Over the years (4 ½), our daughter has had severe health issues. Last week the doctor decided to send her in for an EEG and MRI tests because she’s been having trouble sleeping through the night, vomiting without waking up, abnormal irritability, among other issues.
On Tuesday (April 3), I went with her and my wife to help with the EEG test. Test results came back normal. Ok, not really what we expected but good so far.
On Thursday (April 5), my wife took her in to get the MRI. I was not able to go. On Friday, also known as Good Friday, my wife got the call that my daughter has been diagnosed with Chiari malformation - cerebellar tonsillar ectopia. Briefly, “Chiari malformation is a congenital (i.e. present at birth) structural problem at the base of the skull that affects the brain and spinal cord.” *
You can imagine the feelings and emotions when finding out about something so seriously wrong with your daughter. We knew something was wrong and we’ve been trying to figure it out for almost four years now and we finally have a diagnosis. It doesn’t explain all of her health issues but it’s a big part of it.
We have an appointment with a Neuro-surgeon at the children’s hospital in the area on April 23rd at 10am. We’ll find out more at that time and a date will probably be set for surgery.
* The Wisconsin Chiari Center http://www.wichiaricenter.org/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000006
Also, check out Kid’s Health at http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/chiari.html
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