In seventh grade, Bridget suddenly started to have headaches every day. She’s an active kid who plays soccer, lacrosse and basketball. She toughed it out and played through the pain, but it was always there, pulsing at the base of her head. 

“She was miserable,” says her mom, Heather. “[The headaches] became worse and worse as time went on. There were also odd symptoms like rib pain.” 

Heather made an appointment for Bridget to see CHOP neurologist Samuel Alperin, MD. At first, Dr. Alperin thought the headaches were migraines. He started Bridget on a natural treatment approach of supplements like magnesium sulfate, but they didn’t help.

Before switching Bridget to a prescription medication, Dr. Alperin performed a baseline MRI. Heather was shocked when he called her and said the MRI had found Bridget has Chiari malformation.  

Bridget was referred to CHOP pediatric neurosurgeon Alexander Tucker, MD, who specializes in the care of children with Chiari malformation. Dr. Tucker reviewed the MRI findings and evaluated Bridget. 

“From the moment we met Dr. Tucker, we really liked him,” says Heather. “He and his team have a lovely bedside manner and are very caring. When he first said, ‘Is this the type of headache you have, the pulsing?’ Bridget’s face was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I feel seen.’” 

Dr. Tucker told the family that the Chiari malformation was blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which had created a fluid-filled pocket inside Bridget’s spinal cord, called a syrinx. The rib pain Bridget had been experiencing was from the syrinx pushing against the nerves in her spinal cord. 

Dr. Tucker reviewed the pros and cons of surgery with the family. In Bridget’s case, the syrinx was so large he was concerned it might cause spinal cord damage. He recommended immediate surgery. 

Undergoing intradural decompression surgery 

Within a month of receiving the diagnosis, Bridget underwent intradural decompression surgery. Bone at the back of her skull was removed to create space for the brain and the flow of CSF.  

 “I was just a hot mess,” says Heather, of having her little girl undergo brain surgery. “I was living in sheer fear.”  

In true Bridget fashion, she bounced back amazingly. Her lacrosse team put motivational yard signs in the driveway of her family’s home in Newtown Square, Pa. Each day, Bridget made it a goal to walk a little further to see a new sign.  

Just one week after surgery, she made an appearance at her older sister’s high school graduation party. Two weeks after the procedure, she attended her own middle school graduation ceremony. 

From brain surgery to varsity lacrosse 

In the year since surgery, Bridget has seen a huge improvement. Her headaches have decreased from daily to once or twice a week, and they’re not nearly as bad.  

Information online had led Bridget’s parents to initially believe that having the Chiari procedure would put an end to her involvement in the contact sports she loves.

“It’s so much of her identity,” says Heather. “We were really sad for her, that going into high school some of the big things that she was looking forward to weren’t going to be available to her.” 

Dr. Tucker assured Bridget and her family that she would still be able to play contact sports after the procedure.  

“It was a huge relief,” says Heather. 

The year after surgery was a great one for Bridget academically, socially and athletically. Now that the Chiari headaches have resolved, she realizes just how much they’d been holding her back. Just one year after the ordeal, 15-year-old Bridget was moved up from junior varsity to varsity lacrosse during Radnor High School’s playoff run. It’s an impressive feat for any freshman, and especially stunning considering all she’s had to overcome. 

Dr. Tucker will continue to monitor Bridget to ensure partial or complete disappearance of the syrinx, which can take up to two years. 

“It’s not a 100% cure, but the improvement is life-altering,” says Heather. 

“There is so much relief, in all ways. As one of my very good friends said, ‘Can you believe she went from massive brain surgery to varsity lacrosse in one year?’”