Begin the doctor's appointments

     So, the hospital recommended a Neurosurgeon (NS) for me, but of course they were out of network for my insurance.  I contacted my primary care provider to see about a referral for another NS.  Since the ER recommended I follow up within 24 hours, I was quite concerned.  Luckily, an outstanding nurse helped me out and managed to get a referral pushed through for a NS by 0900 Friday morning (the day after the 8.5 hour ER visit).  The catch, the nurse contacted me at 0900, and said the NS would see me, but I needed to be there before noon.  Now, 3 hours, no big deal right.  Well, I had to have my films from the MRI with me.  The hospital where the MRI was done was 20 min from work, and then 20 minutes back to the NS.
     Again, at this point, I was starting to freak out.  My wife and I had done a little research on Chiari the night before, but still didn't fully understand the impact it would have on our lives.
     So, I leave work, drive the 20 minutes to pick up the MRI films and then drive back to the NS office, not sure what to expect.  I check in and they call me back.  The Dr. does a few motor function tests and then takes a look at a print out of my MRI films.  He explained that my cerebral tonsils were herniated 17.4 mm into the spinal canal.  He asked what I knew about the Chiari and what questions I had.  At this point, like I said, we had done a little research, but not a great deal.  I explained that I was still pretty ignorant on the whole thing but did ask him if this was a hereditary thing.  He explained that the research was still on-going, but there was no definitive answer one way or the other.  He then said that he would like to set up a follow-up appt in 5-6 weeks to see if I had any other symptoms.
     Unfortunately, Latischa, my wife, was unable to make this appt due to her school schedule.  So, as I'm leaving the nurse tells me that the doctor will be gone the following week, but if Tish or I have any questions that we should feel free to give her a call.
     The following Tuesday, Tish and I set up a meeting with the nurse in the NS office.  Did we ever have questions.  We had done a lot more research over the weekend, and came in with a list of questions for the nurse.  What further tests are needed?  How often are the doctors appts going to be?  How many surgeries has the NS performed for this condition?  What were the outcomes of those surgeries?  Along with what felt like a hundred others.  The Dr. was out of town, but the nurse asked him our questions as soon as she heard from him and provided some answers the next day.  It sounded like we were just going to monitor things unless other symptoms showed up.