Thursday, October 23, 2008

Latest and greatest medical news

The neurologist today didn’t want me to talk. LOL – that’s tough on a good day, but when someone is asking Ron questions that I know he doesn’t know the answer to, it was very difficult to not say anything. Ron kept looking at me for help and I knew he was leaving out details. I don’t mind them wanting to hear from the patient, but if the patient doesn’t know the answers, how is the doctor going to know if they’ve left out any details? The doctor finally asked me to fill in the blanks where Ron had left out a lot of information.

He obviously hadn’t read Ron’s chart either because he totally forgot that he’d seen Ron in the hospital and he had forgotten that Ron saw him in 2002 and saw one of his partners in 2005. Once he actually stopped and read some of his own notes (which were right there in front of him), things started coming back to him.

The doctor asked him a series of questions, asked him to spell “world” and spell it backwards. He couldn’t spell it backwards (gave a w at both ends) but got close after about three tries. Asked him who the president was – got that right. Who the candidates were – John McCain and “Obama yo mama” and then laughed because he couldn’t remember his actual name. Asked who the running mates were; McCain and Biden. Asked if McCain and McCain were running. No, it’s McCain and Sara, Obama and Biden. Doc then asked him how many kids he had and how many grandchildren. He said six kids and six grandkids (there’s seven grandkids). Asked him where his children lived. He got close on Stacey (between Haysville and Derby), couldn’t remember the town where Tim lives (Andover), thought Keith still lived on Rock Road and never got any farther than that until later in the conversation he said Shaun lived in California. Doctor told him to remember airplane, book, and spoon and then he talked to him for a while, asking him several questions. Then he asked him what three things he was supposed to remember. After several tries he finally got plane and book.

He doesn’t think Ron is bad yet but says he has a definite problem and to watch it. If it gets worse then our primary care doctor should put him on some medication. I said that’s what she wanted him to determine. I said his home memory was a problem right now. I need him to remember things that he’s not remembering – like take his medication, important phone calls (he can’t write so it’s not like he can take a message so if I don’t see it on caller ID I don’t know who has called), to eat, etc. So, he said he’d recommend that primary care doctor start him on Aricept. He didn’t want to prescribe anything himself because he’s retiring next month (after 38 years in the medical field) so he’ll send his recommendations to our primary care doctor.

For the tremors, he said that since Ron had taken Inderol before and it didn’t work (took it in 2005) he didn’t want to give him that – especially because of the pacemaker and kidney disease. So he recommended Topamax. I know Amy tried Topamax when she had migraines and it made her really sick. I’m not sure what it will do for Ron – or not do.

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