I had my Chiari surgery in 2006, & my husband had his Chiari surgery in 2007, by 2 excellent NS's, & never had a problem afterwards. It sounds like you have an excellent NS & that is what counts with this surgery. Having peace & confidence within yourself, is exactly where I was, as well. Be sure to follow your doc's instructions perfectly & most of all, be patient & rest. My tip is for your doc to place a "scopalamine" patch behind your right ear right before surgery - it takes away any nausea or vomiting that so many of us have, when going thru other surgeries.
Sure, you can wear t-shirts or tank tops after surgery . just take care of that incision area.
If you want to talk further, you can email me at ... sebree21@gmail.com.

Lynne

Yayy for surgery being scheduled! I just had my surgery on Monday & I feel great!! Other than the pain of the incision, I have absolutely no symptoms ie. headaches, dizziness etc etc. The first night was a little rough, I'm not going to lie. I was second guessing my decision to have the surgery. The only way that I have felt comfort in sleeping was sleeping on my side, and had absolutely no pressure on the incision itself. If you need anything else, please don't be afraid to ask. There is a list on here somewhere that I used as a reference to pack, but I didn't really need much of any of it b/c the hospital I was at had EVERYTHING for me :) Best wishes to you!

Thanks so much for the advice! Starting to get pretty anxious..

Good Luck on your surgery. Hope everything comes out well. Do you guys mind me asking you what is the size of your CM?

8mm chiari, and 8mm syrinx

Hi 8 mm? can you please expain what this means. I have been told my chiari is 2cm? I have no idea what this means and no one is giving me answers(docs etc) x

Oh ok, thanks that helps a lot. My herniation is 7mm. I am getting a second opinion because my Neurologist just wants to give me pills.

2cm is 20mm... thats a lot bigger than mine but size doesnt always matter.. make sure they send you for a cervical spine mri and a csf study.. Good Luck! God Bless.


Katie

good luck and make sure you follow the rules afterwards recovery will be easier if you do and rest rest rest....I know that I used button up shirts because I could not pull my shirt over my head..listen to your body if you think something is wrong make the call to your NS..have a great support team there to help you around the house. Even if you think you are feeling better dont do anything until your NS tells you to...it is better to get extra rest while you can..Dont pick anything up...good luck and keep us posted.

thanks for the tips :)

Just a thought....Size generally doesnt matter _ the symptoms do. (that is what my doc says) I was told I had 5mm herniation. WHen doc opened me up ...It was alot worse than what he had expected....(he turned to my husband after sugery and said "that surgery was a B*^ch") He is a hoot...to know him you would have died!
But, All in all ...its the symptoms that drive the need for surgery not just the level of herniation. I am so glad I had the surgery. Not sure where life for me would be right now if I didnt have it!

Oh good I'm glad that the size doesn't mean worse. My symptoms are horribe though so fingers crossed. Good luck for tomorrow I will be thinking of you, everything will be fine, keep up all posted on how your doing xxxx