A woman whose debilitating head pains, memory problems and blurred vision were blamed on menopause has spoken of finally being diagnosed with a little-known brain condition.
Joanne Robertson, from Abergele, suffered for a decade while health professionals continued to miss her brain condition - Chiari malformation.
As well as intense head pain and vision issues, she experienced bowel and balance issues as well as the inability to regulate her temperature, North Wales Live reported.
She was sent to a physio and told to avoid stress, over the years being “sent everywhere” and only getting a “series of individual diagnosis”, she said.
“I was told I had migraines. I couldn’t control my temperature and it was put down to the menopause" the 50-year-old said.
Joanne eventually began to stop breathing at intervals and, after collapsing one day, was rushed to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd’s emergency department.
She underwent an upper endoscopy to see whether she had throat cancer and a lumber puncture, to check for meningitis, but doctors were still stumped as to the cause of her symptoms.
It was only when Ysbyty Glan Clwyd’s Dr Chakrabarti sent Joanne for a scan, because she’d seen Chiara malformation before, she was diagnosed.
“Even getting to this stage was big because when you have a Chiari pain in your brain it’s like having your head ripped off,” she said. “So for her to say ‘this is not normal’ and take it seriously was massive for me.
“It wasn’t until Dr Chakrabati put the pieces together I got the diagnosis.”
Having never heard of Chiari malformation before her diagnosis she set about researching it online – but she found little information and what was there scared her.
The mum-of-two said: “I thought ‘there needs to be information out there, this is worth telling people’."
Chiari malformation occurs when the brain stem pushes down into the space where the spinal column is and occurs in around one in 1,000 people.
As in Joanne’s case it can cause the brain’s tonsils to descend. They are part of the cerebellum, which lies at the base of the amygdala - part of the brain which controls a number of important basic, emotional and memory functions.
Surgeons remove a piece of skull to relieve pressure, with the aim of increasing the flow of fluid around the brain and allowing it to move upwards away from the spinal column.
Joanne’s excruciating head pains were a product of the pressure it caused.
During her first operation at The Walton Centre, in June 2018, she had part of the base of her skull removed and her brain tonsils separated from her spinal cord - but it soon became apparent the pressure was still there.
In September 2018 consultants made the decision to take away more of her skull, cauterise part of her brain and insert a metal plate.
Despite her gratitude to those who treated her Joanne still has many issues to deal with day to day – but she’s still here and determined to help others deal with the condition.
She revealed: “I remember feeling really selfish and wondering if I should have the second operation because of what it would put my family through – I could have left my children.
“I was able to sit on the sofa and talk to Andrew for about half an hour a day at this point but three different consultants told me I needed it – or the condition would get worse and I would die.
“They told me the recovery would be hard and I had a bad couple of days but I was back home on the fifth day."
In between her two major brain operations, Joanne decided to record her experiences about the little known disorder in a book called Chiari and Me – It’s Not Just a Headache.
The former hospital switchboard supervisor’s aim was to help those suffering with the complaint – and their families - and “give people hope we can live with the condition”.
She said: “I am lucky to be here. In the book I thank Dr Chakrabati for getting me to a scan. I’d suffered problems for more than 10 years and the incidents were becoming more and more frequent. I was diagnosed with IBS, but since my operation I’ve not had it."
Joanne said Chiari changed her whole life. She added: “I can’t work, I can’t concentrate on things.
“My balance is shocking and my vision is still affected, but the head pains and breathing problems have subsided.
“I’ve got less feeling in my right leg and my right arm, so it’s about living with the condition rather than being completely cured.
“The surgery stopped the decline in my health in its tracks. It’s not a cure, it just stops the symptoms – but I’m proof there is hope for those with this condition.”
