And so we come, almost, to the end of December, the end of 2020.
Whew. What a year, right?
Christmas was great - naturally I had the idea to get a string of battery powered Christmas lights and we figured how to drape them artfully around my Halo. After not doing anything too wild for Halloween it was a smash hit with the family and I was quite proud of taking advantage of a Christmastime Halo experience to get decorated up beside the tree.
The last X-ray appointment with Dr. Lynn was back on December 7th - it’s as routine as can be at this point, in and out with ease and alacrity. Everything on the x-rays looks normal, the pinsites look just fine, so it took all of about 5 minutes to get the “all-clear, see you next month”. The next step will be a CT Scan - scheduled for December 31st (claim it on 2020’s insurance, thankyouverymuch) - and then we’ll see Dr. Lynn the following Monday, January 4th for the interpretation of said scan. That will be right at the four month mark, and there’s a chance - if the CT Scan looks good - that we might get the Halo off that first week of January. That would be a TERRIFIC way to ring in the New Year in my opinion. Or if he looks at it and says nah you need to keep cooking for another few weeks, well, that could happen as well. But I’m thinking positively and optimistically as best I can.
The prospect of waiting another month is not awful, when I do consider it. While my laundry list of “Things To Do Once I’m Out Of the Halo” is being thoughtfully added to on a regular basis, if I’ve gotten good at anything these past 100+ days, it’s being patient. I can be patient a little longer if it means better neck health in the long run.
100 Days, though - that milestone came on December 18th. What a wild thing to have lived with this brace on for 100 Days. What’s really remarkable at this point is just how normal it feels. I’ve virtually no neck pain or discomfort (unless I sleep oddly and wake up with a crick in my neck or shoulders), so I go about my daily routine and often don’t even think about this odd contraption strapped to my upper body. I take Graham out for walks, I do chores around the house, we go to the grocery store, I do some light loadbearing exercises to attempt to prevent ALL of my muscle mass from withering away - working around the Halo has become part of my routine, part of the normal. The body - and the mind - can adapt to anything. It will be incredibly strange now when the Halo comes off. I mused on this to some family members over the holidays - right now, I know how the Halo feels, how it works, it’s “comfortable”, it’s “normal” - there are no surprises after this long in it. It’ll be oddly unnerving when it comes off as then I’ll be the proverbial baby deer finding its legs for the first time - having to re-learn back to a non-Halo center of gravity, getting used to new sensations and soreness as my neck protests against having to be used again. I’m looking forward to it, but the strange irony of The Halo becoming The Default is not lost on me.
Things I’m looking forward to most once I’m out of the Halo -
1) A Shower - So Many Showers - Lindsay got me a shower cap for Christmas since those pinsites may be pretty tender for a few days once the screws come out, but boy I can’t wait to take a shower
2) Riding My Bike (Indoors) - I picked my bike back up from the bike shop last week. They checked it out thoroughly and - it was fine. Barely a scratch. The chain fell off and had to be put back on, but otherwise, I took pretty much the full force of the crash. I’ve already put the bike back on my indoor trainer (we’ll talk about taking the bike outdoors again...someday way down the line) - but I do the majority of my riding indoors anyway - I should be able to get back to that pretty soon once I’m out of the Halo and boy I can’t wait to get some real cardiovascular activity going again
3) Pushups - I really want to do some pushups. And pullups.
4) To Lay My Head On My Dog - I haven’t been able to use Graham as a pillow in almost FOUR MONTHS, people. This is a tragedy.
There are others, but those are a few that spring to mind right away.
I’ve got a few “Halo How-To” posts/videos/guides I want to make in the coming weeks as well - some resources for future Halo-wearers that might find this blog. Some of those nuts-and-bolts (hah) tips and tricks that I found helpful on other people’s blogs in the early days of my journey deserve to have their space here.
This time next week I’ll know about the results of the CT Scan as well so - more news incoming.
BIG UPDATE - HALO REMOVAL POST
