Caregivers and Stress

[princessbelle]

Originally Posted by Kelt

This is a great list, thank you so much for posting it. I have used a few so far, and some of this will be size of town related (as I am finding) the aging catalog is quite good, though their local state office comes up a bit short. They live in a town of 75k so there is a lot less available than a city of a million.

I have spoken to both her Dr (little to no help) and also the social worker at the nursing home who has given me some contacts. Some of those have panned out and some haven't, I'm going to contact the social worker at the cancer treatment center my father was going to also. I do get a bit tangled up because, of course, nobody is available right now and I end up leaving messages all over town and am always doing something else when they call back. That just is what it is.

One thing I am specifically looking for right away is some sort of geriatric general MD for my mother. Sort of like a pediatrician only the other way 'round. It seems that it isn't really a popular specialty. At the nursing home there is a practice of four Drs that covers it and the other facilities and the social worker told me I could use them for my mother also. When I called them though it turns out they only see patients who are in a nursing facility and the umbrella group they are in only covers family practice and pediatricians.

I want to find a Dr for my mother who will take early stage dementia as a serious possibility (unlike her current Dr) and run some specific tests. It was other medical professionals who noticed her symptoms and told me about this. I have talked to her about it and she agrees that she wants to pursue it so that if there is a problem she can get medication, and if there isn't she will buckle down on making better lifestyle choices around food, sleep, etc, or we can put her somewhere that those things are monitored for her.

If anyone knows of a specific terminology I can search, or ideas of where I can find a geriatric MD, I'd be most appreciative.

You are exactly right on the terminology of "Geriatric MD". However, know they are few and far between, especially in small towns. A lot of them are not in general practice and instead see our geriatric population only in the nursing homes, assisted living facilities, etc. But, they are out there.

I would suggest...call her insurance company (still unclear if she has supplemental insurance) tell them you want a Geriatric MD and her zip code. They should tell you who is available and who is accepting new patients.

If that doesn't pan out, my next suggestion would be to seek an internal medicine physician. These docs generally know their stuff and are also used to working with dementia type diagnosis. Also, it may be prudent to get her a psych eval. Not sure if she would be agreeable, but if she is i believe it would be a possibly good option. They work with dementia as well and i would be willing to bet (reading your description of the circumstances) that she may be dealing with some depression.

If she does not have supplemental insurance then call her Primary Care Doc and tell them you want a referral for the above. You shouldn't have to do all this leg work yourself. The squeaky wheel gets oiled ya know? Make a ton of phone calls..someone out there will listen...i just know it!!