So after 8 months of worsening symptoms and having multiple MRI’s, tests, scans, blood work, scopes… The whole 9 yards… And my symptoms continually getting dismissed as “not related to Chiari” … It’s been a long road. I’ve had symptoms for many years, but the Chiari was not found until 8 months… Long story short, I met with my NS again today, after completing thoracic MRI (now my entire spine has been scanned) and CINE Flow, the good news is that I do not have a syrinx… But the not so good news is that my CSF is being blocked behind my brain stem, attributing to my pressure headaches and other symptoms. My NS feels that it’s best to get the surgery now and not wait since my CSF is being partially blocked. I have good flow in front of the brain stem, and bad flow behind it. Which makes sense bc the cerebellar tonsils are causing too much crowding and not enough space for the fluid to flow naturally. I’m VERY nervous thinking about the surgery bc I have SO many responsibilities as a mom of two girls. I do everything for them, and thinking about me getting the surgery and needing adequate time to recover is so scary. I worry about complications etc… But I know this is what I need to do, for any hope of getting my life somewhat back to where it used to be, before the Chiari symptoms started taking over…
Any advice about surgery prep and recovery/ healing as a mom would be greatly appreciated!! I have not scheduled the date yet, but after I talk with everyone in my family, I will be setting it up by next week… Picking the right time is another struggle for me as a busy mom! 