Hitchhiker "off the record"

My cousin was sweet enough to contact a neurosurgeon friend of hers to get as much information as she could about my lil hitchhiker.  In the process of this, her friend offered to take a look at my MRI images and go through them with us! How amazing is that!

So...the end of last week we scrambled to make it happen.

I spoke with my cousin Wednesday to see what she knew about my hitchhiker.  That night she called me back and told me her friend could see us any night after 5:30 or 6.

Thursday, I contacted Park Nicollet to see how long it would take to get the images.  I was shocked to find out I could get them that afternoon.

As soon as I had my images, I called my cousin to let her know we were on.

My cousin called me back.  We had a date for Friday at 4.  YAY!

So...this is what I found out..."off the record."

Here is my brain.

I have circled what the neurosurgeon identified as my hitchhiker.

As you can see it's small.  As long as it stays that way I shouldn't have any problems.  The two dark spots above the circle are pockets where spinal fluids drain to and from.  A problem would arise if my hitchhiker grows and restricts the pockets from draining.  Obviously, there is no problem right now.  His recommendation was to keep my appointment with the neurologist.  He said that if the neurologist sent me to a neurosurgeon I shouldn't say 'no' but that otherwise he would strongly suggest getting another MRI in a year to check on it.

My appointment with the neurologist is 7/22.  I can breath a bit until then.

So that's what I have for now.

As more information becomes available I'll be sure to update.