Exactly 8 years ago today at 5 am, I entered Swedish Hospital in Seattle to undergo brain surgery for Chiari Malformation. It was the single most petrifying thing I have ever done in my life. I entered the hospital with the following symptoms that thousands of people around the world also have, but cannot find doctors to give them answers for because most doctors are not trained in Chiari. My symptoms were... a chronic cough that made my head feel like someone had shot a gun through it at point blank lasting about 30 seconds each time; with each cough also came an electrical zapping that felt like bolts of lightning or a taser shooting out the top of my head and fingers and toes; I had complete dizziness that never stopped, causing it to be hard to think, see, concentrate, walk, shower, cook, shop, drive, fall asleep, pretty much do anything; upper and lower extremities would constantly fall asleep randomly; I would choke on nothing without warning, and also while eating and drinking without warning, my swallowing function would randomly just stop; I also felt like I had a golf ball in my throat even though a scope said I was fine; my vision was off; my gait felt choppy and uncoordinated, my memory was non-existent; I was unable to think of words when talking; I would say sentences that didn't make sense... And more! Thankfully God led me to a surgeon who was up to date on the latest Chiari research and she knew about all my symptoms and what my imaging meant. I will be forever grateful to Dr Jayashree Srinivasen, because I was on the very edge and she saved my life. Two weeks after my surgery, the lightening bolts and the gunshot head pain just disappeared. Many of the other symptoms continued to disappear over time. It has taken a long time to heal. At about 4 to 5 years post op, I stopped improving, but I am extremely grateful for as far as I have come in this journey. Thank you to those who have read this far. And thank you for my friends and family who have carried me through this. You know who you are and you are priceless to me. God bless you for being there for me! And I love all of you! Praying the surgery continues to hold and I never need a second one! Happy Zipperversary to Me! Lol
Tammi Davie, 6/30/24 read more