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skull replacement after brain surgery

I would really appreciate some help. My cousin had a stroke at 46, due to a blood clot after surgery.  Part of her skull was removed (due to swelling) and has not been replaced.  She had her stroke back in october and has been told that the part of her skull may not be replaced until february (and then only ifd it is not contaminated).  Is this 'normal' after this type of surgery or should we be pushing for it to be replaced earlier.  

Many thanks

Julie
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Avatar universal
Hi,

May i know how is he now a days?? did he is doing normal as same he was before accident??

My friend also got the same thing and going to replace the skull by surgery in few months.

it will help me lot with your response.

Please help. Thanks in advance.
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Avatar universal
How is he now...any side effect of surgery or he is almost fine and can do all activities on his own. My Uncle is of 56 and had this surgery recently.he got paralysis and then went for brain surgery for clot removal.
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Avatar universal
Decompressive craniotomy
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Avatar universal
Decompressive craniotomy
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Avatar universal
My question is when Dr puts the skull back on from the freezer, what kind of complications is there? and do they screw it on or use cement stuff or whay amd also the biggest question is do you have headaches from this for the rest of your life?
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Avatar universal
My mom had the same as your husbands, was his left side any affected?
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Avatar universal
How is he doing Jada. My son was attacked in Sept of 2012. almost half of his skull was removed and has yet to be replaced. They say they have it in a Crionic Lab at UMC in Lubbock TX. The surgery to replace the skull was due in Nov, then mid Dec now they say maybe in Jan. did your husband have any after effects, post surg infections?

