UPDATE
ON THE DUEL
.
After spending the night
in hospital, and having four different specialists debate about whether
or not to remove the bullet fragment, they decided it best to leave it
in. I was told that the position the bullet lodged in my neck, that
it was in no danger of causing any damge to important structures for the
time being. Having said that, the Doctors also told me that I was
extremely lucky. The bullet enter just to the left of my chin and
travelled along my jawbone. It came to rest between the back of my
jaw and my neck. He advised me that it came within a half inch of
my carotid artery, and that if it had hit it, I would have been in major
problems (i.e. DEAD).
.
The bullet is safe if left
alone, the greatest danger being the posibility that it will migrate over
time, or I may develop an infection. Because of where the bullet
is, and the difficulty in finding it during surgery, it was felt that I
would be in more danger from the surgery than the bullet. Possible
complications mentioned were a greater risk of infection, paralysis of
the left side of my face, and/or death.
.
Below are some pictures
showing the path of the fragment, the general shape of it that I remember
from the X-Ray and its final resting place. These are not actual
X-rays of my injury nor are they completely accurate as to position etc.
They were put together by me for illustration only.
.
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