Progress!

Fantastic! The neurologist poked me and stared at me and then LISTENED to what I had to say. He agreed that I deserve to have the spinal fluid flow MRI and he's going to talk to my PCP and the Neurosurgeon about scheduling it with the other MRIs I have to have. He initially thought I had psuedotumor cerebri (good call, Chad!) but my optic nerves look fine, not swollen like they would be with psuedotumor. He said, "Sometimes someone's symptoms make us go, Aha! those symptoms lead us to XYZ diagnosis. But these symptoms and how they're presenting aren't as clear cut. It could be the Chiari, but it could also be something else."

Finally I feel like someone is willing to listen to me and try to figure this out, not leave me out here in limbo wondering if this is my lot in life and nothing will change it. When he asked if I knew the remedy to having Chiari, I said yes. Decompression surgery. He asked if I'm that eager to have brain surgery.

I told him no, I want to talk to a Chiari specialist and make sure this is what's causing my issues. But I also want an end to this daily suffering, and I want to halt any further nerve damage as quickly as possible. He looked surprised that I had a well-thought-out answer.

Long story short: the neurologist can't think of anything that these symptoms could be, other than Chiari, but he's not 100% sure it's the Chiari causing these symptoms, if that makes sense. He is going to coordinate with the neurosurgeon and get me the test I need to determine how bad, really, the Chiari is affecting me.

It's such a great weight off my shoulders. I feel like we have a direction now. Things are starting to move, oh so slowly, but they're MOVING.

Thanks to everyone who has been keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. Sometimes it's so lonely here I feel like I'm going to suffocate, but then I realize I'm NOT alone. I have friends out there rooting for me and it keeps me from going too insane. :)