Vickie has a Chiari Malformation, which causes problems all over your body because it effects the tonsils of the brain and the brain stem.  She had brain surgery in 1991 to decompress the malformation. The brain stem controls about every part of your body, even down to your breathing.  She has had 6 major surgeries in the past 6 years for various major problems, one surgery was to replace a vertebrae in her neck with a donor vertebrae, it had also effected her spinal cord causing more neurological problems. 

 Vickie had a stroke when she was only two years old, her mom was told she would never come out of the coma and if she did she would just be a vegetable, doctors don't know everything!  MANY of the neurological problems from her compressed brain stem are now causing problems. 

She is very weak, tired and off balance, she has fallen two times in the past weeks, she had to pull herself to the phone and pull it down to call me. Both times she fell I had to come home to help her off the floor.  The last fall hurt her bad, she had severe bruises and was so sore even her strong pain meds. did not help.  She has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia also. She has been having periods where she can't breath, just walking to the bathroom makes her so out of breath you would have thought she had run the Boston marathon. 

She went to a Cardiologist for an Echo Cardiogram and Stress test but it didn't show a thing even though her oxygen level was as low as 90 during rest.  We went today for a CAT Scan on her lungs and I don't think they found anything, so the breathing problem is still a mystery.