After one full day without the halo, the pain has eased. She is still hurting in her neck where the halo-vest had been pinching a nerve but we are hopeful it will recede quickly. So far she has only had one pain pill, broken in half and taken at two different times. After getting her up and cleaning her pin holes, I felt bad and was curled up in bed until almost 3PM with a stomach ache and killer headache.
The doctor did give her another collar. He was originally just going to give her another set of pads but just gave her the whole collar. So, now we have two collars so she can shower in one and change into a dry one afterward.
Speaking of the first shower, she was pretty apprehensive about her head while taking the collar off to wash her hair. In the end, it was pretty simple. The pin sites need to be cleaned three times a day and he told her to wash her hair every day and to just use plain shampoo. I'm also massaging the pin sites so they do not adhere to the bone.
Pain medication is way down again, thankfully. Less is doing more for her at the moment, which is a plus. We are breaking the pills in half, except for the time-release one, which is a bad thing to do.
A few more thoughts from the doctor visit yesterday that I didn't think to post. I wish she could have seen him from the very beginning instead of the rigid and utterly clueless nurse practitioner.
First, when I asked the doctor if I could take pictures, he said it was an odd request and nobody had ever asked that before but he didn't see a good reason not to allow it.
Second, he said she would need to see the same nurse practitioner next time at the same old place. I'm not thrilled but she can't do much wrong at this point since the halo is already off. If we'd have listened to her, the halo would still be on! She didn't want to see Jan until March 16th! If the nurse had ever had to wear one of these, she'd be more than willing to work with a patient to get it off as quickly as safely possible.
Third, the doctor said she would need the collar for only a month when the NP had said it would be six weeks in the collar. Physical therapy will be after she's regained some muscle strength.
The doctor cleared her for light-duty if she felt like it. Her weight limit has been increased from five pounds to 10. She's still pretty weak and tires easily but I'm hoping to get her out of the house on Friday. It is supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow! The doctor said to walk as much as possible, it would be good exercise.
Finally, the doctor was surprised I wanted to keep the halo. I told them I was going to put it on eBay although it is generally instructed by a lawyer to retain all "evidence" until the claims are handled in case of legal proceedings. We haven't retained a lawyer and I hope it is not needed but that's no reason to be poorly prepared.
The doctor did give her another collar. He was originally just going to give her another set of pads but just gave her the whole collar. So, now we have two collars so she can shower in one and change into a dry one afterward.
Speaking of the first shower, she was pretty apprehensive about her head while taking the collar off to wash her hair. In the end, it was pretty simple. The pin sites need to be cleaned three times a day and he told her to wash her hair every day and to just use plain shampoo. I'm also massaging the pin sites so they do not adhere to the bone.
Pain medication is way down again, thankfully. Less is doing more for her at the moment, which is a plus. We are breaking the pills in half, except for the time-release one, which is a bad thing to do.
A few more thoughts from the doctor visit yesterday that I didn't think to post. I wish she could have seen him from the very beginning instead of the rigid and utterly clueless nurse practitioner.
First, when I asked the doctor if I could take pictures, he said it was an odd request and nobody had ever asked that before but he didn't see a good reason not to allow it.
Second, he said she would need to see the same nurse practitioner next time at the same old place. I'm not thrilled but she can't do much wrong at this point since the halo is already off. If we'd have listened to her, the halo would still be on! She didn't want to see Jan until March 16th! If the nurse had ever had to wear one of these, she'd be more than willing to work with a patient to get it off as quickly as safely possible.
Third, the doctor said she would need the collar for only a month when the NP had said it would be six weeks in the collar. Physical therapy will be after she's regained some muscle strength.
The doctor cleared her for light-duty if she felt like it. Her weight limit has been increased from five pounds to 10. She's still pretty weak and tires easily but I'm hoping to get her out of the house on Friday. It is supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow! The doctor said to walk as much as possible, it would be good exercise.
Finally, the doctor was surprised I wanted to keep the halo. I told them I was going to put it on eBay although it is generally instructed by a lawyer to retain all "evidence" until the claims are handled in case of legal proceedings. We haven't retained a lawyer and I hope it is not needed but that's no reason to be poorly prepared.
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