New diagnosis

Kaycee42

I had an xray before Christmas due to having had a little accident. Well yesterday I recieved a letter saying I have advanced osteoarthritis of the pelvis, that is it, no explanation, no make an appointment no nothing. It is not what I expected and whilst I have been in constant pain in my lower back I always thought this was due to problems I had with my sacroiliac joint. So very confused. Do doctors normally just tell you you have this condition by letter with no follow up. I know they are busy at the moment but I just feel alone with this. Anyone else feel this?

Anna

Hello@Kaycee42and welcome to the online community,

I can understand how confusing it must be to receive a letter with a diagnosis of advanced osteoarthritis of the pelvis with no further explanation. I would suggest that you make an appointment with your GP ( the hospital should have sent a copy of your letter to your GP so they should know about your diagnosis). You can discuss the letter with them and they may refer you for more tests, or discuss medication or pain management with you.

社区的一些成员可能有经验of living with pelvic arthritis and I’m sure will be happy to share their stories with you. Meanwhile, you might like to have a look at the link below - it’s from the Versus Arthritis website and it looks at questions that may be asked when you’re newly diagnosed with arthritis:

//www.wfysxh.com/news/2020/november/ask-the-expert-newly-diagnosed-with-arthritis/

If you want to find out a bit more about osteoarthritis, some of the treatments and how you can help yourself, you might also like to have a look at the information page below:

//www.wfysxh.com/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis/

Do keep in touch and let us know how you’re getting on.

Anna ( Mod)

Kaycee42

Thank you very much for your reply. I think I will make an appointment with my doctor when covid has calmed down as they do not seem to be seeing any one.

I will take a look at the link thank you for taking the time to answer me.

DebbieL

Hiya,

I had a similar experience . I’d had lower back pain for over a year and and had dramatically reduced the exercise I was doing due to fear of making the pain worse. After a few visits to the doctors, the doctor asked if I thought I had cancer or a tumour and did I want a MRI scan. Well no I hadn’t thought I had cancer or a tumour until he mentioned it. I was fed up with the back pain and none of the doctors had even examined me. I went for the MRI scan and when I phoned for the results they said I had Osteoarthritis in L5 S1 - lower spine. They offered nothing further. I was devastated. I wrote a letter of complaint and booked some private physio. After my complaint I was referred to a specialist and was offered Pain management, physio or well-being. I took the physio and it transformed my life. He gave me the confidence to take up sports again- I do cycling and dance. The exercises he gave me massively reduced the pain I have in the day . I still have bad days but I understand I will have some of these but to keep moving as it is the best thing for me. Without the help of the specialist physio I would probably still be on painkillers during the day and afraid of doing much in case I made things worse. I had to push hard for the help I needed but it was worth it. I’m 55 and when I was first diagnosed I felt that a big part of my life was over, but that wasn’t the case. I just had to may some adjustments and to accept some limitations but not to stop trying new things to see what I could do rather thank worrying what I couldn’t do.

Push for a referral as the treatment we need is a combination of medicine, exercise and how we cope . I hope you find the help that you need.

Debbie

Kaycee42

Thank you Debbie, your reply is really encouraging. That was horrible the doctors saying do you think it is cancer. I definitely will push for help. I have been feeling very down about it but you have made me feel there is hope thank you for taking the time to talk to me.