I am forwarding Stanley's message (with his permission) to ask for
information for him. Stanley was hesitant to post his request at all
because he felt it was too depressing for those of us in the earlier
stages of pd but I explained to him that all topics about pd are open for
discussion and members will usually just delete those they don't want to
read or those not relevant to them.
The only suggestions I can come up with are to find a neurologist in the
Springfield, Missouri, area who specializes in pd and to prepare ahead of
time for the appointment by:
1. keep a daily diary of his father-in-law's days including
medications, diet, exercise and symptoms with the timing of each of these
in case there is something significant about the sequences.
2. send a copy of the diary to the neurologist ahead of any appointment.
3. sit down together and discuss any questions you want to ask the neuro
and write them down and, again, send it to the neuro ahead of time. I
would also suggest taking a copy with you to the appointment to be sure
that both documents are in the room with you at the time of the appointment.
4. take a tape recorder with you and explain to the neuro that you want
to tape the meeting in case you 'forget' something (s)he said. That way,
you will have a record of the meeting to remind you afterward of what was
said and the neuro will also be able to refer to specific points in
future discussions.
5. we don't have to 'like' our neuros...it helps but it's not
necessary. If the neuro knows what (s)he is doing and can communicate
that to us so that we are all perfectly clear about what is going on, we
can put up with personality deficits in the neuro.
6. remember...you have 'hired' that neuro...you are paying money, in one
way or another, for his/her time. During that appointment, you have a
right to expect him/her to give you your money's worth of attention and
expertise. If you are not getting your money's worth, ask your family
doctor to refer you to another neuro...in other words, fire the neuro and
hire another one.
Well, listmembers, that's my contribution to Stanley's questions....I'm
handing it over to you.
Barb
===========================================================================
Barbara Patterson [log in to unmask]
HSC 2J22 905-525-9140, ext. 22403
School of Nursing
===========================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 17:32:15 -0500
From: Stanley <[log in to unmask]>
To: Barbara Patterson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: PD and "final stages"
Hi Barbara!
We were really disappointed after posting for information concerning the
"final stages" of PD... there were no comments online posted and we didn't
receive any by personal E-mail.
I don't know if you remember my post; but my father-in-law has had PD for
14 years and is 78 years old. He's having problems with dementia, very
slow, his speech is probably more than every slurred almost illegible at
times.
Do you know of anywhere we could obtain the information that we need or
someone online that would be willing to help us? My father-in-law's
neurologist has the personality of a toad and has no patience with my wife
who is partially deaf and can't understand him.
Any help would be appreciated.
Gratefully,
Stanley Koehler
*****************************************************************
* Stanley Koehler | Easy does it... *
* Springfield, Missouri | One day at a time... *
* [log in to unmask] | Keep it simple... *
* [log in to unmask] | [it's the only way!] *
*****************************************************************