Hi fetchgitlem,
Iam so sorry for your medical predicament. If it's any consolation my son's surgery to replace his skull has not happened to date. Also, once I tried to grow garlic and it died. maybe I can get tips from you on gardening. Everything I plant dies. I don't have a green thumb, i am a murderer of plants.
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Avatar universal
This story was amazing!  You are a strong individual!  You  are the type of person that makes the world go around and a fine example of never giving up!  Keep up your spirits!  Life is too short to let it pass you buy!  Enjoy just a sniff of the beautiful flowers in the spring, the cool rain drop after it has kissed your face and the autumn leaves with their vibrant change of color!  Truly you are a warrior!  Enjoy every breath God has given you!!! God Bless!
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1905042 tn?1321780676
hi, my name is sumit my father age is 46 years old and his operation has been done  on 8 october 2011 of the left side of the head his bone was flap remove and kept in abdomen due to  this his right side is working lightly . What is this disease and what treatment available for this .and please also tell that can he again be healthy as he was before please reply all the information about this which hospital is good for this disease his operation was done in "Narayana Hrudayalaya MMI Hospital Raipur"
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Avatar universal
i was 18 when an i-beam over a thousand pounds fell from about two and a half metres over my head. It smashed my hard hat to **** and knocked me out but i guess i was fighting the fire fighters and everything off they finally put me out with some shot there were testing , long story short i woke up in the hospital like wtf is going on i gotta get bak to work ! im strapped down with half my skull cut out everyones laughing little did i know according to the dr's i should have died or been in critical condition at the least paralized in some way. thank god im not and am doing really good im now 22 and everything is good .. they put my bone flap back in but it ***** i cant snowboard or anything it be like rolling the dice but im happy to be alive and able to walk and talk .. i also had to wait about  6 or 7 months for the bone flap to be replaced
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Avatar universal
Hi, I'm 23yr old, I had a stroke attack in may 2008 and I fell and hit my head. I had a surgery on my right side brain as they need to remove the blood clot. I want to know if I put back my skull with this titaanium plate will it help on my recovery process?
Ps: when I was born I had this heart problem
Any experts/professional suggestion?
Please email me at ***@****
Thanks for the suggestion
God Bless.
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Avatar universal
Five years ago my 28 year old son was in a snowmobile accident.  Because of pressure on the brain, the doctor at SUNY Upstate removed the whole top of his skull (not just bone flaps).  He told us that it would be 6 months or more when he was well into recovery that they would put it back on.  A month later, the hospital destroyed the skull saying it was contaminated.  He was doing well in rehab until something happened and he had a second brain injury.  The doctors in our home town said they never remove the whole top of the skull because they never get a good result and they cannot put it back on because it would cause subdural hematoma and more brain injury.  Does anyone know of a safe procedure to replace the skull bone after his brain has fused to his scalp?  I am desperate.
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1565556 tn?1295262368
Gođ яєαllγ вlєss αll of γoυ foя sнαяίиġ sυcн αωєsoмєlγ αмαzίиġ ρєяsoиαl sтoяίєs. ί'м α fίяsт γєαя мєđ sтυđєит ίи яυssία. foя мosт ραят of тнє sємєsтєя, ί'vє нαđ тнє oρρoятυиίтγ тo oвsєяvє fяoм тнє sυяġίcαl яooм ġαllєяγ, sєvєяαl oятнoρєđίc sυяġίcαl ρяocєđυяєs. ί мυsт αđмίт иoиє of тнєм (тнoυġн тяαυмαтίc) coυlđ sтαиđ υρ тo тнє sєvєяίтγ of ωнαт ί'м яєαđίиġ fяoм γoυя єиđ. ġυγs, γoυя sтoяίєs αяє sυρяємєlγ ίиsρίяίиġ!
ί ρlαи тαӄίиġ υρ ρєđίαтяίc иєυяosυяġєяγ αs мγ υlтίмαтє sρєcίαlтγ.
мγ đєcίsίoи нαs иoω вєєи ġαlvαиίzєđ вγ тнє иєcєssίтγ тo нєlρ αllєvίαтє тнє ραίи of cнίlđяєи ωнo cαи'т є×ρяєss тнє ίитєиsίтγ of тнєίя sυffєяίиġ αs αđυlтs đo.
ί ωίsн тнєяє coυlđ вє α яєvolυтίoиαяγ oρєяαтίvє ρяocєđυяє тнαт ίsи'т so ίиvαsίvє αиđ đoєsи'т υиđυlγ яєиđєя тнє ραтίєитs тo fυятнєя coмρlίcαтίoиs.
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Avatar universal
I believe the procedure is called a cranioplasty.. dont quote me on this.. =) My husband had a hemorrhagic stroke and they removed his right brain flap to relieve the swelling. it has been a month since the operation, he goes in on Dec. 1st, to find out when the skull will be replaced *fingers crossed*, he has to wear a protective helmet until the "reversal surgery", the swelling has gone down considerably, his head has even begun to sink in so hopefully he will be having the second operation soon for his sake. Hope this helped =)
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Avatar universal
Hi
Can any one Help me.
My friend( 27 yrs Male) met with a road accident on feb 8th 2010. He Had similiar surgery and half of his skull was placed in stomachs .The Doctors did shunt on March 8 th 2010. to remove the water in the head, Now his situation is he is able to recognise his  old things and he is even talking and obeying commands and he is able to recognise his relatives name and he is not able to map those people with their names, but still he is not able to feed orally. onyl liquid foods he is taking orally(only cofee and juices 200ml per day). still tube is there in his nose.Will he get his cnsiousness back.Doctors have sheduled an operation on wed(31st march 2010) to replace the skull from stomach again. Will he improve after that. How long it ll take for him. Did anybody ahve the symptoms like this. and one more things his left side (arms and legs) , he was not using that, we are doing physiotheraphy for that. Pls help me.
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Avatar universal
I had brain surgery to remove my right frontal and right temporal lobes due to a seizure disorder.  When they put my skull back on they used three titanium plates and six screws.  The screws hurt every time it's going to rain, but other than that, it's not so bad.  For the swelling, I had a tube coming out of a hole about the size of a dime for a while.  They took the tube out, but left the hole there.  I can still feel my brain with my finger twelve years later. They cut my jaw muscle in order to raise it up to get inside the right side of my head.  Some of the muscle was discarded during the surgery, so it left quite a sunken in spot on the side of my head.  That used to bother me, that people would stare, but now I don't care what they think.  People who have a problem with an other person's odd appearance are too shallow minded for me to spend my time on.  
I had a stroke during the surgery that paralyzed my whole left side. I was in rehab for 3 months before I could walk to the car unassisted except for a walking cane.   I used to be an Industrial / Commercial Electrician, but the gimpy hand and leg made it too dangerous to keep climbing ladders and working on hot 480 volt buss-ducts.  I fell 20 feet from an extension ladder, with a 25 pound hammer drill over my shoulder, 8 months after my surgery, but I hit an I-Beam on the way to the concrete that spun me back around and landed me back on my feet with just a few sore ribs from hitting the beam and a busted up, very expensive drill that didn't fair quite so well.  About a week or so after that, I fell from another ladder.  My left arm and leg would give out and cause me to fall often.    I was 36 years old at the time, now I am 48.  I walk with a slight limp, and my seizures came back after the first year, but  I found out that there is a Vocational Rehabilitation Program that will pay for you to get re-trained for a new job.  I enrolled at NSU in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 1999 to become a School Teacher.
      It was a 4 year program, I was able to carry a 3.97 GPA through the whole 4 years with Student Services that allowed me time and a half for college class testing and extra time on the State Teacher Exams as well.  I became a Special Education Teacher in 2003 and got a job right away.  I taught High School Special Education for three years until finally, the seizures and migraine headaches became too frequent and severe to carry on with all the paper work that is required of a Sp.ed. teacher.  In 2005 I applied for disability.  Now I keep myself busy with gardening or quilting or blogging on my Farmers Market web site.  Reading the comments of others on this site make me realize that I don't have it so bad, but it still frustrates me that there are others who come out of brain surgery unscathed and seem to carry on normal lives; especially those who get up and walk right out of the Hospital within a week's time after the surgery.  On dark, cold, gloomy, days, like today, it's hard not to feel sorry for your-self, but  on bright sunny days - it sure is good to be able to wake up and spend all day long in the garden doing something you love.
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Avatar universal
removal of part of the skull during a craniotomy is not an unusual occurance when one has had a severe bleed and swelling. Often, the portion of the skull needs to remain off the brain while the brain and swelling goes down to prevent further damage to the brain and to prevent it from herniating.

