Here We Go Again

A few weeks later, my ten year old had an appointment with his neurosurgeon. We were told that my son's Chiari had comepletely healed, and the fluid in his spinal cord had decreased by half. He was no longer in danger of paralysis. The neuro told us that tackle sports (hockey, lacrosse, football (that one hurt), and any others) were out for life, but he said that roller coasters were ok as long as my son didn't keep doing them if they were hurting him. Good enough. I mentioned my eight year old son to the neuro and asked what he thought. He told me that my other children were at a high risk because they believed Chiari was genetic. So, he told me that I knew the symptoms, and I was to keep an eye on it and get him in to our pediatrician if symptoms continued. As you probably guessed, the symptoms continued for my eight year old. He complained of a headache roughly five days per week, so by the fourth week of complaint, I took him to our pediatrician. The doctor talked to my youngest and examined him and then told me there was "no way' he had Chiari because he was too coordinated. He had my son walk the grout line between the tiles in the exam room. He had to walk heel to toe. My son was able to do this without any swaying or falling, so he told me it wasn't possible. However, I mentioned that my ten year old could've done it as well before his surgery, so to me, that wasn't good enough. He also told me that even though my son felt headaches at the back of his head (where Chiari headaches happen), it was more likely tension headaches, and when they proved that my son didn't have Chiari, he would need therapy to find out why an eight year old boy would get tension headaches. He didn't feel we really needed an expensive MRI, but with our family history, he was willing to order one. Needless to say, I wasn't happy leaving his office. A few days later, my son had his MRI at the Children's hospital. About a week later, the doctor called and said that my son did in fact have a Chiari Malformation, and it measured 11mm. He was shocked and apologized to me. Our Chiari journey continues...