Two conversations yesterday with two unconnected people, who have both experienced health problems in the last year.* One has an ongoing orthopaedic problem which is a mixture of slipped discs and scoliosis. The other had severe lung problems that rendered her practically immobile. It was eventually diagnosed as 'Pigeon Fancier's disease' although it has a posh Latin name, and it has been treated with steroids and she is back to 80% lung capacity.
And then there's me. Still no wiser, still unconvinced at my diagnosis. The orthopaedic case was actually told that it's all in her head. Nice...! She has an acquaintance who was kept in hospital for a month with depression when it turned out she had an, albeit relatively rare, virus coincidentally that someone else on the same ward also had.
None of us can understand why treatment comes before diagnosis. In Switzerland it's the other way round. Which can be a pain. Someone I used to know picked up food poisoning in the Delhi canteen of the - wait for it, World Health Organisation - and on return to Geneva had to wait for results on samples before getting any treatment.
One has spent half her disposable income on unnecessary antibiotics. One is reduced to lifting 2 oz weights in the gym, under close supervision. Me, sometimes I think I am going quite mad.
I went to see a locum GP today, just to get a sicknote allowing me back to work fulltime. Bureaucracy. It's a bit of a lie. I'm not tip top. I have good days and bad days. I asked for a referral to a neurologist. He did assure me that this is not a crazy question, but suggested I waited until I see the rheumatologist at the end of February, because that should mean a quicker referral to a neurologist. Seems to make sense.
But then I fret that somehow the rheumatologist will veto it, or I get marked down as a neurotic middle-class internet user. Then, I think - hey, doctors aren't god. They are trained in a particular discipline. I'm trained to collate, analyse and apply information, regardless of source. Of course, there is the famous and widespread 'reading-too-much-and-imagining-you're-terminally-ill' syndrom. But, still, it's not a crime to take ownership of one's symptoms.
*Well, almost unconnected, they're both auditors, and, as well as knowing me, the close friend of one was the other's replacement in a job.
