Today we met the new doctor. He has great reviews and even a patient in the waiting room told us how awesome he is. I think we overwhelmed him a bit, but he handled it well and wants to treat Mom. He wants to make some changes to Mom's medicine regimen and send us to his own local liver specialist before our preferred hospital 50 miles away. Change terrifies Mom, and the idea of not having pain meds and seeing a local liver doctor make it worse for her. She isn't quite as optimistic as I am about this new doctor. The hard truth of it is that she is on too many medications that are harsh on the liver and that she's built up a tolerance against. In short, they only hurt her and she shouldn't be on them. I agree with his logic and I know it would be better for Mom to stop her opiate pain killers, but I think the psychological dependency will be extremely difficult for her to overcome.
He is referring her to a pain management group, a liver specialist in-network, and a GI. He also ordered her weekly lab test and wrote scripts for meds that I think will help- buspar for anxiety (no more xanax) and fentanyl (no more norco). In reality, he isn't leaving her without meds...he is taking her off the ones that interact and do harm without benefit. He seemed to appreciate that I was organized and on the tablet and that the caregiver and I are working as Mom's advocates. He likes the "team" idea. Very happy about that! His staff is already working on the various referrals she needs to continue care in the direction we were moving in before her old PCP damn near killed her. He couldn't believe that she was on so many medications that interact so severely. He said that some of her symptoms might be attributed to the interactions and not really symptoms of HE. I know we came at him with a lot today and overwhelmed him, but I think once we get back on track, he can really be an advocate for team kathy. I'm am cautiously optimistic. I was before the appointment, and it looks good so far. I just hope he hangs in there with us and realizes that it won't always be so frenzied. It's the switch at such a critical diagnostic point that makes everything so urgent. It will take time to catch up, and I wholeheartedly blame her old PCP for wasting this time and making Mom suffer longer. But for now, it's a sigh of relief that this new doc is willing to take on such a case as my mother and never even mentioned that he could choose not to. We were told he has a good sense of humor. We didn't get to see it today, but being overwhelmed with so much information and Mom's tangential conversational style and emotional outburts (she was sobbing through a panic attack by the end of it) I certainly can't blame him for not being cheery. I promised him we will laugh at the next appointment and that I am actually really nice to work with in this capacity. I am hopeful.
We were also able to make an appointment for next week for free physical therapy with a certified personal trainer. He is so nice and sounds like he really knows his stuff. He is clearly educated, ran gyms before, and wants to open a gym for at-risk youth in the area. He considers helping Mom part of his ministry and wants her health history to be able to design a plan just for her. I am really hoping that Mom likes PT, or at least feels like it's good for her so she doesn't shoo him away. She would feel worlds better if she worked her muscles a little bit, and it would help stop her muscles from withering away. Convincing her of that is an entirely different and difficult task.
We will be scheduling little classes for me to teach her how to use the tablet. Hopefully next time we can get her a facebook account and she can start being social. It's all coming together! I have to remind myself to have patience. I am far too eager to get Mom feeling better and enjoying life again. I guess if you're going to be eager for something, that's not such a bad cause to be eager for.
Another blood test and more calls to make tomorrow. I have to keep tabs on her neuropsychologist so we don't waste time. I know today scared Mom, but I think it was an overall successful day.
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