My chiari surgery pictures.

I have yet to add any photographs of my scar or anything else from my surgery. So here goes!! If you are a wimp and do not like photos of incisions then do not read this. They are not graphic, but my friend Dave will not even look at my scar so others may hate it as well!



This was the morning after my surgery. Lots of hair gone. This is what upset me the most after the op.



4 days after surgery! I was at home at this point.



5 days after surgery. Later this day my incision turned nasty and it was one of the first signs of a problem. I was readmitted to hospital less than 24 hours later.



7 days after surgery. This is the morning after I was readmitted. The blue pen line around my incision is marking the area of infection



9 days after surgery. My stitches are gone, but my incision had started to reopen by this point.



Lumbar puncture needle. 9cm long!!



My lumbar drain. A plastic tube is placed between 2 vertebra in the lower spine. This is left in and drains spinal fluid into a bag. The yellow square you can see is a port. This is used to collect spinal fluid and meant I did not need anymore lumbar punctures. My drain was in for a week.



This is my CSF, the fluid which surrounds your brain and spine. This is what is being removed by the drain. This should be crystal clear, but mine is yellow due to my horrid meningitis.



13 days! I had still not washed my hair by this point, gross! Wound has re-opened by this point, which is why it looks so wide! Also infected right at the top of the incision



17 days! Wound has re-closed and the infection at the top is starting to clear



24 days. Internal stitches are pushing out at the very bottom and just above which is what the holes are!



26 days and my first day at home! Internal stitches at top and bottom have been removed. Have about 5 more which are starting to break through the skin and will need pulling out!