 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Alzheimer's / July 2004Think we got a good doc this time...
Took Mom for her first appt. with new doc this am. (For newbies her old doc dismissed all problems as growing old.) New doc seems poised to treat everything including high cholesterol and diabetes more aggressively. (Hallelujah!) She agrees with me that there is a memory issue. Mom is now volunteering that she had problems as long ago as five years, a year before she retired, when she asked for a transfer to a less stressful (and less mentally taxing) job. I just thought she wanted out of the pressure cooker -- she never told me she felt she could not do the job. New doc has scheduled her for a 30-minute mental exam next week and a CT scan of head in next three weeks. (She has pacemaker, so no MRI allowed.) (A lot of physical causes have already been ruled out, such as B-12 and thyroid issues.) Mom is going right along with everything, told me today she thinks she has Alz. She was glad I was there with her, said she couldn't remember everything doc told her. So I have already gone over it all again with both folks once and will do so several times again, I feel sure! <G> Now I need a separate calendar for the five follow-up visits we have with lab work and cardiologist -- and then we start on Dad next week.... lol ... Good thing I am self-employed with a flexible schedule! Songbird > Took Mom for her first appt. with new doc this am. (For newbies her old doc > dismissed all problems as growing old.) New doc seems poised to treat [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Songbird Songbird, I am SO happy for you and your mom too. Now you will at least know what you are dealing with, and can help her with meds and whatever plans need to be made.  SignatureRegards, Evelyn (to reply to me personally, remove 'sox") > Took Mom for her first appt. with new doc this am. (For newbies her old doc > dismissed all problems as growing old.) New doc seems poised to treat > everything including high cholesterol and diabetes more aggressively. > (Hallelujah!) Good luck! FWIW, the doctor who told my father his memory problems were 'just normal aging' about a year ago has since dropped dead - in his early fifties. ... > Now I need a separate calendar for the five follow-up visits we have with > lab work and cardiologist -- and then we start on Dad next week.... lol ... > Good thing I am self-employed with a flexible schedule! You've got that right - I'm self-employed too (and underemployed), and I don't see how caregivers with full-time jobs manage an elderly parent with lots of doctor appointments. I know when my grandmother was alive and in a nursing home, it still took a big chunk of Dad's vacation time taking her to appointments, my aunt came to town two or three times a year for regular batteries of tests, a great-aunt helped occasionally, and from the time I got my drivers license, I did chauffeuring duties frequently, too. -- Robert > > Took Mom for her first appt. with new doc this am. (For newbies her old > doc [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > ... Sounds like the minister who did my pre-marital counseling who my hubby thought was a jerk. His questions were stupid and left us wondering how his own marriage survived. (My dad married us, and he thankfully handed us off to someone else for the obligatory three counseling sessions.) A year later he left his wife and ran off with the organist. An argument for karma if there ever was one. Songbird ... > > Good luck! FWIW, the doctor who told my father his memory problems were > > 'just normal aging' about a year ago has since dropped dead - in his early [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > he left his wife and ran off with the organist. An argument for karma if > there ever was one. When my father was still active in his church, they had a visit from their bishop, who gave an apparently rousing sermon about reaching out to conservative Christians who would help them preserve the sacrament of marriage and the priesthood from gay priests and same-sex marriage. Dad was assigned to show the bishop around, and took him sightseeing and out to dinner. The bishop kept asking when they were going to go where there were some women - Dad thought he was joking, teasing Dad about being a womanizing sailor. It turned out the bishop was serious - he was already having an affair with his secretary, and eventually resigned in disgrace when it came out a few weeks later. -- Robert (BTW -- I posted several months ago about my father not going to church anymore and the fact that no one from the church seemed interested in his welfare at all, and some folks here suggested that the priest ought to come visit Dad at home. The priest *finally* did call and arranged to take my father out to lunch - unfortunately, there was a conflict on appointments, and my father cancelled and hasn't rescheduled. But a couple from the church did stop by unannounced to visit with him this week.) Dear Songbird, Glad to hear the new doctor is taking this seriously. Just a thought though, ask about the much more thorough neuro-psych test that will take a day or more---this will give you a better base-line for the future. Good luck. Always, Char > Took Mom for her first appt. with new doc this am. (For newbies her old doc > dismissed all problems as growing old.) New doc seems poised to treat [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Songbird Char, What extra info would this give us? Just so I can ask the doc intelligent questions. It may be that she is taking one round of tests at a time and seeing where they lead and also trying not to overload/frighten Mom. The cardiologist yesterday asked her how long she had been diabetic, and her reply was "since Monday." That was the first time a doctor had actually told her (or my dad) she was diabetic, even though she has been on glipizide for nine months or so. She's dutifully doing everything we ask, but when she left the PCP with five different appoitnments for followup or testing in the next four weeks -- she was a little overwhelmed. (Add that to two for my dad, plus an MRI for me for a bad foot and a followup on that and an eye appointment -- I have a little appointment overload myself!) Songbird > Dear Songbird, > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > > > Songbird |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.