My little brother Evan has been spending the winter teaching snowboarding in Aspen and had a serious accident today.
Apparently on the last run of the last day of the season, there was a problem with the snowboard. He flipping twice in midair before landing on his head.
He broke his neck — cervical vertebra 7.
But he can move his fingers and toes, which I guess is the important thing because it indicates no spinal cord damage?
I spoke to him at the hospital, where he was actually having dinner in his room. He seemed alright, a little drugged up, but in good spirits. He said he was fine laying down, but it hurt to stand or sit up.
The doctors did a bunch of tests tonight and are planning an MRI tomorrow (Tuesday) which will indicate whether surgery is needed. Either way, I guess he’s looking at a long time in a cervical collar. (Thankfully, he has a girl there taking care of him).
It sounds like he’ll be okay… but if anyone has any experience with this type of injury, please share it.
UPDATE 4/5/05: Surgery is set for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1 p.m.
Evan said that after looking at his MRI, his doctor told him he was lucky he wasn’t paralyzed – but prognosis is good for a fully recovery within a few months.
UPDATE 4/7/05: The surgery went well, I’m told Evan is in some pain and somewhat cranky, but it looks like everything is going to be okay.
Less than a week ago I was in a motorcycle racing incident and fractured my C3 Vertebrae. I’m currently in a neck brace and I’m waiting to get an appointment with the Neurosurgeon. I was told by both, my family doctor and general surgeon that I would have to remain in the neck brace for 8 to 12 weeks. I was given strict orders not to do anything physical. No exercising, no lifting of anything over 5 lbs., no driving my vehicles. I am having such a difficult time dealing with this emotionally. I have NEVER in my life felt so helpless and useless. I was just beginning a home improvement project which I was taking pride in. Now I can’t even finish it. The incident I mentioned was caused by me and as a result I feel overwhelmingly guilty. I have been told countless times how lucky I am that I’m not paralyzed and that I should reconsider my choice of extracurricular activities for the sake of my family. I love racing and the choice to do it again is mine. I just don’t know if I could go back out on the racetrack with a clear conscience. I know what I did wrong. I’ve learned from my mistake. I just don’t want any of my loved ones to worry about me but it’s human nature to worry about the ones you love. The most difficult part of the healing process (for me) is the mental rather than physical healing.
Thank you for letting me vent a little.
Mental is definitely harder than the physical. I think that we all deal with feelings of guilt. My accident was caused by tire tread separation. I don’t remember what happened at all but for a long time afterwards I blamed myself thought that I should have been able to control it but the not remembering it was even worse so I blamed myself but I couldn’t really remember… does that make sense? I know it doesn’t. While I was in my brace me and my bf joined a dart league it was one of the only things I could really do and it helped keep me atleast a little social instead of sitting around wallowing.
I was the passenger in a car crash in Feb 02. I fractured c4 and c5. They snapped completely and compressed my spinal cord over 50%. I was completely paralysed and put in traction and bolted to the wall whilst the surgeons decided whether it was safe to operate. 3days later I had 10hour bone graft surgery, using bone from my hip to rebuild my vertebrae and metal plates and screws now hold it all together. I don’t remember the accident or the week that followed even though I was talking and making important decisions about surgery etc. I was in hospital for a month and had to start from scratch. At first i’d faint every time they tried to move me but through determination and lots of physio I learnt to walk, write, feed, wash and dress myself, everything. It was like being reborn.
Anyway, to cut a long story short. My surgeon, who calls me his miracle, saved my life and fixed me. Yes, I still experience alot of pain, loss of sensation, restricted movement, weakness and severe fatigue etc but i’m ALIVE and walking!!! I am now married and have 2 beautiful children.
Love to all of you suffering X
I was driving an armored truck that hydroplaned out of control.I came to several months later in the hospital,paralysed,incontinent,breathing tube,feeding tube.I was 59 yrs old.I had a broken scapula,jawbone,and brain injury.That was 2007.Now (2011)I go to rehab twice weekly to get stronger and regain my balance so I can walk. I can go a few steps now then my back hurts terribly.
december 29, 2010 i was shot in the face and the bullet came out the back of my neck and fractured my c, and it is now april and im still wearing my halo, its hard to go to sleep and my hands get numb quite often.But its expected to come off next month. so for anyone who experienced a broken neck be thankful that your still alive. GOD BLESS.
