I am a firm believer of the saying “everything happens for a reason”. When I was in sixth grade, something happened during recess one day that changed my life forever. I fell and hit my head on a cement bench. I blacked out, but when I regained consciousness I couldn't feel my legs.
I was immediately rushed to the hospital where they began a serious of tests, but they couldn't find anything. My parents and I were at the hospital all night. I had regained feeling and we just wanted to go home, but the doctor insisted on having an MRI and we decided to listen and go ahead with the MRI. All I have to say is, thank goodness we decided to wait and do the MRI because the results were life changing.
The doctor came into my room a little after midnight and broke the news to us: “You have Chiari Malformation.” I looked at my parents to see if they seemed worried but in all honesty, they seemed confused, and so did the doctor. The doctor went on to explain that he actually didn't know that much about Chiari and he recommended that we go see a neurosurgeon. That word “neurosurgeon” was definitely a word that only caused nerves.
A few weeks after hitting my head on the bench we finally got an appointment to go see a neurosurgeon. My neurosurgeon finally explained to us what Chiari was- Chiari malformation is a condition in which brain tissue extends into your spinal canal it basically causes your brain to push downward onto your spine. He then went on to explain how the only treatment was… surgery.
My neurosurgeon didn't want to jump as far as having surgery yet because I didn’t have any fluids on my spine, which is good because fluids can lead to a cyst on the spine. Instead, my neurosurgeon recommended we just monitor for now and see if I get any symptoms. The symptoms were so odd; some symptoms included painful headaches and even difficulty swallowing food because Chiari can cause your tonsils to swell. Nonetheless, life went on and for about two years everything was fine. But then it started happening- symptoms started showing up.
At first, I hardly noticed the symptoms, but then they became worse. Eating became hard and my hands kept getting a tingling sensation. After telling my parents about the symptoms, we went to a new neurosurgeon because my former one actually ended up moving to New York. My new neurosurgeon, Dr. Addelson, ran more test and the results came back showing that it was, in fact, time for surgery- we no longer could put it off.
The surgery was actually pretty straight forward. They would cut open the back of my head all the way down to my neck and insert a mesh (sort of like a patch). The point of the mesh was to give my brain room to move but not crush down on my spine anymore. Finally, on May 5, 2012, I had the brain decompression surgery.
Almost immediately after having surgery, my symptoms started clearing up and I was only in the hospital for about a week. However, the surgery was only a treatment for Chiari- it was not a cure. There is no known cure for Chiari and it can be very challenging to diagnose. Many people actually live with Chiari and only figure it out when they get symptoms and, if caught too late, Chiari can actually lead to paralysis.
Every day, I am so grateful for that day I hit my head on that bench. It I hadn't hit my head on that bench, I would never have discovered I had Chiari Malformation and one day, odd symptoms would have just started occurring. I know at times it may seem like we don’t understand why something bad happens, but always remember, maybe there is a greater purpose for what has happened because maybe a higher power or even fate knows you have the power to handle what will be put in front of you.
