Many of my fellow MS sufferers, or any chronic illness for that matter, will know the downright frustration of having pretty much ANYTHING else wrong.

The fact that in the UK (I believe it is fairly national now?) you can only book an “on the day” Dr appointment means spending an inordinate amount of time calling and then when you finally get through waiting forever for a receptionist to pick up… this was me Monday, 152 calls to my Dr surgery to finally get into the queue at position 22. What followed was a 47 fucking minute wait on hold to then tell the receptionist what is wrong with me (sorry, what are your qualifications EXACTLY?!) for her to tell me there are no appointments left and to call back tomorrow!! Now I know it’s not her fault, I am never rude to Drs receptionists or any telephone worker – it’s never their fault – but fuck me I can understand it when people lose their shit!

Anyway, I digress (as I often do 🤣). So on this particular occasion I am after some blood tests to either confirm or rule out some things yet when I dutifully relayed my symptoms to the obviously highly medically trained receptionist she felt the need to offer up some suggestions basically inferring that it’s probably my MS and I should stop wasting their time. Personally, I’d like to MAKE SURE the numbness in my left hand isn’t a stroke or the blurry vision I’ve been experiencing isn’t diabetes. We all see those ads on TV “see your GP if you experience X, Y, Z” but it seems that only applies if you’re not already ill as otherwise you’ll somehow be taking more than your fair share of the NHS’s time?

Prior to my diagnosis I had several episodes of symptoms – numbness down the left side of my torso which was “probably shingles” and my erratic inability to walk was “probably a virus” for which I should take paracetamol and go to bed but not once was anything else considered or investigated. Yet now every little thing is the MS. It’s frustrating AF being either dismissed, ignored or even gaslit by medical professionals. Well, that’s providing you can actually get in front of one… I am in no way bashing the NHS, we are extremely lucky to have it, but why do they say we know our bodies best but then don’t listen when we tell them what’s going on? Moral of this story is never give up, advocate for yourself and always shout loudest if you know something’s not right. Release your inner bitch, no one else will fight for you; we have to fight for ourselves 🧡