Jeff, my titanium forging facility seems to be on the blink
so I guess I'll just put the ring / pins aside for now ...
yiyang wrote:I see spikes in the halo... what do they do?
The 'spikes' are actually called pins. They are set in against (but not through) the bone of the skull, penetrating the skin. To prevent infection, the 'pin sites' where they enter the skin have to be cleaned several times a day with a combination of solutions. The halo ring and vest immobilizes the cervical spine to keep the bones from moving while it heals. I wore this thing for 3 months, but I've heard of people being in them for up to 4.5 months.
Some people might find this pic a little gross, so I'll just link to it. Don't look if the sight of an open wound makes you sick ... you have been warned
The people I've met who have had halos all had 'pin scars' - slight depressions in their foreheads where the skin has grown over the holes where the pins were installed.
Had a good time yesterday, and I helped spread the Good News of the 
(ask Kris 
) with the films, and we had to go across town from Dr. Martinez' office in Modesto to Memorial hospital and use their radiology dept. to get some x-rays of my neck in different positions (after they undid the carbon fiber halo support bars). I'm still trying to figure out how to get those huge films into my letter-sized flatbed scanner, but I'll come up with something ...
