So sorry for your worries. My little girl, 8, just had chiari decompression surgery with CI laminectomy and duraplasty. She has been dealing with chronic neck pain her whole life and it recently got worse within the last 2 years. I'm not positive I made the right decision in having the surgery done, I felt it was the right thing to do because of the chance that it will relieve her pain and take away some of the risks involved in having a chiari malformation. Hers was a 13mm herniation. Her doc had to also cauterize the cerebellar tonsils in order to give everything enough room to restore CSF flow to normal. Now it's the wait and see approach. Will it work or won't it. Either way, I feel God lead me to my decision to have her surgery done...My prayers are with you and your little girl...remember, your instincts are key here. You're her mommy, and no matter how good the docs are, mommy usually knows best Good luck.