Tests, Tests and more Tests!

[MorryLou]

Dear All
Back in September I took my mother to see her GP with memory concerns, and she did the basic memory tests. Then we saw a nurse who did a whole medical exam and extensive blood tests. Then came 3 x 1.5hr lots of in depth testing at home with the Memory Clinic people. Then there was another 2 assessments to see how she was coping in the house by Occupational Therapy. After a CT and an ECG, my mother has been referred on from the Memory Clinic and now needs assessment by a Community Psychiatric Nurse. This will need more than one session. She mentioned a care needs assessment and a Carers assessment.
I phoned up the Psychiatric nurse to find out what was going on and why we had not had any results of all this testing. She said she had to contact someone else about this.......Is this normal?
The anxiety of waiting for a diagnosis is awful!

 

[karaokePete]

Dear All
Back in September I took my mother to see her GP with memory concerns, and she did the basic memory tests. Then we saw a nurse who did a whole medical exam and extensive blood tests. Then came 3 x 1.5hr lots of in depth testing at home with the Memory Clinic people. Then there was another 2 assessments to see how she was coping in the house by Occupational Therapy. After a CT and an ECG, my mother has been referred on from the Memory Clinic and now needs assessment by a Community Psychiatric Nurse. This will need more than one session. She mentioned a care needs assessment and a Carers assessment.
I phoned up the Psychiatric nurse to find out what was going on and why we had not had any results of all this testing. She said she had to contact someone else about this.......Is this normal?
The anxiety of waiting for a diagnosis is awful!

It probably is normal - it certainly happened in my wife’s case. That thing is that dementia like symptoms can be caused by other things like depression, anxiety, vit B deficiency etc., etc., and all of these things have to be checked as they can be cured. Even the exact type of dementia has to be identified as medication can slow the progress of some but not others.
It will, I hope, not take forever for you and your mother.

 

[MorryLou]

Thanks for the reply.
I know there is a need to get the diagnosis right but....
what I'm finding frustrating now is how all disjointed this has become. We have been seen by lots of medical professionals and have had no news about anything in fact. I was talking to this Community Psychiatric Nurse as though it was the first time we had been in contact with anyone and I was reeling off the saga once again. She hadn't seen any notes regarding my mother and to be honest we were all confused about the reasons for yet another assessment. I cancelled the appointment with her on her recommendation so that she could go on a fact finding mission, before coming back with a plan. Even my Mums GP didn't have any more information.
In a couple of weeks it will be 6 months, so long!!

 

[stanleypj]

That does seem an awfully long time MorryLou. Is there any way that you could chase things up?

 

[Spamar]

OH was diagnosed in 2007/8 and it took at least 6 months. Thought it would be longer theses days, the local hospital only had one type of scanner.

 

[MorryLou]

I would like to chase things up but don't know who the best person is at present. The Memory Clinic have passed my mother to the Psychiatric Team without even saying why. A very disjointed system!