Living with Chiari: 2 years later

Thinking about what has happened to me and the changes that have happened really makes me wonder how much my life was really effected by my Chiari. As a quick overview here are some things that have happened since my surgery.

• I got pregnant and was for 9 months
• Had the baby
• Lost 58 pounds (or 33 if you don’t count the baby weight)
• Started exercising regularly, by RUNNING
• Ran a 5K
• Started training for a 10K

It is a really big deal that I got pregnant and didn’t have any complication during pregnancy. That was one of the firs things my neurosurgeon asked me about at my year and a half follow up. Although, I did have a slight vision weirdness that landed me at my neurologist’s office and the ophthalmologist’s office near the end of my pregnancy. But we all decided to wait and see if it got better after I had the baby and it did.

Anyway, I did some more MRI’s and they show that they syrinx in my spinal cord has almost completely disappeared, which is excellent news. As a result, I don’t really have the tingling my hands that I was starting to have prior to the surgery, and my spinal fluids are flowing correctly now. 🙂

If you would have told me anytime before I started running that I would actually enjoy it and crave exercise, I would have told you that you were a little bit nuts. I loathed exercising ESPECIALLY running. I always felt like it was a major punishment, and perhaps it really was considering my brain’s situation. I am extremely grateful for my new found enjoyment.

Life is looking really great, and I’m so grateful we were able to do something about my Chiari and for the skilled surgeons who were able to help me.