Why so long?

[Tinkerpuss]

My sister-in-law's health has been deteriorating since last summer. her first symptoms were slurred speech as if slightly drunk, then her voice became 'croaky'.
She had an MRI scan and EEG in November which showed no growths or tumours and was referred for neurological tests.
Her mother and uncle both died of Motor Neurone Disease and my family's fear is that this is the problem. She is now having difficulty swallowing, dribbling when she eats and is losing weight. My brother phoned the hospital and they told him it could be a few more months before she gets the tests which will diagnose the problem.
Does anyone know why this may be taking so long as it is very distressing? Even if the prognosis is not good, at least we will know what we are dealing with. She is 54 - the same age as when her mother first had these symptoms.

[sara3]

Tinker, I'm sorry.. it sounds a bit like classic signs, doesn't it? are there benefits to early diagnosis? if there are, you must just start getting on at people, the gp, Primary Care Trust, etc. there is a MND site that may offer advice.

good luck, and I wish her all the best x

[sara3]

http://www.mndassociation.org/

[jackthehat]

http://www.mndassocia...hat_is_mnd/index.html

Contact these ^ as a matter of urgency.
They are very good...........

[Tinkerpuss]

Thanks folks,
I have just e-mailed the MND association. I know an early diagnosis will not solve anything but I can't understand why it takes the NHS so long.

[bednobs]

hi, as far as i know there is no "test" for MND, it's more a diagnosis of exclusion

[Sqad]

MND and ALS (both similar) can be diagnosed by Nerve Conduction Studies and Electromyography (EMG)

These are very specialised investigations from very specialised units and are very time consuming, hence the waiting time may be excessive.

Also there may only be one Unit for a very wide area.