lumbar and thoracic spine MRI?

[pdxmomof3boys]

When I did my MRI for my spine, the NS only ordered a scan of my cervical spine. I am having trouble with tingling in my middle - low back now that increases day after day. It's really odd that it is connected to my breathing. When I feel my chest tightening and my back starts to hurt where my lungs are, the tingling in my back increases a hundredfold. I called and left a msg for my NS about maybe looking into my lumbar spine and lower for any other abnormalities that might cause this. Strangely, the only time I get any relief is when I am on prednisone for my asthma...which I guess they also use to treat spinal injuries. I hate to sound like a hypochondriac (which I feel like these days!) but I am worried that we missed something. I know I've asked a lot about asthma and breathing problems with Chiari, but as my breathing becomes more difficult to manage I feel like there is something more.None of my asthma meds are working! I am sick and weak all the time and can't focus. Ugh!

We'll see what he says when he calls me back...let me know what you all think! Anyone with lumbar/thoracic spinal problems (syrinx) let me know about your breathing :)

[n40066]

wow!  this is very enlightening!  we actually have 11 arteries in our brain.  if you look at the placement, it explains so very many of our symptoms in relation to overcrowding.  i plan to ask my dr. when i go back for my 6 wk check up which ones of mine were blocked off, but have a good idea after googling circle of willis       amazing, folks, simply amazing!!!!!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_Willis

[n40066]

i'm no dr., but i am a betting woman and would be willing to bet you would notice a signifigant improvement in your breathing after you have had the decompression surgery!  but again, i am not a dr. and this is just my own personal experience.  my herniation was 9.5 on the right and "notably smaller on the left" according to my reports from the surgery.  i have not a clue as to the size of the left one, but would guess maybe somewhere between 4-6mm. and i had "minimal posterior restriction at the foreamen mag."  dr. h is the only one that addressed the overcrowding, which for me, was the most important issue!  sure there are bumps in the road with healing, that's the norm.  i can only tell you that for the first time in so very long, i have hope that most of my former life will be restored and that i honestly feel like i will be my "old self" once again!!

[pdxmomof3boys]

You have given me more courage today than I have had in awhile. Making that apt today was a first step to realizing that I may actually have to do this. How big was your herniation? Mine is 5.2 mm but I have complete compression, with very little space for CSF to move. It's minor by surgical/diagnostic standards, except for the magnitude of the compression. He didn't say anything about compressed artery, but if you had three hidden ones, there is no telling. I am a mom and a teacher, my voice is everything to me! I can't project or talk for any length of time without feeling winded. I've never really suffered with asthma until recently -- maybe it isn't asthma at all???

In the meantime I will try to treat my symptoms as they come and I'll try to keep a journal of what is working and what isn't. I will take that with me on january 8 when I see my NS again.

Thank you so much for that piece of information that may have saved MY life! :)

[n40066]

glad to give you hope!  on my mri, my dr. could only see 1 artery that was "partially closed".  the others could only be seen once he got inside my head.  like i said earlier, i'm very thankfull that something inside told me not to wait.  if i had, well....

and to be perfectly honest with you, the surgery, for me anyway, was really not that bad!  it's easy to be scared when you think of all the things that can go wrong.  when i finally set a date, all i could think or say was....wow.  that's it. just wow!  i was second guessing my decision right up until i got off the plane.  but i was lucky.  i had a friend going in right behind me for the same surgery, so we kind of fed off of each other for courage.  i was more scared of the other stuff they do to you than i was the actual surgery itself!  lol!  but seriously, instead of filling your mind with all that can go wrong, fill it with all the good that can come from it instead!  we all know it's a gamble and we all know the risks.  i just know that i wouldn't have been here much longer had i not had the surgery.  go with whatever your gut tells you and to heck with everyone and everything else.  this is something that you and only you, will know if it's the right choice and when it is time.  i also have a firm belief that all the folks here praying for me and all my family and friends praying for me had a tremendous affect on my outcome.  i never once felt alone.  and while i always had my parents support in whatever i decided to do, it wasn't until they saw....and were told...what i was going thru, did they truely understand the magnitude of what i was, and had been going thru and dealing with on a daily basis.  they no longer look at me like i'm making things up or am just being lazy.  they push me....HARD...to follow what the dr. told me to do!  the turn around in support has been astounding!  not to mention refreshing!  even my son has stepped up to the plate and really changed 100% !  considering he's bipolar amongst other things, this is truely amazing.  
so, you are not crazy!  and as for hope....as long as you have breath left in you, faith in your soul, and the will to choose, there is always hope for a better life.  just follow your gut.  i did,  and i believe it saved my life.

[pdxmomof3boys]

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for sharing that! Might explain why prednisone and other asthma meds don't help us. I will FOR SURE check in with my NS and have a look at that scan again. He didn't mention anything, and neither did the report, but maybe it isn't visible? Or maybe it is a completely different problem, but so good to know that we are not crazy and that you are well :) So glad that you did the surgery and it made you feel better. That's enough for me to consider surgery sooner rather than later!

katarina333 -- something I forgot to mention about the prednisone is how DEPRESSED it made me. I didn't even want to TRY to do anything. It makes you feel like not even pushing through, but rather like giving up. I felt more motivated today than I have in over a month...maybe there is hope for us chiari asthmatics after all :)

[n40066]

i just had decompression surgery on 11/23, so i am 3 weeks post op tomorrow.  i was to the point that i would get winded just carrying on a conversation, so i can relate to what you are all saying.  i no longer have that problem!!  what they found when the dr. went in, was 3 arteries were completely closed off and the 4th was partially closed due to overcrowding in my brain.  the dr. could only see ONE artery that was closed off on the mri.....so, dear friends, i shudder to think where i would have been 6 months down the road.  if i were so lucky to have made it another 6 months!  i'm not saying this is the same problem all of you are having, just want you to be aware that the possibility does exist for it to be directly related to your chiari malformation/over crowding!
good luck and God bless

elizabeth