Good news, Bad news, Weird news
The very good news is that I do not have to have surgery unless I really want to. (Spoilers: I do NOT). Though I have plenty of funky things going on, none of them appear strictly related to the Chiari malformation, and so surgery would be unlikely to relieve them.
The weird news is that the malformation is eyebrow-raising-ly significant according to the neurosurgeon. I was going to draw a picture, but I was too tired last night and now I'm at work, so. Use your imaginations (and google). The fact that it's not symptomatic is good, and the malformation doesn't get worse over time, so maybe it'll never become symptomatic. And it'll be another on a long list of weird things about me. Like that my tongue is too big for my mouth (according to a dentist) and my veins are tiny (according to everyone who has ever attempted to take my blood).
If it does become symptomatic, however, apparently surgery will be pretty necessary, and pretty quickly. The doctor didn't discuss any steps to prevent that from happening, and I've never seen any tips during my research so it seems to be something out of my hands. I kind of wish I didn't have that Sword of Damocles over my head, but at least I'm healthy right now. I have another appointment with him in 6 months to check and make sure all the nerves are doing what they're supposed to and all the spinal fluid is going where it should.
Bad news is relatively small, because we have not figured out the reason for my on again, off again blurred vision, I have to go to an ophthalmologist. I need my eyes dilated and my optical nerves looked at to see if are being inflamed because there's pressure in my skull. So yet another doctor's visit looms in my future. I genuinely have been to doctors more this year than I have in the past two to three years. It would almost be worth it if this were helping me get over my fear of doctors but so far, I still get a little panicky before going.
And of course, because I still have symptoms and those are very likely related to migraines. Which means all the delicious things Candice loves to indulge in like caffeine, aged cheeses and cheap red wine are still apparently off the table. I have another appointment with my neurologist next week to talk about the headaches and I'm not exactly sure how good of a patient I will be.
Obviously I don't want constant migraines, particularly the type that have an aura and leave me hiding in a bed, whimpering. But I've never been able to genuinely tie a food trigger to these things, so I'm thinking if they're related to anything, they're related to stress and I should focus on stress relief rather than dietary restriction and I'm sure my doctor is gonna be like, "Well you should do BOTH, not just one."
Anywho, despite all the medical weirdness, I should say that I've actually been in an upswing mostly. David and I moved apartments, and the new one is suiting us much better. I've been cooking at home much, much more and that's always an mood and health improvement. Skating has been going well. I got a raise at work. All in all, a lot of things looking up. I need to make a fandom post soon to explain all the things that are currently dancing around in my brain.
The weird news is that the malformation is eyebrow-raising-ly significant according to the neurosurgeon. I was going to draw a picture, but I was too tired last night and now I'm at work, so. Use your imaginations (and google). The fact that it's not symptomatic is good, and the malformation doesn't get worse over time, so maybe it'll never become symptomatic. And it'll be another on a long list of weird things about me. Like that my tongue is too big for my mouth (according to a dentist) and my veins are tiny (according to everyone who has ever attempted to take my blood).
If it does become symptomatic, however, apparently surgery will be pretty necessary, and pretty quickly. The doctor didn't discuss any steps to prevent that from happening, and I've never seen any tips during my research so it seems to be something out of my hands. I kind of wish I didn't have that Sword of Damocles over my head, but at least I'm healthy right now. I have another appointment with him in 6 months to check and make sure all the nerves are doing what they're supposed to and all the spinal fluid is going where it should.
Bad news is relatively small, because we have not figured out the reason for my on again, off again blurred vision, I have to go to an ophthalmologist. I need my eyes dilated and my optical nerves looked at to see if are being inflamed because there's pressure in my skull. So yet another doctor's visit looms in my future. I genuinely have been to doctors more this year than I have in the past two to three years. It would almost be worth it if this were helping me get over my fear of doctors but so far, I still get a little panicky before going.
And of course, because I still have symptoms and those are very likely related to migraines. Which means all the delicious things Candice loves to indulge in like caffeine, aged cheeses and cheap red wine are still apparently off the table. I have another appointment with my neurologist next week to talk about the headaches and I'm not exactly sure how good of a patient I will be.
Obviously I don't want constant migraines, particularly the type that have an aura and leave me hiding in a bed, whimpering. But I've never been able to genuinely tie a food trigger to these things, so I'm thinking if they're related to anything, they're related to stress and I should focus on stress relief rather than dietary restriction and I'm sure my doctor is gonna be like, "Well you should do BOTH, not just one."
Anywho, despite all the medical weirdness, I should say that I've actually been in an upswing mostly. David and I moved apartments, and the new one is suiting us much better. I've been cooking at home much, much more and that's always an mood and health improvement. Skating has been going well. I got a raise at work. All in all, a lot of things looking up. I need to make a fandom post soon to explain all the things that are currently dancing around in my brain.