The surgical procedure is called a bone flap.  The bone section (flap) can be either placed in the person's abdomen until it is ready to be replaced, or like a former person stated in a solution.   Use of titanium or a ceramic material does not effect the cosmetic appearance. Often, once the flap is replaced, the only way you can tell it was done is by a hairline scar where they made the incisions.

The length of time a flap needs to remain off, depends on the circumstances. patient's do quite well with their helmet when performing every day activities and therapy.

Hope that helps.
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Avatar universal
My boyfriend had a brain tumor surgery and after 2 weeks he had an infection , now they have to remove part of the skull bone to clean the infection, I'm very worried about that , what may happen ? and what if he had other infection after removing the bone ?
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Avatar universal
My husband had his part of his skull removed almost two months ago. Does anyone know what the procedure is called when they put it back in?
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Avatar universal
my husband had a similiar surgery and half of his skull was placed in stomach for 4months until the swelling went down. his right side caved in once the swelling went down. the nuerosurgeons explianed that best way for the skull not to be contaminated is to save it in his stomach . It has been 7months since the skull was put back and u could barely tell he had the surgery
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Avatar universal
My sister had a car accident back in uly 2008, shehad pressure on the brain and they had to remove her frontal lobe of her skull. She had the bone replaced on 12th jan 2009 but this got infected and 2 months later in March she had to have it removed again. its been a nightmare but she is still coping remarkably well. They have told us that the will be replacing the bone either with titanum or ceramic. Do you know if the outcome is positive from using these materials as we just dont want her to get another infection.Also does anyone know if the cosmectic result is good as my sister is a beauty therapist and is so pretty we just want her to look back to normal.Thanks for any help! x
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Avatar universal
My daughter had her skull remove about 5 months ago they told us up to 1 year it could take for the brain swelling to go down.  So this is not unusual. It is better to wait until all the swelling has disispated so that no more surgeries have to be done.
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692504 tn?1227538365
I am 17 , i was diagnosed with a bone tumor in my skull earlier this year and under went surgery where they removed half of my skull and replaced it with a titanium plate, i was originally told i would have to wait up to 5 months untill the titanium plate was fixed so i think its quite usual, but in the end they did the procedure all in one go.

I dont think you have anything to worry about it seems quite usual to wait a while until the skull is repaced. I hope your cousin makes a speedy recovery.

Katie
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Avatar universal
I would not hurry this.  If the skull is put back to soon can cause pressure...not good outcome.
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