Vicky,

I can relate to some of your experiences. I was pulled out of my first cervical MRI in 2003 to have contrast added, too. At that time, I didn't know why. I saw my doctor to find out about the MRI and he sent me straight to a neurosurgeon. I have a syrinx from C3/4-C7. It was a stressful month between when I saw the doctor and was able to see the neurosurgeon. The ASAP website below helped me gain some understanding of the situation. The neurosurgeon ruled out that it was contributing to my problems and subsequent MRI's have only shown a slight increase in length and width (I think it started around C5-C7 but has grown to C3-C7). Yours sounds like it may be more problematic and your story has me concerned since I am pregnant. Could labor have triggered the increase in symptoms even though you may have had problems since childhood? I would definitely research the topic.

You may want to check out the following:

Chiari Institute located in New York
http://www.chiariinstitute.com/index.html

American Syringomyelia Alliance Project
http://www.asap.org/

I haven't researched this much in a long time but feel free to e-mail me with questions. I have a three year old and could only take care of him using one arm for the 1st two years of his life as the other arm couldn't tolerate any weight (shoulder surgery fixed that issue). So I understand limitations and not being able to take care of the baby as much as you would like/prefer.