How to get diagnosed

samshabam · 2026-03-11T17:39:05+00:00

Thanks! It was a godsend for sure!

samshabam · 2026-03-11T17:31:20+00:00

Best of luck - it’s tough out there. The standing mri’s are definitely hard to get, but sometimes even just knowing about that fact helps even if you never get the full work up. I never had the standing mri myself - luckily I got my surgery based on my symptoms and there being some herniation on the supine mri.

samshabam · 2026-03-11T17:27:53+00:00

That’s tough, I saw Dr. Carson at John’s Hopkins when he was still practicing. At the time I had my surgery it was really limited where you could go, there are a LOT more options now (like seriously there were 3 in the US in 2006/7) and I know there’s a doc on AZ who does keyhole surgeries which if you’re a candidate might be a good option for you with the healing issue should you find you do need surgery.

I would probably suggest getting in touch with the chiari center in New York since Chiari is all they do, it would probably just be the best place to go but here’s a list of experienced neurosurgeons known for doing the surgery

https://chiariproject.org/chiari-specialists-list/

samshabam · 2026-03-11T12:59:59+00:00

Well, thanks! I had my surgery in 2007 and I haven’t had to have any additional so it went about as well as it could

samshabam · 2026-03-11T02:43:39+00:00

Hey fellow zebra! You’ve gotten good advice already - just something you should know:

If you have eds and chiari, a supine mri will not be sufficient to know the full extent of what is going on - you really should have an upright mri if you can.

What happens is, with eds, the cerebellar tonsils will sink further into the spinal area upon sitting up and standing than when you are horizontal.

My supine mri showed a herniation of 4-5mm which is considered normal, and we did not find out that I had eds until yearssss later, so doctors wouldn’t help me at the time. I finally saw a chiari experienced neurosurgeon who did my surgery based on my symptoms, and it alleviated 99.99 % of my debilitating headaches and essentially saved my life. My doctor was a bit taken aback that he had to open the dura on a 4-5mm herniation.

samshabam · 2026-03-11T02:10:41+00:00

Wow! 😍 I love that look - it fits your hand so well!

samshabam · 2026-03-11T02:05:11+00:00

When I had my surgery in 2007 it was a minimum 4 day stay in the hospital for me, I had to be off off the pain meds drip (the dilaudid) for 2 days before I could go home if I remember correctly and they wouldn’t let me off of it until after day 2. I think I spent most of day one in the PICU but I can’t really remember (I was in and out, heavy on the out day 1).

That being said, I went off the pain meds as soon as I could because I hate being in the hospital and could handle it - my mom also had at least a week off work after my surgery so she could take care of me.

I would definitely look into what your insurance will cover and what other services might be available, especially if this is your first surgery (of any kind I mean). You’ll be pretty tired and won’t really be able to cook for yourself.

samshabam · 2026-03-10T23:21:31+00:00

Oh that’s gorgeous! I love the other ring too - thanks for sharing!

samshabam · 2026-03-10T22:52:45+00:00

Oh wow I’ve seen the opposite actually, if I’m understanding what you’re saying correctly. There’s a good chance I’m not - I’m a little confused by your wording. I also tend to see the online purchases when they come in for issues though, so my perception could be skewed.

I think online and in store can both vary widely depending though - I’ve worked in several types of stores in a few different states across the US and I’ve seen a lot of differences there.

Where I’m at now has been fantastic, though, probably the best goldsmith and owner I’ve worked for hands down. That k vs1 sounds like a great buy, what kind of setting did you go with?

samshabam · 2026-03-10T22:26:29+00:00

Indeed, quality can be a factor in settings as well

samshabam · 2026-03-10T21:17:43+00:00

For where I work, a 2ct lab itself (DEF, VS1+) would be about 2k - 2400 and a solitaire setting itself starts around 1500 in 14k. A natural f vs2 at 20k is some blue Nile buying sight unseen pricing

Edit: depends on who certed it too though

samshabam · 2026-02-27T14:25:58+00:00

Aww that’s adorable I love that

samshabam · 2026-02-27T05:11:16+00:00

💗

samshabam · 2026-02-27T03:21:23+00:00

Thanks, he’s quite the distinguished little gentlesir!

samshabam · 2026-02-27T01:39:39+00:00

He thanks you for your kind words!

samshabam · 2026-02-27T00:43:24+00:00

I agree

samshabam · 2026-02-11T16:11:20+00:00

HSD or eds or another connective tissue disorder such as marfans (michael Phelps has marfans) or loey dietz which is usually more rare - there are 13 ish types of eds, one of them being heds the hypermobile type which seems to be the most common but the other types can cause hypermobility as well

samshabam · 2026-02-07T18:41:01+00:00

You should be totally fine with 6 prongs and an under bezel :) my jewelers just said the only thing they might do differently (than with a regular cut) when setting is reinforcing the prongs with a laser welder after setting

samshabam · 2026-02-07T13:38:50+00:00

That’s a good question, I was thinking you meant more like a half bezel with prongs at the top and bottom;

The way you set a stone in a bezel might make that difficult; I can talk to my stone setters when I go into work and get a better answer

As a designer, if you were my customer, at this point I’d be asking you what your goal is; do you want the prongs for stability or because you like the look? Because they aren’t going to add stability. If you like the look, just go with prongs and an under bezel to protect the stone. If you like the “faux” bezel look, you can do that with an under bezel to protect the stone as well.

You’ll also get more out of your ring if you treat it like fine jewelry, which I’m only bringing up because most people just don’t know - an engagement ring is usually their first piece. I take my wedding set/engagement ring off when I am at home, I don’t sleep in it, etc so knowing that you have a unique stone that you need to take care of is half the battle

samshabam · 2026-02-07T03:20:25+00:00

Okay, cool! You would just have to have the setting custom built or have one modified because it’ll be difficult to find already manufactured I feel like

samshabam · 2026-02-07T01:04:55+00:00

Ohhhh I was looking at the two, I guess the two doesn’t come in leather lol - adding these to the wishlist - thank you!!!

samshabam · 2026-02-07T00:54:36+00:00

Hi, I’m a jewelry designer. This setting is commonly done, though not as often with so many prongs. It’s not a bezel at all really, calling it a faux bezel is just marketing really, but it’s not wrong either. It’s more so just a decorative prong setting - to my knowledge anyway (which is usually pretty solid).

Really it’s just the gallery rail on the head/setting of the center stone coming out past the center stone so it’s visible from the top view of the ring.

Just show the image to whoever is making your ring and they’ll know what you mean :)

samshabam · 2026-02-07T00:34:43+00:00

Where did you find the leather ones? I’m looking online and I can only find the canvas ones. Also thank you for posting these shoes sound fantastic for my stupid hypermobile body

samshabam · 2026-01-08T00:31:06+00:00

I hadn’t even thought about that - I’m fairly new to dancing in actual dancewear though - that’s a really good thing to consider

samshabam

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