What a year this has been

[Guest guest]

My husband had hydrocephalus as a child, but was relatively healthy

until about two years ago. he started walking slower and developing

headaches. The doctors decided to put a new shunt in for the

hydrocephalus. This took care of the problem for 8 months and then the

symptoms came back and more severe. He started falling a lot,

developing headaches, almost had seizures, numbness and tingling in the

fingers, sleep apnea, and ringing in the ears. Nobody had an answer -

his Primary physician said maybe it was depression. Finally, when I

took him to the ER one night because it took him twenty minutes to walk

up the driveway, did we finally get a consultation with a neurosurgeon

and got the diagnosis - Arnold Chiari Type II. He was scheduled for

surgery #/26/99. The problem was that it took so long to diagnose (2

years) that so much damage had been done, that Mike was left in a

wheelchair. He almost died when they tried to put a feeding tube in him

and was in the hospital for 4.5 months! He has been home for almost

four months, but requires much assistance with everything he does. He

is getting better, but it is a slow process. He is no longer on tube

feedings. He is getting therapy at home. This has been a hell of a

fight with the medical system to get a diagnosis, the insurance company

for coverage, and just for the two of us to make it. I was wondering if

anyone else has had this problem. Please write back. Thanks, Mike's

wife, .