Dr Catherine Bull MBChB

A man went to his doctor complaining of aches and pains all over his body. 
"Doctor, my whole body hurts," he moaned. 
The doctor asked him to show him exactly where the pain was.
The man touched his shoulder - "Ouch."
The man touched his knee - "Ouch."
The man touched his nose - "Ouch."

"You've got a broken finger."

My boyfriend told me this joke a few days ago. It's relevant for two reasons:
1. My index finger currently resembles a sausage.
2. I'm now an actual doctor.

This blog post is a few weeks overdue actually, because my graduation ceremony was back in July. For once though it's not because I'm completely rubbish at finding time to blog. I've opened this page several times over the last few weeks, but it's been really difficult to put my feelings from that day into words. I have passed some of the time by searching for pictures of sausage fingers online. I didn't find any, but I did find this:

I have a sausage finger AND I graduated.

It appears that I have sunk to new lows in the name of procrastination. 

The truth is I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words how I felt that day, because there are no words in existence that would do it justice. My only solution is to describe to you my journey over the last eight years and let you imagine for yourself. I realise that this involves a bit of effort on your part, but I did just provide you with a picture of a sausage wearing a mortar board so I think it's only fair.

It's fair to say that most, if not all, people doubted whether I'd ever be able to make it as a doctor. It's not that people thought I wasn't capable but, let's face it, how many doctors do you know that have RA? Medicine is hard enough without all the pain, immobility, fatigue, and hospital stays that the disease brings. Careers advisors at college strongly advised me to consider another degree. Medical students on my course gossipped behind my back asking each other, "How is she going to be a doctor if she's got RA?" Even my parents, though they didn't admit it to me until recently and have always supported me, were horrified when I first told them I wanted to be a doctor. But, as regular readers of this blog will know, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge. And a challenge it definitely was...

May 2005 I become ill just at the time I am about to sit my AS level exams. 

August 2005 I don't get the grades I need to apply for medicine. 

October 2005 I apply anyway. I don't get in.

October 2006 I reapply for medicine and take a gap year to resit my exams. 

March 2007 I get accepted to the University of Leeds. 

April 2007 I get told by my rheumatologist that I need my hip replaced. The operation is scheduled for the first day of university. I cancel it. 

September 2007 I hobble around for a term, sleep for around 15 hours a day, don't make it to many lectures, with the end result being I fail my first exam. 

December 2007 I finally get a new hip. 

March 2008 I am allowed back to university at last, having missed most of the second term and two more exams. 

July 2008 Whilst everyone else is enjoying their summer holidays, I spend mine sitting every single first year exam in the space of one week. I pass. 

January 2009 My first of many gastritis-related hospital stays and my first of many endoscopies. 

January 2010 Another gastritis-related hospital stay. Another endoscopy. 

May 2010 The tonsillitis I have developed gets out of hand as my immune system cannot cope. I end up in hospital for a week following a collapse in A&E. 

July 2010 I fail an exam, mainly due to being ill (again) but also in part due to my poor knowledge of the female anatomy ("Considering you're a woman, Cat, you have surprisingly poor knowledge of the anatomy of the female genitalia." - Dr Pat McConnell, Anatomy Lecturer, University of Leeds). I am told I have to resit third year.

March 2011 The treatment I am on suddenly stops working, I visit my GP so many times in one week that I'm surprised they don't take out a restraining order against me. I miss several weeks of placement through illness. 

January 2012 Another hospital stay and another endoscopy means I miss my psychiatry placement and have to rearrange it for the summer holidays. 

September 2012 I am admitted to hospital after the ear infection I have developed gets out of hand because apparently my immune system doesn't do ear infections. 

November 2012 Hospital stay, endoscopy, yada yada. 

May 2013 I PASS MY EXAMS. 

July 2013 I am finally able to put two fingers up to every single person who ever told me I wouldn't be able to become a doctor and, most importantly, to RA.