I will never forget the days before and after my diagnosis. My symptoms had been escalating in severity and frequency and my Primary care doctor had decided to order an MRI of my brain after I started to notice my left arm and face feeling numb and tingly. I said no at first thinking it was senseless since the sypmtoms numbness came and went but the doctor thought it was absolutely necessary. I went to the radiology dept. at the local hospital and had the MRI done. The tech had asked me after it was over if I felt the numbness or diziness after I looked up and then down at all. I told him I didnt think so that it seemed to just happen with no apparent reason. He seemed a bit puzzled and smiled. I asked how long it would be to get the results and he said probably two to four working days.
I got a call the following day from my doctors nurse. The message said to call immediately.
I took a break and called and my doctors nurse asked if it was ok to bump up Martys appointment to the following day so that we could be seen together. I was startled and it did not register at first that I did not have an appointment to begin with. I said sure no problem, then it dawned on me and I asked her why I needed one. She said Chris my PCP wanted to go over the results of my MRI but needed to do it at the office. I knew then there had to be bad news becuase when there is no problem the norm for them was to just leave a message saying everything was fine.
I waited on pins and needles for a full day and night to find out what the results were. I was terrified that they were going to tell me that I had a brain tumor or a stroke. My symptoms had been similar to ones a stroke victim or person with a tumor would experience so I was trying to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
We got to the appointment the next day still on pins and needles wondering what we would be hearing. When Chris came in Marty had stepped out for a minute. She sat down next to me report in hand and said well we have the results of your MRI. She paused a minute but her face showed she was searching for the best way to word what the report said. She obviuosly decided to just read it to me. She said that the MRI had shown an 11 mm herniation of the cereberal tonsills consistant with an Arnold Chiari Malformation type 1. She didnt get into many details since she really didnt know much about it. She told me that I should go home, look it up on the internet and then I would probably know more about it than she did.
I dont think she had any idea just how true that statement would become. I took her advice came home, put Arnold Chiari Malformation Type 1 into my google search engine and the rest as they say is history. The search provided page after page of technical information on ACM1. I also found a link to Chips World Famous ACM group. I went to the WACMA poked around and from there found the WACMA online support group
I logged into yahoo, joined the support group and found the door was opened to a wealth of information and support. I posted my first message and thanks to the people there was no longer feeling scared and alone.
Use the link below to contact me.
