Therapy Pt. ll: Cyber Paper Tiger

Our family meeting was on a Saturday so first thing the following Monday morning I was up early researching therapists to make Miss Cathy some appointments. The first call I made was to Dr G, her family doctor, he’s the doctor that’s known her longest and she respects the most.

Just like in business, it’s always smart to network with those that you respect and healthcare is no exception.

These days the instinct is to type ‘Therapist’ into Google but I think it’s best to have a referral (if possible) from a doctor who knows your loved one so that there is (hopefully) a personal connection when they are giving you a therapist’s contact information.

Unfortunately I did not feel ‘connected’ to the therapist Dr G recommended.

The therapists’ office was located nearby which is convenient but unlike in real estate it’s not just about “location, location, location”.

I’d called to set up a consultation with the therapist’s office and almost immediately I was turned off by the receptionist’s Priorities. She seemed to be much more focused with how the practice was going to be paid than with information about a potential new client.

Believe me, I know that the medical field is a business and everybody is out to “get paid” but can’t we at least have a modicum of pretense that it’s about the patient and not “the paper”?

The person that I spoke with also referred me to the practices’ website where “I” was to download, print out and fill out several forms to bring to the first meeting (information regarding payment-first and foremost).

While asking for a dossier (even before one sees a doctor) is quite common these days I just didn’t get a great feeling from the elitism of it all.

What if I didn’t own a computer, printer or have an Internet connection?  Isn’t it awfully presumptive of a person’s status on the part of the doctor’s office?

And it’s not like we’re talking about making a ‘Ped’s’ appointment for a child here, this is an appointment for someone that’s almost an octogenarian.

Suppose Miss Cathy was the one calling to set up the consultation, can you imagine her trying to navigate the homepage, ‘clicking’ on links, going from ‘new patients’ to ‘forms’ to…well, you get the picture, besides, I don’t think mom has turned on a computer since she retired from the Veterans’ Administration back in Nineteen hundred and ninety three…enough said.

It just seems to me to be alittle insensitive for someone who supposedly specializes in geriatric counseling to put a 21^st century burden on people born in the early part of the 20^th century, is he a “Therapist’ or a ‘Cyber Paper Tiger’?

Therapy Pt. l: Old Dog, New Day, New Way

One of the revelations that came out of the ‘alz-ervention’ a few weeks ago when the family sat down to talk to Miss Cathy was that she expressed an interest in therapy (I immediately went to the window to see if pigs were flying but it was just the blooms off the Cherry Blossoms).

To say I was surprised, shocked and elated (is true) but mostly I was happy that she was

ready to face some of her demons, many of which have nothing to do with Alzheimer’s but the Alz has definitely ‘heightened’ some of the parts of her personality that are….how shall I put this? …..strong (read: annoying as sh*t) but seem to me to be (deeply) rooted in some pain or past that hopefully she is ready to face.

I’m a big advocate of therapy, it’s helped me immeasurably at different times in my life but I also know that sitting across from a stranger, though a professional they may be, is not for everyone and especially someone Miss Cathy’s age (and generation).

And I know that the ‘Greatest Generation’ is not ‘great’ about ‘sharing their feelings’…especially when it involves the kind of navel gazing that my self absorbed generation (the last of the baby boomers-thus aptly named the ‘Me Generation”) is/was all to eager to explore.

We (me) grew up reading “Jonathan Livingston’s Seagull”, ”How to be Your own Best Friend” and “I’m OK, You’re OK”, while our parents still remember reading the WWll mantra “Loose lips, Sink ships” (and internalized that to inhibit introspection apparently).

But, it was because of their stoicism growing up during the depression and thriving after the war(s) that we were able to run around with feathers and flowers in our hair (be it an afro or parted in the middle and worn as long and straight as you could iron it), drink Coke (and later snort it) and ‘try to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony’.

So, giving the differences of how we learned to cope I applaud an older person, specifically my Miss Cathy for embracing self-reflection.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new ways to contemplate.

Physician, Heal Thyself: Pt. lll Dr G, General Practioner/Family Doctor

I called Dr G a few days after Miss Cathy’s world wind of ‘white coat’ hopping (from ophthalmologist to neurologist to numerous test) to hear him say that no one had called him regarding her condition (quelle surprise!).

“This is the first I’m hearing of it, tell me what’s going on.”

So, I did.

Dr G is her primary care physician. He’s someone that she’s been seeing for well over 30 years. She is very comfortable with him and he with her; after all of these years they have a sort of shorthand when they get together.

I remember him from years ago when I used to visited mom from where I lived in New York and he still looks the same; old, wise and kind. Come to think of it…if he was ‘old’ then and now, thirty (plus) years later he’s ‘older’ still, the how old is it?

The mind reels.

Anyway, he’s one of the last of a dying breed of doctors that ‘might’ actually make a house call if you were in such a need.

Since I’ve been Miss Cathy’s caregiver he’s on time for our appointments (or damn near close to it) professional and compassionate. He always returns a telephone call and follows through with whatever he says he will do for you.

That’s pretty much the ‘gold standard” of a successful working relationship (in any profession) in my opinion-but when a doctor is part of the equation it’s even more important to know that you can count on them to do what they say they’ll do.

I’m not talking about a doctor becoming your bff and calling every time something funny happens on RuPaul’s DragRace (although lets face it-something funny is always happening on RuPaul’s DragRace).

