Like my IV?Michel had the surgery on Thursday and according to Dr. Milhorat, it went very well. The specific surgery Michel had is called detethering. It is used to treat Tethered Cord Syndrome (TCS) which more and more doctors (especially the doctors at the Chiari Institute) think is a major cause of symptoms in Chiari patients.

TCS is when the spine is under pressure because it is being pulled down from the bottom. The bottom of the spinal cord has a tether which causes this pressure and the pressure can crush the nerves at the base of the spine and prevent good cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. The surgery cuts this tether at the base of the spine, and thus relieving the pressure on the spine. Dr. Milhorat told me that pre-surgical CSF flow in Michel was 0.5 and that after the surgery it jumped to 3.5. He also said that when they cut the tether, Michel’s spinal cord retracted 2 inches which showed that there was a great deal of pressure pulling down on her cord.

So far Michel has said that her swallowing is better, that she feels much less like she is choking on her food. She also feels much less nauseous. As the post-surgical swelling goes down, she should see more improvement, at least we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We have gotten past this hurdle and we are hopeful that the improvements Michel feels will be enough so that she won’t need the second surgery. Dr. Milhorat sounded very hopeful when I spoke with him on Thursday and he was convinced that the surgery was the right thing to do. Michel is still in the hospital and we are hoping that she will be able to come home in another day or two.