Pressure at the Base: Chiari Malformation Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe Chiari malformation, in which part of the cerebellum sits lower than usual at the base of the skull. Some were found by accident after a ladder fall or a car bump; others spent eleven years told it was migraine, were told it was anxiety at college, or were sent on by an eye doctor or a school nurse who noticed a curve in a daughter's spine. Writers include a choir teacher whose high G cut off, a chef who dropped a pan of hot oil, a retired mail carrier struggling to swallow, a long-haul driver with sleep apnoea, a PE teacher, a piano tuner with ringing ears, a nurse on night shifts in Nairobi, a sixteen-year-old told to give up rugby, a woman diagnosed at seventy-one, the parent of a baby born with spina bifida and a husband with his notebook by the bed, from Albuquerque to Aberdeen and Bengaluru to Bergen. They describe decompression surgery, a second operation, a leak that would not seal, fever after going home, a loose skull joint, insurance denials, five months waiting for a neurosurgeon, pain clinic injections, pregnancy and the first month at home. Some chose not to operate. Outcomes vary widely: some were helped a great deal, others only partly, and one writer has no conclusion yet.

Who it's for

For anyone holding a new scan report full of unfamiliar words, parents deciding for a child, people weighing surgery or waiting, and the partners sitting in the chair by the bed.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 281 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.