HI - I am just beginning to find out about spine injury. My father fell on his porch and broke his neck two weeks ago. He fractured C1 and C2, and has been in a cervical collar since then. First, the n.surgeon on call that night told him that one bone would heal just fine on it's own, the other (C2) has a 50/50 chance and we can check in on it in 4 wks. He had a rough time of it in the hospital, losing consciousness and having a seizure, coming back out of it after balancing his sodium levels, now is having a hard time sleeping, and eating , as he is in rehab now for 30days. He is 76 and lives alone. My sister and I visit every day and are working toward getting him a consultation for surgery, but we have young children and live 25 min. away.
Does anyone have tips on living with the cervical collar, suggestions about neuro deficits after this type of fracture - even if the CT scan shows no brain damage, or any groundbreaking techniques regarding surgical fusion when the dens is misaligned after a break? Thanks for listening!