Bone Flap, Diane

I saw a comment about what is the bone flap. Dr. Schubert, a Neuro Fellow, came in and explained the procedure to Scott and me very well, so I will do my best to explain it here. Although I have learned A LOT about Scott's many 'issues', I do not claim to know what I'm talking about lol!!!

Ok to start think of the bone flap as your skull. It's pretty much the bone that protects your brain, it's right under the skin. The Doctor said that you have the skin, the bone flap, a thick protective layer (his description made me think of it like more skin) and the brain. The procedure he will have done is called a Cranial Plastic with a Proex Implant instead of his original bone flap. This is what Dr. Newell, brain surgeon/head of neuro team at Swedish, Scott attending physician's scheduling coordinator told me. (sorry I don't look things up so no links to the info)

What is this procedure?
They will open his skin up, place the Proex Implant (prosthetic bone flap) in fitting it into the place where they removed his 'skull', secure it in place with screws (not sure what they are made out of or what they sesure it to) putting the skin back on and stitching up his skin. When it is done his hair will grow back and it will look like nothing ever happened. OK so we might be able to see a scar down his hair line by his ear.
To look at him right now his head is very miss-shaped. There is a distinct ridge in the middle of his forehead and the right side of his head is noticeably different. The shape of the right side completely depends on his position and how his brain shifts with that position. At times it is very sunken in, but usually it is fairly rounded. One of the hardest things about this is you can tell that his brain is right there under the skin! One super huge soft spot!

Why do I say procedure instead of surgery?
This is what the Neuro surgeons say...YAY. We like procedures. This is a procedure,because they are only going in to replace something. They will not even be messing with the BRAIN.
Dr. Schubert said it's really only a cosmetic thing, well and a protection thing. In Scott's case it's a little more. Very few people who have a craniotomy, part of there skull removed, experience what Scott has with having to stay in bed, hence the amount of time it took to get it here. It was ordered by someone who did not realize we were still in the hospital, usually they are like 3-4 months before going back in. I know, I know how did that get missed? Basically there are lot of hands in the pot where Scott's case in concerned.
Another huge difference is this is planned, controlled. They know what needs to be done and they know what to expect...Scott's case has not been text book. I pretty sure they are planning for worst case even with this procedure just to be safe. But that's the difference they can PLAN. Oh and that when it comes to neuro surgeries this is the easiest thing they do!

His surgery on April 9th was the exact opposite. It was not planned; it was not controlled; they had no idea what to expect when they opened his head. They had to open all the layers of the head to get to the brain and then they had to go into the brain to remove blood! This is one of, if not the Hardest thing Neuro Surgeons do.

Sorry you all got to deal with my long winded rant. I sure hope it make sense though. Let's hope his head gets put back together early next week and we can move on to rehab soon!
Diane