This morning I awoke to the most excruciating pain since the accident. I screamed out to mindy thinking that my pins had to much pressure and cracked my skull. "My pins just cracked my skull. Call 911 now!!". Meanwhile Mindy was in tue bathroom throwing up. She had become sick overnight and spent most of the morning in the bathroom. She came running in to the bedroom to me crying out in pain and our daughter Alex screaming from me waking her by yelling. In a panicked voice she asked what happend. I yelled out again that my skull just cracked.
Woodinville firefighters arrived in 3 minutes. It felt very reassuring knowing they got here so fast. They then had to wait till AMR came to transport me to harbourview. The long ride went by quickly but very painfull. Every bump n the road resonates through my head. Being strapped down to the wood back board is not very comfortable.
Still not knowing if my skull has cracked or not we were seen by the ER docs. Given the delicate matter involved we had to wait till the spine specialist was available. We got xrays done and finally find out what was going on. The very loud cracking sound I heard and felt in my head was not my skull cracking. What it was was the back two pins had slipped and moved. All of the pins are supposed to be torqued down to 8lbs per inch. They were all at 3-4 lbs. They did not have an explanation for me as to why they loosened so much. We had just had appt. on friday and they checked them all. As a result of this occurring it made the pins scrape my skull as they moved up my head. This pain was so intense that nothing they gave me in the ER could take it away. After knowing that my neck was not in jeopardy of getting more injured and was stable they sent me home.
So now not only do I have to deal with the pain of my broken neck but add to that the injury sites of the pins scrapping my skull as well. It feels as though I have to start all over again. I was doing so well everyday before this. My pain level was manageable daily with less pain meds. Now I am going to have to take even more pills again.
I had the same experience, my friend. I am currently in a halo for an accident May 18, 2013. I broke my c-1 in 2 places and fractured 4 other vertebrae. I was doing very well until 3 weeks into the recovery. I stood up from the couch and although I was taking MS Contin & Dilaudid (feeling no pain) I heard a "breaking" noise come from the left side of my head and a tremendous crushing pain sensation was in the area of my pin sites. It felt just as you say. "My skull has cracked". It's the first thought. That is exactly what it feels like. I rushed to the bathroom to check my halo in the miror. I could immediately see that the halo had shifted closer to the left side of my head. I was able to physically prove it since now the back side of the halo on the left side was touching my scalp. It wasn't like that before and I could not even fit a Q-tip into the space where the rear pin was located now. It was around 8 at night. I decided to wait a couple hours in case I was over reacting. I hate hospitals, which is ironic since I work in one. But, after four hours of steady pain on the left side of my skull, we decided to go the the ER. Waited 4 more hours to get an x-ray and a spinal doc to verify the skull is fine. The pins had loosened and the halo had shifted. This caused the scraping you speak about. It has to this point been one of the most painful experiences bar none. I am so glad to see you sharing your experience with the world. You are doing a great service. - Word to the wise: stay vigilant with your halo maintenance. Keep your bolts tight! Cheers
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