My neurologist appointment

(Chapter 15 Medical Appointments and its Challenges in my book)

This afternoon saw my neurologist. I talked to him about the foggy episode from last Thursday. He took notes and asked me questions. He looked at my records on his computer and he asked me some more questions. The doctor asked if I had ever had an EEG and I told him that I thought I had one about ten years ago, when the first neurologist was trying to find out what was wrong with my brain. He said that he was also a little concerned about this episode because I described the fog as lasting longer than previously. He did find on his computer the results of my first EEG and he said that it didn't show any significant problems.

He said that he wanted me to have a new EEG done to make sure that my brain wasn't short circuiting and they were going to check to make sure that this wasn't a mini seizure. He said that if it is short circuiting, that there is some medication that he can give me to help with that. I am having this EEG done this Thursday and I think that we will get the results on Friday. This will be a sleep-deprived EEG.

I told my neurologist about what sometimes happens with chap stick. I told him that sometimes I can only call it "lip stuff" and I can only pull the cover off. During this time, I don't know what to do to push the chap stick to the top. I just look at it and put the cover back on, knowing that I'm confused. He told me that is not a memory deficit, but rather something called "executive function".

I think that the next time that I have an appointment with my neurologist, I really need to take notes, because I have difficulty remembering the details. On the sheet that the assistant gave me when I left, it stated this Reason for visit: MCI (mild cognitive impairment) – primary and underneath it stated “Transient alteration of awareness.” I will update again after I get the test results.

On Nov. 13, 2015 I had a sleep-deprived EEG done. I just heard from my neurologist's office. They said that the EEG didn't show anything unusual, so he feels that the foggy episode from a week ago was not caused by a seizure. I think that I could have saved the time and the insurance the money because I didn't think that it was a seizure, but then again, I'm not a doctor. There are no plans to do any more testing. He wants to follow-up with me in six months. Too bad there wasn't an explanation for this fog, or medication to prevent it from happening.