Monday, June 3, 2013

I have a diagnosis

I have been back and forth to drs and have had several MRI's. I went to another neurosurgeon this morning and have answers. Not the answers I had hoped for but either way we have a next step.
The Dr was shocked after reviewing my mri results that I don't have more symptoms than I do. When I asked her what she expected to see she said that most people with severe herniation and spinal voids (syrinx) are very clumsy, drop things often, have severe headaches, get dizzy, have speech issues and fall often. She stated she couldn't believe I only have headaches and slight nerve damage on the left side. However she does recommend surgery. It's not something that is urgent since my symptoms aren't progressing rapidly. The surgery will release the pressure and prevent my symptoms from getting worse but won't cure any damage that has been done. I will be having chiari decompression surgery probably in August. It is a 4-6 weeks recovery time so maybe when Preston and Lily go to kinder in August that will be the best time.  Ashley's culinary program is year round so she won't be done until December. I don't think she will ever move back to Cypress. She is absolutely loving Austin.
Here is a link about the surgery if you are bored or curious. http://www.mayfieldchiaricenter.com/chiari_surgery.php  It's a 2-3 hour surgery that involves removing a section of my skull from the back of my head. The hospital stay is 2-3 days. Recovery 4-6 weeks. I have my pre surgery consult on June 18.
I asked my Dr. if I could still go on my girls trip this weekend and to Hawaii next week and she said yes but I do have some rules I have to follow until the surgery. No head jolting, sky diving, zip lining, roller coasters, scuba diving and nothing that will cause trauma. These were pretty obvious since I don't do any of those anyway except the roller coasters.So I will be relaxing my little heart out in New Braunfels this weekend and head to Hawaii with my hubby on Monday. I plan to do nothing but sip drinks all day on the beach.