Neurologist Old and New

My busy schedule of hospital appointments is finished for the year. I get 3 weeks off, with my next appointment being on the second of January. This means that I get to work normal hours for my last week at work before Christmas, and fully enjoy my Christmas Break. In the meantime, here's the low down of the last few appointments....

Physio

My physio seems happy with the "progress" of my hand.

Although I am happy with the passive range of my hand, try as I might, I cannot put the range into use by actively using my hand. I'm half thinking that this is a miracle that just isn't going to happen. I see my physio again on the 7th January, for her to "review" me. The thought that keeps bugging me, is that I know that my hand will never be "fully usable"... And I think the physio thinks this is the best its going to get, which, as I can't use my hand in most things, is completely useless to me...

Hip Specialist

The quickest, most pointless appointment I have ever had with this man I class as a genius.

This man was the first person to give me an x-ray, and therefore gave me the correct diagnosis of Hip Dysplasia for the first time. He then went out to fix it, which initially, he did.

The reason this was the worst hospital appointment I've had in years, you wonder? I was in and out within 10 minutes (that's from parking up, to waiting, to going in, and getting back out again), nothing was seen that they didn't expect in the MRI scan, there's nothing structurally wrong with my hip, and so there's nothing wrong and I have to accept the pain that I am feeling....

Erm, how about, Mr Specialist, whom I am disappointed with, I stick a knife in your hip for about 18 hours in a day, and see how long you can accept this for?!? Anyway, to add insult to injury, he doesn't want to see me for another year... and no treatment is needed for at least 20 years, where a hip replacement may be necessary...

So to conclude this part of my blog, I must accept my pain for around about 20 years... Impossible.


Neurologist

Now, this appointment gets the title of my blog, and soon will become clear.

I went into the appointment feeling deflated, and due to the previous specialist appointment, as if, once again, I was about to be made to look like a hypochondriac who was looking for things to be wrong with my body in order to get them fixed (the feeling I had from the last appointment).

How wrong I was...

There is a reason I can't use my hand, which is because the signals from my brain do not take the normal route to tell my hand to move, and so it is slow and laboured (his words). Due to this, it means my muscles have stiffened, making it, and cue the analogy, like trying to get through a mile full of thorns to get the signal to my hand. Therefore, cue the solution(!) botox is needed to relax the muscles in my hand, to get rid of the thorns and try and build strength, both in my hand, and in the signals.

Now, I am ever so slightly nervous about botox. I have had this before, and it made my fingers "stick" meaning i could not use them at all, and all use was severed. However, the specialist has assured me that they will try it in a different muscle, and so this hopefully won't happen.

Also, I learnt, cue the "screw you" to my hip specialist, there is a link between pain in another part of the body and stiffness/spasticity in my hand. I spoke to my Neurologist about my hip pain, and he confirmed that this won't be helping matters. He suggested it may be to do with spasms in my hip muscles (I didn't even know that was possible) and so the solution (yay!!) could be a drug called Baclofen, which is a tablet muscle relaxant. There are a few side effects that could occur, but as the saying goes "you never know unless you try".

So all being well, there are a few solutions to try, and I am so very willing to give them a chance to work.

The reason for the cryptic title?

I saw the very same neurologist 6 years ago, and at the time, he stated there was nothing wrong with me!

So there you have it, my rollercoaster that has been the last 2 weeks is over... I hope you enjoyed the ride.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, I hope it brings you joy and presents.

Much love xx