My husband was in an auto accident on March 19 2011, He had a c-2 c-3 neck fracture WAS PUT IN A NECK BRACE when we went for our 6 week check up the Dr said it was getting worse so he had surgery and was put back in a brace .He will be getting the brace off in 3 more weeks It’s been a hard road but he doing good he is 65 and a strong man . I thank God he is alive and can still enjoy the time we share . To all who go through this it does get better as time passes. God Bless you all .
* Hey there. I was 23 (feb 2009) when I got in a bad car accident. Broke C4 5 and C6 as well as fractred my sternum and cracked my head really bad. I was airlifted to a hospital where the sergion did a somewhat newish surgery where they Fused the bones together with a metal cage internally, with 6 screws. (Instead of the Halo its internal I guess). I never got the halo, or even really a neck brace. they told my mom and my twin sister I would be paralyzed from the neck down before the surgery.
I have a disgusting scar right across the front of my neck as well as a huge one in the back of my neck.
as a result- my right arm and right hand had been paralyzed. as a DJ who needs both my hands… this was devestating. i have slowly got some mobility back in my hand (and Im right handed), but my fingertips are always numb and my arm hurts to the touch. both of my shoulders always crack and ache. As well as constant headaches. I guess I am lucky to be alive but its been 2 and a half years and every day is a struggle with pain and whatnot- having to give up some dreams and my job that i loved. now all of my loved ones have to accomodate me…. carrying things that are to heavy, opening jars… as well i have to deal with extream post traumatic stress being in vehicles. I just dont know if this will ever get any better… especially when i get older.
Syd_g@hotmail.com
I broke my neck in Feb. Snapped the C2 when I got hit by a Ford Ranger on my bicycle. I wore a Halo Brace for 3 Mths, then another collar, which I still wear for driving and walks. But I am mending and able to walk and I am alive. Best advice, follow the Dr’s advice and ask questions.
Dear Jim,
It’s great that you are fine and getting better. A friend of mine was hit yesterday and broke his C2. The doctor’s say that they need some time to determine whether he has hurt his spinal cord. I wanted to know from you the entire process of recovery. How long were u at the hospital, etc. I am feeling extremely worried. If possible reply back.
Thanks and God bless
Syd, I will say a prayer for you. I hope you get a complete recovery .
My husband is now working with a pt and is doing greatso far I thank God for his recovery
My husband was in a atv accident where the throttle stuck and he ran into the garage before being ejected off the vehicle, he was knocked out from the impact of hitting the ground head first.. he was taken by ambulance to tho hospital where they said he had fractured his c2 they put him n a collar and nine days later he went fot a ct scan where they found it had shifted and he also broke the c6.. tomorrow he will get the halo. But I can’t figure out why the doctor keeps letting it be his choice?? He gave him three options the thomas collar the halo or surgery to fuse it back together..he also had major surgery on his left arm which he shattered and a hurt shoulder.. I’m thankful he’s alive and not paralyzed but I’m scared he’s gonna get hurt worse if they don’t force him to put the halo on and not give him the option.. did anyone else have a choice with this???
I am 56 years old male in good health. On the 1st Jul 2011 I was biking and after crossing a street I ran into a contractor type trailer and fractured C1 and C2. I stayed in the hospital 10 Days on traction and went home with a halo vest on. I was told by the Doctor on my last check up that I will be able to remove it at the end of Aug. I guess I was very lucky as no neurologic damage occurred and no other physical injuries. I feel everything is going quicker than I can take in but we will see at the end of the month.
I am a 53 year old male in good shape. I broke my neck (c4-c7) in 1990 and had them screwed and bolted,plated and wired together on mothers day at a moto-cross race.thank the good lord i didnt end up dead or paralized.I also fractured my skull and ended up with spinal mengitis,northwestern in chicago put humty dumty back together again.i wore a under the neck support for 3 months. Well now in may of 2011 at 53 during a road bicycle race a guy crashed in front of me during the sprint and now i broke c-2,c-8 im in a halo but not paralized aug 17 i hope at my check up i hope im healed enough to get a less restrictive collar.keep up positive attitude and faith in god and you will get through it. I dont think i will get a third strike must try to be a little more careful and my racing days are over.
That first night was a hard one. Well kind of I was in a daze or I guess you could say a doped up fog. Everything was surreal. Like a dream. I really had no idea what was going on. There was a button next to my head to push if I needed anything. As if I could find it. Nothing seemed real. I didn’t really understand the implications of what had happened. I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t think. I just was. Somehow I was. I had no memory of what happened. I had no idea what I said. I wonder sometimes if I really do remember but have blocked it out. That seems like something my brain would do. Refuse to process. Refuse to deal. Push it all away into some deep dark corner recess of my mind. Not deal, that unfortunately is the way I deal with most things. I still feel like I can’t process, I can’t deal.
