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[Guest guest]

Hello! My name is . I have a long story and won't go into

too much detail not to bore you. I am 26 years old, a wife, and

mother of two. My daughter is 4 and my son is almost 2.

I recently

had an MRI on my neck because I had been having a lot of pain, and

the radiologist found a possible chiari I malformation with my left

tonsil descending 5mm and the right 10mm. I have been suffering for

4 years now with severe headaches.

Then it started in my neck and

shoulders. My lower back hurts a lot and my legs also. I recently

have started going numb mostly on the right side. It is usually in my

legs but sometimes spreads.

The headaches all started after the

birth of my first child. I had an epidural with her and came home

with a really bad headache. A few months went by and I was in and

out the emergency room with these headaches. On one trip, having a

lumbar puncture, they found I had viral meningitis. I was treated for

this and the headache still did not go away.

They then did a blood

patch on me because they thought there may have been a leak from the

lumbar puncture. I was released after two weeks in the hospital,

went home and just carried out everyday life with bad headaches. Two

years later, I had another baby and also had an epidural with him.

So, I have had a lot done with mine spine!

Time has gone on and all

my muscles were tense and began hurting and aching everywhere. I have

been to physical therapy and chiropractors the last two years. I

went to an orthopedic for the neck pain a few months ago and that's

when this was found. A lot of the symptoms I read about chiari do

sound like me.

I have an appointment next week in Atlanta, GA with a

Dr. Barrow at Emory hospital. This is who the orthopedic

referred me to. After researching this on the internet everything

kept pointing to the Chiari Institute in New York. I now have an

appointment there in June. Any feedback would be very helpful.

I am

a mother who has been worrying about all the " what if's? " right now.

I'm just so ready to get to a doctor who knows all about this. It is

a scary thing to read about, but it is encouraging to know that after

all this time, I may finally have an answer. In a way, I'm scared

they will tell me it's nothing, and then I will still be left with

the question of what is all wrong with me. If you have an experience

like mine or know what all I will be doing in New York please let me

know. Thank you so much and may God bless all of you!