NeuroPsych test...What a day.

[Sailorsong]

Today was the day for my NeuroPsych evaluation testing. It was scheduled for 8AM at the Murfreesboro VA Hospital which meant I would have to get up at 5AM in order to get there on time. I had told my friend Dave that I had to get up at 5AM so what does he do? Calls me up at 4AM to make sure I got up. Oh was I foaming at the mouth mad about that.

Actually I didn't realize the appointment was at Murfreesboro until I was just about to leave so I had to quickly print out direction on how to get there. So I spent 5.5 hours there with all l but about 15 minutes being the testing and then the doctor going over the results with me.

The first hour was an interview type setting where he explained what was going to go on and asking me about the problems I have been having ( memory, vision, OCD stuff, family history, etc). The doctor was real nice and had done his homework in studying my medical charts. He also seemed to be vary knowledgeable about MS.

After about a 5-10 minute break while he set up the stuff for testing me came the real workout. By the time we finished with the tests I could barely focus my eyes and at the end of the last test he said he could have done more tests but could tell I was having trouble with my eyes and getting really burned out.

I forget how many different tests we did, but they cover visual memory, hearing memory, recalling with clues of my memory, Timing the response of each of my hands,  Figuring out patterns, etc.

In the end he said my memory was fine once I get things in there, but am very slow at getting them in which is consistent with MS.

He said my right hand was 25% slower than my left even though I am right handed which he expected since  I had my brace on my right foot for the foot drop. When I have looked at my MRI pictures I had noticed most of the spots were on the left side of my brain.

I was surprised I did good on the math skills part. They word those word type math problems which he read to me 1 time only. You know the "if you have 3 apples and your friend has 2 apples and you give him one apple how many do each of you have". I missed only two of the questions mostly because I forgot how many where the original amount.

For figuring out complex things I could do it but it took longer than it should have based on my age and background. Again consistent with MS. The brain is just slowed down.

As for the OCD type things I have been experiencing he said there is a component of that happening that could be either anxiety or memory problems, medication, or both. He is going to recommend a review of my medications and talk therapy so that it doesn't get any worse. Since I live so far from th VA hospital he wants to see if he can get something like weekly teleconference therapy and monthly in person therapy.

He was also concerned about my sleep problems and was going to put in for some pain management type stuff to go along with the talk therapy as the OCD stuff is also disturbing my sleep.  That sure would be great as I can't remember have even one day free of pain since 1989. I think he said that because I admitted that once last year I was in so much pain and depressed I though of shooting myself in the foot just to get some pain medication.

Speaking of pain about 1 hour before the end of the testing I had another bout of TN start up. Of course I had none of my pain meds with me so by the time I got home I was in agony. I took 2 pain pills immediately;y when I got home so if this is not readable you will have to understand it is the pain meds kicking in. Now I ma going to got to sleep about 20 years as I can hardly keep my eyes open any longer. Besides All that I have written is just a big burr and am just using the spell checker to guess at what I had meant to write. Thank God for the read underlines. :)

Dennis

[Sailorsong]

Well in my case it probably would be Central Brain Processing Disorder. LOL

Not only do I hearing things like you suggested I also read things like that. I remember driving past one craft store down in Florida almost every day. They had a large sign in the window that said "We have beads of all types". But for quite a while when I drove by the window  I kept reading the sign as "We have beds of all types". There are other examples of this but can't think of any right now. I have made it a rule for myself to always read everything at least 3 times just to make sure I read things right. IF 2 times are the same and the third is something different I know that what I read is really the one that repeated twice.

Dennis


Dennis

[Sailorsong]

You reminded me of one of the first times ( back around 1990) that I didn't recognize a street. I had taken my daughter out for Trick Or Treat along with some of her friends. As we lived out in the country ( sort of ) I was driving them around the neighborhood when all of a sudden I had no idea of where we were or how to get home and had to ask my daughter for directions to get home. At the time we were only 2 blocks from home  and I only need to do was make 2 right turns. I drove straight home and let my ex finish taking them around for trick or treat.

These recent recognizability problems each lasted for over 1 hour each. So they were definitely more scary. especially since even after coming to the realization that the car was mine it still did not look familiar.

Dennis

[supermum_ms]

Has anyone ever mentioned Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) to you?

In simple terms its when your hearing isn't a problem but the sound you hear gets confused by your brain. Sort of like putting the sentence in a blender brain and then you end up comprehending the sentence either out of order or just bits of it that are hard to make sense of. Music is often unaffected but sentences are a major problem.

Just a thought...........JJ

[MissLauraI]

Thanks Dennis. That is funny you mentioned not recognizing your car. I had this happen to me coming out of a business meeting. It only lasted a few seconds but it scared the begeebies out of me.

I then didn't recognize a client...you can imagine how embarassing that was. And then not more than a few days later I didn't recognize a street near my house and missed my turn.

That is one reason I asked for the neuro exam because there is Alzheimer's in our family.

I appreciate you sharing all you did. It is really helpful.

[Sailorsong]

I don't think that would work for me very well. Being a big music lover ( composer/songwriter) if there is music going on my mind automatically switches to the music instead of what I should be concentrating on.

Dennis

[Sailorsong]

You mean you can decide what to do first? LOL

I have a horrible time making any decisions at all. It has been several weeks since I looked for a ---- (can't think of what is is called right now) to help me wash my back and still haven't been able to decide on one.

Too bad ear plus won't help me with remembering what is going on during a movie I am watching. A lot of the time I end up turning off movies because I have lost track of what was going on after only about 15 minutes.

Dennis