My surgeon said that I should have it but that he was comfortable waiting as the risk are great and that it wasn’t a decision to make lightly or hastily. He also advised that I research and get a second opinion. He did say that he felt it wasn’t a choice of if I should have it or not, rather a choice of when. But that I should take into consideration how bad the symptoms are.
I am pretty sure he will do my surgery if/ when I need to have it.
Brain surgery isn’t something to take lightly. As for my case, I suffer with muscle spasms, head aches, and body aches. What sealed the deal for me, was that I had a syrinx. My surgeon told me that he wasn’t one to pressure people into surgery, but I did need it. I want to deal with it before my symptoms progress and before I possibly suffer permanent damage to my central nervous system. I am scheduled for the procedure next month.
My NS based it on my symptoms first and foremost and then the tonsil size itself, depending on the Dr. ranges between 3 and 8mm. He is ready to do it as soon as I am. I have neither a tethered chord or syrinx so the timing of the surgery is in my control for now.
i have an 8mm chiari, and my NS would not look at it for surgery,
but due to pressure in my head all the time and headaches, on admission into hospital to remove a lesion of my spinal cord, ran MRIs and found that i had complete fluid blockage in the foramun magnum so it was out of my hands,
i had the decompression,
i dont have headaches now, so im happy with that, 12 days post op, i dont feel any better overall, but must allow recovery healing,
i had waited 3yrs wait on having decompression, and was excited to having it done, im hpoing it will make me better,
I am so happy that your surgery is over. I've been praying for you and wondering how you are getting along. Since they also did the decompression, please be patient with yourself and make sure you are following directions. It takes a long time to recover from this type of surgery, and we tend to over do it when we are moms and busy women. You may not feel the benefits from it for some time yet. It is a great sign that your headaches are gone though:) That's great!
I hope that you continue to feel better and better. Keep us posted!
I had decompression surgery in March and after 4 months; I feel like my old self. I have no pressure in my head and all my symptoms are gone. It wasn’t a pleasant procedure or recovery, but it’s so worth.
For me, I still am not sure what the size of mine is. But my 1st NS did my fusion of c5-c6 and when I was in massive pain after my "recovery" period he did a CT and saw my Chiari...All I was told after that was I had an appt with another NS in Little Rock. Went to that appt and asked all the questions I could think of and was scheduled for surgery. At the time, I had no idea what I needed to ask. I had looked things up on the internet but that can get sooooo confusing and the only person I knew of that had been thru this was my husband's cousin. She breezed right thru her surgery and recovery and is symptom free to this day. I was not that lucky. I know he was capable and he seemed to know what he was talking about, but once I went thru my follow up visit and had my staples removed, he was done with me and sent me off to another neurologist that specializes in migraines.
I am not so lucky as far as being "all better" since my surgery. I am worse now than before. A lot of how you recover does depend on how much damage is already done. And it takes a while to know what is permenant and what will heal and go away.
For articles I read there are two camps with arguement to wait and arguement for early intervention. I am trying to find outcome studies that will discuss pros and cons on both.
Patty joelene hossack said:
i have an 8mm chiari, and my NS would not look at it for surgery,
but due to pressure in my head all the time and headaches, on admission into hospital to remove a lesion of my spinal cord, ran MRIs and found that i had complete fluid blockage in the foramun magnum so it was out of my hands,
i had the decompression,
i dont have headaches now, so im happy with that, 12 days post op, i dont feel any better overall, but must allow recovery healing,
i had waited 3yrs wait on having decompression, and was excited to having it done, im hpoing it will make me better,
I had the decompression surgery June 2010. The only major symptom I had was bad headaches. For this reason alone, the NS said he would not recommend surgery. But, I also had a syrinx that almost completely blocked the CSF flow, so the NS wanted to do surgery right away. (I was diagnosed April 28, had surgery June 21.)
patty..... it can be hard to know the outcome of both, i think it depends on the person, as most of us have the same problems, we also have differeent things happening, same with recovery.
stacy.....i think that when you have a syrinx it becomes dangerous, was yours in you spine or brain?