Our Stories

I started this website over two years ago weaving my research together, speaking with over 200 people on the phone and going through this hell for 16 years. Please donate to our foundation if you have found any useful information please donate what you can so that will help us print brochures and discover other methods of assisting you with updates and growth on arachnoidcyst.net.

I am not keeping this site up like I used to so please go to arachnoidcyst.net to blog, post or read there since I am pregnant now and most of what I can tell you is located here on this site if you take the time to read through it. I don't take many phone calls these days but if you IM me that will work KatyaClay on AIM and ceclay01 on Yahoo.

If you are a parent you will NOT be happy with the long term stories of suffering. I never in my wildest dreams could fathom that there were so many people allowed to suffer on the planet from one horrific ailment that can cause even worse diseases. There is no funding (if you can help me get that going then please let me know) so what you see here is the love of everyone suffering desiring to get answers and to offer you support for what you are going through, answer questions and point you in the right direction to get the care you need.

In the 16 years of searching for the perfect doctor I have come up with these names as experts that have done many Arachnoid Cyst surgeries with high success rates of telling you why you are having some of the problems you do. Please e-mail me if you would like assistance finding a doctor that is right for you. PLEASE help us grow by giving yourself a voice or even better by keeping a journal on arachnoidcyst.net that would help MORE people. There are constant requests for materials and I can't afford to put all the information together, consult and advocate unless you can assist us by helping us grow, print materials for a newsletter, fundraising, or do research or write congress. If you find a link to more research or can help in any way please do please e-mail me.

They are real people's accounts of their every day existence. It has taken some people many attempts to write their story. Because we look "normal" people can not see that there is subtle damage done with every heart beat as we age. Those that love you truly know from what they observe what is wrong with you and how your temper tantrums run, how your frustration for understanding is viewed as a lack of paying attention and going off in the middle of a sentence or repeating yourself repeatedly displays how your thinking keeps spinning in a cycle and can leave you stuck for days.

The most heart breaking stories are of the children, for which I dedicate my life to trying to put together something that you can understand and ways that I have learned how to live so that you get the most out of life. Hearing of a baby lying on the floor hitting his head screaming "OW! OW! OW!" crushes me. No matter what I go though I keep thinking of the little ones that don't know how to articulate what they are going through because I was born with mine too. There are 2 classifications of these rare brain tumors, arachnoid and sub-arachnoid. Sub-arachnoid sits on the level that feeds the blood to the brain and causes a slew of other problems as it's closer to the pia mater.

If you have a cyst on the left side of your brain you likely to be a pussy cat and you might have problems with your heart.

If your cyst is in the center of your brain you will have problems with your pituitary gland, vision, mobility and be sensitive to temperature and have explosive temper tantrums. There are also vision problems that you can have as well as endocrine problems. This kind of behavior is indicative of having Syringomyelia, which I was diagnosed with August 12th, 2004.

Inadequate examination can be the reason for less number of reported cases of association of syringomyelia with posterior fossa arachnoid cysts.

When the cyst is in the posterior fossa you have GOT to get medical attention from QUALFIED Physicians. No ifs, ands or buts. Posterior fossa cysts are one of the two most damaging kinds because of the structures underneath such as the cerebellum and brain stem and can cause other diseases.

You need a team of people to help you though HOWEVER YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST ADVOCATE (I will call your docs if you need help). A good therapist that has hopefully suffered from trauma, a neurologist that has other AC patients, a pain specialist, a neurosurgeon that is a specialist, a physical therapist to ease the pain of discomfort, a rheumatologist, an endocrinologist to monitor your hormone levels (we need this data for all of us), and a great GP.

This is all the info I have surmised from reading your stories and talking to over 150 patients on the phone. Please include your number when you write so I can speak with you.

This is not to take the place of medical advice but here for you to have the ammo you need to fight for your life and for you to understand that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We hope that you will take from this site understanding for all of your options be that waiting for you cyst to become symptomatic* (and it will, I promise you that because I've never heard of someone getting "better" from leaving these things alone), having a shunt, aspiration (key-hole surgery which is just a band-aid surgery and when you need surgery you only want it once), fenestration, excision or LASER removal (THE ONLY SURGERIES RECOMMENDED), or the latest news in drugs that will help you through the day. GET TO A PAIN DOCTOR IF YOU SUFFER FROM PAIN BECAUSE A NEUROLOGIST WON'T GIVE YOU NARCOTICS. Just explain that you have a cyst on the root of your nervous system and you will get the drugs so the first thought in the morning isn't "I can't stand the pain, I want to die."

After being paralyzed, myself, from the neck down for 4 hours I decided to try to make you realize that if you don't have these things removed from your brain you will eventually suffer long term central nervous system damage which will cause a slew of other problems and can cause you new diseases such as Syringomyelia, a demylenating disease such as Multiple Sclerosis, Psychosis, Dementia, adhesive arachnoiditis syndrome, diabetes, liver and kidney and other connective tissue disorders. YOU CAN DIE IN SURGERY. We lost Ang. When all people are diagnosed with any horrific illness it took a lot of info before the medical profession recognized how to treat the symptoms. We are all we have got. (sorry there are painful truths that need to be faced)

I found some top secret information.

