Rachels Chiari Journey so far: 12 Month Review

Hi

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am 29 yrs old and have been through a rough few years. I got married in Aug 09 and by Sept 09 I was very ill. I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation I, Syringomyelia and Hydrocephalus. I had surgery in Sept 09 to relieve the pressure on my brain and to stabilse it, this was called Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV). In Feb 2010 I had foramen magnum decompression surgery to remove a section of bone from my skull (craniotomy) and the back part of my c1 vertebrae (laminectomy) to create more space for my cerebrospinal fluid (csf) to flow. Unfortunately for me 4 weeks later I was back in hospital with meningits....I had to have more surgery.....another ETV (which failed straight away) and a ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt inserted. After that I was well and discharged from hospital...but my walking was worsening so I called the specialist nurse who arranged an MRI for me....which showed a massive syrinx (collection of fluid) in my spine....more surgery yet again....so in Aug 10 I had a syringo-subarachnoid shunt inserted into my spine. I spent 9 weeks in hospital (6 1/2 of them in rehab) and have been in a wheelchair learning to walk since then. I hope I don't bore you too often!!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

12 Month Review

On 29th November 2011 I had my 12 month review at the Walton Centre.......I woke absolutely petrified (no idea why) and felt so sick.......BUT this time I walked into the Walton Centre.....it had been an awfully long time since I walked in there so it made me feel 10feet tall!!!

I was called into the room by the nurse, and I walked in with my fischer sticks and shook the hand of the Dr (not my NS but one of his Reg's)......He was smiling a lot and revealed to me that he thought the wrong patient had been called, as he wasn't expecting me to walk in to the office!!

It was all good news.....no more MRI's or surgery!!! And I don't need to return until Dec 2012!! He also said that I can apply for my driving license back again!! That would be amazing......