My consultation with a neuropsychologist

Yesterday turned out to be an interesting day for me. I had an appointment at The Memory and Mobility Clinic. I thought that this was an appointment for my neuropsychological evaluation. The secretary took my insurance information and asked me if I knew that this appointment was not for the testing and I said no and that I thought it was. She explained that the first step was to be interviewed by the neuropsychologist. He would determine whether the testing needed to be done and how long of an appointment that I would need to make in order to complete the testing. I spent about one hour with the neuropsychologist. He agreed with my neurologist and said that he felt that I needed to have the testing done. He said that I should schedule three hours for my next appointment.

It never ceases to amaze me what I don't understand. While I was waiting for the receptionist to call my name, I went to the ladies’ room. The receptionist had told me that the bathroom was down the hallway on the left. Outside the bathroom, there was a sign on the wall that showed a picture of a man and a woman. So, the confusion began in my brain, “Was this the ladies’ or men's room?” Then I checked on the door and I saw the same pictures. I stood in front of the door for a few seconds, then I decided to try to open the door. It turned out to be a unisex bathroom with one stall in it. I'm not really sure why this confused me!

A short time after returning to the seating area, the receptionist called my name and took me to the doctor's room. The doctor asked me if I knew why I was there and I said yes. He also introduced himself to me. He looked at the questionnaire that I had filled out and then asked me lots of questions. He felt that since I appeared to be able to carry on conversations with him, that I probably didn't have EOAD, especially since I was diagnosed nine years ago. He said that there should have been a lot more progress, but then again, he didn’t know me before my diagnosis. He said that back then a pet scan was not a good determining factor because it was not as accurate as it is today.

The doctor asked me lots of questions such as what the date was, which I passed with flying colors. Then he asked me if I remembered his name and I said no. He really doesn’t have a very easy name to remember and since this doctor was new to me, his name was not in my long-term memory. I told him that most of my memory problems were short term and a lot of it was moment to moment. I told him that I stayed in a verbally abusive marriage for twenty-seven years, but that I was now divorced and much happier with my life. He asked about stress and I explained that because I lived alone, I had to work two jobs to support myself and that sometimes that was really hard for me to do.

He asked me about the kinds of tests that were done nine years to come up with my diagnosis and I wasn't really sure if I could remember that. Luckily, he was able to look up this information online from a report done by my first neurologist. He told me that even if the second diagnosis of MCI was correct, that I still should have progressed. From what I've read online, not all MCI patients progress to Alzheimer's. Oh boy, it almost seems like I'm back to square one. It is just a waiting game until the tests are done and the results are in.

He concluded that I needed to have this testing done to really see what was going on with my memory and cognition. I also told him that there are lots of time that I don’t understand things. He said that he would also test for language. He said that he would need three hours to do the tests and that on my way out I could make this appointment.

I’m not sure if I can handle three hours of testing, but I will see how it goes! The next available appointment wasn’t until September and I will have to take off from school because they only do the tests in the morning or early afternoon. Then about one month later, I will have a follow-up appointment with my neurologist. I think that he will go over this neuro. psych. evaluation with me. Hopefully, it will give some answers as to what exactly I’m dealing with!