My Doctor, who was in training at the time, did all the tap your heel, thumb and for finger, count backwards from one hundred by 7s, you know the usual. Then Dr. Lieberman walks in and asks me to take off my shirt and pants. He gives me the once over and said, yep he has Parkinson's.
What did he see?
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Serenity_finaly-1
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He watched you undo your belt, unbutton your shirt, stand on one leg while you pulled your pants off and generally move around while you were doing these things. I suspect, with his years of experience, that he noticed quite a few things.
Many MD's are exposed, just in watching people walking around in public, spot people with Parkinsons. Arm swings, the way they walk. They have to struggle with the urge to mention their diagnoses to help the person... yet respect the person's privacy.
I suspect you feel somewhat the way I do . . . that with the few observations and procedures, that are involved in rendering a life altering and serious diagnosis of Parkinsons... that it should be complex and take multiple visits...
Appalling bad practice - (1) to walk in and interrupt an interview in progress, (2) to instruct you to get undressed without saying why, (3) to not explain to you or the student what he 'saw', and (4) to refer to in the third person. Effectively he intimidated both of you into silence and acceptance of his diagnosis. I hope his subsequent management of your PD has been rather better.
It's funny but I would have to say that a lot of my PD buddies, who were diagnosed by him, sort of had the same reaction. Having had Parkinson's for years now I am willing to cut him a large break. Dr. Lieberman suffers from Polio and his body is failing too. So he does not have the greatest bed side manner but now I appreciate his bluntness. What he saw had to do with my physical structure not movement.
Just read a little bit more. I had a friend that was diagnosed because when he worked out he could not get one side of his body to match the other. My right leg has always been thinner than the other. I always thought that the cast I was in for 6 months at the age of 12 was the cause.
Ding ding ding. Very good. My right leg is not as developed as the left, my left arm is less developed than my right and my left shoulder was 2 inches higher than the right. It would stand to reason that if one side is firing more than the other you are going to be asemmatrical . I at the time could barely move so I was wearing sweats and a t shirt.
It's interesting to look back and see all the clues if you had only known. My feet hurt all the time in 2003 so I went to a shoe specialist. He looked at the soles of my shoes and commented on how I put most of my wait on my left foot and that l tended to also run on the outside of the shoe putting a lot of extra pressure thus wear on the outside of the shoe.
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