Whew! What a month! My boyfriend's Dad passed away on Christmas Eve, which led to much upset, partly because I couldn't go to him, as my Mum had concussion and I couldn't leave her alone. I ended up in a lot of bad books this Christmas, and I'm still working my way out of them. My boyfriend is appearing to cope well enough, but he's snappy and on edge, so he's got a long way to go. Hopefully, I can help with that.
Had a meeting with my boss before Christmas, and a more unsympathetic woman probably doesn't exist! For a manager with a strong medical background, she seemed to have very little grasp of the concept of conducting thorough medical investigations before launching into a - possibly inaccurate - treatment plan, purely in the interests of getting the patient back to work as soon as possible. Luckily, I had plenty of ammunition for her, and she retreated back to her hole, with merely a decision to send me back to Occupational Health as a parting blow.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, dependent on which way you look at it), my blood tests came back with (again) just a raised CRP, and the ultrasound scan on my hands and wrists revealed no synovitis, and no arthritic degeneration. So, good news for my joints, but not great at telling me what the hell is going on, or - I presume - bringing me any closer to a treatment plan. (Anyone else got any similar experience?)
So, as I enter what I hope will be my final month off work (much longer and I'll just never go back!), I wish you all a Happy New Year, and pray that - for all of us - times are rather less 'interesting' for us to live in than they have been!
Written by
SootyB
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Sooty i'm so sorry to hear that your having such a hard time. Your boss sounds like a right bitch. You know what i say, people like her wouldn't be able to cope if she had to go through what your going through. They can't abide illness,but if they got anything they would die as they wouldn't be able to manage or they become marters to their illness. Go to hr and complain about your treatment. She mustn't be allowed to treat people like that.
Hope you soon get sorted out.
Take care
Sylvi.xx
Sorry to learn about death, concussion and your hard boss Sooty.
Re non-diagnosis - I haven't had any ultrasound scans on my hands or other parts but my x-rays of hands were normal back in June last year. I'm told that it takes up to 2 years from then onset of RA to show up as damage in X-rays so they shouldn't use that to make a diagnosis unless it's too late and the damage has already occured?
My hands do not feel or look normal and my rheumy simply examined them to see how stiff and painful the synovial joints were before diagnosing me with RA in November regardless of x-rays or bloods. My CRP was only raised to 19 and ESR to 30 but that still was raised enough for a conclusion this time. This may sound absurd to a more medical mind than mine (not hard!) but I have wondered if the inflammatory markers are higher when its in our large joints such as knees and shoulders, but when in our fingers, knuckles and wrists perhaps less inflammation shows in blood although it's equally debilitating? My bloods were double inflam back in April last year, when most of the pain was in my larger joints but really I'm experiencing more pain and stiffness in my wrists and hands now than I was back then.
Perhaps you have got Palindromic Rheumatism - there is site for this if you google it? It can turn into RA, or it can remain Palindromic or it can disappear - hopefully the latter? Good luck and keep us up to date. Tilda x
Hope your year gets better and dont let your boss get to you xx
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