Here’s what happened. I was driving home from picking up a brand new scooter to replace the piece of crap one I had bought that liked to break down every week. While I was driving home on the freeway my rear tire suffered a catastrophic tire failure that’s how it’s worded in the police report anyway. I don’t know if you’ve heard of these cases before. Where the tire tread separates from the tire. I don’t remember any of this, but according to witnesses they saw the piece of tire fly off and me careen to the right side of the road. At this point I must have totally lost control of the vehicle because it rolled. It rolled once before hitting and taking out a freeway sign. Thank God for that sign I don’t think I would have survived another roll. I’m not even sure how I survived the first one.
Now I’m in a total blackout of events. I don’t remember the accident. I don’t remember going off the road. I don’t remember being stuck in the vehicle waiting for the paramedics to arrive. I don’t remember the “long” extrication period that it took for them to use the jaws of life to rip the passenger side door off since the drivers side was too crunched in for them to even attempt it. I don’t even know how long it actually took for them to get me out. I just know it took a while from going back and reading the doctors notes after the fact.
Apparently I was talking at this point. I always wonder exactly what happened. I wish I could have talked to one of the paramedics, the cops, someone that could tell me what I was doing. It’s like after waking up after a night of a drunk black out. I just want to puzzle the pieces together, get the full story.
After they got me out of the vehicle they life flighted me to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, apparently they have an excellent trauma center. This I also don’t remember which irks me a little bit. I’ve always wanted to ride in a helicopter and I finally do but don’t remember the whole experience. Typical. I guess that’s ok though not quite the helicopter experience I was looking for.
When I come back from the blackout it’s like an all the sudden kind of experience. All the sudden I’m back in my own head. I’m on my back and there’s all these peopl e standing over me. I’m halfway through saying something.
T.jay. That’s what I was saying, he was always the one I could count on to save me from everything when I got in real trouble. Not this time though.
“Was he in the car?” One of the doctors or nurses or paramedics I don’t know who asks me.
“No,” I say confused “He’s at home call him.”
Apparently before this point I kept saying that he was in the car. Who knows maybe someone was in the car with me at the time, if you know what I mean. I never believed in super natural things before. God and all that but some of the things that I’ve seen since then. I just can’t deny to myself any longer that things aren’t exactly quite as they seem at first glance.
They ask me what the phone number is. At the time we were on one of the family plans. Our numbers were the same except for the last number.
“801-628-392”, I pause, “21 or 20 I don’t know call and ask him.” Yeah that’s the state of mind I was in.
At this point I must have been stable because I remember being left alone. I lay there trying to process what was going on. Everything was surreal. How could I have been in a car accident? What are you talking about? Why am I here? These are all things running through my mind. Slowly, and slugglishly, but running none the less. At this point I just don’t get it. I don’t get any of it.
That first day and night is mostly a blur. I do remember most of the nurses being just awful to me. I think because they were pissed off that I wouldn’t let them put a cathater in me and T.Jay refused to change my bedpans and I tell you what when they’re pumping you full of all sorts of fluids and you’ve been through a trauma it’s like they’re pumping in a gallon of water an hour into a pea sized bladder.
There was one nurse though. I wish I remembered her name. If I did get a settlement and knew her name I would go hand her $1,000 just like that. I had been laying in shattered glass all day. It was the end of her shift and she had to clock out. After she did though she came back into my room to pick the glass out of my hair and change the sheets. She said she couldn’t just leave me that way. She was an angel in her own right and I will forever be grateful to her wherever she is and whoever she might be.
People can amaze you sometimes. You can be shocked by how callouse some might be but then also be astounded by the nobleness of another. I could only hope to be half as a good person as that nurse was. My eyes fill with tears as I write this just thinking of her.
All night I had to lay flat on my back without moving, unable to eat or drink anything. The only thing they would let me have is a mouth sponge to wet the inside of my mouth. They had to wait until the MRI came back to see if they needed to get me into surgery. See how bad the break in my neck and back really was.
By the time the sun started coming up I had been awake all night. Laying there miserable. From the view of my window I could see the golden glow of the morning light as the sun started to rise. I asked T.Jay to open the blinds so I could watch the sun come up over the mountains.
