#fuck the NHS

[queerism1969]

[blanark]

[cllightning81]

My Story

I'm not sharing this for sympathy more just to educate people on the fact that they never know what someone is going through. Also, because people never share these types of stories

For ten years (taking me back to my single digit childhood 😭), I have had chronic back pain that's been left undiagnosed for these ten years and increasing day by day.

Physical signs of swelling and constant pain with leg weakness occasionally nowadays.

It started off with local general practitioners (GP's) telling me it was just growing pains because I was so young. Pain kept up until my double-digit years, when I continued to go back to my GP until they told me it was a pulled muscle into my early teens I continued to go to my GP who told me to go to physio privately.

My family was in no place to afford this, but thankfully, we knew some private physios who would do it for free because they were family friends.

The first private physio did some acupuncture, which eventually helped, but then the pain came back and told me it was a pinched nerve. The second private physio told me it was a pulled muscle again.

Back to my GP nearing my adulthood (according to Scottish law) they sent me to a NHS physio who did all the basic information, felt my spine -detected scoliosis-, gave me exercises and referred me to rheumatology by this time I was on a painkiller called "Naproxen"

A year later. Finally got my rheumatology appointment met with the consultant who took my information, felt my spine -detected scoliosis, hyperflexibility in my cervical and thoracic spine-, promised he'd do something about this, sent me for bloods and X-rays.

Had my bloods taken. No sign of inflammation or rheumatoid arthritis.

Nearly 3 months later, I got my x-ray results. There is nothing there time for an MRI.

2 weeks later, I had my MRI. Waited 5 further months on my results. Irregularities in my sacrioloc joint but no inflammation.

At this point, I've been through two different types of painkillers. Diclofenac and co-codamol. In my teen years. 3 different types

It's time for another x-ray. It shows nothing. Found this out the day I got accepted into my dream uni for my dream course ( I didn't get the grades. However, I'm just doing a different course at my dream university)

Went back to my GP after finding this out for the trainee GP to tell a teenage me that I "might need a hip replacement in the future." Left annoyed and upset.

Started using kinesiology tape from a suggestion from Google for back pain. It helps a little, but I still have major flare-ups.

Over the past months now in my adult years (😭😭), I've been experiencing hip pain where I've been unable to lie, sit, or put any weight on my right hip. The hip is on the same side as my back pain.

GP receptionist tells me it's not an emergency even though it is causing me to lose feeling in my right leg and that the first appointment is in a week and a half.

Appointment rolls around, and I've got another trainee who dismisses me as normal. I mentioned I thought it might be linked to my back, and the whole appointment moved from my hip to my back.

At the end of the appointment, she tells me, "Surgeons won't do anything, so I won't refer you there. Rheumatology will refer you back because you were there recently, and more X-rays and MRIs are unnecessary radiation, so we won't do that"

IM STUDYING TO BECOME A RADIOGRAPHER I KNOW THE RISKS. Her patient centred careness was thrown out the window during this appointment.

So she tells me she'll speak to her supervisor about giving my lidocaine patches to help with the pain.

Two hours later I get a phone call from her where she repeats everything she said at the appointment and follows it up with "We're going to give you more diclofenac and lanzoprazole" to which I reply "I already have lots of that. I take it constantly, " but they have continued to give me it.

After I hung up, I explained everything to my mum, and I couldn't hold back the tears. The way the NHS treats young people in constant pain is ridiculous. I'm not being listened to.

All they see and have ever seen is my age. Never the condition. And now studying radiography, and I've requested all of my medical records and images because I need to know.

I've never been in so much pain physically and mentally, but here I am. I'm struggling so much, and no one's listening to me from the medical professions.

What do I need to do to get them to listen?

[ceilidhtransing]

British trans people and our allies: write to your MP!

Just before Parliament was dissolved, the Conservative health secretary Victoria Atkins put in place an immediate ban on the prescription of puberty blockers to trans and questioning youth, with a penalty of up to two years in prison. The new Labour health secretary Wes Streeting has said he wants to make this ban permanent. The Good Law Project is challenging this ban in court. Find out more about the situation here.

