We went to Tyler yesterday to see Dad's doctor about his neck problem from the accident. He had reviewed the CT Scan and they say that the situation in his neck is not so bad. There was a fracture in neck vertebrae #6 or #7, but it has stabilized and that's good. He also said that it revealed that #2 had bone spurs on it, which had been there before the accident. The doctor reasoned that what happened to cause Dad's discomfort initially in the accident was that the jostling around and taking the head bump when he rolled the car had likely caused the neck to compress. This compressing led to the bone spurs to pinch the nerves in the area.
I told the doctor that I had been reluctant to change the neck brace because I didn't want to possibly risk messing up somehow (the hospital in Colorado had given us a spare). The doctor told us that based on the CT Scan taken last Wednesday, he didn't see any need for the neck brace now. Yay !!
We had expected him to have to wear it for at LEAST another 4 weeks, because SMC in Englewood, Colo. told us Dad would be stuck for EIGHT weeks with the brace. Talk about good news. Dad found the brace uncomfortable and quite restricting of course, so this will give him more freedom of movement, etc. He hasn't shaved since the accident because of the neck brace. He said yesterday that he wants to go to his barber today and get a shave and a haircut, LOL ! He was beginning to look like a Santa Claus wannabe lately because of his grey beard, heh heh !
Anyway, I just had to spread the good news. 