YOU GUYS ARE GREAT !!!

February 21, 1999

[sMILE]

Hello everyone, and may I say you guys are the best.

I only introduced myself yesterday, and you guys are

soooo eager to help. THANK YOU!

I have spent most of my morning reading mail, (a

special thank-you to Nanceet that info is most

helpful) and for those of you recommending Dr.Frim

THANKS, I will call him for an appt. tomorrow, and

tell that other doctor to go ....(insert your favorite 4

letter word here) himself.

Many of you have asked for more personal details

about myself, so here goes:

I'm 29, blond hair, blue eyes, 36-24-30, 5 ft 5,120 lbs.

my fantacy is ...oops wrong egroup...

-just kidding (I really have hazel eyes)

I am 29, never married (but I currenty have the most

patient and understanding man in my life right now

who has delt so well with all of my health problems)

and no kids. I am a store manager for Aldi foods, which

really is about a 95% physical job.Well, back in May'98

I was lifting a heavy object (80lbs apx.) and I felt this

horrible ache in the back of my head.I went to the Dr.

about 1 week later, after I notice that as soon as I layed

down the pain completly went away. After many attempts

to help me with medication, he referred me to a Neurologist.

After a MRI, then spinal tap, he concluded I had a spinal

leak, due to heavy lifting.So I got the epidural blood patch

which relieved my headache, but left me with severe back

pain. (Nice trade off..huh). So I went to PTherapy, which

helped my back, but left me with neck pain (a fine mess

I'm in now, I'm seeing a little repitition here). Well we tried

to " calm my neck down " for it was in a constant state of

tightness and spasm. Then suddenly the headaches

came back.They were so bad, I couldn't even get out

of bed to pee, (for those of you wondering, no I didn't

pee the bed), I had to walk bent so my head was below

my waist.The doc gave me muscle relaxers, anti-inflam.,

and told me it should help, and keep insisting I should

be better.Well that's what I thought too, and I thought

I shouln't keep seeing a doctor who " insists I should

be better " so I switched hosp. (that was at Loyola for

those of you in the Chgo. area) and went to U of Chgo.

Hosp. in Chgo.....now to make this loooong story

shorter (I think that's too late now) I had 4 more MRI's

which concluded my CSF leak, is not there anymore

but, I have ACM. To what mm, I don't know (I asked

him this the next day, he said he couldn't recall, (nice

huh?) but I did get out of him that it is " mild " . He

suggested a nerve block to help relieve pain, so I

am going to have this done tomorrow...anyone else

have this done???? Comments are greatly appreciated.

So that's about it for the " brief " ( yea??) medical history.

I haven't worked since July 27th, (I did start receiving

workers comp) and then in Nov. they concluded that

my injury couldn't possible be related to work, (they

cut me off) so needless to say, Santa wasn't so good

to my boyfriend this year!!! (We kept it cheap this year,

and he was very happy to receive that " brand new "

toothbrush I got him, and stick of gum) [HaHa] And

pretty much my life has stopped since this began,

doing things like; laundry trigger headaches, putting

away dishes, etc.. Even when I go for a ride in the

car, the bouncing can start the pain. So I pretty

much stay inside, close to the couch for those

sudden aches, but thank God for windows or

I probably wouldn't see outside except on Dr. visit

days.

Now I've just discovered another symptom of ACM

carpel-tunnel, from typing too much.(anyone else ??)

To everyone who made it to the end of this long note

I appreciate the interest in my problems, and you

can look forward to shorter notes in the future. I will

also send a list of my symptoms soon, as they

are strange to me, but maybe not to all of you.

Take care all, and again thanks for all your responces,

Melinda

------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 21, 1999

Melinda, I have had 3 nerve blocks between 3 different vertebrae,

for pain that is in the back of my neck and travels down my arm.

The relief I got was almost as temporary as the procedure.

My Drs. at the pain control center who did the procedures seemed almost

hesitant after the first one that did not seem to help one bit. I

am taking 900 mg of neurontin 4X a day and that helps. My acm 1 was

diagnosed 6 mos after a sneeze (and not a very good one at that) sent the

same pain down my arm. I have had surgeries and my best advise to

you is to go to a doctor that is known for his work

with chiari patients. I went to a very highly respected neurosurgeon

at a teaching hospital and realized perhaps too late that the best neurosurgeon

in the area/state may not be the best at treating a chiari patient.

best wishes.

PS - ask questions - trust your instincts - thank God for a supportive

friend and that you found this group BEFORE you made any decisions about

your care.

Oh, I'm from Illinois too, central (or down state to all you Chicagoians)

MelinWo@... wrote: