Former Idaho beauty queen Jamie Hilton suffered brain swelling after a devastating fall in June. Doctors removed a large chunk of her skull to allow the swelling to heal, then replaced it a few weeks later. In the meantime, where did they store the skull? In her abdomen.
Doctors removed 25 percent of her skull and surgically zipped it into her stomach, where it would remain as her brain swelling subsided.
"It was pretty shocking," laughed Hilton. "I didn't know they did that."
The mother of three was in a medically induced coma for several days, then woke to find her head shaved and stitched shut, a protrusion in her stomach.
"There was just this bulge," she said. And her head "was Frankenstein-style."
Hilton is recovering well, and has chronicled her ordeal on her blog. The family did not have health insurance when Hilton was injured. Link to story. Link to Hilton's blog. -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Jamie L. Hilton/Mrs. Idaho)