Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Six Years and Counting

Six years ago at this moment, I was on the operating table in the midst of the surgery that would change my life.

Until the days and weeks after that surgery, I had never realized how much my life was affected and hindered by a condition that had only been diagnosed three months prior.

The first big thing I discovered was the overwhelming smell of the flowers I had received. I remember walking into the guest room at the Hart's a few days post op and being hit by a wall of fresh floral scent. I thought it was just those flowers, but I soon learned that all flowers smelled that strongly, I just had a limited ability to smell before surgery.

In the last year I have been practicing yoga several times per week. Sometimes I add in Pilates too. Any exercise with impact aggravates my neck and back, so I just stay with no impact activities. No longer needing to carry my babies all the time has helped my back as well. I can't believe I will soon have two 4 year olds and a 2 year old!

While yoga would have helped me before surgery, I don't think I could have done it without awful Chiari headaches. Old habits die hard though and I still find myself scared to try poses that I wouldn't have been able to do before surgery. Often, I find I can do them without any issues and that makes me a little more confident in trying the next one.

This is just my story of my experience with Chiari. Until I was diagnosed, I'd never heard of it, and I just want more people to be aware of it. I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me on any of this stuff - k? If you are looking for information about Chiari Malformation, a lot of the more informative posts are the older ones.