9. An Ankle Joins In!!!

In January 1998 I sprained my right ankle. (Believe it or not I had this accident on the way to our GP’s surgery for an appointment for our son.) My ankle seemed to get better but the pain and swelling would return from time to time.

By autumn 1999 my ankle was constantly swollen and getting more and more painful so I decided to see my GP about it. I remember thinking ‘Here we go again!’

He told me that he would ask the hospital to x-ray my ankle, which eventually came through for December. As I feared, the x-rays showed nothing so after more useless physiotherapy my GP wrote to the hospital asking for an orthopaedic surgeon to see me again.

I saw Mr. B. in June 2000, and we talked over old times i.e., my elbow and his ex-boss at Paddington, then he told me that I was an unfortunate woman who had arthritis and has to expect more and more joints to be affected. He gave me a steroid injection, which did nothing, and said as there was nothing else, he could do for me he’d ask the Rheumatology people to see me, again.

This feels like a game of Snakes and Ladders where I nearly always have to go down every snake on the board, several times!

Arthritis Is A Right Pain In The Arms

Knackered ankle, wrist and knee

Is there anything right with me?

NSAIDs, steroids and other pills

There must be something to cure my ills.

Replacement elbow that’s become bionic

When my pain was diagnosed as chronic.

Orthos, rheumatics and physiotherapist

There’s no joint department that I’ve missed.

X-rays, scans and MRI

Every type of view they try.

Blood tests and injections, there is no doubt

If they weren’t putting something in, they were taking something out.

Panics, worries and all sorts of alarms

ARTHRITIS IS A RIGHT PAIN IN THE ARMS.