Continuing the discussion from Newbie and scared:
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I had surgery 5 years ago this March. It was really very scary. I am doing SO much better now. My symptoms were the same as yours and my herniation was 19mm. Now I have very few bad headaches and other symptoms are still present but much less severe and less frequent. Who is your neurosurgeon? Is this surgeon experienced with Chiari and have they preformed decompression surgeries many times? I would not have this surgery unless they have. Also another thing to consider is have they done an MRI of the whole spine to rule out a tethered cord? what will they patch the dura with? I know some use a bovine material. My surgeon used muscle from my own body which he said would help me heal because my body recognizes it and is less likely to reject it. Lots of prayer helped me because I really was very freaked out about this whole thing.