The Right Doctor

The following situations are true. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

A resident of an exceptional memory care community was sent to the local ER because there were some issues they had that warranted that action. They were escorted by a member of the staff as this community would never send one of their residents without an advocate. They had brought all the appropriate information with them to explain what the problem was but in spite of that, The Administrator of the community received a call from the physician asking “what am I supposed to do with her?” The confused Administrator responded with the obvious answer of “deal with the issue they have.” The Administrator was further dumbfounded and appalled when the Doctor then said “ you know treating your people is like treating animals. They can’t tell you what’s wrong.” To his credit, the Administrator reminded the Doctor that, as an ER physician, he didn’t have the luxury of having every patient he dealt with alert and oriented and able to articulate what their issues were. He went on to tell the physician that he should be ashamed of himself and the physicians response was to say “I’m sorry you feel that way” and hung up.

Then there is the physician that feels everyone that has dementia should be placed on Hospice and put no effort into trying to maintain or improve their quality of life. True, dementia is a progressive disease but it progresses slowly and in most cases, with the help of family, friends and quality caregivers those final months and years can be very meaningful for them.

Finally, in another ER story, a demented gentleman was brought in and was very confused, disoriented and agitated. Changing their environment can do that. Rather than know how to deal with theses challenges, things went sideways fast and security ended up slamming the gentleman to the floor to subdue him. This gentleman had no history of aggressive behavior. He was just scared and unable to process what was happening or why.

When lecturing, I make it a point to stress how important it is to have the right doctor. Let’s look at your options.

Primary Care Physician: Great for performing an initial assessment but normally they will refer you to a specialist and they should. Specialists can evaluate memory and cognitive issues.

Geriatricians are Primary Care Physicians with additional training in medical care for those 65 and older.

Geriatric Psychiatrists are trained in General Psychiatry as well as the mental health of the aging.

Neurologists are trained in nervous disorders including brain, spinal cord and nerves. Although they are trained in the area of Alzheimer’s another dementias, not all deal with it so make sure your seeing one that does.

Neuropsychologists can administer tests that evaluate thinking ability, memory, attention, language and problem solving.

The more information you can provide the physicians the better it is. Behaviors as well as appropriate tests can identify which parts of the brain are affected. It will also help them when prescribing appropriate medications if necessary. With that said, they’ll want to know what medications they/ you are already on.

The Alzheimer’s Association website ALZ.ORG is a wonderful source to learn more. You can even take a tour which will tell you what you can or should expect when you or your loved one are being evaluated. If it’s you that you’re worried about and? you take a tour or test yourself, don’t try and play Dr. Goggle with the results. See one of the specialists I mentioned earlier.

When dealing with Alzheimer’s/dementia you need to be pro active and stay out of the “Denial Zone.” Dementia is not a disease but a symptom and it does a great job of impacting the daily life of those afflicted, in all stages. That’s why it’s so important to be seeing the right doctor.

Questions? Email me at [email protected]