But, even though we all know that doctors are busy and they have responsibilities WE as caregivers and patients are just as busy and we have a responsibility to our health (or the health of a loved one) and that needs to be respected and reciprocated.

And Dr G does all that.

A good doctor is like a the best waiter in a four star restaurant, you know they have other tables to serve besides yours but somehow they appear when you need them, listen to what you want, bring it to you and make you feel as if you’re the only table in the joint.

And that’s’ what I’m looking for from Miss Cathy’s’ ‘team’….I want to feel like we’re the only table in the joint.

Physician," Heal Thyself": Pt. ll

As a caregiver I’m responsible for all aspects of my loved one’s care, and as Miss Cathy’s son I feel doubly responsible for her physical and emotional well-being.

To that end I have tried my best to work with doctors’ that she’s had relationships with for years as well as those that are new to both of us since her Alz diagnosis in 2010.

It’s my feeling that at the end of the day she is only as healthy and happy as her ‘team’ of doctors has helped her to be (and that means if it’s a regular check up or when she is in crisis).

My opinion(s) of her ‘team’ (of doctors) shouldn’t matter one way or another (you know what they say about ‘opinions’…) butt, of course I have one (some) and here they are:

Dr S, The Ophthalmologist

After her (seemingly) abrupt loss of vision and increasing confusion, the eye specialist was Miss Cathy’s first request of a physician to ‘see’ and it made sense since ‘suddenly’ she couldn’t.

Miss Cathy has been going to Dr S for years; a birth defect took away the sight in her left eye so she’s been dependent on her right eye her entire life.

We waited almost a week for the appointment because the receptionist said, “that was all they had” and my explanation of her situation didn’t move her to get us in any sooner.

The doctor’s assistant brought us back into a room where she performed some preliminary tests. Dr S came in soon after to take over the exam when it was clear to the assistant that Miss Cathy’s condition was anything but preliminary (and above her pay grade).

He asked her several questions, had her hold a Victorian looking contraption and told him what she could (or could not) see through it, the after some other optical tests he rendered his opinion.

He ruled out a stroke, then he said that he saw no blood behind the eye so he could only conclude that the eye was ‘healthy’ and he seemed just as puzzled as we were that she couldn’t see clearly….literally and figuratively.

When Dr S confessed that her problem might be “outside of his area of expertise” I wasn’t happy that he didn’t have a solution to the problem but I was impressed with his honesty and humility. While I find doctors to be honest I’ve seen more hubris than humility from most.

He suggested that she might need to consult a neuro-opthamalogist to determine if there was a problem between the optic nerve and the brain.

After finishing up my copious note taking I told him that she already had an appointment to see her Neurologist, Dr A next.

He asked who her General Practioner was, recognized the name and said that he would confer with him as well as the Neurologist.

“We’ll take it from there” were his parting words as he offered us his hand but no solution before saying goodbye.

We left his office knowing no more than when we first arrived but after hearing how long it took us to get an appointment Doctor S said that they were upgrading her chart to “priority” (kinda like being bumped unexpectedly to Business Class from Coach).

 I walked out feeling as if he was either trying to express some sense of urgency for her condition or that it was just some bullshit gesture for a flight (diagnosis) delayed.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh

“Can you come here for a minute?”

I heard the familiar refrain come from the direction of Miss Cathy’s bedroom the other morning as I got out of bed to greet a new day.

 “I can’t even put my damn bra on!” She said with disgust.

Well, at least she’s not trying to put her tee shirt on as pants I thought to myself as I wiped the last of sleep from my eyes.

And sure enough, as I walked the few feet into her room my newly wakened eyes saw that her bra was not only on backwards…it was inside out as well.

It’s been about a month now since her step downward; it started with a loss of vision, compounded by confusion over the ability to see and use everyday objects. And now the simplest of tasks (things she’s been doing her entire life) have become complicated.

Watching her struggle with her under garment, as if someone had made an over the shoulder Rubik’s cube instead of a brassiere, looking nothing like the iconic Horst P. Horst photo of a woman caught in the act of snapping her brassiere, so famously paid tribute to in Madonna’s “Vogue” music video, Miss Cathy seemed as emotionally twisted as her bra straps.

She’d managed to put one strap up over her shoulder but the other was lost under a fold of skin in her armpit, somehow the back was in the front, the whole thing was inside out and the closures were pressed down on her breasts with the cups hanging off her back, looking about as useful as tits on a bull.

“How in the world?” I started to say, then I had to laugh and so did she.

“Damn!” she said between chuckles as I gently unhooked the closures, releasing her ample bosom, taking the garment off her to reconceive it for its intended purpose.

“All these damn titties!” She said looking down at herself and talking as if she were divulging a secret her body was not aware of.

“I hate these fuckers!”

“Well” I said giggling, helping her to put her brassiere on correctly.

Nothing like seeing an old lady topless, especially your mom, first thing in the morning to let you know what kinda day you’re in for.

“Put you boobs away.”

“I wish I could cut ‘em off! I hated them even when I was a girl and they first started growing. I know men are suppose to like’m.” She said, arranging herself into her bra.

“I wonder what they’d think if they had them instead of balls and they had to lug’m around all the time.”

I helped her snap shut the last closure in the back the helped her with put on her top tehn said, “I’m sure if they had tits and no balls they’d think they were women.”

….more laughter.