Chairi Stats...

Only 300,000 people in the entire United States have what I have. That is about 1 in every 1,000 births. To put that into context there were over 226,870 new cases of invasive breast cancer  in the United States in 2012, 400,000 people in the US have MS and they estimate 200 new cases are diagnosed each week, 1.5 Million Americans have some form of Lupus, so that puts my Chiari I Malformation (pronounced kee-AHR-ee) into perspective. 

The NIH (National Institute of Health) defines Chiari as:

Chiari malformations (CMs) are structural defects in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. When the indented bony space at the lower rear of the skull is smaller than normal, the cerebellum and brainstem can be pushed downward. The resulting pressure on the cerebellum can block the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord) and can cause a range of symptoms including dizziness, muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems, headache, and problems with balance and coordination. There are three primary types of CM. The most common is Type I, which may not cause symptoms and is often found by accident during an examination for another condition. Type II (also called Arnold-Chiari malformation) is usually accompanied by a myelomeningocele-a form of spina bifida that occurs when the spinal canal and backbone do not close before birth, causing the spinal cord to protrude through an opening in the back. This can cause partial or complete paralysis below the spinal opening. Type III is the most serious form of CM, and causes severe neurological defects. Other conditions sometimes associated with CM include hydrocephalus, syringomyelia, and spinal curvature.