Ashlyn at the Beach

MRI Comparison

This is Ashlyn's MRI with Chiari Malformation with a herniation of 10mm.  Very little spinal fluid is flowing into the spinal cord.  As you look at the image, you can see the brain sinking into the spinal cord.

This is Ashlyn's MRI after she had Chiari Decompression Surgery.  The portion toward the top of the image (kinda looks like a white triangle) is where the brain was pushed up, so the spinal fluid could flow freely.  The top vertebrae was also removed and a dura patch was inserted.

 

 

So, these scans might look foreign to many people and it is difficult to explain without being able to literally point out the differences, but it is a MAJOR improvement!  The post op MRI looks fantastic!



Follow Up with Neurosurgeon

Ashlyn had her one year post-op appointment with her neurosurgeon at Duke Children's.  It was great to see Dr. Fuchs again and show him how Ashlyn has grown and developed.  Ashlyn was a little shy and didn't want the nurses or Dr. Fuchs to touch her, despite all of our pep talks to prepare Ashlyn to see the doctor.  Oh well.  The appointment was pretty uneventful, just like we were expecting.  Dr. Fuchs showed us the pre-op and post-op MRI's, which we hadn't seen before so it was really great to have him explain those to us.  Ashlyn had her post-op MRI done six months ago but we hadn't talked about it with Dr. Fuchs.  I was curious as to what the post-op MRI looked like compared to the pre-op MRI.  It was pretty cool to see the brain moved up to where it should be and not sagging down into her spinal cord, blocking spinal fluid.  Awesome!

So, now we don't have to go back the neurosurgeon for another year!  Dr. Fuchs likes to see the little ones that he performed surgery on in another six months, but since Ashlyn is doing so well, we can wait a year!  Thanks again Dr. Fuchs and your team for helping our daughter!!

On the way to Duke

At the doctor

On the way home from Duke

Up next on the blog: Comparison between pre-op and post-op MRI's.