We
have some definitive news and action! I saw a neurosurgeon last month
to have my neck evaluated and see if there was anything that needed
to be done. He looked at my MRI from 2009 and saw a Chiari
Malformation. This is a
condition in which brain tissue protrudes into your spinal canal. It
occurs when part of your skull is abnormally small or misshapen,
pressing on your brain and forcing it downward.
He
did a repeat MRI and confirmed that I had the Chiari Malformation,
but also saw that a herniated disk I have in my neck is worse and
requires ACDF (Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion) surgery. The
neck problem could be causing some of my symptoms and is a less
invasive surgery than the chiari repair. He will do the neck surgery
and then reevaluate my symptoms after a 6 week recovery process. If I
still have symptoms, he can do the chiari repair too.
They
don't do a chiari repair just based on scans. It is a collection of
symptoms, scans, the doctor, and the patient's decision. It's hard
for him to recommend the chiari repair without seeing what the ACDF
surgery on my neck will do. So, it makes sense for him to do the less
invasive surgery to fix an obvious problem first.
This
ACDF surgery should help my neck feel better and any relief will be a
blessing. If it takes care of any other symptoms, that would be great
too! I have scheduled the surgery for the first week of October and
I'm looking forward to it!
