Tenerife forum

[Helena and Shiel]

Hi guys, I asked your advice on this one a while back, and Jenny was really helpfull, but I now need some more help.
I know for sure there is a consultant rheumatolagist in the University hospital in the North...what I need to know now is his name, as Cora's consultant has said she wouldn't be happy with us leaving without her liasing with the rhuematologist who would be treating her in the reef, as her condition is very rare, serious, and potentially life threatening (if not controlled properly).
She is the only child in Scotland with the condition. In the UK as a whole there are less than 2000 people suffering from it, so therefore a lot of doctors have never treated it.
I also need to find out if her medication would be available in Tenerife.
She is on Prednisolone (steroids), and Thalidamide, which is the one we are worried about, as it is a controlled drug, and we have to get it from her consultant, as General practioners are not allowed to prescribe it.
Her consultant here, would continue to see her twice a year initially, but can only give one months supply of Thalidamide at a time.
She would also need nerve conduction tests to ensure that the thalidamide was not causing nerve damage, again her neurologist here would see her initially, the tests are every six months, and she needs regular blood tests, to check for infection as her medication makes her immune system very low.
She would also need to see an opthalmologist twice a year as with her condition there is a chance of her going blind.
Her disease can be very devastating and there is no cure, but we are hoping that with montoring, and controlling it with drugs, she will have as near a normal life as possible.
You may think we are foolish taking her abroad with this condition, but as I said in an earlier post, the climate in Tenerife will be beneficial to her, as she suffers from severe arthritis, and could end up in a wheelchair, if it continues to deteriorate, the heat will almost definately help avoid this, and provided we can get her the level of care she has here, I feel we will be giving her a far better life, and more importantly she really wants to move to Tenerife.
I have tried phoning the hospital myself and have confirmed that there are rheumatologists there, if anyone could find out the name of the head of the rhuematology dept. I would be eternally gratefull, my spanish is not the best and the girl I spoke to spoke little english, so the conversation was going nowhere.
Even better if anyone knows if thalidamide is available from the hospital that would be a huge help, and lastly are there opthalmologists in the hospital as an optician is not enough.
If anyone knows the name and contact details of the english lady doctor, who has a practise in Los Cristianos, then I would be interested in speaking to her as I feel she could maybe help.
Thank you for reading guys.

H x