"The Centre for Integrative Care Glasgow - A Lifeline"

I attend the Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow. I feel that I have been effectively written off by the NHS. I have an autoimmune disease with wide ranging complex conditions. I have reached the limits of what can and can't be done and I am aware that I now need to try and manage my conditions and symptoms on my own, as my health professionals 'don't know what else to try'.

I have some amazing physicians most of whom have been with me since the initial diagnosis and it is not their fault that I have reached the limit of medical expertise.

With each onset of symptoms I go from pillar to post seeing various consultants in a multitude of medical departments, each prescribing yet more medications and no one realising that their medication contradicts with another medication. With complications arising from new medication and unwanted side effects I go and see my gp and she tears her hair out trying to get me on an even keel with yet more letters being sent to her from various hospital consultants insisting that their medication should take priority.

It is really frustrating to be a patient with complex medical needs and I feel that no one apart from my gp looks at me as a whole person. I feel that when I see each consultant in each medical department I am a patient with 1 condition, nameless and a file to be passed from the pending tray to the out tray.

I then manage to get a referral to see the Centre for Integrative Care before NHS Lanarkshire made the diabolical decision to stop referring patients.

The sense of relief I feel during my first consultation is immense, no more am I just a written off patient, I am  a living breathing person with lots to offer and lots of life still to live despite my prognosis.

I am looked at as a whole person with every aspect of my life considered, what kind of childhood did I have, did I have any traumatic events in my life, how is my life, what are my interests, what do I hope to achieve in my life, what do I hope to gain from my consultations with the CIC, what kind of symptoms do I face, what are the side effects, what I need to improve my life?

This is the first time I have ever been considered as a full person, a human being with a life to live and seeking the best way to become all I should be. Does this sound soppy? Well, I think from my perspective it is vitally important. I am so much more than a patient number or a statistic!

Seeking care from the CIC has been truly life transformative and I do not say that lightly. I am not judged, not written off, not made to feel like I am a bother, not talked down to, encouraged to actively participate in my care and it feels like I have a whole cheerleading team willing me on to be better in small ways which believe makes me better in bigger ways.

I will never be able to thank the team who care from me at the CIC.

As my conditions progress, there is no cure, no magic pill to make it all better. I will become more and more dependent on the NHS and the CIC.

Imagine my disgust at hearing that the in patient beds will be cut. Where do I go? Who provides my care? The NHS are overstretched and do not have the expertise that the staff at the CIC have.

The CIC are a true example of a centre of excellence. The in-patient beds need to be protected, in my opinion.

I just don't know where I would be without the CIC.