(Originally posted in Facebook on February 14, 2019)
The NEW test that the new neurologist wanted M to take was a PET scan. I’ve read up on the differences between an MRI, CT scan and PET scan. All three of them look at the brain (in this instance) in different ways and measure different things about the way it’s functioning. Google can explain much better than I. With the holidays and getting insurance clearance on the new test – if a physician says you need a test, why does the insurance company feel it needs to weigh in on whether or not you actually do? – it was January . . . yes, an entire year since we began this process . . . before the PET scan was scheduled.
The test itself didn’t take that long – maybe an hour – and we were able to see the neurologist again before the end of the month to get the results. That’s when the neurologist said those words, “early onset dementia.” Of course, they can’t definitively diagnose something like this without doing an autopsy – and THAT’S not happening right now!! So, they look at the brain and see if the areas that should be “lighting” up and active during cognitive processes are actually working and . . . therein lies the problem.
So.
Where do we go from here?
As I mentioned before, M is scheduled for YET ANOTHER TEST – this time, it’s a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to confirm that there are no rogue cancer cells, virus or bacteria in the spinal fluid that haven’t shown up in the blood work. There is no end to what I wouldn’t give to have something like that be the cause of this problem. Something substantive, something we could attack. I feel as though we’re grasping at straws.
Over the weekend, we went shopping and I picked up some Valentine’s Day candy to give to friends at work. Russell Stover’s has a cute little box of four chocolate pieces for $1 that is the perfect little treat, so I like to give those out. M saw me getting several and mentioned he should get some for the group of women he’s now working with. We bought them and when we got home, I counted out the number he said he needed, put them in a bag and handed them to him – telling him he was ready for Valentine’s Day. I saw him take the bag into the pantry and I thought he must be putting it into his lunchbox to take to work on Monday, so he would have them for today.
Last night, he told me he needed the candy we had purchased to take to work for the women he works with. When I said I had already given it to him on Saturday, he told me – emphatically – that I had not, and that the last time he had seen the candy was on the counter in the kitchen. I started to argue . . . but then I stopped. Instead, I said, “let’s go look for them” and we went to the pantry, where I had seen him take the bag of candy. There, sitting on the counter, was the bag of candy.
It doesn’t matter. The main thing is, we didn’t get into a big argument over it. We found the candy and everyone is happy. So why do I have to make a conscious effort to pull my shoulders down from my ears and relax?