Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God he's Free at last!
This evening Rob Yang took another step in his recovery by having his halo removed.
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all.

Thanksgiving has arrived!!!

Right Freaking on!

Go Rob!!!!

Rob,

Kick Ass!

That's from Eric (big boned) Cartman and myself.

Right on, hope you have a Happy Holiday Rob

Glad to see you coming along well Rob. Hope to see you out where you like it soon. Best wishes.

Thanks Dan for being there for me, and thanks to everyone else for the good wishes

My sister, brother-in-law and neice also accompanied me - it was our first 'family outing' in about seven years. Gene, you are right, Hana Mei pretty much stole the show

I also asked my neurosurgeon, Dr. Martinez (the older guy in the white coat in the left pic), a number of questions :

- when can I go cycling again ? Let's talk about this at your follow-up appointment in 3 months... (that would be the end of Feb '08 )

- when can I climb again ? 9 months (He initially said one year, but then said really 12 months from the date of injury, 3 months ago).

- does the hardware ever need to come out ? There's a plate in the front fusing c5-c7, which is permanent. The rod in the back fusing c5 - t1 could come out in about a year - we can talk about it then.

Apparently hiking is still ok, but I'm not sure if there is a restriction on pack weight, etc. - I'll ask him in Feb. and see if it has anything to do with the vertebrae being fused and still knitting (if that's the right word).

Thanks Keith for suggesting that I send him a copy of the pic of me hiking in the halo - he really appreciated it.

Gareth, I will try to scan the films for you to look at sometime - you might get a kick out of them

Happy t-day everyone

Congratulations!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dingus Milktoast wrote:Something I been festering on rob...

did they use a torque wrench on the halo bolts? Were they stuck? Did he use a Craftsman ratchet wrench to bust em loose? Have to let some oil soak in to 'loosen em up?'

These are the technical questions that drive nerds crazy?

Were they squeaky coming out? Did you save them? Are they rusty??????

How long will you remain 'screwed up' in the head?

REI has a sale going on btw. Not on the rentals though, lol.

Cheers
DMT

I kept the halo ring, mostly made of carbon graphite with four sharp titanium pins, and also the tool kit (the orthopedic tech said it would make a good nut tool )



Before they took the ring off Dr. Martinez warned me ahead of time and said 'this will hurt'. I guess for some people it stings as the pins are unscrewed. I kept my pins very clean so this wasn't really an issue. I was definitely not enjoying the procedure though (see my expression in pic on left )

No squeaking, no oil, no rust. The pins are apparently set normally to 16 inch-pounds of pressure against the skull, at a depth of about 1/8 inch if I remember right.

Me screwed up in the head ?! Nah, can't imagine such a thing I think at the moment I need more gear like I need ... a hole in the head (ba-dump-bump)

Rob,

I'm so happy for you, I'd better start hitting the gym harder cause you're way ahead of me in fitness. Yikes!


edit: Rob, any thoughts of melting down the Ti pins for something usefull like crampons, cooking pot, etc?

keema wrote:Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God he's Free at last!
This evening Rob Yang took another step in his recovery by having his halo removed.
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all.

It is wonderful to see those pictures!!

I am so happy for you Rob!

Wow, must be a tremendous relief to get that thing off - might make a good planter.
Good luck in your future rehab and hope those rods get to come out in the year or so. Happy t-day!!

Congrats on getting the hardware off. Keep up the good work!