The Art of Being Difficult
My rheumatologist looked at me with a glazed expression, obviously puzzled by my ongoing episodes of my hip joints refusing to move against gravity. My fluctuating weakness pre-immunoglobulins made little sense to him.
My rheumatologist looked at me with a glazed expression, obviously puzzled by my ongoing episodes of my hip joints refusing to move against gravity. My fluctuating weakness pre-immunoglobulins made little sense to him.
It ended in the same way it had started. Eighteen months before I had randomly bumped into my rheumatologist at my doctor’s surgery.
I was anticipating my upcoming rheumatologist appointment with a mix of fear and trepidation. My General Practitioner and I had made the decision to increase my immunosuppressant dose due to a relapse of my myositis.
The Intensive Care Specialist looked at me and then glanced back at the monitor above my head. My blood pressure had been slowly creeping ever higher. Quickly weighing up the possible causes and their treatment options he asked if I was in pain.
I had been unwell with a lung abscess for more than twelve months. The consensus from my multitude of specialists was that medical treatment was best, but so far getting better had continued to elude me.
The sudden onset of weakness smashed into me like a rogue wave, washed me off the seeming stability of terra firma, landed me in a swirling torrent of water, and then a rip proceeded to drag me relentlessly out into the deep and never-ending ocean. The water rolled over my head and it felt like I was about to drown.