I remember praying before surgery, “please God just let me wake up.” The Surgery itself didn’t scare me, not waking up is what terrified me. I was only 27, with two young children at home. I didn’t want them to grow up without a mom. So this is what I kept repeating to myself. I had been though so much since I started getting sick 5 years ago. I knew in my gut that this surgery was going to save me. There is a saying that has stuck with me though this journey, “ what doesn’t kill you makes your stronger.” I wouldn’t let my illness get the best of me. Even though I was chronically ill, I could do anything I put my mind to. When I was 23, I was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called Chiari Malformation. Chiari Malformation is …show more content…
a condition in which the bony space at the lower part of the brain is smaller than normal, causing the cerebellar tonsils to push through the canal and against the spinal cord. For most people, medication is the best way to manage their symptoms. For me, I progressively became worse, so surgery was the only hope at some relief. I went from being active new mom to barely being able to keep up with house work, much less being able to care for my two young children. Each day was a battle. I never knew how I was going to feel or what new symptom would show up. Often I would have to ask for help from my friends and family, and a majority of the housework fell on my husband. I was ashamed that the one thing I knew I was meant to do, was the one thing I couldn’t. Something needed to change. What quickly started out as a couple of migraines per week quickly progressed to major neurological symptoms I went from just getting migraines, to losing feeling in my left arm and extreme pain in the base of my skull. I slurred my words and had a hard time conveying my thought to others. I had extreme balance issues and could no longer do any sort of exercise. I quickly realized that something was majorly wrong with me and went to see my doctor. At first, my doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me. He just prescribed my one medication after another, hoping to eventually land on the one that would help with my symptoms. Eventually we found one that helped with the severity of my symptoms, but it seemed that I was getting sick more often. My doctor ordered an MRI to take a look inside my brain to see if there was a reason why I was getting sick quickly. When we got the results, it said I had a slight herniation called cerebellar tonsillar ectopia.
The radiologist labeled my herniation as mild, and so my doctor did not believe this was the major cause of all of my issues. However, my intuition told me they were wrong, and so I went to see a Neurologist. A Neurologist specialize in disorders that affect the brain, spinal cord and nerves. As any good doctor would, he ruled out any similar diseases that may be affecting me. It took us quite a while to rule out others issues, and when I started to get worse and my medication was no longer managing my symptoms, I was referred to a neurosurgeon. The surgery itself didn’t take long, I was out and in recovery in about four hours. As soon as I woke up, I could immediately tell I was better. Sure my head felt like someone just drilled into it, yet I could tell some of my symptoms were gone. I was feeling good after about 2 week and I was fully healed around two months. I’ve learned to never give up, even though everything in me tells me to throw in the towel. I am so much stronger than I ever knew. I’ve realized all things are possible, if only you are willing to go out and fight for it. Although Chiari isn’t curable, surgery has given me my life back. I can now chase my
kids around the house, and I am even going back to school to get my degree in Nursing. As Maya Angelou once said, “ You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it.”
The strength to persevere and keep going are traits that are something everyone should learn to have. No matter what you are going through if you have that mentality or mind state I feel like you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Mattie had her mind set on avenging her fathers death and wanted to do it at any cost and she wouldn’t stop until she’s had her justice. That was her motivation, maybe something can motivate you to keep persevering through the many obstacles in your life.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Everything will be all right.” My doctor was there. That reassured me. I felt that in his presence, nothing serious could happen to me. Every one of his words was healing and every glance of his carried a message of hope. “It will hurt a little,” he said, “but it will pass. Be brave.” (79)
If you have had signs or symptoms that i have talked about today i hope that you will go to the doctor and check it
about it till then. When I got to work the following morning I had the
... greatest gift I could’ve gotten, because it made everything else possible.” The benign tumor was completely removed, but returned six years later.
The statement “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” seems like a ludicrous cliché that everyone says too often. Usually when people go through terrible times in their lives all they can see is the negative effect. The journey sucks and usually no one commends it for the newfound strength gained from it. It’s like walking through a rose garden. During the walk, all you can feel are the pricks of the rose thorns impaling themselves in your skin. The experience is horrible and quite excruciating. But after coming out of the rose garden, all you can see when you turn back are the roses. As silly as this statement might sound, this statement carries a good source of moral truths that many of us should
Numerous different diagnostic criteria have been proposed over the year. The criteria that colleagues formulated in 1965 was define of relapses worsening symptom lasting longer than 24 hours and separated by 1 month is still used in practice and research protocols today.
It is important for you to commit to life changes, find the best treatment option for you and get the support you need from others.
Something that I have learned after overcoming this battle is that life is very unpredictable and it is up to the individual to rise above and choose the right path. This excerpt from the poem “Recovery” by Maya Angelou has given me encouragement and inspiration to move on with my life and become the best person that I can be: “A last love, proper in conclusion, should snip the wings forbidding further flight. But I now reft of that confusion, am lifted up and speeding towards the light.” I live by these words everyday because they motivate me to succeed and overcome the impossible.
Nina S. Naidu’s patients state that they have very little pain, but each patient is different. Any tenderness and/or bruising that you experience should dissipate within just a few days; however, inflammation can persist up to three weeks.
#1 If you haven’t yet been diagnosed you may experience any of the following :
During the recovery period, you will experience some degree of pain. However, this pain is minimal and can be easily managed most of the time.
the courage to visit a doctor to confirm this – Perhaps I am afraid of
This was the lesson I learnt from my father, an unceasing learner and a person who would never give up no matter how many and how difficult the obstacles may be. Having understood from him that success is a moving target, the years of my life with my family have inculcated in me a desire to achieve perfection.