Information Overload

Hello everyone.

I decided it was time to add my own voice and opinion on Chiari and Chronic Pain since I can't seem to find anyone quite like me and I know there has to be someone.

When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari Malformation I. I had been through so many different attempts to fix the numbness, tingling and pain I was feeling in my right arm. I also had horrendous headaches all the time. I thought it was normal to take Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, etc. multiple times a day. Finally, we went to a Neurosurgeon and was diagnosed with ACM. In 1994, at the age of 16, I had decompression surgery. I had complete faith in my doctor and my family was there for me. Going in to the surgery, I had no fears. After the surgery is another story.
A week in ICU and another couple of weeks in different levels of recovery. Finally, one month after leaving home (we had to go to Washington State from Idaho because my dad was in the military), I was deemed recovered enough to go home. My brother and sisters were wonderful about having to stay with friends while Mom and Dad were with me. Not anything I would wish on anyone, but thank goodness we did it.
Still in a neck brace, I was out of school for another couple weeks. My headaches (other than the occasional nerve "jolt") were gone, I could walk in a straight(er) line and the numbness and tingling were gone. The chronic pain, however, was not. It was not bad enough to worry about. I had so many other things to get on with. Too much time away had taken a toll on my social health. I am quite the talker, and didn't deal well with only having my parents and siblings to talk to. I feel for them as well - I'm sure it was no picnic to deal with me.
The pain didn't really start to bother me until a few years down the road. In 2003, it got bad enough that I decided to see my family practitioner to see what he had to say. After a couple of half-hearted attempts by him, he told me it would be my "cross to bear". That didn't sit well with me. Not that I don't have faith, I just figured that if God created intelligent people that could heal, it was for a reason.
Then, in 2004, I got pregnant with my son. It was time to put my pain on the back burner and focus on this new time in my life. After having him and getting the whole parenting thing under my belt, my pain increased. I had changed family practice docs by now and decided it was time to try again. My husband found an article about a new method for treating chronic pain - Spinal Cord Stimulation. I took the article in with me and he referred me to a pain management doc...