My appointment at TCI last week

General
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Summary: Chiari 0 caused by cerebral thrombosis of transverse sinus (clot/collapse of anterior major vein in the brain).

Dr. B explained it like this: when one major vein is missing or not working, the others work harder to pump blood to the brain which then increases intracranial pressure which then pushes the cerebral tonsils down and backwards.

My treatment at this time is meds, diamox the most important one. It is supposed to reduce the amount of csf surrounding the brain and hopefully in doing so, alleviate some pressure on the cerebral tonsils. Dr. B said it will be a slow process. If the meds don't work, we'll go from there. I'll get a follow up MRI in a few months to see where my tonsils lie and assess symptoms again.

I admit, I never saw this coming. Pretty much - I had a stroke that went undiagnosed for 4 months by my neuro docs here.

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I'll also be starting PT to regain strength (yep, that was one of my complaints/symptoms I first told them about) and vestibular balance therapy to try to regain my balance since I've lost the hearing in my left ear (now we know why!).

It's so obvious now that I know what it is. Headache that didn't go away - ever, I mean I have had it every day since December. Slurring my words, droopy left eyelid, hearing loss left side, decreased sensation all down the left side of my head/neck, generalized weakness, more prominent on left, etc...

Then add to that all the symptoms that come with chiari and I was a mess. It's just unbelievable. But yes, I am happy to finally have a correct diagnosis and hopefully a good treatment plan that will work.