welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Friday, December 24, 2010

the neurology visit

THE NEUROLOGY VISIT
today i had the dreaded neurology visit
it really sucks to be on this side of the health care system
my wife she and i drove 3 hours to the visit

originally at check in spent more time looking at their
electronic medical record as they checked me in
we dont have one but are in the process of getting one
through out our 300 doctor medical group

so this is what its like to be a patient
dont like it

met with person running the alzhiemers research studies
she had called me about my neuropsychological testing
she wants me to be in a study but will wait until i see
the neurologist and decide what work up and testing
need to be done

well saw the neurologist today
had a neurological exam
the neurologist reviewed the results of the neuropsychological
testing with me

it sucks

have a definiite deficit in memory that correlates with early mild
cognitive impairment amnesic type
what this means is that i am heading down the same path that
my mother took  and another relative is on now
the difference is that i am so early in the disease process that
no one notices anything

remember no one not my wife she nor my nurse she has
noticed any problems with cognition but i have
it has not  affected my practice yet

i will be placed on medication that will slow the process down
(its the same medication my mother took and my relative takes
now) for a while then it will take off again after a period of time
what this time frame is is not known for sure

will have to discontinue practicing medicine as there is a
chance in the near future that it will interfere with my ability
to practice medicine

at least my wife she and i will have had time to plan for our
future whatever it will bring

we have accepted the diagnosis and plan to move on and
make the most of our lives together

this was written two days ago

the organicgreen doctor

No comments:

Post a Comment