DAY 191 – GP ON BOARD!

Exciting news!!! I’ve got my GP on board!

Well, I say ‘my’ GP, I’d never met him before yesterday, which made the thought of trying to ask for an antibiotic and steroid for eczema whilst sat there with perfectly clear skin even more scary. I went in prepared with a laptop full of before photos and case studies, print-outs of everything Dr Aron has ever posted to the Facebook group, all of his explanations of the treatment and every email conversation we’ve ever had.

And hey, I didn’t need it! He listened to me gushing nervously about how the treatment works (my voice was almost shaking) and took a quick look at the before photos (I panicked because I assumed the speed of it meant he’d already made up his mind that this was a ridiculous waste of his time), and then had a quick look at my current skin before turning around and saying “Well, the results speak for themselves. What would you like me to prescribe?”

I almost cried in shock and happiness. As he was writing out my prescription, he finally took a look at the pack I had printed, and when he saw that Dr Aron works at the BMI in Hendon half of the year, he seemed even more happy with his decision to prescribe. He says the treatment is remarkable and he wants to contact Dr Aron himself, so tried to take a photo of his details on his phone before I told him he could just keep the pack.

That was quite frankly the easiest GP appointment of my life, when in reality it should have been the hardest. I suppose that kind of sums up the level of knowledge that the average doctor has about how to treat severe eczema. So now I need to learn to mix the compound myself after I pick up the individual components from the chemist. I’ve still got about another month left of my old tub so it will be a while till I have to cross that bridge!

I think the key was being prepared, and feeling confident in my rights as a patient and in the treatment itself. Before I went in, I got a pep talk (/Facebook chat) from a wonderful woman called Hayley (a Dr Aron patient herself and also the mother of two sets of twins – with one twin from each set being a patient too). She told me to be bold and confident; act like a consumer, not a pupil.

Having the NHS’s support has taken a big weight off of my shoulders; I was starting to get anxious and have dreams (lol, nightmares) about what would become of everyone if something were to happen to Dr Aron. Selfish as that sounds to think first of our treatment, this man has been my lifeline for 6 months and if I had to end this treatment abruptly I know I’d just get rebound all over again and any progress would be lost. Let’s just remind ourselves of what I would be going back to:

*Shudders*

I think the reason that held me back from speaking to my doctor for so long was not only the fear of rejection (I haven’t had a huge amount of success in choosing my own treatment in the past as some dermatologists can have a habit of dismissing your concerns because they know best) but also the feeling that I’m somehow mugging off our NHS (which I love dearly and never want to see end) by requesting they fund my technically private treatment. However, I’ve actually saved the NHS a huge amount in the last 6 months by not needing Protopic (£30 a tube) every 2-3 weeks and not going ahead with the 22 weeks of light therapy I was on a 3 month waiting list for an appointment to discuss (I sobbed so hard when my hope and excitement of getting a derm appointment was dashed by the fact that I realised my agony would go on for so long in the meantime); also the doctor and dermatology appointments themselves. That’s the conscience side of it, but regardless of how much I may have saved the system which I pay taxes towards, it is my patient right (as stated by NICE and the NHS) to choice of treatment if all components are available on the NHS and I can show that they work for me.

Plus, if this is going to become the conventional method for treating eczema (which I have no doubt in my mind that it should), we need to start somewhere, and every new GP on board is an open-minded grass-root to helping countless other patients who approach them in the same state of suffering.

Eczema can have a hereditary element, and the fact that my sister has eczema, my dad has urticaria, mum had severe acne, maternal grandpa has eczema/urticaria and paternal grandad has psoriasis means that my future kids are probably in for a tough ride. That’s a long way off yet, but I want us to reach a stage where I can be comfortable in the knowledge that should my kids ever suffer from eczema, I will be able to receive the correct (and probably most efficient!) treatment possible.

If you live in the South Buckinghamshire area and would like to find out the details of the doctor who supports Dr Aron’s treatment, please leave a comment below.