Taking it private...

I am a massive fan of the NHS in the UK. Universal healthcare is a really important part of my political thinking. However, when I went to my GP and presented my eight symptoms that I thought (as Dr Google seemed to confirm) signified that I had multiple sclerosis, I was met with the usual physical examination by the GP. She seemed to agree that there was some likelihood that I had MS as opposed to a whole host of different issues explained by a whole host of different issues. As a result, she referred me to a neurologist on the NHS.

The problem is, neurologists on the NHS are like rocking horse shit. They are particularly hard to come by and I was unable to get an appointment on the NHS for some five months. With deteriorating health on the MS front, I felt that I had to get some kind of closure as to whether I did indeed have MS. Therefore, with the help of my parents and their finances, I decided to go private and saw a private neurologist in a local hospital. He gave me a physical examination and sat me down and said, "I think this is all explained by stress. I am only wrong once every three years..."

For me, that stress could only possibly explain five of the eighth symptoms maximum. My partner was slightly happier with this because, of course, this meant that I likelier didn't have the more serious condition of multiple sclerosis but had something with which we could deal with – stress. Myself, though, I was unhappy because I simply didn't believe him. He did tell me that, for peace of mind, I could pay for an MRI scan as long as I got my neck scanned as well.

Myself and my partner went away for a week camping and at the end of the week I woke up and was unable to feel my stomach, my intestines, parts of my legs and my feet. Something was definitely wrong. I gathered some more money from my parents and went to get an MRI the very next day. Within a week, I was sent a letter by the same neurologist who confirmed that I highly likely had multiple sclerosis.

Rather than feeling downbeat about this and hitting me like a ton of bricks, it was a burden off my shoulders because it was something that I genuinely thought I had.