As I lay there unable to move, unable to eat, unable to drink I watched as the first of the suns rays crept over the mountain peak . I remember feeling such a rush of gratitude that I was able to witness this amazing, incredible sight. At that point nothing else mattered. Not the pain I felt. Not the awful position that I was in. Not the fact that at that point I didn’t know whether or not I was going to get rushed into spinal surgery a few hours later. Not all the bills that I was already three months behind on before this incident and all the doctors and hospital, and imaging bills that were sure to follow. I was just happy that I was alive. I was just so unbelievably happy that I was alive to see the sun come up over the mountains. It was a beautiful sight. It was a beautiful feeling. It was like someone, somewhere out there was telling me that everything was going to be alright. That everything was going to be okay. I didn’t need to worry. All those things that had seemed so important before just didn’t matter anymore. As long as I was alive to see the sun come up over the mountains what else mattered?
I’ve somehow lost this feeling since then. When everything catches up with me. When I feel like I keep working and working to try and get ahead and another doctors bill shows up. Another appointment that I have to go to. More money, more time. All the pain I was in and still have to struggle with everyday. As I struggle to keep working and stay afloat before I lose everything. Sometimes it’s all just too much. It’s hard to stay in a good mood when I am in pain everyday. When I feel like my life has lost meaning. When I feel like I just keep working and working keep pushing through it to just keep getting farther and farther behind to have the pain get slowly worse and worse as the years go by.
Today though, today it’s here. I’m glad to be alive. I’m glad that I’m breathing. I’m glad that I still have the chance to see more sunsets, hopefully over many more landscapes. I just want to take it all in. I just want to see the world. I want to be grateful for the life that I still have left. I want to do everything I can to keep this feeling and block out the rest. I’ve been given a second chance to do it right. To figure out what matters in life. To figure out how to just be happy where I am, grateful for the support of my family that’s rallied and supported me through everything that’s happened and for all the things I’m still trying to get through. It’s just such a rush of emotion it’s like well being that fills every pore. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s like the feeling of being deeply, deeply in love with life. I am happy to be here. I am happy to be alive. I am happy to feel the suns rays and the cool breezes caress.
Today, I’m just going to sit here and bask. Soak it all in. Hope I can take enough encouragement from this sunset to keep going. No, not hope I will. I’m going to hold on to this feeling with a death grip. I will not let go. I will not let the stupid things in life that I worry about everyday get me down. The pain, the money, the appointments it all doesn’t matter. Not when I’m here and breathing and able to still experience the pleasures that being alive offers. Today I’m just grateful, today I’m just happy, today I’m just going to enjoy loving life. Today I’m going to enjoy watching the sun come up over the mountain and love the cool morning air as it fills my lungs. Today I’m going to take the hope that a new day offers and I’m going to run with it. Today, nothing can bring me down nothing can take away this lust for life.
Ugh I just can’t help getting right back into this funk. I’m trying to stay optimistic. I really am. It’s all just too hard sometimes. I get into this frenzy of thoughts where I just can’t keep it together. I’m trying to push through everything I need to do. All the home exercises that I should be doing for physical therapy but I’m to the point that I feel like giving up. That I feel like I’m never going to get better so what’s the point of trying. I get anxiety with all the things I feel like I have to do. The doc appts and the bills that are starting to get totally out of control. Anyone know of any good ways to block the stress out? I need to keep my mind in the right place to keep working on this and right now I’m just not there.
kristen money can be paid back life is a gift, god gave you a second chance, stay strong i will pray for you i broke my neck twice and through gods grace and family support im healing. im still in my second neck till october im the posting above you as for blocking stress, pray and focus on your rehabbing will wait for progress report stay focused
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m almost done with physical therapy. The pain that I’ve been experiencing still hasn’t really gotten any better. I’ve finally accepted that fact that at 23 I’ll just have to learn to deal with it. I’m kind of down right now though. People have been through worse and gotten through it I know, but this is me… It’s hard to be glad that I’m not as bad as I could be when I feel like crap. Just learning to take it one day at a time.
kristen stay positive im still in my vista till oct 4 hopefully the healing in my burst vertabra is good or i will need surgery to fuse to my other fusion which would mean another 3 months in a halo. try to focus on your good moments and hold on to them and let go the bad days. whirlpool will help and check into ultrasonic hand held units you can buy
At 51, I smacked my ’91 Celica in to a telephone pole at 25 mph. The right front wheel hit directly at the base of the pole spinning the car 90 degrees in the road. My head hit the passenger side of the windshield (I was alone). It did this because I had no seat belt on. Severe whiplash, broken C2. I never lost consciousness, even jumped out of the car to look things over. I only wore the neck brace, was supposed to wear it for 12 weeks. Hating it, I stopped wearing it after 2 weeks. My neck was so stiff I couldn’t move it anyway, walking around like Frankenstein. I was back at work after 10 weeks though my neck was still hurting & stiff. Almost 3 years later all is well although my neck is not as limber as it once was. Each injury & individual is different. Luck plays a part as well. I do however wear my seatbelt always now. I don’t think my neck could take a repeat performance.
