Hi to all: I have a simple "little" question that I hope can be answered by
someone.
Some history: My father has Parkinson and belongs to H.I.P. Every
wednesday he goes to HIP for his blood work. My mother then goes on
Friday, takes the blood work from 1 HIP center to another where the
Doctor prescribing is. She then waits for 2 hours for the Doctor to
glance at the reports. Then another hour until he writes a prescription,
which she has to drive to the pharmacy to be filled. "Why doesn't HIP just
fax these things? Why does it take so long for the Doctor to glance and
write a prescription?", you ask. I don't know. I just don't have the
brain power to compete with those people.
Recently, though, the Doc at HIP has decided that the medication is not
worth the trouble (see above for explanation of trouble) . He does not want
the responsibility to prescribe, he does not want to see my mother every
friday, he just does not want!!!
SO, he decided to give my dad a new medication called Olanzapine
(Zyprexa). This medication (a cousin to Clozapine) is supposed to have
all the benefits but none of the bad stuff (blood test etc..). I know
Olanzapine is a brand new medication, it was recently in the paper, but
does anyone have any experience with it?? When my mother asked the Doctor
what is his experience with it, he answered that it was pretty good. All
in all, he has 157 patients on it and they are all doing fine. When my
mother asked how many of those patients have Parkinson's he said NONE.
Now, I don't mind a great new medication, I just have a problem with my
father being a guiny-pig. This of course is the same doctor who does not
see the benefit of the Clozapine on my dad, when it is quite the
opposite. My father is doing much better with it!!!!!
Lastly, It took us a long time to get my father on Clozapine. The doctor
did not want to listen to us and to Dr. Greene from Columbia (who wrote a
great letter..). Instead he gave my father Respidol (sp?) which had a
great NEGATIVE effect on my dad. That was a pretty bad Heart-wrenching
fiasco of seeing, which did not end when he stopped taking that awful
medication - you see, you have to wait until it completly is out of the
system, plus time to get an appointment (all in all a MONTH). Because of
this painful lesson, we do not want to lose what we have accomplished for
something that may not be good.
If anyone has any experience, please post it or e-mail me directly.
THANKS
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