So I’m going down to Sydney for stereotactic radiosurgery next week. I’m not too concerned except for one thing that hopefully you guys who have had a halo fitted before can clear up for me.
I’m told that it gets put on in the morning before an angiogram and the actual treatment is not until the afternoon, therefore, when and if the anesthesia wears off, can you feel the bolts/screws in your head? I would imagine that they pierce the skin so without anesthesia won’t it feel like I have wounds in my head/skull?
Any other info you can provide to prepare me is most welcome.
Hi Lizbot,
Each hospital and doctor is different, you should ask the doctors involved what their typical procedure is. Some use anesthesia and some only numb the area where the screws are inserted. I had both and it was an OK experience. First thing in the am they took blood samples, (typical tests mainly for the anesthesiologist) then they gave me a light dose of anesthesia, enough to put me in lala land, and then they numbed the 4 pin sights. They said I was fighting with them while they fitted the halo so they gave me another dose which knocked me out. I woke up as they were wheeling me out of the CT room directly after fitting the halo and I just had to wait about 1-2 hrs while they programmed the GK before we started the 1hr GK session. They removed the halo immediately when done. The pin sights remained numb until the next day so there was no major pain while the halo was on, or when they removed it, It was more an uncomfortable pressure feeling than painful, Not bad at all. I had my Angio done long before scheduling the GK so they did not need any more images for me apart from the initial CT necessary to program the GK. BTW many use MRI vs CT for the setup… My only suggestion is to request the anesthesia while they fit the halo, that way you don’t know whats going on… All the best.
speaking from my experience I am exactly the same as I ever was. I went back to work the next week and have had no major problems. I think the migranes flared up a bit but that was about it. God bless, Pamela
Hi,
my wife is diagnosed with an AVM in her brain. We have seen some neurosurgeons and they said surgery is risk as it’s deep and they didn’t suggest it. They suggested us to see other option, stereotactic radiosurgery. We live in Sydney, can any one share please information related to the doctors or hospital that we can see for opinions? thanks and appreciated it.
When my halo was placed I was given an amnesia drug I had to be sitting up in the chair and I had to be awake for it to be placed! Since I had many metal clips in my brain because of prior surgery from the rupture I cannot have an MRI I had to lay on the halo for an ultrasound for eight hours I will admit it was the most painful thing I had ever gone through in my life once I could sit up after the ultrasound and the pain went away the procedure itself took less than three minutes and once the screws were released it was fine.