Hi, On September 1 2011 I was heading out of town with my husband. We were going about 100Kms an hour and we hit a moose! We were rushed to the hospital where they did x-rays on both of us. Thank goodness my husband came out healthy. Just a bit of whiplash. I however had something showing on my x-ray. They think its a fracture of my C1. Now I am waiting possibly for a couple of MONTHS for an MRI. They don’t know if its a fracture or something else. I am so frustrated! I have to say I am SO glad I was not put in a Halo but I am worried. All they have me wearing is a soft collar and they have not properly diagnosed my injury. I am scared to do anything. I can’t pick up my 3 year old son. I don’t want to move my neck too much because I don’t know if it will cause more damage. so frustrating!
On March 25, 2011, my friend had just picked me up to go to school when we hit a patch of ice over a small bridge. He lost control of the SUV and we were headed straight for a tree, so I shut my eyes and pulled my seat belt as tight as I could. Next thing I know is I opened my eyes and the SUV was on its roof in the ditch. I felt pain but I’ve always had a high pain tolerance so I figured it was just because I hit my head on the roof when it flipped. We both had to get our seat belts off and climb out of the back seat because the kids that were driving behind us thought the SUV was going to catch on fire. I noticed a sharp pain in my upper back closer to my neck as I was climbing out of the backseat but I ignored it. We were standing on the shoulder talking to the firemen and policemen that showed up and I called my mom to let her know. She was about 30 minutes away but she said she was leaving work. I then had to call her back because I was asked if I needed to go in the ambulance. I didn’t feel like I did; I wasn’t bleeding anywhere or anything but I just was stiff from the accident. So my mom said only if I felt like I needed to go, so I decided to just wait until my mom came to pick me up. My grandma reached me first and took me to my house to wait for my mom, who was already there. I went with my mom to the closest hospital and waited in the emergency room for about 5 minutes then had a room in the back. My friend was already there because he took the ambulance. I was going to be sent to x-rays after he was done so my mom and I were just talking; having a good time because we didn’t think anything was wrong. Well I got my x-rays done and found out my friend was ok; he just had a separated shoulder from his seatbelt. Ten minutes after I had the x-rays done my doctor came in the room, literally shaking, and told me not to move. They had to lay me down slowly and put a more secure neck brace on. He then began to tell me I shattered a vertebra in my neck and I needed to be rushed to Mary Washington hospital for emergency surgery. He told me my surgeon was famous and the best they know, his name is Dr. Poffenbarger. I asked the nurse before I left which vertebrae I shattered, she told me my C7 and I shattered it in 12 pieces. I was transferred to Mary Wash. and had the surgery. I woke up asking for my family who told me what my surgeon had told them as I was waking up. The only reason I wasn’t paralyzed or dead was because of the toned muscles in my neck from being so active. I stayed in Mary Wash. only until Sunday morning. I then wore a neck brace for 3 months, the last 3 months of my senior year in high school. I went to prom and senior night with my neck brace bedazzled because I was trying to make the best out of the situation I was in. Dr. Poffenbarger took my neck brace of 5 days before my graduation so I graduated like everyone else in my senior class! I started physical therapy in July and after 12 weeks, I just finished last week and I’ve been told I’m doing better than anyone expected. Around march 25 of this upcoming year I go back to see Dr. Poffenbarger to see how everything has healed and hopefully be told I will no longer have to have any tests or appointments anymore. I was 17 when the accident happened and turned 18 just a month and a half after. I have a small scar on my neck and a titanium plate in my neck and I am now limited to do the things I love, like playing soccer and horseback riding, but this whole experience has made me open my views to other things I am able to do now.
Hello I’m a seventeen year old Londoner, got hit by a car on the 23rd September and have a ‘hangman fracture’ in C2 so wearing a Miami J cervical collar for a predicted three months- will go have a CT scan to see if it’s healed, but just curious if anyone had scans/x rays during treatment to see if there’s any progress? Because someone said I should have them every two weeks … ?
