How my FND Journey Began

My FND Journey began in October 2020 when my daughter, who was three at the time, and I were involved in a traumatic car accident. A car accelerated out of a side road without looking and crashed almost head on into us. The impact threw me forwards with such force that my knee bent the key in the ignition before my head was thrown back against the head rest, and the car began to fill up with smoke. I was terrified the car was going to set on fire and explode, and that I wouldn’t be able to get to my daughter. 

After an aggressive exchange the driver fled the scene. I stood in the pouring rain clutching my silent three year old and looking at the crumbled bonnet of my car as a wave of nausea, pain and intense fatigue took over my whole body. Six months into a global pandemic, the hospital was the last place I wanted to go. But, with my head pounding, my back burning and my stomach flipping over and over again, I knew we had to be seen by A&E who put my symptoms down to shock and whiplash.

At first I refused to believe my symptoms were caused by anything more than shock, soft tissue damage, and intense fatigue. However, as my speech became more slurred, I stuttered and had trouble finding words, my friends forced me to see my GP who sent me straight to A&E for a CAT Scan, X-Ray and a referral for an MRI scan. The Doctor could see all my symptoms but he couldn’t see what was causing it as all my scans came back clear. I was referred to a neurologist. 

I was given a form to book an appointment with an NHS neurologist at University College London Hospital. The first available appointment was in eleven months. I could not wait that long. Thankfully, using some savings I was able to book a consultation at a private hospital for two weeks later and there I received the suspected diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder which I had never heard of before. I did my own research when I got home and it all matched up before hitting me like a train that this was more serious than shock and soft tissue damage and fatigue. On a whim, I decided to start writing about it and from that My FND Journey was born.