Posted by Lonely on January 23, 2005, at 21:50:29
My hubby finished his neuropsych study on Dec. 23rd. The psychologist said she would call him and me (his wife) back for a feedback session but never did. This was of some concern as he was just diagnosed w/MS and getting worse. I called her 3 times and the referring physician twice plus a letter before we finally got an appt. I vented to the clerk that I had no confidence in the psychologist and thought she was unprofessional. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done. I still think one month to get a 4 hour test report together is way too much. Any insights from anyone?
During the feedback, basically, the neuropsych said that things are the same as 2 years ago when he had the last test. That really surprised both of us as my hubby felt he had memory loss and so did I. In fact, his neurologist (referring physician) called on Fri. am ready to give him a memory drug - Namenda - and I know he had the report. My therapist tells me that early stage dementia is an on-off thing so I don't know if the neuro-psych didn't do the right tests or if it was a "snapshot" of him at the best time. What SHOULD be done in the way of evaluation??? And, for that matter, what about some sort of theraputic interventions. He's had 6 years psychotherapy and 8 years of med therapy and it hasn't significantly helped.
Psychologist (alias neuropsych) said his "cognitive abilities appear well preserved and adequate for effective daily functioning. However, he did demonstrate relative weakness in auditory and visual attention. ... mild impairment in fine motor performance in the right hand. ... mild impairment in word fluency. These focal neurological deficits are consistent with a history of stroke or a demyelinating process."
At the end, she informed me that the marriage is on its last legs and she recommended marriage counseling (which insurance will not pay for and is not possible) or divorce was a good idea. We've been married 30+ years - my hubby is bipolar and has a history of attempted homicide, bankruptcy, suicidal ideation (in the report) and a history of bad family and interpersonal relationships and I would say some delusional thinking. She said his bizarre behavior at home is due to stress and that I was trying too hard to make the marriage work and mothering him too much. However, I've learned the hard way that if I don't take charge, important things will not get done - i.e., bills paid.
It seems my hubby (per later conv.) never trusted people because he's afraid they're going to leave or hurt him. No historical basis for it. My therapist suggested that's part of the manic depression and I do know that manic depression often goes with MS. So, I'm totally bewildered, hurt, and angry. Anyone else have any insight into this type of behavior and BP or other mental illness? I really don't think this neuropsych has the credentials for the neuropsych part even though she is credentialed as a psychologist.
Somehow, I don't think that 4 hours with my hubby quite gets it in terms of really accurate and thorough diagnosis.
A question I have ... on one page of the report they give "General Intellectual Ability (WAIS-III) in which he scored high average on Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full Scale IQ. It says "Verbal .............SS) and below that "Vocabulary" 14 then Similarities 15, then Arithmetic 11, then Digit Span 7, then Information 15, then Comprehension 17, then Letter-Number Sequencing 8. Beside that column there is Performance SS and Picture Completion 12, Digit Symbol - Coding 9, Block Design 12, Matrix Reasoning 11, Picture Arrangement 14, Symbol Search 11.
So, does anyone know what "SS" means and what the numbers mean? I do know that he scored at a 7th grade level in spelling and an 8th grade level in arithemtic (he knows more than that - just uses calculators and got rusty). What does the rest mean?
I'm still mad as all get out, and not sure what to do. BAsically, the psychologist took a bad situation and made it worse. I will complain to the referring physician but beyond that not sure what to do.
Anyone else have these experiences?
poster:Lonely
thread:446529
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050122/msgs/446529.html