Goodluck to everyone !
i had c-2 frcture and i had a x-ray at the half way point then a flex x-ray at the end just before removing the vista collar that i wore after the halo for a month and a half hope this helps jim
What’s a flex x ray? Thank you for your help, I emailed my consultant about going for scans or x rays during the 12 weeks and waiting for a reply
Annie, there’s no point in doing a X-Ray every two weeks when you know it will take atleast 3 months to heal. My doc did do additional X-Rays because after the soft collar that he put me in I was still having a lot of pain and I was having trouble sitting up straight. Turns out one of my discs slipped and they had to switch me to a larger brace that offered more support. Let your doc know if you have any concerns he/she will order more X-Rays if it’s needed but other than that you don’t want all that radiation. I was only 20 when I broke my neck and will all the X-Rays and MRI’s and what not, I don’t think I need to, but in my head I’m like, “Hmmm, maybe I should keep a radiation notebook to keep track of it all.”
I am healing after a C2 Hangman’s fracture after being hit head on in a crash. I’ve been in Miami J since July 5 2011. The last two months have been more painful than the first. I experience pain all over since the crash. (My legs and arms ache). Anybody who has had C2 fracture have residual pain that doesn’t seem to improve?
Me and my boyfriend had our 10month anniversary yesterday… It was kind of a bad day for the both of us because he is out of town for the week:/ due to work… We got in a huge fight last night…an while he was on his way to his friends house to talk about us.. He hit some pea gravel going about 95 in the rain… Because he was so upset about our fight… It got pretty bad..
At 1 am I get a text from his friend telling me he’s been in am accident and I needed to text him right away …
His truck flipped.. Leaving him uncomcious and his legs jammed between the seat and dash board.. They had to cut him out. His friend told me he broke his neck and arm and fractured his skull. It’s 10 hours later… And he still hasn’t regained conciousness and is currently in a coma..he’s breathing but not moving… His friend is in te medical field..& told me he’d be paralyzed from the waist down & due to brain trauma… He probably won’t even remember me… We were engaged:/ and his friend tells me he won’t remember who I am? If he’s in a coma… Its not determined of hes paralyzed or has memory… Right??? :,(
Shelby I’m so sorry. Your story really touched me I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. One thing though and I know from being bounced around to one specialist or another just because his friend told you that doesn’t mean he’s right. What is his medical speciality anyway? I would ask the doc those questionsand you know what get a second opinion as well it never hurts. Feel free to email me if you need someone to talk to. kristentarr@msn.com
He’s an EMT… Good news though! He’s walking (: he remembers everything about me but nothing about anyone else:/ or himself.. But he’s getting better. Thanks Kristen(:
🙂 🙂 🙂 That can all come back too though right?
Yes(: he’s remembering more and more …the more we talk the more it helps.
out of my vista collar finally, still got ulnar nerve pain in my hand, but thank the lord my neck is coming along,going to therepy tommorrow for evaulation,been off work for five months,just a registered letter from my employer whom i have worked for 35 years telling me i do not have a job the day after i used all sick time and vacation time (oct 13) was going to return to in two weeks and he wouldnt wait. ha ha the laugh is on him,in sept of this year is my anniversey date of hire so now i have 6 more weeks and 3 personal days coming so i will see him in court,nice get well card he sent me , i will have the last laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am 16 and broke my neck in the c2 area. I have a neck brace for 3 months but am very lucky not to be paralyzed. I am the one that gets thrown up in cheerleading and I unfortunately did not get caught and landed right on my neck. At the end of the day, no matter how pissed he is about having a broken neck, keep reminding him how lucky he is to be alive. My paramedic from the ambulance made it very clear to me that I should be dead.. I’ve never learned so much about life and how special it is until this happened to me. Be thankful that he’s okay and best of luck !
I broke and fractured my C1 vertebrae a month ago in a college football game. I had severe pain but still got up and stiffly walked off the field, which I was told was really lucky that I didn’t hurt it further. They told me that my Senior season is done and a little bit of me died. Our team is currently undefeated and number one in the nation, and I was getting looks from NFL scouts at practice. It makes me wonder why this would happen when everything seemed to be going so right. I have been in a halo for the past 4 weeks and am starting to get used to life with it. The pain is ten times better than it was and I am getting used to sleeping with the Halo. I am trying to stay positive and the community and team has been great along with my family and girlfriend. If this just happened to you, keep your head up because it is temporary and I have been told how lucky I am that it wasn’t any worse. 1 month down in the halo, 2 more to go! Stay strong, God is watching and protecting you!
