takes all the contact stress of her head and the extra weight of the halo.
Things have progressed well through the first four weeks. At this point, we are a bit stagnant. The improvements come slower now and the changes are not all good, such as the low back pain. Things aren't bad but they certainly won't be great until the halo comes off. I suspect this is as good as it gets until that day. Then we start a whole new phase with the neck brace and physical therapy.
Other than walking in stores, I can't get her to do much exercise. She had me get the two-pound weights shortly after the accident but she's yet to use them. I know she reads this. Perhaps it will incentivize her to use them to strengthen her arms and upper body a bit. Her weight limit is five pounds in case anyone is questioning the wisdom of this. The nurse said she could do this as well.
We went looking for some long sleeve v-neck t-shirts. Colors would be good as the joke is what color shirt do you want today, white or white? So far we haven't found any. We can get long sleeve regular t-shirts or v-neck short sleeve t-shirts in colors but not both long sleeve and v-neck, white or colors.
We settled on supporting my company by buying some jersey shirts, one with black sleeves and one with red sleeves. Not being v-neck means we will have to slit them a bit deeper down the back but it will work out. She says she hates cutting up a perfectly good shirt but it is nothing compared to what the halo costs. In relative terms, it would take a thousand shirts to come close to the cost of the medieval torture device modern medicine has concocted.
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