Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
After much fafaffing about, appointments made, appointments cancelled, e-mails to MP whinging about the politicians view of the NHS and reality I actually got to see a Neurologist this morning.
Opening gambits...
I tell him the sensory problems I have have been getting worse and you can add headaches, numbing lips, neck aches and tingling fingers to the list. I say it's getting past irritating and getting to the point where it is affecting what I can do and when at its peak I have little option to withdraw and rest until things subside.
He replies that I can walk (falling over in Preston Town centre does not count because I did not hurt myself), talk (he can understand what I am saying despite mask), I can manage the bladder issues, can operate as a carer and have a strategy in place when things are bad, so what is the problem.
Mid game....
I freely admit that I am curious to find out what is going on so that I can get some sort prognosis and end up with the best guess of where it is going.
He goes back through the tests and stuff and the symptoms and comes back with the notion that it could be something so obscure that he will never find an answer.
A few probing moves from me and we finally arrive at a discussion about MS as a likely cause. A bit of manoeuvring gets to the point that I am symptomatic of MS but the tests done have not confirmed it, leaving open the idea that it is some obscure neurological deterioration or mitochondrial disease.
Then comes the wobbly eyes... The thing about dealing with neurologists is that the symptoms are mostly inside your head and conveying those symptoms to them is very difficult and there is no way they can cross check them. At least with me we have the wobbly eyes and apparently they are wobbling much more than they used to. At last a breakthrough into....
The end game....
MS is on the agenda but a formal diagnosis needs physical evidence, so another lumbar puncture to look for O-Bands will be done. Referral to an ophthalmologist specialising in neurological problem and eye movements will be made. EMG studies will be repeated to see if there are changes from the last set. Biopsies to look for mitochondrial problems will be put on hold.
Overall an honourable draw I think. I have not yet got a diagnosis but the investigations will continue.
Moral of the tale... when dealing with pros it is best to look at it as a chess game rather than a war. In wars, there are only either winners or losers. In chess (something I played to a reasonable standard as a schoolboy) you get to find out that sometimes you are not going to win and a draw a gainst a pro really is a good result.
Opening gambits...
I tell him the sensory problems I have have been getting worse and you can add headaches, numbing lips, neck aches and tingling fingers to the list. I say it's getting past irritating and getting to the point where it is affecting what I can do and when at its peak I have little option to withdraw and rest until things subside.
He replies that I can walk (falling over in Preston Town centre does not count because I did not hurt myself), talk (he can understand what I am saying despite mask), I can manage the bladder issues, can operate as a carer and have a strategy in place when things are bad, so what is the problem.
Mid game....
I freely admit that I am curious to find out what is going on so that I can get some sort prognosis and end up with the best guess of where it is going.
He goes back through the tests and stuff and the symptoms and comes back with the notion that it could be something so obscure that he will never find an answer.
A few probing moves from me and we finally arrive at a discussion about MS as a likely cause. A bit of manoeuvring gets to the point that I am symptomatic of MS but the tests done have not confirmed it, leaving open the idea that it is some obscure neurological deterioration or mitochondrial disease.
Then comes the wobbly eyes... The thing about dealing with neurologists is that the symptoms are mostly inside your head and conveying those symptoms to them is very difficult and there is no way they can cross check them. At least with me we have the wobbly eyes and apparently they are wobbling much more than they used to. At last a breakthrough into....
The end game....
MS is on the agenda but a formal diagnosis needs physical evidence, so another lumbar puncture to look for O-Bands will be done. Referral to an ophthalmologist specialising in neurological problem and eye movements will be made. EMG studies will be repeated to see if there are changes from the last set. Biopsies to look for mitochondrial problems will be put on hold.
Overall an honourable draw I think. I have not yet got a diagnosis but the investigations will continue.
Moral of the tale... when dealing with pros it is best to look at it as a chess game rather than a war. In wars, there are only either winners or losers. In chess (something I played to a reasonable standard as a schoolboy) you get to find out that sometimes you are not going to win and a draw a gainst a pro really is a good result.
