Dr. Visit

Is: I started the day by getting to mom’s by 8:30 and getting her bathed and ready for her 10AM appointment. I dropped her back home at about 1:30. She was not happy at all about it (understatement) when I told her.  However, she would keep forgetting about it as she often asked me where we were going. Ruth and I both went to the appt with her.  However, Dr. Linda did not see her until shortly after 11AM.  Dr Linda spent a great deal of time reviewing her electronic records, starting with the reports from Dr. Roman (Neuro). If you recall, I had requested her records be sent from Methodist during mom’s Dr. Visit in October. She asked many questions about mom’s mental state and her ability to perform daily tasks.  Of course, Ruth and I attempted to answer her questions in a way that mom would not catch on what we were talking about.  Several times mom got defensive, saying she understood English. To make a long story short about that portion of the visit, we discussed Aricept, with the Dr. explaining the negative side effect of diarrhea, but saying there’s a chance that it might help (or not).  I said we did want to try it out.  She is prescribing it in two strengths.  She said to try out one pill a day first, preferably with meals and see how it goes. I think we should give it to her at dinner. Depending on her reaction to it, Dr. then would add another med to it (can’t recall the name (uh,oh) but starts with an “E”.

 

Then the Dr. proceeded to the physical exam, where mom had to wear only a paper gown, which made her extremely upset.  She had to wait about 30 minutes before the Dr. came.  Mom hated the physical. She pretty much yelled in pain several times. She also had lots of pain in her lower abdomen when the dr. pressed.  Dr. ordered an ultrasound of the area, which I will work on scheduling. I will follow up on that test and let you know when that is.  They also collected blood and urine for a complete workup. I’m going to set up a follow up appointment with Dr. Linda to discuss results. Will update you when that is, but Dr. Linda thought I should give it about a month.  In the car after the appointment, mom seemed to have forgotten the details and was telling me how nice Dr. Linda is. 

 

Pain Med for knees, etc: Dr. Linda wants us to try the pain med she had prescribed back in October (mom still has most of the Rx – again can’t remember the name, but it is in her plastic med container). She says to give her one pill once a day (with a meal) for two weeks to see if it makes any difference.  I told Ruth to go ahead and give it to her at lunch Mon-Thurs.  Then Fri, Sat and Sun, we can give at either lunch or Dinner. She does not like to have people take it for extended periods of time, because as with most pain meds, it can affect the liver.

 

Finally, mom also got a tetanus shot, so her arm may hurt for a couple of days.