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Thanks everyone ! I had a most excellent thanksgiving day

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.

Rob! So good to talk to you yesterday and say "hi" to Dan too -- what wonderful news to hear that you finally got rid of that PITA halo. Now that you have pin scars... do we get to test out some offset Aliens in them?

Hope you and Kris and all had a great time today.

Happy GOBBLE GOBBLE and lots of love!!!

Thanks Carolyn - what would I do without my dear friends ?? Had a good time yesterday, and I helped spread the Good News of the Holy Camelid (ask Kris )

edit: I received a msg from my sister - apparently Yiyang is a distant relative of mine over in China ! Welcome to Summitpost Yiyang !! I sent you a PM

Great news Rob!!!

You've come a long way after sustaining a very scary injury.

If you can figure out how to scan those images some time, I'd love to see them. Just PM me, and I'll give you my email address.

Great work Rob!! Can I expect to see you at PG soon then??

Keep on chuggin' Rob. You're a great inspiration!

Thanks again all

Gareth - the funny thing is that Valley Medical in SJC failed to include a sagittal reconstructed view (I think I have that right ) 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 ...

Buddy - no PG for me until next August at the earliest, but I'll be hiking until then. In late Feb I may be allowed to go cycling again. I'm looking at a recumbent trike or something like that for a while. Seems like a few people have told me about getting a halo because of MTB accidents

Deb - I wish I could say I was inspiring as the people I've met at the spinal cord injury peer support group I go to ... people in wheelchairs who probably will never walk again but nevertheless go on with their lives and make them work. I never knew about wheelchair skiing, scuba, or skateboarding (!) before this.

I guess no climbing for 12 mos. post injury is probably just as well ... by then I should have a pretty good idea how my body is compensating for the neurological damage. Apparently the muscle fibers which are still innervated grow stronger while the ones which are not shrivel, and peripheral nerves can regrow and rewire. Swelling in the spinal cord can apparently take up to 2 years to go down, and in that time function can also return. Or so I'm told

Rob,
Congrats on having the thing off! I am sure you feel a whole lot better without it.
I just found out about it. I had a really tough month at work. Even no time for SP
Cheers!
Vlad.

Glad to see you moving into the next stage of healing and getting that thing off your noggin!

You will be back B4 you know it Rob!

As Deb said, youre quite a inspiration man, I wish you nothing but the best to your rapid recovery. Just ease yourself off the Llamas

Thanks guys

Hey, anybody want to go hiking this weekend ? I managed to drag my sorry butt up to the top of St. Joseph's Hill last week. With the deproach between the bus stop and the trailhead on the Los Gatos Creek Trail I'd guess it was about 9-10 miles / 900' elevation gain. Hoping to procure a new set of wheels in January maybe.

Hey guys, this is great! Did you miss it? ROB IS LOOKING FOR A HIKING PARTNER!!!!

What a great day! I'm sure someone would like to go, Rob. Heck, I would -- too bad you're so far away.

I am not sure if this is the place for this, but this may just be your new favorite movie Rob. Note the floating Llama coffin.

www.badmovies.org/movies/bloodllama/

Don't ask why I was on this site. There are plenty of gems. Rocking With Satan is one of my favorites.

Bubba Suess wrote:I am not sure if this is the place for this, but this may just be your new favorite movie Rob. Note the floating Llama coffin.

www.badmovies.org/movies/bloodllama/

Don't ask why I was on this site. There are plenty of gems. Rocking With Satan is one of my favorites.

Oh, I have a pretty good idea why ...

Now that is a scary llama