It's important that, if you can, you write to your MP to let them know how you feel about this and ask them to speak out against it. It's really easy to write to your MP using the website WriteToThem - you don't even have to know the name of your MP; just put in your postcode and it'll tell you.

I'm not going to include a template letter to send, as lots of people sending an identical email tends to be very ineffective at getting an MP's attention and convincing them that a lot of people do actually care about an issue. Unique, individually written emails are much more powerful. But I want to emphasise how easy and doable it is to write to your MP in your own words: there's no set way you have to do it, you don't have to worry about being super formal if you don't want to be, and any personal touch you add is likely to make your email much more persuasive than a copy-pasted template, not less.

If you want to write but are truly stumped as to how to start, here are some ideas to think about:

Specify your personal connection to the issue: whether you're trans yourself, or the parent/sibling/friend/cousin/etc of a trans person. Obviously you don't have to do this - not everyone is comfortable outing themselves this way. You can of course just state that you're a “trans ally” or “someone deeply concerned with trans equality” or “someone deeply concerned with the transphobic trajectory the UK is taking” or something like that. It often helps to emphasise that the issue you're writing about is one that you as an individual care strongly about.

Similarly, if you have a personal story about trans healthcare, especially puberty blockers, feel free to use it. Don't ramble on and on, of course, but personal stories of your experience with an issue often help to make your message more impactful.

Make clear how you feel about the ban on puberty blockers. You can be as concise as you like; there's no obligation to write an essay if you don't want to. If you feel very strongly, say so. You don't have to mince words.

Use the Good Law Project's pages for inspiration on phrasing and arguments if that helps. The GLP has several pages on their site on this issue (here is a good one, and here is another). It's best not to just copy their exact wording, but it can be very useful as inspiration for the kind of points you might want to make.

Don't abuse your MP. You can write in very strong terms without lowering yourself to sending abuse, threats, insults etc at your MP. That kind of thing only guarantees they won't listen to you sympathetically.

Ask your MP to take a specific action. In this case, the action is likely to be “speak out against the ban on puberty blockers”. It helps to give your MP a specific Thing you're asking them to do, to avoid sending a rambling email that only makes them think “ok but what do you want me to do about it?”

If you can, find out a bit about your MP and tailor your letter accordingly. There are some MPs who are consistently really good at supporting trans rights and it probably doesn't help to instinctively go on the attack with someone who is already our ally. In that case, you can thank them for their support so far, state how important it is to you that they have been a trans ally, and ask them to continue their support by speaking out on this issue. With some MPs, especially the new ones, it's really hard to find out their stance on trans rights, but you can do a little sleuthing by searching their Twitter, googling “[MP name] trans (/rights)”, and seeing their voting record at TheyWorkForYou.

If you're writing to a Labour MP, and the issue of trans rights is an obstacle to you voting Labour, you can tell them that. If you no longer feel that you can trust Labour to support your rights as a trans person (or trans rights more generally), you can say so. If Labour has lost your vote over this particular issue, you can say so. If you have voted Labour in the past but didn't do so this year because of its stances on trans rights, you can say so. There are lots of new Labour MPs in this Parliament and many of them have relatively small majorities. Don't be afraid to be explicit that Labour has lost your vote because of its lack of support for trans people, if that is in fact the case. They need to know that this is an issue that people care enough about that it affects the way they vote.

Equally, if your MP is someone you voted for on the basis of their or their party's support for trans rights (for example a Lib Dem or a Green), say that too. Again, MPs like to know the issues that voters care about so much that it sways their vote.

Remember: transphobes are writing to your MP. If you think “ugh, what will just one letter do”, remember that bigots who work against us are very good at writing to MPs to try to sway their opinions. If an MP receives 30 letters from transphobes and 0 letters from trans people and allies, they will think the bulk of their constituents - at least the vocal ones - support the transphobic position. Even a short letter lets them know that actually, there are voters out there who want them to act in support of trans people. Don't let the transphobic voice be the only voice an MP gets to hear.

