"Finally, a diagnosis!"

I am a 54 yr old female and I moved to Cornwall from Oxfordshire 7yrs ago. After 30 years of suffering violent hemiplegic migraines, Raynaud's phenomenon, menopause at 32 & gangrenous appendix, (all of which had been treated as seperate incidents by my GPs up country) I developed a pronounced redness on both my cheeks and nose, fatigue to the point where I could not work - needing to sleep constantly, multi neurological symptoms, profuse sweating, abdominal & gastric pain, joint & muscle pain & weakness, photo-sensitivity, rash & flu like symptoms when exposed to sunlight & weight gain. My GP, Dr Dale Staff was absolutely marvellous & wasted no time in referring me to various consultants at Derriford hospital Plymouth. Thanks to the superb care from Mr Mohad-Nor, Consultant Neurologist I was admitted for 2 weeks in September last year, and my care was passed over to Dr Lindsay Robertson, Consultant Rheumatologist who, after many tests & medical history diagnosed Systemic Lupus Erythematosus & aPL (Hughes) syndrome. She started treatments for my illness and has continued to monitor me carefully. I have been to Derriford many many times since & would like to sincerely thank Dr Robertson for the patience & understanding she has shown to me since my diagnosis. It took my GP & two consultants at Derriford less than 9mths to diagnose & treat something which had gone undiagnosed & untreated for so many years! I am still struggling with the magnitude of symptoms of SLE but could not ask for better shared care.