I am nervous to say at the least. No one in my family is supportive of the idea of the surgery but my doctors all agree I should move forward and I feel terrible. I have been dealing with DAILY headaches for almost 5 yeras now. I am slighlt worried however that this surgery is risky. Has anyone had a bad experience from it? What are the risks? My neurosurgeon did not really answer my questions. He said the only risk is infection of the surgical site but its brain surgery there must be more risks. Does the surgery always get rid of the symptoms? I am afraid and I have absolutely no support from friends or family. Friends dont want to get too involved they dont know how to handle me and my mom thinks I may be convincing myself I have these symptoms. I know what I feel and what the MRI results are but nontheless I am concerned about this surgery. What are the real risks? Please help 
I’ve not had surgery yet but mine is scheduled for Nov 14. I truly understand where you are coming from as my family feels the same way. I have no answers just know you are not alone.
WOW! Sounds like what I am going thru! My doc said he doesn’t do anything with the brain during surgery. The only thing I hear is risky is if they put a covering on the duram? Not sure if that is the correct name. My NS said he just removes the piece of skull, and how much he removes depends on how large the herniation is and how much room the brain needs to breathe. I have read lots and lots about the surgery, and have never heard of many complications or infections. My NS made it sound like it was a open and close kinda thing. I too am having trouble with my family and friends. No one seems to believe how severe the symptoms are that I am having! I just had a CINE MRI Friday, my NS is calling me Monday to let me kn0w if there is blockage. He said he could tell there was by my MRI. He will be scheduling surgery when he calls me. I have been off work for two months now. My symptoms have progressed rapidly and I can’t even drive now. You do what is right for you! Only you know your body and how bad you feel Good luck to you! You are in my thoughts and prayers!
Hi Iranz......
So sorry that you have no support at home.....you have us!!!!
I had my decompression 3 yrs ago...no complications ..no infection or CSF leak....those are the 2 main ones....
My NS told me ..from a NS stand point..this is a techically simple surgery....I watched one done on Webcam...of a small boy..now if I didn't watch it til the very end I wouldn't have heard it....The NS doing the surgery said basically the same thing my NS...From a NS standpoint.....it is not a hard operation.
I had bone removed, dura opened and a synthetic patch put over where he opened the dura (the covering of the brain)..by opening the dura..this gives more room for CSF.
I was in the hospital for 1 week...my symptoms did improve over time.....I still have issues with balance and vision...but
there has been marked improvement with the dreaded Chiari H/A....
Mindy..sorry you have no support either!! I don't get it...I guess it is b/c folks are uneducated on Chiari...and it has SO MANY SYMPTOMS....To this day, I don't mention every one of the remaining Sx's in fear I will sound like a nut case..LOL
Kay...I hear ya..my NS said the same thing about not touching the brain..which he didn't...but hey...I told him ....once you open the dura and you can see my brain....I call it brain surgery!!! He laughed.
Good luck guys....keep us posted.
Lori