March 20th

 Harley Street. After describing my journey healthwise of the last 12 months, leaving out any mention of healthcare provided the doc says to me unprompted.

Let me guess. The GPs have looked at you and decided you're too complicated and dismissed you.

Yes.

And you can't get an appointment or them to listen.

Yes !

That is if you can get past the rude receptionists.

Yes !

When I went to med school he says, we were taught to care for patients. The GPs are no longer doing their jobs.

I teared up. 

I hear this everyday he says. You're not the first. I do some work for the NHS still he says. He went on a 5 minute rant about the state of GPs. Part of the problem he added, was that currently they're getting £25 per covid shot and that's all they care about. He went onto explain his own run ins with his local GP services.

Anyway. The second thing he said was long covid. Had I been looked at by a long covid centre ? No. Because you sound an awful lot like long covid. OK. He said I should be referred to one of the new centres.

Neural. You should have been scanned by now he says. He sighed. But we're sorting that today. MS came up. Youre on 1 strike he said. Usually you get tested on your second strike of MS like symptoms. As you know MRI is not great for that. Given your mom you should get properly tested. 

Tinnitus and left face tingles.

Makes sense he said. Easy. Almost certainly viral damage. One from a damaged artery. And right next to it, the nerve for the face. That you have both symptoms makes a lot of sense. But. An mri is unlikely to show it. 

I sat there flabbergasted. Some answers. As easy as that.

So the scans. 45 minute mri which I had been fretting about, but in the end was relaxing. Go figure. I could feel waves of warm as the scanner went up my back on one set of runs. As it went over my head my left side tingles moved in sympathy. Imagination ? I queried it after. Can you feel it as warmth ? Yes you can. Huh. I didn't get that last mri. 

Second clinic, ct scan of heart. Everything was immaculate wood panelling, fancy art, grand rooms. Like a 5 star Hotel. Or Steel and glass immaculate minimalist.

So I have to wait for the ct heart scan. This will finally tell me if my arteries are fucked, or how on the way to fucked they are.

The mri I got feedback right there and then. Oodles of mri info. Dozens of full scan sets from all angles.

Brain. Two spots. Dead. Probably migraine damage thought the radiologist. One of them certainly matched exactly the point I always get migraines. But not sure. Without the mri from 2.5 years ago impossible to say whether they are new, old or growing. But no aneurysms. No tumours. The spots can just be damage from age. They can also show signs of rarer diseases the most likely of which is MS. I specifically asked the radiologist. Could this be MS ? He thought not. Not the right pattern. Didnt think so.

Onwards. Normal. Lower colon with small hernias. A proper term for it. Cant remember. Some risks but possible to go through life unordered.

A lower spine with wear and tear.

A fatty liver. Usually from drinking. No drinking here. Hmm. Reversible.

Otherwise the mri either reported normal or cant tell. Other major organs look fine. Carotids fine.

So just the heart arteries to check. But viral damage and issues keep coming up. And secondary effects from the ramipril which devastated my system. Bells palsy. Gastro issues. But so far nothing downright sinister behind it.

From London I didn't go home, but went to my brothers for the weekend. Today I have lapsed in and out of minor unwell and a couple of bouts of major unwell. Tingles crawling all over, spikes in temperature and waves of unwell. But I've largely put up with it. Retired to bed once.

My ulcer feels a good deal better. But roving tingles and flashes of nerve pain persist for large chunks of time.

Who knows. But ruling major horrible things out is a step forward. 

Lots of theories thrown at me. Long covid. Chronic fatigue. Fibromyalgia. Shingles. Multiple of the above. Once you get past the disastrous cardio of Dec and Jan the actual problems come into focus. I think the ramipril was a massive wild goose chase that made whatever was there far more complicated and created more problems.

And more recently the collapse of mentals and a wicked reaction - again to meds - just made things worse again.

Ho hum.

Mentals at least seem to be going in the right direction. 

When I get home I will post some shots from the mri. 

As ever the list of people I am indebted to grows. Andy for being with me all day and driving some 200 miles in and out of London. My family for putting me up. And Hazel for keeping the fires burning at home with the dogs, and a long list of well wishers and offerer of help. So many in different ways its hard to name them all. Chance. Sam. And Sam. And Jay. And nicky. And Michael. And of course my great longtime friend David. And Dan. And Simon. And and and...