Diagnoses and Their Dates

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In 2010, I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation type 1. I was coming home from school every day in such horrible pain, I had to take ibuprofen and lay down. It took about 3-4 months of constantly doing this that I finally caved and saw a neurologist. This was the neurologist who diagnosed me with Chiari. I was put on Diamox and was perfectly fine up until 2014. Summer of 2014 will be a time I'll never forget. I woke up one morning with the worst headache I'd ever had. Weeks after, I started to experimence,"blind spells," and was in the er constantly. I was finally brought in to see a neurosurgeon who said I needed surgery right away, and that she suspected I had IIH(Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension). I had the decompression surgery on October 23rd, and within that same week, I had a shunt placed for the IIH. Since then, I have had 12 surgeries due to complications/infections with the shunt. This is not to scare anyone away, it is just the truth. My shunt has most definitely saved my vision but I am still struggling daily with headaches and nausea. This all started when I was 10, and then 14. I will be 18 in November.