Fighters who have had skull surgery

[eXcessiveForce]

Just a quick question.

Has anybody here had or known of a fighter how has had skull surgery where the skull was cut to access the brain?

Have any gone on after surgery to take full contact hits to the head?

Thanks

[Tant01]

Not personally....

[treelizard]

I know people who have had skull surgery, but they weren't fighters. If they were, maybe they wouldn't have just stood there as bad guys beat 'em to a pulp.

[osopardo]

XF;
Are you going under the knife soon?
What do your doctors say about this?

[eXcessiveForce]

Last year I had a brain tumor and had in surgically removed.
They cut the skull behind the ear. I lost my hearing so I also have a titanium snap about 3 inches behind my ear that is drilled into the skull (I have a bone anchored hearing aid that snaps on to the titanium snap.)
Last year I had 7 surgeries to fix all this crap and was pretty much limited to lifting 5lbs or less for the whole year and mostly sitting around.

Issues i have from this, are complete loss of balance functions on one side due to the balance and hearing nerve being removed during surgery.
My other side has mostly compensated for the balance issues, I still can lose my balance but so far drills haven't been too bad.

I still get headaches and fatigue. But they are getting better. Still have some memory issues and such but they are getting better I think.

So far I haven't found anybody who has had what i've had done and been involved in contact sports.

The doctor won't say if I can do it or not. He just says do what you want. He just doesn't have any info regarding hits.

The titanium pin could be damaged or knocked loose, which would mean more surgery to have it replaced. But so far that sounds like the worse that could happen.

I took a few square shots to the jaw a while back and it hurt like hell in the ear, but other than that no other effects other than the jaw being a bit sore for a few days.

I have another spot in my head, but they don't know what it is, and it would be pretty much inoperable even if they did know what it was. They don't even want to try a biopsy because it's in the center of my brain. Lucky for me it hasn't changed at all which is a good sign. (I may have always had this spot and it may be nothing to worry about, or it could be something bad or turn into something bad and with surgery my life expectacy would be 3 weeks.) I'm not too worried about this since nothing can be done anyway and I don't seem to be adversely effected by it.

As I recover and get my skills back, i'm just trying to be cautious. I've been spending most of my time training defense for my head to make up for any weakness that may exist.

[osopardo]

Well, that sux!

You gotta ask yourself if martial arts is something you do or if it's who you are. All athletes have to quit eventually, even if it's from aging.

Personally, some things aren't worth the risk. I'd quit sparring altogether or at most not allow head strikes of any kind, but then, I'm probably a bit older than you and my days of serious competition and full contact sparrring are in the dim past and out of my system.

My prayers and best wishes are with you.


.

[eXcessiveForce]

well, i can say my days of competition are over.

I've been in martial arts since I was 4. I turn 30 this year. But I don't see stopping sparring. Now Contact to the head without headgear isn't gonna happen.

I haven't been doing ground work for awhile but will probably start back on that soon.

I'm now focusing my personal training on improving my hand skills, knife skills, and overall defense.

I don't have a picture of me, but this is what my attatchment point looks like. This is a person I know who has the same thing




I can take off the plastic box to spar, but since I wear it the rest of the time, I have to make sure I can protect it in a self defense situation. Especially at $3500 for the processor, and the damn surgery to put the pin in is 15K

[osopardo]

I know my story is nothing by comparison, but I really sympathize with your question because when I broke my ankle all my questions and concerns revolved around martial arts (will I be able to run? will I be able to kick? will I be able to endure an ankle lock?) and the doctors had no answers. That's how I wound up finding this forum, looking for those kinds of answers...

BTW, if you can get insurance for contact lenses I'm sure you can get insurance for that thing. As for self defense, how much at risk are you of that? Do you do law enforcement or security work? I know it can happen at any time but I haven't been in an actual street defense situation in more than twenty years (I'm 54) just because of where I live, work and play. On a more upbeat note, your training and your level of fitness puts you in a much better position to deal with this life challenge than if you hadn't been in martial arts all this time.

[stabbychick]

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[Tant01]

Take the conservative approach... Chill out! Teach! Don't bang your head or let anyone else do it for you. I even hesitate to recommend a handgun for SD. What of the loud noise? That could damage the processor? Enjoy life, or what's left of it. In fact, just ignore my advise, do whatever the heck feels good!

[jacambece]

after that kind of head damage where it need to be opened up i dont think that they would want to fight after that...they would die very fast from a hit to the head

Cambece

[eXcessiveForce]

I always new I was a tough SOB. hahahaha.

About 3 months after one surgery one of my JJ partners knee planted right on my head going for an armbar. It was an accident, he didn't realize what he was doing.

You should have seen my docs face when about 2 weeks after my second surgery (when everything looked over and done with) and I asked he when I could start boxing again.


My skull at this point should be healed and solid. And I'm not overly concerned about Self Defense. (that is what I train for though) I am concerned about being singled out due to the box on my head and someone deciding that it's a target. Thus the extra work on defense.

To date I've never been knocked out, But I have had nerve damage in my face from getting hit, lips stitched up a few times, chipped teeth and such.

Everyone I actually train with takes extra precaution when we go at it, but accidents happen. That's why I was hoping somebody else had had their head cracked open and once healed had taken lots of punishment without severe ill effect.

In a SD situation I"m not going to be thinking about the box on my head, but while i'm training I have time to prepare for defending it.

[Sagacious Lu]

Wow... I really admire your determination. I know it would break my heart if I had to stop training for some reason. Good luck!

[stabbychick]

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[Tant01]

BANG! BOOM! POW! ... Gun fight!

I always new I was a tough SOB. hahahaha.

About 3 months after one surgery one of my JJ partners knee planted right on my head going for an armbar. It was an accident, he didn't realize what he was doing.

You should have seen my docs face when about 2 weeks after my second surgery (when everything looked over and done with) and I asked he when I could start boxing again.


.......................
In a SD situation I"m not going to be thinking about the box on my head, but while i'm training I have time to prepare for defending it.

EF.... Buddy, the secret principle of Jujutsu is moving your body OUT OF THE WAY... Taisabaki! Evasion is the best defense. Make THEM MISS! :


Seriously dude. ARM YOURSELF! Don't take chances that punching and kicking will win the day. Prepare for the worse and blow THEM AWAY!

Anything from .40 Cal. up would do well enough. Get the CCW/CCP and hit the range. A laser sight is good too. Red dot on the target and there is no doubt about where the thing will land. *uck aiming with your eyes and the sights on the gun. Point and shoot. With practice you can blast coins out of the air (translates into hitting small moving targets with muscle memory/ instinct!) And FUN! You think your box will stand up to live gunfire?