Veronica Varricchio. Medullar traction Syndrome. Descent of the Cerebellar Tonsils (Arnold Chiari Syndrome Type I).

Published by ICSEB at 10 December, 2018

 
Surgery date: 29/10/2013
Filmed: 29/10/2018

Hello everybody!

I am Veronica, from Italy, and I would like to tell you my story. First of all, I’d like to let you know that I am not very good at using the international sign language, but I hope you will understand me anyway.

Since I was 15 years old (now I am 28) I used to suffer from headaches, every day and all day, and I had no strength. I felt always weak. I consulted several doctors and all of them told me that I was fine; I was only stressed because of my studies, of my work, that I had no special health problem, so I gave up.

I have a cousin who is 20 years older than me, she can hear and had my same issues. At the age of 40, her condition was much worse than mine. She couldn’t keep on going like that and started looking for a specialized doctor/hospital. Then, she found the Institut Chiari de Barcelona and wanted to give it a try. At the first consultation, the doctors confirmed the diagnosis and told her she wouldn’t have any other problems after undergoing the surgery, so my cousin did it. After the surgery, she felt different. She immediately recommended me to go to Barcelona to have a consultation, because they had also explained her that this condition is hereditary.

It took me until the age of 23 to decide to go for a consultation. They confirmed the diagnosis and I underwent the surgery.

Pre-operative visit: I couldn’t stand up straight, I had no balance; I had retro-ocular headache; lying down, I could not keep my legs bent; if I crouched down, I felt like something was pulling behind my neck; I did not have strength, etc. …

Post-operative visit: just the opposite, I could stand up straight, I no longer had a headache, while lying down, I managed to keep my legs bent without problems; I got my strength back! My life changed completely!

I’m really grateful for having the possibility to undergo this procedure. I hope that both this video and the Institut Chiari de Barcelona can help you!

Bye bye!