#type1chiari

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I think this needs to be my leg scar cover-up tattoo. Or something like it. With so many colours. So many. #unicorn #tattooideas #myart #artistsoninstagram #superfemme #girly #jewels #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #surgeryscar

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💜💜 It's September! And, among all the exciting things happening this month (@halcon_scificon, school starting, and pumpkin spice everything), it's also Arnold Chiari Malformation awareness month. 💜💜 ACM is a condition in which part of the brain (the cerebral tonsils) herniates through the foramen magnum (the hole in the base of the skull where your spinal cord connects to the brain), and creates pressure on the cord, as well as limiting or even cutting off circulation of the cerebral-spinal fluid. This can be incredibly painful, causing debilitating headaches and a very long list of symptoms, making it often very difficult to diagnose. It's estimated that 1 in every 1000 people have this condition, although the majority are asymptomatic and will never find out they have it unless it is detected by an MRI. They're the lucky ones! For the rest of us, symptoms can range from the mild or annoying, to the crippling and incapacitating. But that's a post for another day. #chiarimalformation #chiariawareness #chiariawarenessmonth #type1chiari #chiariwarrior #givingupisnotanoption #chronicillness #invisibleillness

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I'm so done with Chiari. 😢 #thankschiari #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #postop #stillsymptomatic #😭

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Hair's getting longer, hair's getting greyer. #postop #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #greyhairdontcare

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Today marks 2 weeks post-op. Still a lot of healing left to do, but I just gotta take it one day at a time. Leg graft is giving me grief today. (Did my makeup today, too, just to try to look more human, since we're out running the roads today.) Also, as my hair is growing back in, I am realizing just how grey I've become. Yikes. #chiarimalformation #postop #type1chiari #takeitdaybyday #graft #duragraft

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SKIP IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH My official "zipperhead" pics! The head is at 5 days post-op, and the 2nd pic is my graft site (upper right thigh) at 4 days. Everyone says they're healing up great, so I'll take their word for it. No leaks, no "bad" inflammation, no infection, woo! Now if I could just shake this monster headache, we'd be set, eh? In the meantime, nap. #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #postop #staples #surgery

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It looks beautiful outside today. In other news, I have a window. Maybe it'll inspire this headache to chill out so I can go home. Please? In the meantime, I'll be all up in my room looking like the bride of Frankenstein with my stapled up self... (32 staples in my leg, no idea about the back of my head...) #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #zipperhead #surgery #hospital #ow #ugh

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I feel really disgusting right now. At least the Dilaudid makes me care about it less. All I wanna do is sleep. I'm alive, but wow, so sleepy and in pain and just want sleep for weeks. #chiarimalformation #type1chiari #postop #gettingthereslowly