It’s been a while since I have visited the site, and not much has changed until last Monday when I went for an updated MRI. Over the past 6-8 months I’ve been trying to get my care team (neurologist, neurosurgeon, primary care physician, anyone who would listen) to understand that my pain was intensifying. My “episodes” were happening more frequently and being caused by new or different triggers. But no one seemed to take me seriously.
Then Monday night (after hours) I got a call from my neurologist telling me that my December 2017 8mm herniation was now (November 2018) 23mm. She was clearly panicked that I had been trying to draw attention to what was a change in my health, and no one (including her) had listened.
Since I had already had a second opinion appointment scheduled with a neurosurgeon at a different facility last Wednesday, I decided to skip the ED as my neurologist recommended and see what this new doctor’s take was. He didn’t seem at all concerned that my herniation changed. Whereas the neurologist and neurosurgeon I’ve been seeing for about a year very much are concerned.
The new doctor says we should schedule surgery and get it done in about two weeks. The doctor’s I’ve been seeing say let’s figure out why your herniation changed first and then schedule you for the right procedure (approximately 6-8 weeks from now).
The biggest problem I have with my chiari diagnosis is the inconsistency. I don’t know which doctor to listen to. Do I get the surgery done now and hope it solves whatever caused the herniation to change? Or do I suffer a while longer in order to try and make sure whatever we do sticks? Has anyone else had their herniation size change this dramatically before?