It’s been an interesting and freaky past few days. While Lindsey was visiting me on Thursday, I turned my head slightly to the left and we both heard what sounded like a loud gunshot going off in my neck… POP! It was not a normal sound and I immediately knew something happened. There wasn’t a lot of pain, just a little bit of anxiety and wonderment about what the noise could be. I thought it might’ve been a very overdue bone crack, but we needed to call 911. When they arrived, they slapped a hard collar around my neck and transported me out on a backboard, which I’m sure gave the neighbors something to talk about.
I spent the last two days at the hospital getting X-Rays and CAT scans. Believe it or not, one of the titanium support rods in my neck snapped in half, which was the loud noise Lindsey and I heard. All of the vertebrae are intact and there appears to be no damage to the skeletal frame. However, the snapping of the rod upset the muscle tissue surrounding it which led to some severe discomfort.
At this point, the plan is to leave the broken rod in my neck and monitor the situation. The scary thing is that certain neck movements cause the two separate pieces to shift against each other re-creating the horrible popping metal sound. While I have been assured the spinal cord is not being affected, you can imagine how freaky it is to have sounds of twisting metal resonating from your neck. The other rod is still in place but will probably end up snapping at some future point in time. While this is not a common occurrence, it does happen every now and then. I’m trying to find the positive in the situation, and I’m hoping that this may actually lead to me regaining more mobility in my neck since the rods are no longer securely in place. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I’m trying to remain as comfortable as possible for a few days. It’ll take some time to get use to this feeling, especially the loud popping sounds. Please continue to pray for healing. Thanks for all the support and prayers!
Scott