Lisa Klok's story
My story starts at the age of 6 when I was diagnosed with "classic" migraines. Sometimes they weren’t bad, but other times they were terrible. By the summer of 2008, I was spending four nights a week in the emergency room due to the pain. I had no life, no hope, and any money I made from my job went to ER co-pays. I lived with my mother, and all she did was take care of me, driving me back and forth to the hospital. Then someone recommended the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago.
I traveled from Kalamazoo to the clinic and began inpatient treatment for a week. They taught me new ways to manage migraines and break this cycle, along with ordering multiple tests. An MRI revealed that I had Chiari malformation. I was referred to Gail L. Rosseau, MD, a neurosurgeon at CINN.
After I read about this condition, all of the symptoms I had been experiencing now made sense. In discussing my situation with Dr. Rosseau, we decided together that I should have surgery. On September 28, 2008, Dr. Rosseau performed Chiari decompression with a suboccipital craniectomy, C1 laminectomy and duraplasty.
More than a year has passed and life is amazing!! My headaches are not completely gone – certainly not perfect – but they have decreased by about 80 percent. I still get bad ones on occasion, but unlike before, now my medication works. I have only been to the ER three times in the past year, compared to 3-4 times a week in the year prior to surgery. I know that would still be a lot of ER visits for some people, but for me, it's amazing! Along with my short-term meds, I am on preventatives and they are working.
In September 2009 I finally moved out. I live on my own and I'm able to go to work the vast majority of the time. I don't have to depend on anyone else to take care of me. I love my life and I have never been happier! I got a puppy and her name is Nelly. I love her very much and I am happy that I have the opportunity to live the life I do now – it is like a dream come true. I want everyone to know that there is always hope. I know it is very easy to lose hope, and hard to get it back, but just keep trying.