FInally met with-my cousin's neuropsychologist!!!!

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I love him!
He is the type of neuropsychologist everyone is always looking for on this board, except his specialty is gerontology.
He said that for the complete 2-1/2 hr testing and the incompetency papers, it is $300 and not covered by insurance.
I told him that we were used to that because my son has Asperger's and there were a lot of things not covered by insurance, especially certain kinds of testing.
He said, "Oh, your son has Asperger's and then you take care of her? That's a lot."
Woo-hoo!
(Isn't validation nice? Fleeting, but nice.)
He will try to send in the psychologist who does testing one more time (P. sent her away 2X, and they did a bit of testing for about 1/2 hr, but said she was in pain, and couldn't focus her attention to complete the test. She said her mind wanders off.) and said he sees no problem with-having her declared incompetent. He even mentioned things I hadn't thought of--poor impulse control combined with-short attention span--kind of sounded like my son! We talked in the hall, and then sat down with-P. and boy, was she mad!

"You don't have to talk about things in secret. I am NOT a child!"

Well, maybe the dr could have been more subtle about stepping outside ...

He told her that he would like to have the testing completed and work on some medications for her. She argued that she knew all about that kind of testing from high school, and from a hospital where she worked, and it was boring and a waste of time and had nothing to do with-medication.
He said they don't do that kind of testing in high school. She said she had it back in her day.

It went downhill from there.

She asked him why we went out into the hall and he said it was to talk about testing and medication and cognitive issues. She said "Yes, but why did you go out into the hall?" He said, "I just told you."
They talked for a minute and then she said, "Why did you go out into the hall?"
He said "I just told you," and repeated why.
She repeated the whole thing again. "There is nothing you can't talk about in front of me."
I said I knew, and so he was telling her exactly what they were going to do and what we were talking about. I told her that you can't just prescribe things because it's dangerous.
She said they could and used to. I said there are all sorts of new things in the field now and it's exciting but dangerous.
She said, "I don't think it's exciting. I'm upset."
Sigh.
I think she mentioned pain medications at some point, too ...
She argued that she thought it was stupid. Then she asked why we went out into the hall.
OMG.
So, I will be getting something in the mail from the dr. when it's all finished.
It can't be soon enough. I have to get that apartment monkey off my back.

Yesterday we spent several hrs at a mini-ER because P called me 6 times crying in pain. She was absolutely hysterical. On the almost-last call, I told her it may be a spontaneous break and I would send in a nurse to examine her.
According to the private caregiver I hired, 2 nurses came in and talked to her, but no one did an exam. No BiPolar (BP), nothing. Just blew her off and told her to go to the ER.
(This is where the boy who cried wolf gets it in the end. No one believes her.)

I met the caregiver and P about 1/2 hr later. P's BiPolar (BP) was way high, which indicated that she truly was in a great deal of pain. She insisted it was in her tailbone. I thought that was strange. She couldn't possibly have broken it AGAIN. Not 4X!
They also did a urinalysis.

When the dr came in and showed us the Xray, I said, "I thought you were going to shoot the lumbar spine and coccyx."
He said, "We did. That's just the point. You can't see any of the spine because they're so much poop in there."
OMG.
He pulled up her medication chart and said "That's a lot of medicine."
P of course asked for pain medications. He said "No, that's what's causing your problem."
He also pointed out that she's got red blood cells in her urine. I wasn't sure what that was all about, so I called husband later. He said lots of his PT have that when they've been on pain medications for a long time. They eat up your insides and then it shows up in your urine. Oh. Of course.
I asked the dr to examine and touch the tailbone area.
P said, "Ouch, that's sore."
He said, "See, that's not broken, or else ..." (She would have been on the ceiling LOL!) And the last xrays from a cpl mo's ago show the area has healed.

Anyway, the dr. prescribed a suppository and told P to eat and drink much, much more than she has been doing. He said she has to get up and walk around and be much more mobile.

Today I stopped by and told her what a good thing this was--now we know that the pain is coming from inside, and that she has to move around and drink a lot of fluids. I said, "I've been here for an hr and you haven't even finished your orange juice." (It was noon and she'd had the juice since 8 a.m.)

She finished it in front of me but I can guarantee you that's all she'll have today. The caregiver tries to get her to walk around and do all the right things but my cousin can be so stubborn.
As one of my friends said, "She can wear down Mt. Everest."
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Sounds like you have an awesome neuropsychologist on board!!! Yay!!

The rest? Sounds pretty typical for a very elderly person. Her tail bone hurts because of all the pressure from the full bowel pressing on it. The full bowel makes her feel "full" so her appetite and urge to drink is reduced, which only makes it worse. The "fullness" doesn't really make her feel up to moving around much either, especially if it stirs up gas, by the time you get to that stage the gas pains can get awfully painful. There is this fiber powder sold OTC for food and drink that is tasteless and helps a lot. I can't recall the name off the top of my head but Aubrey has severe issues with constipation and it works wonders for her........and if it has no taste to a 4 yr old your aunt should have no issue.

The referrence to the hall repeatedly is memory loss, sounds like some short term memory issues, also not uncommon. The rest? Mostly just that she doesn't want to give up her independence with some confusion added in. lol

That bowel issues needs watched closely. mother in law had severe arthritis pain and took large amts of pain medications.......and so the bowel issue became a major problem. Then......it got blocked and that was the end. Nursing home staff were to be encouraging her to eat and drink........but yeah, you can't shove it down their throats, so all you can do is hope to convince them.

Sounds like things are beginning to swing in your favor. Wonderful.

Hugs
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Thank you.
by the way, when you said your mother in law had bowel blockage, what exactly happened? Sepsis?
I'm wondering if it would do any good to put a good scare into P. She only remembers things that are emotional, so logic and reason, aka "If you drink more fluids this won't happen" will not work.
 

slsh

member since 1999
Miralax is excellent, and it does not require the extra fluid that some fiber therapies do. with- Boo being a tube-fed quad, regularity is an issue near and dear to my heart, LOL. We've tried just about everything over the years, from homeopathic to rx medications to ... well, you name it, we've tried it. Miralax is gentle, doesn't cause gas or cramping, and can be safely used on a regular basis just to make sure that, once the crisis is over, things keep on flowing.

I admire your patience, Terry. You are doing very well by your cousin.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Thank you.
She's on a gel tab and a powder and I'm wondering if the name on the container is a generic name for Miralax. I'll check on it.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I was just set to type, "Hey, I didn't sign up for this," but then, I kind of did. No one put a gun to my head and made me call her after her husband died 6 yrs ago ...
Although I'm ready to put a gun to my head now!
 
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