December 2015

Today I received my original MRI scan that I had carried out at Ayr Hospital back in April 2013 around 6 months after my symptoms started.  I also received consultants notes that I requested.  Lets just say doctors are a bit economical with the truth.  Its disgusting that doctor's write whatever they think and not what the patient is relaying to them.  For Miss Shanks of Ayr ENT to write in her notes that I have anxiety is beyond belief, I only spent 20 minutes with her and because I asked several questions I was labelled, she doesn't know me, I was her patient for a short period of time.  It seems not only are doctors able to diagnose you with anxiety within a short appointment but they can also write whatever untruths they want. Maybe Miss Shanks should undergo training to differentiate between tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus because she clearly does not know the difference.  My A&E notes could of been written about another patient, the doctor I seen did not record that I was hearing a noise in my head, I explained I was hearing a baby's ultrasound noise in my head on three occasions and it has not been written down once.  My temperature is recorded, my pupil size and my heart rate yet unbelievably none of these assessments took place, it states my blood pressure reading was taken by the doctor, where in actual fact it was only taken once by the nurse before seeing the doctors but the doctor felt justified to record my blood pressure in his notes.  The nurses notes are very poor too, she noted I had an ear infection and developed a pressure in my head after painting, she failed to note the headache I'd had for nearly 6 weeks, neck pain, ear pressure and baby ultrasound noise. I had explained I felt it was related to the fact I had done a lot of overhead painting.  She either never listened to me properly or decided not to write what I was telling her.  The Nurse also noted my pain scale was 2, I am annoyed at that statement in my notes because the Nurse did not even ask me about my pain or a pain scale, how bloody presumptuous .   The A&E doctor said to me at the time he would check my eyes but he forgot and went away to get another doctor.  He also wrote in my notes that I had an ear infection that was resolving but I clearly remember the appointment and have it noted in my diary and he said I had the cleanest ears he had ever seen and possibly an old healed perforation on the ear drum, the best of it was the other doctor agreed that I had no ear infection and that the diagnosis was I had pulled a neck muscle.  At no point did I tell any staff member at Ayr Hospital on that visit to A&E that I had an ear infection, what I did say was that several GP's had treated me for suspected ear infection but no infection was present. These are the sort of things that happen within our NHS so what chance have I got in trying to obtain an honest and true diagnosis when doctors falsify documents.  Below is two images from my MRI showing the dissection of the left vertebral.  The images were taken 6 months after my symptoms developed and shows the wall thickening of the left vertebral. The image shows a large haematoma with no double lumen.  The double lumen must of developed sometime after this scan. Had doctor's at A&E investigated my symptoms in more detail and sent me for a scan my artery tear would of been picked up at 6 weeks, instead they sent me home.  A further 18 months passed before I could arrange and pay for an MRA scan privately, these too were marked normal. These were the scans I sent to New York and Dr Maksim Shapiro gave his opinion.  I then obtained a further two opinions yet unbelievably my doctor's would not confirm diagnosis, instead they ordered a CTA which again they marked normal.  On all three scans MRI 2013, MRA 2014 & CTA 2015 there is definite evidence I have suffered an artery tear which has left the artery with a double lumen causing me horrendous pain due to the nerve fibres that run close by, I believe the artery is damaged and now wider and pressing on adjacent nerves.  Doctor's refuse to carry out the angiogram that Dr Shapiro suggested.  I have been waiting since September for an NHS referral to attend hospital in London for an opinion.  I personally have done some research and found that the doctor I am being referred to is a colleague of Dr Tyagi my Neurologist.  Why has my Neurologist referred me to someone he has worked with writing medical papers on headaches? Is it so that he too can say "your scans are normal" "there is nothing wrong with you" He too is a Neurologist and certainly not independent by any means, why not send all my scans to London for a second opinion from a Neurointerventionist rather than send me to London to see another Neurologist.  I need to see a specialist who has a vast knowledge of dealing with artery dissections and reading scans.  You can read about vertebral artery dissections here http://radiopaedia.org/articles/vertebral-artery-dissection and also Dr Shapiro's wonderful site  http://neuroangio.org/patient-information/patient-information-arterial-dissection-carotid-vertebral-basilar-arteries/

All for now
Whirring Wanderer