i recently fell outta tree 15′ sept 13 broke my c4 spinal cord is swollen i have some memory loss and my whole body feels numb. i have lost most use of my left arm/hand i have no strength. im still in my collar as should b of dec 9 no surgery was needed. my left pupil is 2mm larger than my right sight has changed slightly.
im just wondering if anyone has had this and if recovered 100% and went back to work.dr has told me 1 1/2 yrs before i go back to work if i even go back to work.
i feel right now ill never be normal again.
plz email jntbrown@hotmail.com
Hey Jerry, I broke my C2 over 10 years ago, big mess, bundles of breaks and punctures , coma etc. I have 3rd nerve damage that control the muscles to the eye ( dilation, movement ), pretty much anything that hasn’t recovered 6 months after your accident won’t ….. your own systems will find ways to compensate, and create new pathways of sorts, but they will be very minimal in nature. I went back to work about 1.5 years later, not without difficulty, but you adjust. I can’t even remember what it was like before my accident … then again that could just be the memory damage, sorry, a bit of morbid humour there. Hope that helps, sort of. best of luck.
Hi everyone, really glad i stumbled upon this site,im a 43 year old man from the uk, was very fit before my accident running half marathons and doing loads of biking.I fractured c6,c7 on june 16th this year and badly fractured my right arm too,came off my mountain bike! instantly paralysed from waiste down and got air lifted to hospital. Within 2 hours i was in theatrE having vertebrectomy and pins and plates in my arm, woke up next day in itu. The docs said i would be in hospital for 3 months at least but they couldnt tell me if id ever be able to walk again,i amazed everyone by walking outa there in just 7 weeks!! In general im ok, can walk bout 3 miles and back on the bike, but im struggling mentally to come to terms with the fact that ill never be 100% as i were before, i know i was very lucy to be able to walk again but still feel very sad/confused. If anyone else is feeling like this please email me…..its good to talk! well done everybody. billdeacon38@yahoo.co.uk
I fractured my c1 and c2 disc in a motorcycle accident on sept.25/2011.
I was in a coma for 15 days, and than in a ward for 3 weeks after.
I was let out Nov.2,2011. I had a screw fixation put in, ànd im home now.
I still suffer from tiredness a lot..but I thank God..it coulda been a LOT worst.
Apparantally I had 1 mm left on my c1 and c2 disc . otherwiose i woulda been in
paraliyzid, ot in wheel chair..and they removed tha halo, after my operation.
thank God for a fantastic doctor, and for prayers.
small Halo survey: I was wearing a Halo for 5 months ( my C2 slipped forward and I had a longer jail term in the rack ), what was the First thing everyone looked forward to after having it removed, just curious.
i did a Christopher Reeve-esque dive off my bike after ramming a curb trying to avoid a woman driving the wrong way and blocking both my bike lane and the road. Burst fractures to the c1 and c2, and tore the ligaments at the base of my skull. nearly decapitated. Wasn’t even given the option of a Halo or brace – doc went right in and did an occipitocervical fusion – rods fusing c0 (skull) all the way to c3. Zero pain except for muscle spasms. Lost over 80% of the movement in my neck, and have this titanium cage for the rest of my life. I’m 26. They tell me I should have died and it’s beyond miraculous I have no neurological damage whatsoever. Sometimes I wish I had, it’s so hard to accept that I’m crippled. I wish they’d given me the option of a Halo, I might have retained some ROM. It’s been 3 months. I went back to work a week after the surgery.
if there’s anyone out there who’s had this procedure, please talk to me. I want to know how I’m supposed to live like this. schone.maschine@gmail.com.`
hey everyone im 23 yrs old i was in a car accient about 3months ago on the highway and flip my car causein it to roll a few times take God it landed on the grass im really lucky to be alive . i broken my c2 and was put in a halo i had my check up about 3weeks ago and was told that the bone has not yet heal im worry cuz i dont want to do surgery that why im in a halo and i also feel like my doctor is pushin me toward surgery. my question is does it really take sometimes more than 3months for a c2 bone to heal or how long does it really take then for it to heal also if there any supplement or anything that may help heal the bone real good
im a super restless 17 year old due to 3 months in a soft collar and was wondering if anyone had any kind of hobby or anything they liked to do that involves minimal activity. i didnt have to have surgery and i am praying i will never have to. volleyball season is 3 months away- i need a full recovery by then. PLEASE contact me via facebook.com (Marquette Gasser) i would really REALLY love other’s input!
helllllllllo? does anyone respond to this?
