Dad's Doctor's Appointment

Sally and I went with Dad for his doctor's appointment yesterday. We thought that it was going to be a review of his May test results. As it turned out it was an appointment for another battery of tests. Before we went in for the appointment Dad seemed very agitated; I think he was concerned about what he was going to hear. When we were told by Terri (the Phd Psycologist candidate from Eastern Michigan who is doing the testing) that Dad was actually scheduled for another 3 hours of testing Dad seemed to be both relieved and upset that he would have to spend the afternoon taking additional tests. Terri explained that the tests were different from the May tests as they focused on sequencing and recognition as opposed to memory. Because Sally and I were there Terri started Dad on the testing and spent about 20 minutes asking about our concerns about and observations of Dad. We discussed short term memory issues, how he handles crisis situations, his inablility to complete mathematical tasks that used to be very simple for him, his inability to remember people's names and our concern about his driving. Terri said in her interview with Dad that he admitted that he was very concerned that his memory was getting so bad and he was embarrassed that he could not remember names. She also observed that Dad was very good at hiding many of his issues, which was a comment made by Jane at Springhill when Sally and I met with her later. When Terri was talking with Sally and me Dad came to the door three times asking Terri again how to use the computer and take the test. Sally suspected that Dad was both confused and also concerned that we were talking about him.



We left Dad and went to Springhill and talked with Jane to set up nursing help for Stone Harbor. Jane is a wonderful person and she is taking great care of Mom and Dad. She will be setting up daily visits with a primary nurse and also a back up nurse. Jane also made some observations about Mom and Dad saying that Dad is very good about covering up his memory issues. She felt Mom mentally was doing better than Dad. She also told us that we would be observing Mom and Dad becoming more reclusive and avoiding large groups of people. She warned that family vacations are often when this becomes more apparent as it is an unfamiliar environment. However the fact that Mom and Dad are going back to the same house in Stone Harbor will hopefully be a mitigating factor.



Sally and I then went to see Mom who was reading on their new deck. She seems to be doing very well although she says her legs are still weak. She is now taking her cane whenever she goes out.



We picked up Dad at about 5:00. He was tired but in a good mood. The tests were not as bad as the ones he took in May; however he said many times he was not able to complete the test in the allotted time. Terri finishes her internship at Hamot at the end of July so we made an appointment to discuss the test results on Friday, July 27th at 1:00pm. This appointment should not take more than an hour. Terri feels that she should get through her review in about 40 minutes.



After the appointment Mom, Dad, Sally and I had a very relaxing dinner at the Yacht Club. Mom, Dad and I then went to see the Saybrook house and the new aquatic center at Kahkwa. Their old house looks completely different with a three car garage, a new concrete driveway and a hot tub off of the master bedroom.



My overall observations are that Mom is doing really well despite the weakness in her legs. Dad physically looks pretty good; however his short term memory issues are more noticeable. At dinner he asked me the same question several times within a couple minutes.



One last item...Sally has told Mom and Dad that a two bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the fountain, potentially with a view of the lake on a clear day is opening up. We decided it is best to soft sell it and neither Mom or Dad have rejected it outright.



Both Mom and Dad are looking forward to Stone Harbor. Melinda and I will take care of getting them to Stone Harbor and setting up and stocking both houses.