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Up close and personal

A few photos I took this morning with my iphone that show the front of the halo up close.

The four pins with sharp points are screwed into my skull 1/4".







It did not hurt when the doctor placed the brace on me and screwed the pins in. I was under a lot of morphine. But I do remember them trying to find where to place the pins. At the time of the accident I had long hair and it was braided. But after two days of lying on my back and being all sweaty the hair had become a rats nest.

The nurse shaved small areas on my head where the back two pins were to be inserted. She did not do a great job, but it was enough for them to get the pins in. I'm surprised that standard practice isn't to shave the whole head. It should be - it would save me from the scary infection on my skull. But then again having this brace put on is such a traumatic experience that getting your head shaved would be icing on the cake.

It was not until I was more conscious and aware of myself that W and I realized what a disaster my hair was. Apparently the nurse kept my braid in when she shaved my head so all my shaved hair was still attached to the braid. ugh! W took my braid out and proceeded to comb my hair with handfuls just coming out. Right then and there I decided to get my haircut short as soon as I could.


It only hurts when the pin area of the skin becomes infected, which has happened to my back left pin. I haven't shaved my head and pins with hair around them are known to become infected. I can't wash my hair everyday so my hair becomes oily and meshes with the open pin wound and thus the infection. I am diligent about applying betadine, or a peroxide and saline solution mix, to the pins once a day, but I guess that wasn't enough.

The pin area has become a little painful, and I wish that was all it did, but no, of course not!







I need to pluck my eyebrows and get a facial! This is the closest I've seen my face since before the accident. I tend to stay away from mirrors these days.

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