update from Hopkins :( & some major venting (thanks for listening it helps)

I am not going to criticize the doc too much.  As it was said in posts previously, if he does not believe you need surgery he won't recommend it.  That is true, he did not recommend surgery for me for CM.  He told me I have stenosis in my neck and that needs surgery.  However he continued to tell my wife and I that the neck surgery might not relieve any of my symptoms. 

He told me I had a mild case (now add finger quotations) Chiari Malformation and it is not causing any of my symptoms.  He told me he believes that all of my symptoms are caused by my POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome).

So now I believe I am back to square 1 because the Doc's at Cleveland Clinic told my wife and I that my POTS was caused by something else and POTS is a symptom of the larger issue. 

He did do some good though by ordering a cine MRI, but from the research I have completed and from what I have read on some of the posts here the cine MRI is not a definitive test due to you can still be symptomatic and have some CSF flow.  He also said that he would be very surprised if I was to have and CSF restriction or blockage.  He continued to say that if there was blockage I may be considered a candidate for surgery, but not definitely. 

I respect his honesty and his right to the point information without hiding behind confusing medical terminology and treating me like an idiot.  He has a very approachable manner and takes time to answer all questions. 

Right now I feel very down and confused because I was hoping to get a definitive answer on what is causing all of my symptoms and I feel as if I did not get that.

I also feel (again after reading previous posts) that he might be missing the point because the symptoms can get worse as time goes on w/o treatment.  I also feel that he was wrong in saying that the CM is not causing any problems.  It is causing causing a lot of problems I believe and that it has greatly affected my quality of life.  I told him that it has effected the quality of my life cause I am no longer able to do things that I used to enjoy like spending time/sdoing things with kids and family, hunting, fishing, and yes even working (at work though I had a menial job at the time before medical discharge; I felt good about myself cause I was able to work and provide for my family.  I didn't get the bad thoughts that some/many of us get from time to time.  Being on disability is hard to accept due to upbringing and being raised that a good man provides for his family even when he is sick; yet I can't even hold a job right now due to symptoms.  He!! I can not even drive to far and forget night driving or staring at a computer screen without massive headache, double/blurry vision, etc. 

What should I do, seek out another opinion,; just leave it alone; so confused, very depressed, very symptomatic, and emotional today.  Going blurry and confused, let me know.

Take care all