If I made a bingo card to entertain myself at GP appointments it would include the following :
- failed attempt to pronounce Ehlers-Danlos abandoned and replaced with Hypermobility bonus points* if accompanied by mimed quotation marks (oh, believe me, on more than one occassion)
- "23 is very young to be taking such strong opiates" or "if the painkillers are causing side effects, you should just stop taking them"
- referring to my partner using a male pronoun
- telling me that a mobility aid will reduce my mobility
- "a lot of people are hypermobile and don't have any problems"
- use of the word 'just' in the context "you 'just' need to exercise more / take ibuprofen / take paracetamol / lose weight / go swimming / do your physio / try and ignore it"
- "it's normal for girls of your age to faint"
- the first question after giving a detailed description of a symptom, and how it relates to EDS being "how's youre mood?" bonus points if asked by a GP who refused to prescribe medication / refer to psych when I actually was depressed
- "at least it's not RA/a structural problem in your heart/something more serious"
- suggested use of supplement (glucosamine being the particular favourite)
ETA one of my favourites
- "you can't have that, it's really rare"
However, if the GP ever actually examines the relevant system, asks me a question / shows some sign of knowledge about EDS, or is the one to suggest a specialist referral the bingo card becomes invalid. This has yet to happen.
*In my version of bingo there are bonus points. It makes life more exciting.
Yikes. Please tell me you don't get to shout 'house' (plus bonus points) every time... S-c-a-r-y
ReplyDeleteThey all featured during one particularly memorable appointment. Someone tries to reduce / take away my painkillers every time I'm in, even if I'm in about something else. Which is most frustrating, as they have twice refused to refer me to pain clinic, and because I need something stronger for the worst days. Those days my current cocktail doesn't even take the edge off.
ReplyDeleteah yes - the bingo card I can so relate. The rabbit in headlights look also features - and even when you take the trouble to track everything on a nicely graph etc they still dont look, acknowledge and focus on the one thing they can get thier head around - "so how is your mood"
ReplyDeleteI often think it was fine til you asked and attempted to squeeze me into your pidgeon hole - meh :)