Surgery

General
1

I have decided that i am having surgery. It is May 23rd and before i was not sure but my symptons are getting worse and the pain on my head is daily all day. I went to my pcp for the pre op and she told me that if i do surgery i probably will get more headaches after this. I know that surgery is not 100% for sure that is gonna fix me but for a pcp to tell me that.
I have my last appointment with neurosurgeon on the 18th to ask all the questions i have before surgery.

2

Good luck with securing the information that you are looking for before the surgery and also with the surgery itself. Hope that everything goes well.

3

Hello Lulu, after my first surgery, my pain decreased, prior to having it I had constant pain in the back of my head and neck. Be diligent, ask all the questions you need, the docs do not have this pain and vertigo, they cannot fully understand. I hope all goes well with your procedure. Take the time necessary to recover, I always try to do too much too soon. My positive thoughts are going out to you.

4

Thanks Kim. Did u have long hair? I am thinking about getting a haircut before I get the surgery. Any suggestions?

5

HI Lulu, I had surgery June of 2014. I had terrible headaches,vertigo, and plenty of other symptoms too. After surgery I immediately felt the difference in my headaches they got a lot better. I am not headache free or symptom free but the surgery has improved my quality of life a lot. There’s no cure for Chiari but the surgery can help decrease some of your symptoms. I read some people even had no return of symptoms. Just remember that some PCP aren’t knowledgable about Chiari and haven’t studied it since medical school. I love my PCP and have been going to her for 10 years but when I found out I had Chiari accidentally from an MRI due to headaches we basically started learning about it together. Talk to your neurosurgeon write down lots of questions that’s what I did. Feel free to ask me any questions about the surgery if you like I’m happy to help if I can. Take care!

6

Don’t cut it short. I have long hair and they shave what they need to. No one could see my scar. It works great that way.