As it comes to the end of summer and nearing 4yrs from when my symptoms first started I am in a dark place. Dark because my headache has never subsided not even for an hour and the more I exert myself the more pressure and pain emits from the side of my neck/base of my skull including the short sharper pains. After not working for nearly two years I have taken up part time employment. Not being entitled to any benefits as I don't have a diagnosis has been a huge strain. Nearly having to put our home up for sale was the last thing I needed. I've had to take a job with lower hours and wages but its a start. I just need to accept that until a doctor has any sort of empathy and decides to carry out an angiogram in the hope of fixing my artery I'm going to be living in this state for the rest of my life and comes with that a lower grade job.
I finally received an appointment for The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery in London through the post on the 22nd May 2016 to see Dr Matharu or a member of his team on the 18th January 2017. As I've mentioned in earlier posts this concerns me as I have lost trust in Doctors and Dr Matharu is a friend of Dr Tyagi and has written headache reports with him. I personally would of liked an appointment with a Neurointervention specialist who can tell me exactly what is on my scans and can link my symptoms as Dr Maksim Shapiro has done from New York. I am considering being seen at Queens Square Imaging Centre who I have previously been in contact with but again I have reservations due to doctors knowing each other. I just want one doctor to say "I am sorry you have suffered an artery tear and it has not healed properly and you have been left with a false/double lumen, hence you have these awful symptoms, we will try and help fix this by speaking first with Dr Shapiro in New York then we can move forward" And then I fell out my dream from the big fluffy cloud and landed on my head and realised this is the Nhs with some doctors who choose to take no accountability with no transparency when things are missed or delayed with a diagnosis. Please note I state SOME doctors, I have actually met some fantastic doctors through out my years. I've just been unfortunate that the few doctors I have came across have no understanding of what Pulsatile Tinnitus is and have been unable to link all of my symptoms to one underlying thing causing my symptoms
I look forward to my appointment in London and spending all my recently earned wages to get there, one thing for sure is I am armed with information, so much information they won't be able to fill my head with jargon that I can't understand as previous doctors have done because I've learned the lingo. Yep the vertebral artery branches off from the subclavian artery, it weaves in between the cervical spine towards the brain, the vertebral has several smaller arteries branch off before reaching the basilar artery leading to the communicating arteries forming the circle of Willis. The circle of Willis is formed with several arteries meeting in an almost circle hence the name. Honestly the arteries and their jobs is pretty amazing and can keep me occupied for hours reading about them. I am readyfor London, I am Whooshing Whirring Wanderer ready to take on the world oh and any doctor who dismisses me.
All for now your friend Whirring Wanderer
ps look out for my facebook page in the next month about Pulsatile Tinnitus awareness
