Charles was very nervous heading out to his appointment today. I think he must fear "bad news". Doc said that his walking is much better and he is not going to change anything but wants to give the medicine time to work -- he goes back in January.
Doc did say that he thinks he is depressed -- no appetite, not sleeping well, sitting around a lot and just tuning out. Dr. Besson put him on an anti-depressant for his anxiety and Dr. Owens said it could take several weeks for the medicine to work. This has been an awful month for him and I am so ready for him to snap out of it. I did see an improvement in his spirit after we got home. I want the old Charlie back -- the laughing, telling jokes, cutting-up Charlie. I think he fears having to sell the farm (which I would love) or keeping the farm and not being able to take care of it. I feel so sorry for him and I am not going to let him set at home alone all winter. Winter depresses me!
I was hoping he would look at the MRI -- he didn't -- said he would look at it and call.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
First do no Harm...
My poor husband has had a terrible month of anxiety relating to his Parkinson's Disease.
Charles' first doctor visit was to the family doctor, Dr. Alvarado. Doc just gave him a diagnosis that he thought it was PD and wrote the referral to the neurologist. No advice, no recommendation of therapy -- just collected his money. We went to the neurologist, who sent him for an MRI and blood work, and he received a prescription.
His anxiety was so bad a few days later that I took him back to Dr. Alvarado's office and he saw the NP. She gave him a nerve pill but no recommendations otherwise -- no appointment to come back.
We received advice from several that he should get a second opinion. Made good sense to me. So we went to Dr. Besson, a man whom a lot of friends trust and recommend, for a second opinion. He gave us lots of advice and wrote a prescription for physical and speech therapy. He followed through and requested records from Dr. Alvarado's office to make sure all the proper blood work had been done. One more B12 blood test to go -- Charles heads back to Dr. Alvarado's office. He sits there for a couple of hours and finally goes to the window to find out what the problem is. Long story short, after a month of anxiety (which is in his medical record there) they tell him he is no longer a patient. I would never guess that a doctor would react in such a way to a second opinion. So much for helping a man who is down....
Charles' first doctor visit was to the family doctor, Dr. Alvarado. Doc just gave him a diagnosis that he thought it was PD and wrote the referral to the neurologist. No advice, no recommendation of therapy -- just collected his money. We went to the neurologist, who sent him for an MRI and blood work, and he received a prescription.
His anxiety was so bad a few days later that I took him back to Dr. Alvarado's office and he saw the NP. She gave him a nerve pill but no recommendations otherwise -- no appointment to come back.
We received advice from several that he should get a second opinion. Made good sense to me. So we went to Dr. Besson, a man whom a lot of friends trust and recommend, for a second opinion. He gave us lots of advice and wrote a prescription for physical and speech therapy. He followed through and requested records from Dr. Alvarado's office to make sure all the proper blood work had been done. One more B12 blood test to go -- Charles heads back to Dr. Alvarado's office. He sits there for a couple of hours and finally goes to the window to find out what the problem is. Long story short, after a month of anxiety (which is in his medical record there) they tell him he is no longer a patient. I would never guess that a doctor would react in such a way to a second opinion. So much for helping a man who is down....
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