Life with the Halo

I've spoken about the more gruesome parts of the halo but I also get asked about what life was like with it on. The short answer is that it was incredibly tough.

During the car accident my left ear was almost completely sliced off, which lead to a lot of bleeding. Shockingly, there were more important things to do immediately after the accident than to clean me up. So when the halo was attached it was attached on top of a full head of matted, bloody hair. After a couple of days the nurses on the ward attempted to brush and wash it for me. It was done in bed with a wash bowl, they tried their best but there really wasn't a lot they could do by hand and by the bed. So it was left again till I got out of hospital.

As well as having a big metal frame around your head, the halo also extends to a hard, plastic body brace. It's lined with an itchy woollen material that you can't take off because it's attached to the top part of the halo. Unfortunately I was throwing up a lot while I was in hospital (probably due to the medication), and a lot of it went into the body brace. So although we tired our best to clean it up, I pretty much had dried vomit down me for the entirety of my time wearing the brace. The wool also really irritated my skin, so I was left with a lot of dry skin and a couple of sores. It was delightful.

When I went home the task of my hygiene pretty much fell to my Mother. You're left rigid, you can't move your head, neck or back. There's absolutely no way that you can look after yourself, so it's important to have something who you trust around to help you with the day to day stuff. You also soon learn to not let it embarrass you. It's odd to be a 21yr getting sponge baths off your Mum again, but you soon adjust. Mums are heroes aren't they?

As the inside of the body brace is lined with wool, it's important to not get it wet. Which rules out proper showers and baths. The best solution we found was to fill the bath with a couple of inches of water, just below where the body brace ends. I also tried in the shower of a couple of times, it's best if it's a detachable head so you can try and avoid the brace. Baby wipes became pretty essential for cleaning under the brace (this is when having someone to help would come in).

Washing my hair was something we tended to avoid, maybe once a week we attempted it. We would put a cushion over the lip of the shower, lie my head over it and my mum would try and wash it for me. But that was only half the battle, the hardest part would be brushing it after. I had A LOT of hair and there were four screws, metal bar and various bolts for it to get tangled up in. I would seriously recommend getting it cut if you have long hair. It would certainly be easier.

I couldn't wear any of my normal clothes because they wouldn't fit around the halo and brace. We found that the best thing was to buy very large t-shirts and cut away the collar. I spent most of those months in sweat pants anyway so I didn't exactly miss wearing pretty clothes.

Sleeping was a huge issue. Napping was fine, but sleeping on the evening was uncomfortable and difficult. Your head is suspended in the air by four metal screws; so unless you really stuff a pillow in there, you just have to learn to sleep mid-air I guess. I was on sleeping tablets but they didn't help at all. It wasn't till well after the halo was off that I started to sleep properly again.

Just getting around the house was an effort. There's a lot of extra weight on your head and it's hard it learn how to balance it correctly. I often needed assistance getting from room to room, or in and out of bed/bath. Getting in the car was fun (it wasn't fun),but you soon learn how to manoeuvre yourself in and out without bashing the halo on the car door.

There's a lot more I have to say about life with the halo, it's more to do with self esteem and being seen in public. So I'll do another post on that.

Hope this answers some questions.