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Impact of misdiagnoses for one and a half years

Posted By septembersr77

"Impact of misdiagnoses for one and a half years"

About: Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital / Pain Management Clinic

(as the patient),

I am a patient at the Pain Clinic in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. For a year and a half, I was receiving treatment from one specific doctor who determined all of my condition was psychological and would not give me treatment because one of my diagnoses was FND. They wouldn’t investigate or consider any other option or offer me treatment. Any symptoms that I had were put in the bracket of FND.

So, on top of that, I was continually asking for a second opinion and to have a new doctor. For a year and a half, I was stuck with that doctor, with me continually asking staff for a new doctor, them saying to me, yes, you’re entitled to a second opinion. I’d ask for them to organise that and nothing would happen. Then I’d tell them again what was going on. There was a vicious cycle of that going on and I stayed in that situation for a year and a half.

Eventually, I got a new doctor assigned to me, who said I had multiple diagnoses apart from FND. By that time, Neurology had been told that my condition was psychological, so they obviously (being told that), thought that of me.

So, once I got the new doctor, I had to start again at the bottom of the list. So, in that time, my GP had sent me for tests. What follows is my diagnoses.

•I have a large hiatus hernia and dysphagia, diagnosed through a barium meal by my GP.

•I also have high protein and low iron in my blood.

•I also have multi-level degeneration in my spine from my cervical spine all the way to my lower spine.

•I have canal stenosis and foraminal stenosis in my cervical, thoracic, and lower spine.

•I have spondylosis throughout my spine.

•I have degenerative disc disease throughout my spine.

•I have one of my discs that has broken right down to nothing, and I have six bulging discs.

•I also was diagnosed with muscle atrophy, diagnosed by a doctor within that hospital while I was still seeing the first pain clinic doctor at Sir Charles. I was diagnosed me with muscle atrophy and muscle fatigue but they did nothing about it.

Although I now have the new doctor and I have all of those diagnoses, I’m at the bottom of all of the lists, waiting to get treatment for all of those, including muscle atrophy, biopsy, and nerve conduction studies.

The problem with now trying to seek help for all of those conditions is that the hospital themselves spent one and a half years telling the neurology teams that all my pain was psychological, and it seems, now that is how they only see me.

So I am now, especially with my muscle atrophy which is now visible, not even able to get a biopsy and nerve studies to help me get treatment.

At least now, it’s good that I have the new doctor, but I believe it’s not like they’ve tried to make up for time and help me. The new doctor said straight away, I’ll pop you on the list for needles into the spine for pain relief and will send away a referral to neurosurgery. The point is, they spent the year and a half telling them it’s psychological, and I believe now they don’t know what to think of me. This thing has come through, but all this time they’ve spent telling them that it’s psychological.

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Responses

Response from Jodi Graham, Executive Director, SCGOPHCG, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group last month
Jodi Graham
Executive Director, SCGOPHCG,
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group

Submitted on 19/02/2025 at 2:00 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:01 PM

picture of Jodi Graham

Dear septembersr77,

Thank you for sharing your experience with Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital over the past 18 months.

Please accept my apologies for the difficulties and frustrations you experienced with your treatment at the Pain Clinic. I recognise the impact that delays and miscommunications can have on a patient's health and well-being and understand how challenging it must have been to navigate your care over such a long period.

I am glad to hear that you now have a new doctor who is taking a more comprehensive approach to your treatment. I sincerely hope this leads to the care and relief you need moving forward.

Please be assured that we take your experience seriously. To allow us to investigate further, please reach out to the Consumer Liaison Service (CLS) to provide more details about your experience. The CLS can be reached via email at CLS@health.wa.gov.au or by phone on (08) 6457 2867.

Thank you again for sharing your story. I wish you all the best with your ongoing treatment and hope that your future healthcare experiences are more positive.

Kind regards,

Jodi Graham

Executive Director

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by septembersr77 (the patient)

Jodi Graham SCGH,

There was no miscommunication!

I believe the first Dr At the Pain Clinic SCGH located at Osborne Park WA, who also trains students in Pain Medicine and Anesthesia at SCGH understand fully.

They were given Medical imaging that I believe they chose to simply dismiss. This imaging showed clear multilevel degeneration of my spine bulging discs, canal stenosis, extraforminimal stenosis, nerve impingement degenerative disc disease and also clearly viewed and ignored my mobility issues the only test I was sent for also left me with a diagnosis from neurology for Muscle Atrophy band muscle fatigue, the Dr diagnosed me also from medical imaging and sent the Pain Clinic Dr the diagnosis and recommendations for investigation including muscle Biopsy and EMG studies to investigate cause of the Atrophy this also was seemingly ignored.

Although I finally got a new treating Dr after many many requests for a new treating Dr at the pain Clinic SCGH and second opinion all that time left without treatment has greatly affected me on many levels. It seems the First Drs bias had been passed onto other Drs and Medical Specialties that I need treatment from and I have simply been left to deal with the consequences alone.

There has been no help to make up for loss time where I could already have been allocated to those specialities and in the process of pain management nt and treatment from them.

I still have not had the muscles biopsies and EMG studies recommended and there has been No help to get them from SCGH and it has been many many months since they should have been done.

I still do not have an appointment allocated within Neurosegery and Neurology at SCGH to receive treatment for those conditions that that First Dr ignored and I have been left with the mess to clean up myself that I feel they have created.

I would like assistance to get those treatments and appointments., there also has been two Care calls made to SCGH this also did not make a difference and after the care calls were made there was NO follow up on what happened from the Care calls and our family never heard back again after initiating the Care Call.

Everything falls on deaf ears. SCGH has not taken the matter seriously whatsoever.

I have tried several different ways to resolve the issue with The pain Clinic, I first tried to deal with Pain Clinic SCGH directly but that didn't work then I have Contact Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital patient Liaison services multiple times, I have made a formal complaint to SCGH and I have even asked SCGH again to intervene to expedite the services I need as although I had a new treating Dr my medical needs had only grown over the time and also I was left with the damage done meaning the consequences of the previous Drs statements to other Medical specialist that he perceived my pain to be all psychological and trying now to get treatment and then not willing to take up my medical care.

I had contacted CLS SCGH multiples times including a complaint about Pain Clinic, I had also made care calls as well as my spouse making care calls to SCGH there was no change to my circumstances, there was no update from call being initiated there was not even a call back to my spouse or I from either imitated care call and there has been no intervention from SCGH to my case and there has also been nothing done to clean up what the original Treating Dr at pain clinic created by telling other specialists apparent untruths that my pain is all phycological on top of this the new treating Dr at Pain Clinic has not ever telephoned my G.P or answered any emails they sent to pain clinic SCGH it just has all being simply left and not actioned at all by SCGH.

The response I got from the last request from Patient Liaison services SCGH was to take it up with The pain Clinic SCGH myself, which I had tried of course before I tried to get them to intervene.

This leaves me to just except that seemingly no one at SCGH is willing to adequately deal with the situation and help me receive the treatment I need. even calls have been made to the " Care Call " telephone number recently also achieving no different outcome. And now I'm dealing with even more issues as I need Cardio intervention due to my high blood pressure and an AF heart issue which I have been in Emergency recently.

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