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Need Help or Answers re:Posterior Fossa Arachnoid Cyst

By January 8, 2010 - 1:18pm
 
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In early October of 2009, my 19 yr old son was complaining that he was having very bad headaches, so bad that he could not gt out of bed and didn't want to lights on in his room. I took him to his PCP and he suggested a CAT scan of the head and the result were normal. He prescribed sinus meds just in case he was having sinus problems. The headaches were almost gone, until December when they came back, again took him to the PCP and this time he ordered a MRI which showed an arachniod cyst in the posterior fossa of the brain. The PCP suggested that we leave it alone and for my son to take 600 ml of Motrin everytime he gets a headache. My question is should we do what was suggested by the dr.or will he need surgery or will if go away on it's own? I am very worried, this child has been through so much, he also has chronic ITP since the age of 11 yrs old and recently had a splenectomy.

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I would strongly suggest getting a second and even third opinion. Ask your PCP to refer you to a neurosurgeon who is well versed in this area. If my tooth hurts I see my dentist ... brain hurts beyond normal stress headache ... I see a neuro :) The neuro can tell you whether or not surgery is optimal at this time and should set up a schedule for yearly MRI's to check for growth of the cyst ... I don't know much about arachniod cysts .... but I do know that at 19 he is still growing and MRI's(MRI with and without contrast and CINE MRI's) are the best method currently to monitor the brain ... Considering that the doctor prescribed Motrin for his headache... that tells me that the Dr feels there is a problem with inflamation as well as pain ... a good question to ask is how much swelling and does this affect his CSF flow? Is this cyst the only brain abnormality? My malformation was NOT found by my doctor... I had to get the radiologist report and read it for myself to discover I had Chiari Malformation... I underwent a posterior fossa decompression and C1-2 laminectomy on May 27, 09 ... education empowHers (shamless plug!) us. Gather as much information as you can ... and get second opinions. The headache is a symptom ... no one wants to go through life wondering if tomorrow will be a day in bed or a day I can go to work :)
God bless ...
Tharilyn

January 10, 2010 - 12:10pm
(reply to tharilyn)

Thank you for your insite, my son's hymotologist suggested that I take him to a neurologist so that he can evaluate and monitor my son's cyst, because like you said the PCP is not a brain or head specialist. I made an appointment, taking him today. He also had a MRI last Tuesday. You made a good point about the Motrin, the only problem is that he is not able to take any aspirin products due to his ITP (blood disorder that attacks the platelets) So he has only taken Tylenol, which sometimes work for him. Did the surgery work for you and how are you feeling now? Again, thanks so much for replying to my question. I will keep you posted.
God Bless...
Grace

January 12, 2010 - 9:03am
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