How many doctors do you guys have?

[kaypeeoh]

I've got one for PD, one for MS, an oncologist, a cardiologist, a dermatologist, a urologist, and a GP.

A while ago I had my one-year anniversary of the behavioral health exam. How time flies when you're constantly angry and frustrated. The behavioral checkup snuck up on me. I knew I had to see someone but wasn't sure which doctor it was.

So he says it's time to reassess my executive function problem. I'd been trying to memorize animals that start with the letter 'A'. That was a big part of the first exam last year. This time he starts by asking the date, year, who's the president, who was the previous president, what town are we in, etc.

I hadn't expected this and couldn't answer any of the questions. But he'd say, "The name starts with a B...." And I replied, Oh, Biden." "Then the letter T..." "Yeah, that's Trump. Trump the chump." At least I knew the town--Mystic--and the name of the clinic--Hartford Health--as he showed me drawings of various items for me to name. He showed a door knocker and I replied, "What knockers!" Then he showed a beaver and I couldn't name it. I told him it lives in underwater dens that cause flooding every Spring and has a tail that slaps the water to warn others of danger. Then he says it starts with a B and I cursed loudly before saying a Beaver.

So that's how it went for most of the exam Me cursing whenever I couldn't answer a question. At the end he says I did better in some areas and not so much in others. I wonder if I frightened him. He said he'd have to read the report from last year and add his findings for this year before submitting the final report.

Today I had a cancerous growth taken off my back. The surgeon was really chatty, constantly asking questions about where I'm from. how I got to Connecticut, did I miss my former life.

[Bolt_Upright]

Wow, 7 doctors. I hope they fixed your tumor issue.

This reminded me of that Woody Allan scene where his wife was leaving him.

She said "My lawyer will call your lawyer" and Woody said "I don't have a lawyer. Have him call my doctor".

Good luck.

[kaypeeoh in reply to Bolt_Upright]

There's an old Arab curse: May your life be filled with lawyers. A better curse might be: May your life be filled with doctors.

[Hidden in reply to kaypeeoh]

Nice. Inefficiency in doctors.

[bassofspades]

Every time I have a new health concern, my primary refers me to a specialist. All this guy wants to do is give me blood pressure pills and talk about cholesterol. And dispatch everything else to specialists. What the heck ever happened to good old fashioned general practitioners? You don't need to be a doctor to do that .

[Boscoejean]

so is this based on pure frustration and have you always felt like cursing or is this a more recent development?

[kaypeeoh in reply to Boscoejean]

I have to blame my dad. He was a sergeant major for 30+ years and I grew up with his cursing. As a kid I tended to do things that pissed him off.

[Farooqji]

I try to stay away from the doctors

[LeharLover62]

Yeah, that word finding is so frustrating! My husband’s speech therapist a gem, and she’s been doing a whole cognitive training program with him to work on all of those challenges you mentioned above. Maybe you can find someone to help you too? (And add a therapist to the doctor list!!)

[kaypeeoh in reply to LeharLover62]

That seems how it goes for executive function problems. I use mnemonic devices to help keep things in my short-term memory. I'm not imaginative so to remember the drug nilotinib I came up with a tortuous image: Tin cans floating down the Nile. The cans have nipples. Nile, tin and nipples; nilotinib . Nib sounds like nip which brings nipples to mind. Like I said, tortuous images.