I need all of you to send me your info. We are all suffering and if our voices are not heard who cares? Your family won't write congress because they don't understand. You look perfectly normal. The only thing wrong is that burning sensation that feels like your worst sunburn that sits on your muscles and bones that never goes away.

Don't you wish you were a dog? Why if I were a dog then maybe someone would start to take me seriously. Like understating there are MICRO ABRASIONS in MY ARACHNOID MEMBRANE that CAUSE LESIONS from the Pressure. Take that to your doctor. It's nice to know some animals get better treatment than humans do.

"If the dog is moving its head a lot the cranial cervical region is especially effected in these dogs because it's a highly constrained area which is subject to activity which causes micro traumas which in turn causes inflammation which in turn causes the adhesions and hence enlargement of the sub-arachnoid space which might be involved in the creation of the cyst."

It therefore seems reasonable, at the present state of knowledge and until further studies clarify the origin and natural history of these cysts, to treat them as early as possible in order to prevent gross developmental deficits.

Do you care about your life? Did you know we are NOT on the list for new law concerning the benign brain tumor act? Have you bothered to write your congress wo/man? If YOU don't care about yourself anymore how about those kiddies? Do you think it's fair for them to have to suffer or walk through life the way you have and hear "it's all in your head"? Don't they deserve to be educated about their disease? Do you think they should have the honor of being a "hypochondriac" like you have been ? If you don't care, who will?

*Common Symptoms:

Inability to sleep at night
Pain cause by inflammation (Arachnoiditis?)
Memory, Concentation and Thinking problems
Headaches
Intracranial Hypertension (too much cerebreal spinal fluid)
Easy to bruise, hard to heal
Problems with strange auto immune disorders (getting shingles or mono at early ages)
Visual disturbances (lightening, electric fish)
Sensitivity to light and bad smells
Emotional problems
Inability to comprehend complex social situations
Irritability
Hyper/Hypo Sexual
Tinnitus- Whooshing sounds due to HIP (High Intracranial Pressure)
Vomiting
Nausea
Dizziness
Balance Problems
Seizures
Numbness and tingling mixed with weakness of limbs(Paresthesia)
Memory problems (did I already say that?)
Tremors
Fatigue
Neck Pain
Back Pain
Paralysis
Memory loss
Short Term Memory problem
Over Stimulation is a problem (if your AC child is acting out this is a reason. Calm them down by taking them aside and just talking to them or read to them so they can calm down again.)
Sensitivity to Noise and Light
Puffy Face
Hormone imbalances can cause:
Liver enzymes to be elevated
(such as low Coritsol or too much Prolactin not enough Growth Horomone)
Overweight due to medication (a glutten free diet will change this)
Hot Flashes

Most of all I am trying to get you to understand that you need to KNOW YOUR RIGHTS as a patient. Just because things are fine now doesn't mean you won't suffer MORE in the future. Just because a doctor doesn't understand what to do with you doesn't mean he has to be mean to you because he doesn't know or can't recognize this complex syndrome we all suffer from. Don't pay him if you disagree with his advice and tell him why you refuse to pay. If you can take a pair of shoes back because you didn't like the color you shouldn't have to pay for some jerk's opinion. The only way we can make them understand the severity of our disease is to hurt them in the pocketbook. If you aren't getting treatment why should they get paid?

BLOG
YOUR
"FEELINGS"

MARK YOUR
TERRITORY
Join us at arachnoidcyst.net so others can feel your pain and we can get "them" to listent to us~

PINEAL

Deborah(4)

POSTERIOR
FOSSA

Bev(6)

VENTRICLES

Steven(7)

RIGHT POSTERIER

Laureen(7)

Dani(1)

Shauna(2)

POSTERIOR FORAMEN

Jessica (5)

RIGHT
PARIATAL

Marge(2)

Babs &
Journal

CEREBELLUM
Michelle(3)

Bill L. (2)

Tom B (15)

Adrianne

Jo-Lin(16)

Lisa

Amy

BRAIN STEM

Robin

CORPUS
CALLOSUM

Jennifer (2)

OCCIPITAL
LOBE

Rashad(3)

LEFT
TEMPORAL
(MOST COMMON)

Leslie(11)

Vicki(16)

Chris(2)

Warren(2)

Courtney(7)

Robert(3)

LEFT OCCIPITAL

Francine

MIXED STORIES

Some people just send snippets so I put them all together here.

You can help the most by adding your story to arachnoidcyst.net

DOCTORS

The Arachnoid Cyst Foundation
c/o Catherine Clay
PO Box 66820
Los Angeles, Ca 90066
1-(800)-493-5022
11am-10pm PST Weekdays
PLEASE REALIZE THE TIME DIFFERENCE
Please read through this site before calling as your answers very well could be here already.
No we do not have printed materials, you will have to print out this site.
Amy and Catherine are giving telephone suppport at this time. Amy for emotional support and Catherine for MRIs.
If you didn't find the info you need on this site or arachonidcyst.net please do call.
Please donate

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This site was designed and is maintained by Miss Catherine Clay She has recently had a child and is not the best communicator at this time. Please be patient and call or e-mail back!