Oct 2017- Implant Implanted

It looks like the tissue expansion worked after all!  After a year of expansion and 1 1/2 year with a hole in my head I finally have a complete skull again now that the implant was implanted. Damn lucky I didn't jab something in the head hole as I continued to live my life as (almost) normal.  Today we removed the drains.  I was a little concerned since pulling a drain last spring is what caused all this BS in the first place.  Now all there is to do is heal and watch for an infection.
In the photos below you can see I still have some deformities, but they should relax in time.  For now I have a super cool antenni.

Moment of true happiness touching the implant

May 9th 2017 - Implant attempt

Today we attempted to remove the expanders/graft and install the PEEK implant, however I didn't get that lucky.  There was not enough tissue and what was up there did not move the way we needed it to to remove the graft.  Instead it was decided the best move was to install a third expander in my forehead to help get tissue where we need it.  Not exactly sure what the timeline is now, but I am preparing for at least 2 more expantion sessions. The first one was 6 months.....

After surgery today

The good news is we are taking steps forward

March 23, 2017 - Deflate-gate

A few days ago one of the expanders ruptured dumping about 250 cc (8oz) of fluid in my head cavity.  It was not painful, but certainly uncomfortable.  The fluid is being absorbed by my body, but we have to go in and remove the compromised expander tomorrow.  This will set back our attempt to install the cranial implant by 6 or so weeks.  However the good news is we are inserting a larger expander that will give us a little more tissue and a greater chance of success when inserting the implant.

Today

Day after leak

1 week ago

Jan 19, 2017 -91 days in

I have had a couple fill ups since my last post- lost track of how many cc but we almost have the expanders at max volume.  Most likely only 2 more fills (4 weeks) and that will be it for phase 1.  At that point we will most likely still not have enough tissue to install the implant.  We will remove the expanders currently in place and cut out as much of the 'bad' skin (grafts and shark cartilage)as possible. Also at during that surgery 2 new expanders will be put in place for another round get some more healthy tissue.  Nothing for sure yet , but I am now hoping to be done early summer. A couple update photos taken today below;