How many of you have had to have decompression surgery done again and how long was the time span between surgeries?
I had decompression surgery 11-22-11. I'm having daily headaches again, nerve pain in my right arms, dizziness. Some of these symptoms are new for me. My NS said I need an MRI again to make sure my flow is still ok.
Any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.
I always thought that once you have been decompressed, there's nothing else to do - as long as the surgery is done properly. I would suggest you find out exactly what the surgeon did - before my decompression my chiari was 23mm so my surgeon had to remove part of my C1 and C2 discs on my spine to make room (laminectomy). I also had the duraplasty done at the same time.
Also - there's always the chance that it is not your Chiari causing your symptoms. I had terrible symptoms before decompression, daily migraines (sometimes lasting weeks), numbness, tingling, horrible vision problems including tunnel vision and aura - My surgeon said there was an 80% chance that my symptoms would clear up after surgery and I am now 5 months post op and feel absolutely normal ;)
HI MINDY.....
YOU GOT GREAT INPUT FROM BOTH GALS. TRY AN RELAX..YEAH, RIGHT? SERIOUSLY THOUGH, MAYBE THESE ARE SX'S THAT ARE LEFT OVER AND WILL GET BETTER IN TIME...FOR SOME OF US , IT TAKES A FEW YRS FOR MOME SX'S TO GO AWAY. HOPEFULLY, THAT IS YOUR CASE.
PLS KEEP US POSTED ON WHAT THE DOCTOR SAYS.
PEACE,
LORI