A SNEEZE!

I had dreaded this first sneeze, mentioned it a few times that I couldn't believe that I hadn't sneezed in all this time and then knocked on wood.  But it was bound to happen and it did. I was laying in bed and hardly awake and I sneezed...... I reached over to John to alert him..... to take notice...........

I waited.....  and waited.  I stood up.. and nothing.  If you don't have Chiari or haven't witnessed me try to stop a sneeze pre-surgery then you don't know what I am talking about but to me for the last 18 months the worst things to do were to sneeze, blow my nose, cough or cheer for my girls on the sidelines of the soccer field.  All of those things would trigger numbness in my body and head rushes.  So this sneeze was a big deal.  A sneeze that was not followed by me grabbing the wall or counter to steady myself and wait out the head rush and then waiting to see which part of my body was going to fall asleep and for how long.  I would say a sneeze would usually equal having my face go numb (parts of it)  and would last anywhere from 2 hours to a day.  It would also feel like for the milla-second I sneezed that I was being shocked.

I have to say that since I have sneezed 4 more times with similar results.  I am taking that as a very good sign that there was some success in my surgery.  I think there is spinal fluid flowing.