Thursday, December 6, 2007

And they all lived happily ever after...

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up! I went back to work just in time for a bunch of meetings and so I've been lacking free time this week.

I saw Dr. Oro on Monday and it ended up being up there on my list of the happiest days of my life! I had my MRI in the morning and my follow-up appointment in the afternoon. Dr. Oro did all of the neurological tests and went over all of the symptoms that I had prior to surgery. I told him that they were all gone and that I was officially "boring". Nothing noteworthy on the medical front at least.

He showed my mom and I my MRI images and it looked rather weird (weird as in odd/unusual, not bad). There's a ton of room now compared to before (but not too much that there's anything to be worried about). He was very pleased with my progress and how well the surgery resulted. I told him that I honestly felt better than I had ever thought was possible. He said that given the extent in the herniation, we'd probably had a little help from the big guy upstairs - I'll take it!

I don't have to go back for any additional follow up appointments. I only need to avoid bungee jumping, sky diving, and roller coasters - no great loss there as I'm not a big fan of heights anyhow. I asked about child birth since I'm hoping that's in my future and there is some debate over whether or not women with Chiari should have natural/cesarean or natural/epidural. He said that my Chiari wasn't a reason to automatically have a c-section so not to let a doctor talk me into it for that reason alone. He also said that as long as the epidural was done correctly, that shouldn't be a problem either.

We all got a little teary-eyed and hugged each other (including Dr. Oro). It's a really amazing thing to find a doctor that truly cares about his patients and shares in their happiness. He asked if he could use my MRI images in his blog on Chiari Times, because there is a lot of debate as to the best surgical methods to use and Dr. Oro's clearly worked for me and was the least invasive method. I offered to help in anyway I could! He gave me an amazing gift and if sharing my experience can help even one person, I'll feel that I've paid that gift forward.

The End.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

AWESOME!
The family is sooo happy for you!
Now you can really start enjoying your life!

Bianka said...

:) A touching blog.

Unknown said...

jenn...that is awesome. i'm so happy for you (too)!

lace1070 said...

What an answer to prayer and what awesome news. Seriously ~ as i wait for my upcoming surgery dates you are an inspiration to me that surgery will make me feel better! ~Lace

Ann said...

That is truly wonderful! I'm so glad it was a success!

Anonymous said...

im 17 years old and i too have chiari malformation. i just found out this summer. i have every symptom named. i cant have surgery because it is too risky and might cause paralysis. ive been having headaches(severe)since i was little. i started having seizures during the summer, so docters decided on giving me a MRI. thts when i found out i had type 2. i go to appt. almost evry day and i have to take a lot of test and meds. i try to brighten the subject by jokeing atound sayin "my brains coming out"! im so glad u feel better. best of luck in the future.

This is just my story of my experience with Chiari. Until I was diagnosed, I'd never heard of it, and I just want more people to be aware of it. I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me on any of this stuff - k? If you are looking for information about Chiari Malformation, a lot of the more informative posts are the older ones.