CT Images

This image shows the blood clot that was in RJ's brain (circled in yellow) and the shift that was occurring, pushing the left side (shown on the right here) of his brain over, and beginning to push the right side over as well.The red line is where the midline should be, the curved white line to the left is the midline of the brain (the division between the two halves of the brain) The clot measured 10 cm (4 in.) by 6 cm (2.25 in.) and went in about 5 cm (2 in) at this point, which is about the deepest spot.         

This image was taken right after surgery, and shows the dog-bone-shaped brackets holding in place the section of skull that had to be removed in order to remove the clot. There are 32 staples (the track of parallel white lines) and the yellow line is the drain tube that went into his skull to create negative pressure in the cavity left by the removal of the clot. This essentially "sucked" his brain back over into that space while also draining the fluids that were accumulating from the surgery. The tube was removed the following morning, the staples 10 days later, and he gets to keep the brackets & screws forever.