"Not listened to"

I attended a pain clinic review appointment recently. 

Following the appointment I felt I had been dismissed, patronised and humiliated. Here are the reasons why I was left feeling the way I did after the appointment:

* for the first 10 minutes of the appointment the member of staff read through my notes to familiarise themselves with the reason why I was there. Should that not have done that before I went into the office? 

* I was asked whether my skin cancer biopsy had come back. I was alarmed by this, and I said I hadn’t been diagnosed with skin cancer. I had been diagnosed with eczema.

* I was told I would be hearing about the lump on my tongue, but I said I had already had the results given to me by Mr Ryan.

*I was examined briefly after which the member of staff said they couldn’t understand why I was feeling pain on the left hand side of my neck and head. Well, if they had bothered to read my notes properly they would have seen I have a protruding disc in the upper part of my neck, which isn’t going to go away so therefore it was the cause of much of my pain. I also have arthritis in my upper neck which also gives me a great deal of pain.

*I was asked me to demonstrate the neck exercises I do and then asked what other activities I do to keep me mobile. Well, firstly I have NEVER been asked to demonstrate my exercises to any doctor relating to my neck. I was then told to try physio, yoga, acupuncture and latterly mindfulness! By this point I knew they weren't interested. I said I had tried all of the above, and paid privately for the services over many, many years and unfortunately they haven’t had any lasting effect.  The member of staff was very firm when they mentioned my need to practice mindfulness. I now felt completely humiliated and I knew I wasn’t being listened to. 

* I asked whether I was going to be referred for an updated MRI scan as had been requested by my GP.  The reply was no because they didn’t think it would tell us any more than we already know, but at the same time it may show things that we might now want to deal with at this time. The last MRI scan was taken in 2011. There could be many changes in the past 7 years, and I was now sure I wasn't being listened to. Neither was what my GP thought would be beneficial. What ‘other things’ might this member of staff be referring to and if there was anything new on the scan would it not be better to deal with it sooner rather than later? 

*towards the end of the consultation I explained I had been given a diagnosis for poly myalgia and was being treated with medication. I said it had only just been diagnosed but I could feel a slight decrease in pain. The member of staff said they would be interested to hear if the medication was helping longer term and that would be happy to arranged for the medication on a repeat prescription for me. Rightly or wrongly, my interpretation of this was they would be happy giving me medication only if they could give it.  I now knew I wasn’t being taken seriously. I was very demoralised by this point, and I began to feel as though I had wasted everyone’s time.  I don’t think anybody should be made to feel like I did in a medical setting. 

* as the appointment came to an end I was told they  would perform facet joint injections and then maybe consider denervation. However, I was told that there really was very little which could be offered after that apart from oral medication. I had denervation treatment some years ago under BUPA and they were so effective I was virtually pain free for 2 years. Wouldn’t you want your patients to be pain free and reduce the cost of medication? It doesn’t make sense to me. 

I apologise if I have repeated myself throughout but I am so upset by the appointment. I truly feel I have not been heard, and I don’t  help myself because I don’t practice mindfulness, go to yoga classes, have regular massage or physio. As I have already said, I have tried it all over many, many years and it just doesn’t seem to help. I think the worst thing that has been granted to the NHS is the GP’s ability to prescribe mindfulness. Yes, it may be beneficial to some patients, but not those suffering from long term chronic pain.  I am not seeking medication, in fact it is quite the opposite.  

Would the reader of this expect to feel, unheard, patronised, dismisses, sad and worst of all that they had wasted precious NHS time. I don’t think so, but that is how I was made to feel.