New info vs. old misinformation

So my world has been turned upside down. Last Thursday I had my appointment with my neurosurgeon at the Mayo. I learned that much of what I thought I knew was wrong. I learned that Chiari is not a brain malformation but a skull malformation. Basically my skull didn't form correct and is too small. My brain is formed correctly and looks good but my skull is too small to hold my brain and now my brain has herniated in through the base of my skull (the Posterior Fossa) and is causing all kinds of problems. Well the Neurosurgeon said that the only symptoms he can verify that are being caused by the Chiari directly are the head aches and the head and neck pain. At this point in time there are no tests to determine if my other symptoms (problems...including the drop attacks) are being caused because of the Chiari. My Neurosurgeon says that we'll know if they are related if after the surgery they go away or not. If they don't go away then he said I may want to look into having additional tests done to determine if there is something else that may be causing the symptoms. So yeah now that I know that there is something wrong and what it is I decided to have the surgery. He also told me that in some cases if people who have Chiari choose not to have the surgery and tough out have had a Syrinx develop which can cause paralysis and then the surgery would be mandatory. So don't have surgery and maybe wake up one day and have one side paralyzed and have to wait in that condition and have to have surgery to correct it. So I decided to have the surgery and to take the chance to not hurt anymore. I'm scared but I know it will be a chance to get better...I've got to buck up and be brave. My surgery will be toward the end of January.

Finding my "Brave"...
-AP