Question
Thanks for answering my question.

My husband (53) broke his C1 and C2 Dec nth, 07 in a dirt bike accident.  He now has a halo and has no spinal cord or brain injury. He has all movement, no breathing issue. Lucky! In the 4 days he was there I never spoke to a doctor about his recovery, prognosis, or even hygiene.  What can I expect for recovery period? His first follow up appointment is 25 days after the halo being put on. Will he be completely "healed"?  I'm nervous about cleaning under the vest, how do I?  Sleeping?  What not to do?  
Thanks for your help.
Lydia

Answer
Your husband is lucky indeed. It's always amazing to me to hear how little contact the doctors have with the patient and family following such a traumatic incident.

Recovery periods vary from person to person but your husband has all his functions so there is little to recover. I don't know what kind of surgery he had but the post-op recovery is typically 6-12 weeks depending on the type of surgery and the severity of the injury.

'Completely healed' is not really possible because the bones will never return to their full pre-injury strength. However, daily life will return to normal. I would not recommend any more risk-taking behavior such as dirt bike riding. You rarely get a second shot at things in life and your husband should look carefully at the second chance that he's been given.

Cleaning under the vest should be done carefully, if at all. In fact, nobody cleaned under my vest during the entire time that it was on. If you get the lining wet, it can cause skin breakdown.

Sleeping should be no problem. The vest somewhat reduces the ability to move around while sleeping.

The most important thing is not to move the vest/halo assembly. Don't let anyone grab the metal rods that run between the vest and the halo. Even medical people will forget that part; I had X-ray technicians wanting to transfer me from my stretcher to the X-ray table by picking my upper body up by those bars.

I suggest that you contact the doctor's office to get a full set of instructions on what to do and what to avoid. It is their medical responsibility to inform the patient and family on how to take care of things.

Thank you for your questions, Lydia. I hope that my answers have been helpful.