Katie's story: 13 years of pain before finally being taken seriously

Katie Hazel, 25, from Tadcaster, fractured her wrist when she was 11. Since then she has suffered pain and swelling that has impacted her education, employment and life. Diagnosed with tendonitis and finally getting the support and care she needs, she’s feeling more hopeful than she has in over a decade.

Lack of diagnosis 

When I was 11 I fell while roller-skating and suffered a hairline fracture. When they took the pot off my arm three weeks later it still hurt, the doctor said it would get better but it never did. Just as I started high school it flared, swelling and pain, so I went back to the GP who suggested painkillers, it’s only since recently reading my NHS notes I found that was the first time a doctor noted possible De Quervain’s, but he never mentioned that to us.

At 16 I had a few instances where I was in so much pain school sent me home and I saw a locum who prescribed naproxen but 24 hours later I was in A&E with an asthma attack being told never to take that again.

I kept going back to the doctors who kept suggesting ibuprofen gel, heat and ice and elevation. My ICT teacher had been through something similar so agreed to let me type in her class where every other teacher would question why I needed to. Eventually I was given my first steroid injection which got me through my mock exams but only lasted six weeks. I had my second steroid injection in October 2017 just after starting sixth form and it only worked for two weeks.  

I had one more steroid injection in May 2018 but, again, it only worked for two weeks. I was focused on my A-levels and wanting to get to University but, looking back, I didn’t realise how much it was all getting me down, I struggled with fatigue but my friends didn’t understand why I couldn’t go out and do things. After the third steroid injection stopped working I saw a hand specialist and ended up having hand surgery in June 2019, just after my A-levels which did help a bit.

Support makes such a difference

While studying computing at university I did have disabled student allowance in place so they were very supportive but by the time I was doing my PGCE in 2022 my wrist was worse and I was struggling. I couldn’t always mark papers and my mentors didn’t always understand. I stuck with it and finished in 2023 when I signed with a supply agency to build my confidence which is how I got into my first school.

I fell in love with that school in Warrington and the head of department’s support and understanding made such a difference. However, in 2024 I went to a different school but by the November I’d had a flare and my wrist was the worst it had been since surgery, horrific pain. I’d been told as a teenager arthritis was likely, so I asked for that to be investigated but an x-ray came back clear. This second school was not supportive either, and I would be questioned every time I had an appointment.

Getting answers via private healthcare

After Christmas 2024, I slipped on black ice and sprained my already bad wrist, that along with the tendonitis meant I had to be signed off work. The GP sent me to a physio who said my wrist was too weak for her to work with me, so I was referred to orthopaedics. It was there that I was asked a question that shocked me, ‘Why do they keep sending you for x-rays when tendons don’t show?’ That’s when I went for an MRI which showed swelling and inflammation, likely to be tendonitis. They recommended a fourth steroid injection that, again, didn’t work.

In October 2025 I moved back to Yorkshire to live with my Grandad because I couldn’t cope on my own and I feel awful that, at 25, my grandad has to cook for me and look after me. 

My new doctor was quick to refer me for physio but after a couple of sessions she said my wrist was so weak that everything she could suggest would increase the pain. She suggested pain management in January and I went on a 50-week waiting list. I’ve still not heard from them eight months later.

I have also been to my GP about new concerns of my wrist, including tingling fingers which led to a diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel which led to another steroid injection. After that injection my whole hand started tingling so I was sent for blood tests and they came back with inflammation levels being high.

In desperation and frustration, I booked to see a private hand specialist in August who couldn’t believe it when I told him I’d had this problem for 13 years. He’s now looking at a few routes including carpal tunnel decompression and scar tissue issues and he’s said he could deal with both in one surgery. I’ve had some tingling in two fingers and he thinks it could be because I’ve had undiagnosed tendonitis for so long.

He’s also suggested my GP refers me to rheumatology and is also going to ask them to refer me to him via the NHS which is a huge relief because the cost of private treatment is a worry.

I do feel I’m being taking seriously for the first time and that my wrist is finally being investigated thoroughly. I’ve been passed from pillar to post since I was 12, have spent over half of my life in pain with nobody really helping so I now feel more hopeful than I have in a long time, like there may finally be a way forward.