Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2003. Mattie was a year old and it was his first trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. That day we took him to the Corolla Lighthouse. Back then, you could walk up the spiral stairs with a child on your back. Now forget it! Mattie was absolutely fascinated and we all made it to the top and had a wonderful adventure.
Quote of the day: Intuition doesn’t tell you what you want to hear; it tells you what you need to hear. ~ Sonia Choquette
I find that I am so tired, I have to pull myself out of bed in the morning. But I got it together, got my dad up, washed, and he had breakfast. My dad goes to his memory care program three times a week. So today, he was there, while I was able to take my mom to see a neurosurgeon today. Neurosurgeons just don't do surgery, they have an intricate understanding of the neck and brain. I had my mom's cervical spine MRI in hand and truly I wasn't very concerned about her spine given the radiologist's report.
Everyone at this doctor's office was very patient focused. His nurse was an absolute peach. She welcomed us to the office, thanked us for waiting, and wanted us to have a pleasant experience. I knew the doctor had to be special if his staff were this attentive and patient centered! I was 100% correct. I highly recommend this doctor, and for those of you who are blog readers know, I am NOT very complimentary typically! This doctor is the perfect combination of highly competent with a great bedside manner.
When he came in, he did not talk to us about medicine or what brought us in. Instead, he talked to us like two human beings. We in fact had a great conversation about being Italian (as he is Italian too), we discussed the great Italian food of New York, and trips to Italy. So not only a great doctor, but is worldly and understands that patients are not just numbers and data. We have feelings, emotions, concerns, and of course interests and passions.
He gave my mom a thorough examination and talked through her MRI scans with us. Thankfully he feels structurally her neck is good and doesn't need surgery. She has degenerative discs and he recommends physical therapy. Which we will do at the clinic adjacent to his practice. However, what he confirmed for me was what I INTUITIVELY knew, or at least suspected, and that is my mom most likely has a neurological disease or issue. I told him that I already made an appointment for her to see a neurologist on July 28. Thankfully he provided me with a script for a brain MRI for my mom, so when we see the neurologist, we will have data in hand. I asked my mom's primary care doctor to do this, but DOPEY lives up to his name. He is a dope and truly doesn't value what I am bringing to the table. Even if I did not understand the nature of healthcare, I do know my parent's better than anyone else. If I am saying something is wrong, then SOMETHING is wrong!
Meanwhile, at 5pm, I got back home and did my dad's physical therapy exercises with him. Honestly I do not stop from the moment I get up until I fall asleep. I am the caregiver to two parents, both of whom have many, many needs, and unfortunately I think today was a rude awakening for my mom. Now it is not just Vicki saying something isn't right, she heard it from the doctor.
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