Post Louth Hospital update on the outcome of the walking dead man ...

Well, this has been a revelation!

Met another young man (I would guess in his late twenties) who did the consultation. As you (my little lonely reader) is getting to know, I do not hold back on my directness so I prefaced with what people always say just before they are about to stab you in the back (he maybe thought) ...

... "Now please don't take any offence", I said, continuing "but may I ask who you are and what you are? - By that I mean obviously, your name (turned out to be Josh - I might have guessed, I thought, afterwards) and are you, as such a doctor, meaning does your title begin with a DR?"

As I launched, amusingly and of course I just could not resist commenting, his arms immediately folded into the classic defencive body language scenario! - I remarked on his sudden change in posture (poor lad), I think maybe there was a hint of a blush, and he said "no it's fine."

He went on to tell me that, no, he was not a doctor but had had extensive training and was from a physiotherapy background (which was what I would have predicted). I vaguely pictured in my mind a body builder (I had seen a few of those on my nine month pre-diabetes course and they all looked cloned from the same 'Adonis' type chap that I feel many young ladies rather like these days). This one was slimmer than earlier models which strangely eased my mind curiously (perhaps that I had been thinking if my words had offended him and he'd taken a swing at me - it wouldn't have hurt as much as earlier models with those extraordinarily pumped-up muscles). The tension in the air did slowly ease and I had made a decision already that I would be willing to let this young 'boy' (looking facially rather like a twelve year old school prefect) loose on the equipment (flashing in my peripheral vision but my view restricted by his darting around of the twelve inch needle half behind his back) and on my shoulder.

OK, alright, I exaggerate (but only a little). I suppose I should come clean - although some friends (or maybe I read it somewhere) had left me with the impression that steroid injections were administered with longer than average needles but in all honesty his half hidden needle didn't seem that long (but then I knew it was going to have to get right into my shoulder joint and sure enough as it went in, it went through two or three, maybe four even, distinct stages of penetration; firstly the always funny to me bit about - "there'll be a sharp scratch" which is far more than a 'scratch' - then it eased comfortably through skin and on into what I imagined was several feet of sort of cartilage type material which was quite painful and then a sudden prod as I presumed that the needle hit bone and bounced back slightly - the last item being really painful. My wife (my chaperone - in case I got lucky) kindly filled-in all the gaps that my wayward and partially non-functioning mind failed to spout - including to the young man's delight, no doubt, that I had a needle phobia (as if all the other stuff wasn't enough for him to contend with).

I was not offered any feedback forms but I asked the receptionist for them as I simultaneously spotted them on her desk - but interesting that she was not going to suggest I filled one out. I duly filled it out in a manner that probably would mean he got to keep his job (but then I suspect he would have even if all scores were zero).

Now here's the 'rub'!

I took quite a lot of my boyish consultant's time (which I expect he slightly resented but he was OK and he did give a lot of information once he'd decided that I was 'genuine').

We discussed my 'missing' MRI scan and it turns out that the true situation is all of the following (rather than how I either saw things or how they previously were presented - and the new revelations were rather more encouraging):

1. The MRI is apparently taken ONLY to establish if anything out of the ordinary - i.e. sinister is going on inside the shoulder joint, rather than as I had been led to believe in an effort to try to diagnose what was causing my movement loss and pain (frozen shoulder syndrome).
2. Nothing sinister was found (hooray).
3. There was (as earlier mentioned by another boyish consultant in Skegness) evidence of swollen bursas. Note the plural here - previously I had been led to believe from chats that each joint had only one bursa (lubrication sac) - no there were many throughout the body.
4. Steroid injections are primarily administered to lower inflammation of the area including bursas.
5. I knew that the word was that for the first 24 hours after the injection there would be pain and possible bruising. Certainly in the first few hours there was pain - but actually it eased then.
6. Some complicated explanations ensued about who gets to see the MRI scan results and when and it sounded as though the GP only got feedback when the patient gets discharged from the care of CARE UK (which, in theory is straight after the injection - unless I contact them again with issues). I reckon that GPs and CARE UK people are as it were resentful of each other and that the working relationships are strained.
7. The more I see of the NHS and its cohorts - the more, personally, I find the whole system wasteful and poorly organised and very poor in patient communication - it is like a long curling worm that has been chopped-up here and there and that almost by accident occasionally the broken bits momentarily join and re-communicate. I have much respect for the individuals in the Health Service. On the whole it is the system that is broken not the personnel.

So, in conclusion, I have not taken any pain-killing tablets since the injection yesterday at 10 a.m. but here I am again, awake at 3.30 a.m. as I am still uncomfortable enough that my sleep is disturbed, but rather out of character for me, I feel somewhat optimistic, despite being told by 'the boy' that it can take two years to recover and also that it is unknown as to really what causes the condition in the first place. - You see they all know that stuff - but it has taken almost three months to get that across to me! Even if news is bad - people WANT INFORMATION.

Let's see how it goes ...