"Joint Hypermobility / Ehlers Danlos"

After a year of debilitating pain and my GP dismissing my condition as being cause by anxiety, I finally managed to get a grudging referral to rheumatology. I eventually received an appointment only to be called and informed the day before that the doctor was off sick and that my appointment would be postponed by around a month. Soul destroying as that was, the lady who called couldn’t have apologised more and these things do happen.

My consultation was with Dr Pathan who I am extremely impressed with. Six days after my consultation I had been fitted into a cancellation slot for an MRI (Susan was just lovely) and a week after that I got an appointment with an OT (Fiona) and physiotherapist (Amy). Dr Pathan called me personally on the Monday morning to discuss my MRI results and again on the Friday afternoon to let me know he’d had them double checked by another musculoskeletal doctor and to re-assure me that he was going to write to my GP and copy in other relevant teams. I saw Fiona, and Amy in two hour long slots that ran on from each other. These are the first professionals I’ve seen who 100% understand and are genuinely kind about my illness. They understood my pain and struggles without me feeling like I had to “prove it” and they genuinely wanted to help.

I cannot explain the relief in finding a consultant and team of professionals who take me seriously when others haven’t. Dr Pathan straight away knew what was wrong and sprung into action, knowing how painful this condition is and that I have no relief due to drug allergies. Not often do you find a consultant who will make the effort to call you on a Monday morning and a Friday afternoon! Every member of staff I have encountered at Rheumatology have been lovely and knowing that I will be looked after is the biggest weight ever to be lifted off of my abnormally mobile shoulders!