On 4 April 2011 I went off the 6th floor of a multi-story car park. I broke c1, c2 and t1 to t7 amongst a few other injuries. My t2 to t7 was fused together and I had 2 pins inserted in back. I was then placed in a halo and vest for the neck. I was in the halo for 3 weeks in total, after it was removed I had to wear a philly collar for 4 weeks and then in a soft collar which I was gradually weaned off over the a 8 week period. I am still in therapy and have begun a graded return to work. In terms of my injuries they have healed, although I have restricted neck movement, and so nerve pain in my arm. I am now training to do the Oxfam Trailwalker which an endurance event where you have 48 hours to walk 100 km. I am so amazed by a lot of the stories that people have posted on this site, and the tragedy that has touched all your lives that I realize how lucky I was in my recovery. The advise I can give to people going through this now is firstly, take the pain meds as prescribed as you and your body are going through enough you do have to add a further layer of stress. Secondly, while in the halo try to sleep on an incline – I used a hospital bed and had it inclined at about 45 degree angle. And lastly, as soon as you can find yourself a goal that you can work towards, this changes your mindset – my rehab is all about working towards something not recovering from an accident.
Sorry there is a typo in my original post. I was in the halo for 3 months
Hi Christian, if it hasn’t healed or even started to heal by now then you probably need surgery sorry to say. If your doc is pushing toward surgery it’s probably because he doesn’t want to keep you in the brace for 6 months then still have to do surgery anyway. I wish I had done this sooner but also get a second opinion go to another doc and see what they think. I’ve seen about 6-8 docs over the span of the 3 years since I broke C6, C7, T1, T2, T3, T4, and slight fracture in T5 and having multiple doctors tell me the same thing or even exploring other options to rule out other possibilities helped me be pretty confident in the correct course of action in regards to treatment.
Sorry, Marquette, your message was caught in the blog’s spam folder. It’s now posted, obviously. Keep in mind that when I do a search on Facebook for “Marquette Gasser” three different names come up, so that might not be the best way to suggest people contact you.
Hi Christian. I was involved in a motorbike accident September 3, 2011. Broke c2 at the odontoid process, where it meets the vrtebral body of c2.Also broke c7. I was put in a halo. A month later I had c2 slip forward (was unstable) and the doctor had to re position the vertebra by changing my heads direction.That was extremely painful for a month (worst than the pain after the accident) but sucesful in terms proper position of the c2. Since then I am fortunate not to have another slippage as to this point but the bone has not healed yet. I have had calcium supplements as well as multi vitamins since the accident even though the doctor had told me he did not think they would have any positive effect.Well he proved right probably but I still take them.The doc also sugested I wait two more months before I consider surgery because the bone seems not to have started healing at all so it might be the case that my rate of healing is just slow.There are cases where cervical spine fractures healed after six months.(Unless the bone develops a false join called pseudo arthrosis, no doctor can definately say that they will not heal given more time than 3 months).I am 37 ,was a chain smoker, I quit smoking after the accident in order to help bone recovery cause it DOES affect it,
Neurologically I am fine even though I get tired easily.I’ve had x-rays, cat scans and MRI. Cat scans with 3d bone reconstruction is considered by many doctors the most accurate type of imaging technology for bone assesment.Think that two weeks ago I had cat scans, where we saw that the fracture did not heal and a week later, after a minor halo adjustment I had x -rays and they falsely showed that the fracture of the odontoid was simly not there!!
My advise would be: Seek advise from different specialized doctors,doctors disagree with each other too often.If you know someone who has been treated for similar injury sucessfully ask for the name of his doctor
If your c2 has started healing incorrectly, have surgery, if not, wait. Natural healing, if possible, does not compare to any surgery.Do not let anyone or yourself rush you to surgery if you can afford to wait.
If you have surgery mind you that in general there are two approaches in fusing operations, the anterior and posterior.which one is appropriate depends on many factors but in the event that both approaches are suitable for your case keep in mind that the posterior fusion leaves limited range of motion, however in many hospitals in my country at least is more common. Not every doctor is trained in both and not every hospital has the materials for both types of operation.
I hope I have helped a little by sharing what I know with you,we are at similar phases in our recovery process, it is not an easy process at all,I get scared at times,didnt use to but I will try my best to recover cause as some at this thread have pointed out, life feels more like a gift now, I am reconsidering a lot now. I have had other accidents in the past but this one is different.
If you need anything and I can help, my email is vmcuts@gmail.com
My sister just broke her neck and has a halo. What are the best clothes for her to wear and where do I find them. She will be in the halo for 3 months