And if you want some further reading on the Cass Review, the document that Wes Streeting is pointing to in an attempt to justify the ban (which is nuts because the review, while deeply deeply flawed, doesn't even recommend this ban anyway), may I suggest...

The Cass Review: Cis-Supremacy in the UK's Approach to Healthcare for Trans Children by Dr Cal Horton in the International Journal of Transgender Health (I posted some choice quotes from this article here)

What's Wrong with the Cass Review? A Round-Up of Commentary and Evidence by Dr Ruth Pearce

Do No Harm? The Trouble With Cass' Therapy Recommendations by Elia Cugini

Advocates Say a Controversial Report on Healthcare for Trans Kids is “Fundamentally Flawed” by Samantha Riedel in them.us

A Parent's Perspective on the Puberty Blockers Ban by the Good Law Project

[puddlellama]

I'm so mad at this bullshit. how fucking dare they. soulless bureaucratic monsters. if i ever get my hands on that rat-faced fascist, he'll be fucking begging for death.

[running-with-the-feels]

Hey y'all! Writing this mid breakdown so pls forgive any spelling errors, but I'm having a shitty fucking day. I tried to figure out why my Testosterone prescription hadn't arrived yet and I ended up having to trek around the city to about 4 different places bc each person I asked sent me to someone else, only to Not end up with my T or any answers whatsoever, so it's a rly bad day.

I'm gonna answer all the asks in my inbox and if anyone has any fun asks about like Subscorp or the Kombat Kids, feel free to send them in, I could use the pick me up

[themanfromeire]

This is really different from my usual posts, but I really don't care. I currently live in a region of the UK, and the NHS England review has a very bad implication for my future. I might head out early, if you catch my drift. When I go quiet for a while, you'll know why

[4rachn1d]

Throwback to whatever the fuck I was doing to order my prescription I literally need to live

[littleirontablet]

Ngl just putting this online makes me feel like shit but I need the help:

Any donations help me so much it’s actually ridiculous, I also draw digital art and have commissions open in my DMs!

Again this suck ass that I have to turn to strangers for help but here I am because I’m desperate :)

[share around my page and gofundme if you want reposts are appreciated]

[nightmaretour]

I swear you could be dying of radiation poisoning and the NHS would just prescribe physiotherapy

[nevermindtheb0ll0cks]

I need £10k for surgery if anyone is keen 🤣

[jurassicworldtieindrpepper]

Do Not Work for the British Government: "Conviction" by Rachel Aviv

So I read that one New Yorker article, and uh....I don't want claim 100% that this woman is innocent of anything malicious, but jesus fucking christ that country is fundamentally broken. The idea that your government can underpay you to overwork in one of their decrepit institutions and then convict you of serial child murder when debris falls on people is terrifying. The idea that this could happen and the public is barred from protesting is absolutely dystopian. I've become a little Lucy Letby obsessed in the past day, so hopefully this puts it to rest, but I cannot believe the sheer scale of the pain the British government has inflicted on everyone involved for the past ten years or so.

[parasiticflannel]

This is Going to Hurt

[blanark]

Fuck Cass and the NHS.

[forsakendevil]

I’m so tired of feeling shit. It’s been ages. People keep saying it will get better but its only got worse. I’ve started having hallucinations and delusions and I feel insane. I don’t even know whats wrong with me anymore. The doctors don’t have an answer. I’m fighting so hard to get help but nobody can help me. I’m tired.

[orangeflowerpetals]

I’m tired of my body being stuck in permanent adolescence. Between a neverending gender swap cartoon episode and Peter fucking pan.

Fuck the nhs and their half a decade wait times

I should be starting to look like a man now, broken voice, growing facial hair, lots of body hair, big nose and shoulders.

But instead I have no choice but to keep looking like the 13 year old I haven’t been in almost ten years.

I want to go through puberty. I want to get to experience growing up.

I wish I wasn’t stuck like this until late twenties at the EARLIEST