Another incredible healing chiari story
Posting an incredible story of another brave and strong chiarian and someone I consider to be my chiari sister! Mandy McDonald who I’ve been in contact with since posting my story, has been struggling for 17 years to survive the relentless symptoms of Chiari, and for the first time in Mandy’s life feels what she considers to be almost “normal”!
Mandy arrived in Barcelona in a wheelchair which she had been confined in for many months. At only 1 week post op filum terminale sectioning surgery, from the Institut Chiari & Siringomielia & Escoliosis de Barcelona, she was able to walk unassisted for the first time in 6 months! This surgery actually addresses the CAUSE of Chiari, and the affects are absolutely amazing! She has barely any pressure in her head and is no longer dizzy and nauseous all the time, her brain fog has greatly improved, has 75% more energy. She reports that her numbness in all extremities is basically gone, the tension from the back of the head all the way down the legs is greatly decreased, and is able to stand up straight for the first time in her life! She can even sneeze without fainting!
At 28 years old she struggled with health issues since she was a child and suffered all the crazy symptoms from Chiari from the past 12 years. Due to Covid, her decompression surgery was canceled in 2020 and declined when they offered to reschedule as she was unsure that decompression surgery was right for her. But over the past year as she became disabled and had to use a wheelchair, she started praying for wisdom on what to do.
In the fall, I posted my story and put Mandy in touch with the Chiari Institute in Barcelona, Spain. She sent them her MRIs for consultation, and was approved for the same minimally invasive surgery that I did, which helps stop the progression of the disease. On January 10th she went in for the filum Terminale sectioning surgery, and here after only 1 week later she felt like a whole new person!
Wishing Mandy all the best in her healing and recovery, still wishing the rest of the medical world to catch up to this minimally invasive and less risky approach that clearly saves and improves many lives!!
