Hello, everyone! I haven't been much around here for a while. Despite I want to help others, especially chiarians here, I've been focusing on my own life and problems. With the little energy I had, I tried to study a bit. The best I got, was no more than 5-7 hours a week. I also was in the process of getting diagnosed. I had to go to another city, 3 hours in car one way, to see the NS and to have cine MRI. The car rides really hurt me. All the shaking and bouncing on the roads, even the best and smoothest ones- I feel every vibration like a hit to the head. Needless to say I also feel like being hit in the head- stunned. The conciousness level is very similar to the one a sleeping pill makes. I like UFC and when the fighters go wobbly after a hit, they look similar to how I feel at times.
So I did the cine-MRI and saw the NS yesterday. He said, there is absolutely no flow in the back. That makes so much sense! I actually thought, he'd say it's not that bad and I should go to a neurologist. haha But no. he said we should do the surgery and offered next week. That was a shocker. So soon! I started crying, but until now, I have no idea why. The surgery doesn't scare me. I've read a lot of your and other peopler experiences and when I compare how I have lived the past year and how it would be to live 40-60 more, getting worse, to the surgery, that seems a no brainer. I've even seen a video on facebook by a mother raising awareness for chiari, where her daughter is opst op screaming from pain in the hospital. Maybe I haven't had that much pain for it to scare me. I don't care how much pain I'll be in, I could not sit around and waste my life knowing there is something I could do. I can't put in words how much I want to learn programming and get a job. I've fallen in love with it. I dream of going to work. The big picture is all that matters and I'll do everything in my power to get there.
I trust the NS, he is a NS professor with a lot of experience. I like him as a person. He Didn't dismiss me the first time, even though only one of my tonsils has 6mm herniation. The other one is normal. He didn't dismiss, but he said, he'd only preform surgery, if he's 100% sure the Chiari causes my symptoms. In the appointment yesterday, he said the flow restriction should only make things worse and I believe him, because for the last year I have been getting worse. He said, It could eventually cause hydrocefalus or syringomyelia. He also said, the restriction should cuse the fatigue, because it makes thing very difficult for the body.
I can't wait for the surgery. I'll see my family doctor tomorrow and then I'll see, if I'll be doing all the pre op tests here, or, if it would take too much time, then I'll just go to the hospital one day early and they'll do them there. Either way, I'll be having the surgery sometime this month. A chance for a "normal" life.
Thanks for reading. Hope you have a nice day.
Kristine
