Advice on visit to consultant

valels

I had xrays on my hands in January and am, at last, seeing a consultant on 20th June. I've been told I have arthritis in my thumbs/fingers don't know yet what type of arthritis it is. I'd be grateful if someone could give me an idea of what questions I should ask as if always helps to be prepared. Thanks in advance!

Tom

Welcome to the forum, @valels .  I see that following X-rays of your hands in January you are shortly to visit a Consultant when you hope to get clarity about your condition. You ask what questions you should ask. My first suggestion would be to keep a diary of pain levels, what actions made matters worse and what gave relief. The Consultant will probably ask this anyway, but with the diary you can be sure you everything is covered.

Here is some general reading on Arthritis:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/arthritis/

Post again and let us know the results from the 20th.

Tom, Moderator.

valels

Thank you, I hadn't thought of that but will make notes and be prepared.

jamieA

Hi @valels

I've taken to writing down my questions in advance so I don't get distracted and miss something I want to let the rheumatologist know. I actually had a telephone consultation with my rheumatologist last week and she asked me to give her my full list first and she would then give an answer to each point raised. This let me write down the responses. I actually found that a good process.

valels

Thank you, I hadn't thought of that but will make notes and be prepared.

valels

Quite unsatisfactory visit to consultant this morning. Apart from the fact she had the wrong notes in front of her- she thought I was someone else and took some persuading to realise she had the wrong person.

She wasn't interested in where my thumbs hurt, or when. She just gave them a half-hearted poke and said I should have an ultrasound, which will be in a couple of months, then see her again in 4 months. That'll be 10 months just waiting for some idea of what can be done.

She did give me an injection in my knees though, which was totally unexpected but quite welcome !

stickywicket

I hópe the injection is helping.

Unfortunately, much of arthritic life consists of waiting and that was true long before covid made queues so much longer. The ultrasound will hopefully clarify matters as to which type of arthritis you have. In the meantime you could try some of Versus Arthritis' exercises. They're designed to help all types.

Lilymary

To be honest a lot of a consultant's work in the early stages of treatment is just referring you on for further investigation (scans etc) so they know what they're dealing with. But I do sympathise, I had a surgeon who barely saw me as anything more than the xray in front of him, which was deeply dispiriting, but it goes with the job I guess. They can't enter into the emotional / lifestyle damage our conditions cause, or they'd need therapy!

I hope that scan comes quickly, and that the injection into your knees helps as well.