Hello Halo!

After days of lying around wondering what they were going to do with me, my neurologist finally paid me a visit and announced that I was going to be immobilized in a halo vest for three months. He explained about the vest, that it would be uncomfortable, that it would restrict my movements and that I would probably be miserable in it, but that it was the ideal solution for my type of fracture. And then he quickly mentioned something about the halo part being screwed into my skull…

Short conversation; here's how it went :

Me: “Um, sorry, what was that thing you said about screws”?
Him: "Yep. That's what I said, in your skull".
Me: "But won't that hurt?"
Him: "Yep".

My neurologist is not a man of many words. He keeps things to the point, no beating around the bush. I immediately started to feel an uncomfortable shaking sensation throughout my body; a feeling I would come to know all too well in the coming weeks.

The hospital I was at is crawling with residents and in the neurology department these residents always come in pairs. One senior and one, well, less senior. On the day I was to have the halo put on, they once again came as a pair, the more senior one taking the lead. That day, my husband had waited with me until late in the evening for them to show up, then finally left, assuming plans had changed. Of course, the second he left, the two showed up.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement of grave proportions. I was literally shaking in my hospital booties. It didn`t help that these two appeared to be totally, and I mean, totally, disorganized. The latex gloves were too small to fit, things that should be sterile were being dropped on the floor, pieces of equipment seemed to be missing… It was so cramped in my tiny hospital room that the doctor kept getting caught in the curtain. He had sweat on his brow. I could see this clearly despite my drug induced state because he was mere inches away from my face as he attempted to find the right position for my halo. All of these things didn`t really work to inspire confidence I have to say.