Hello, I am Kelli Semkin, 42 yr old wife of an amazing man, and veteran. Mother of 3 gorgeous children and grandma of 2 girls and one yet to be determined.
I was diagnosed with chiari in August of 2015, after several years of depression and anxiety and just knowing I felt that I had no energy and was just plain tired of fighting to get out of bed everyday. Of course Dr’s said it was depression and put me on meds that cause suicidal thoughts. I almost ended my life in 2014, thankfully my husband found me and saved my life.
I do not like having chiari but it does feel better knowing there is a reason for all of the pain and headaches I’ve had my whole life and that it’s not a character defect. I was decompressed in October and wish I never would’ve let them do the surgery, still have all of my symptoms plus fluid in the back of the head outside the dura. However, I feel I am stronger now because missouri Dr’s will not give pain meds so I have learned to get used to a level 9 daily pain scale….
I have my fellow spoonies and all of the wonderful people on the chiari sites to thank for giving good advice and information. Also could never have made it this far without my husband Justin Semkin and my children. I appreciate the daily words of inspiration or Information and of course the just plain silly memes that are put on the Spoonies For Life Facebook timeline. Thank for for letting me be part of the community.
