"terrible"

What I liked

I attended the dept on monday 20th. I have waited 8 weeks for this appointment in severe pain with every joint in my body and lower back pain.

4 drs at my own gp centre feel i have Ankolysing Spondylitis. there is a strong family link on my maternal side, with my grandad having it, three aunties, three cousins (female) and one uncle. my grandad and one aunt are part of the AS studies.

I attended presenting all the same symptoms as my female relatives (females present dfferently).

the Rhuematologist asked to see my knees and stated as they were not red it was not his dept. i mentioned the family link and that my gp practise had written to him asking him to check for AS. he said women dont get it. I said thats funny there is online papers in medical journals for pregnant patients with AS, and 6 of my own female relatives at least have this. apt their diagnosis are all a mistake, they cant possibly have it, and despite my symptoms being AS symptoms (as he stated) he refused to examine me any further.

i said well can i request the blood test to see if i have the gene. his answer- of course il have the gene its in my family history so a pointless test.

he eventually relented and agreed to do an xray- to humour me and save me worrying about the degenerative autoimmune disease women cant get. he discharged me with a prescription of ametripteline for my long term pain management which i was to get via my own gp. if anything is on the xray il be notified.

during the xray the radiologist stopped and asked if id ever had spinal surg, i stated no, she came over to check my back before continuing with her xrays.

I phoned today to see if there were any results as obviously the radiologist noticed something. iv also been told in the past that my sacrolilic and illiac joints are fused (in whiston by an orthopedic) and refered for physiotherapy back in 2010 . I feel he needs retraining ASAP and was very let down after waiting ages!

What could be improved

He could have examined me better.

He could be better trained considering it is well known that women do get AS and present with symptoms in all joints mirroring polyarthritis but can be without inflammation and swelling.

I could have been offered a follow up appointment to recieve my xray results as there is obviously something going on with my spine. iv had spine and hip pain since early teenage years with chest pain. iv had reg joint pain (but not more than one joint at a time) which no one has known the reason for. and now i have been house bound for over 8 weeks in agony taking strong painkillers, im self employed so not earning any money, i am a single parent of three children, one being under 2 years of age and i cant even pick him up. He wouldnt even examine me. it was simply the swelling isnt red, obviously your in pain (from the way im walking its obvious) we will try you with ametripteline, when i asked what it was or how long it was it could be anything and could last decades, years, months or even weeks its hard to tell. i came away more depressed than i went!

I obviously went to my own GP and thankfully they are willing to refer me to an alternative rhuematologist at another hospital if they havent recieved the results within a week.

I have been offered to have my hips pinned when i was 17 by an orthopedic surg who noticed a problem back then, we are now 10 years on and i am still in apin and suffering with no help.

Id like a better service overall and a proper thorough examination.

I will be writing in with an official complaint, and my grandfather is thinking of hiring a private rhuematologist to examine me thoroughly and if anything has been missed sueing the dept here. my pain has gone on long enough without care.

whiston had me under a physiotherapist for a longterm pain management for a reason. however that stopped when i moved out of knowsleys catchment area.