Hi all, here's some helpful information I've come across and thought I should share.
This is a link to the Chiari and Syringomyelia Foundation, and more specificaly to their Physician Information section of it. I found it a bit more informative and helpful then their patient section.
On their website is also a book about Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia, and some other related things, called Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia - A Handbook for Patients and Their Families
2 Chiari Organizations I've found that had good information on their sites and good doctors:
The Chiari Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin- both an informative site with great links to other places, medical videos, as well as helpful people (I've spoken to them a fair bit on the phone) and a great reputation.
The Chiari Institute in Great Neck, New York- an informative site with interesting surgery Videos and technical lecture videos (if you care to sort through to find them), and a great reputation. http://www.chiariinstitute.com/index.html
The book I linked also helped me form a theroy that probably doesn't matter in the long run, but brought me comfort. As
F. MICHAEL FERRANTE, M.D. states in the Pain section of the Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia Book on page 31:
"There are two fundamental types of pain:
nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Nociceptive pain implies the activation of chemicals
(neurotransmitters) in neural pathways that mediate the sensation of pain. We are all familiar with this type of pain from cuts and the dentist. Neuropathic pain implies damage to neural tissue. It does not occur in a normal state. The types of pain that are associated with CM and SM are of the neuropathic type."
This to me suddenly made several things click. If the pain signals are created by damage done to the neural tissue that same damage is likely the cause of the tremors, slurred speach, memory recall issues, and other symaliar speach issues. The Chiari Malformation can degenerate (or as the book calls it 'Progress') over time as well, which explains, to me, why the symptoms grow worse over time as the pain sears the pathways and further damage is done to the tissue.
- This doesn't really do much to help, but I figured I'd share my thoughts before they got lost again the sieve that is my memory.