Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.
I really think there are more then we r aware of.....they just r not sharing their info....so thanks for sharing what u knew about this : )
Please post ur surgery date in the surgery date thread so we can post a prayer thread for u...we like to keep all members in our thoughts and prayers and offer support.
http://www.examiner.com/article/usa-luge-s-julia-clukey-back-on-the-sled-and-making-progress
This Olympian also has Chiari. I was diagnosed with it in March and my NS knew about it in Nov of 2011...looking at decompression surgery next month..joy joy
Roseann Cash does have Chiari but she said she "doesn't like to talk about it" I wish she would it would help "us" so much.
Supposedly George Clooney has it but he does not call it Chiari. In an interview he said his brain was "falling down"
Joanna David (English actress), Marissa Irwin (fashion model), and Chris Dugan (former NFL kicker for the Buffalo Bills) all have Chiari and speak very candidly about it. Chris even has a motivational speech on youtube about his battle with chiari
and Sean Astin backs and supports Syringo because his mom Patti Duke has it.
I did like that shows like house and csi and hawthorn all had patients with this disorder and. All made it out to be serious. Maybe that is a start.
I read that Malformation Chiari is often misdiagnosed as MS because no MRI is done to see what it really is. MY 5 yo boy has a 16mm descending tonsil and he has been shrugged off since he was 18 months old when he suffered a Take Down. No suggestion of MRI was ever made though we repeatedly expressed serious concern.
Mine was totally found by accident! I was at an orthopedic doctor because of severe neck pain with no apparent cause. After x-rays showed bone spurs, degenerating discs and super straight neck, the next month I insisted on an mri because the pain wasn't subsiding. I have to wonder if I got a technician (a rare angel) who was super-smart and spotted my dangle-y brain and covered more ground than she was technically "supposed to". She had to have known about Chiari. Why else did she cover so much more than just my neck?
Lisa
The only thing rare about chiari is NS and PCP's educated on this condition.
Seriously.. that's the problem...the attitude towards Chiari really needs to change. Then we would be hearing more about it..
Carolyn
from what i understand...its not as rare now with imgaging its found by mistake while checking for other conditions. ..that report is funny.. "rare, but benign" EXACTLY...why did she have surgery then?
It is strange that it's not one of the "known" conditions. I only heard about it when I was watching a medical documentary. It said that it is far more common than people think. If this is the case, why is it not checked for more often? I've had to ask specifically for the test, as when I saw the program, it was like a light switch went off!
Nov 10, 2007 ... The daughter of the late and great Man in Black, Johnny Cash was diagnosed a while ago with the debilitating disease of Chiari Malformation.Roseanne Cash is recovering at her home in New York City after having brain surgery for a rare, but benign condition called “Chiari Type I malformation.
I like the report, rare, but benign.,..really then y did she have surgery????
It's strange...because my neurologist said symptomatic chiari has a prevalence of 1/1000 and MS is like 1.5/1000...both near the same. But yes as far as familiarity much different. My neuro said she thinks its because after the surgery most Chiari patients become remarkably better while MS patients become worse. She said MS is much much worse...I don't know???
Yeah..that it kind of strange..but then again, MS is a much more common disease (in comparison).
It would certainly help to have a celebrity who has CM and would bring it into the spotlight..of course, I would wish that on anyone though..
Carolyn
I dont know if this statistic is an estimate or if this is the amount of people who have been actually diagnosed.
If you ask someone do they know what MS is they will have a good idea, if you ask them about CM they will not have a clue. This is due to lack of awareness.
When the vast majority of GP's/family doctors dont know about CM then what hope have the general population of knowing....
Ray
I think it's because a condition like MS has symptoms for all who are diagnosed with it. But with CM the majority have no symptoms or mild symptoms and be unaware they have it.
Watch this space. My 14 year old with CM is an aspiring Actor and Singer. :-)