neurology appointment

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NEUROLOGY APPOINTMENT
today i am going back for my almost 2 year follow up
since i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment 
amnestic type that stage right before full blown alzheimers
disease takes off

today i went back and read some of my blogs about that
time period
here are the links to those blogs

last day thanks
the dreaded doctor visit
the neurology visit

since that time i have retired and am on medical disability 
for my diagnosis because of the risk of making a medical
error because of my short term memory loss

i know from testing that i carry the apoe 4 genotype which makes
these symptoms likely to be from alzheimers disease
i also have an indeterminate testing results for tau protein 
and beta amyloid in the spinal fluid
(those are the two biomakers that are abnormal in this 
alzheimers disease thing)
i have a normal mri normal glucose metabolism pet scan 
normal screening labs 
and a consistently abnormal neuropsychological exam
ive had eight of these since the beginning of all of this 
and one was an eight hour one 
(thats the one that convinced the disability insurance to 
pay on my claim)

i have a strong family history of alzheimers disease
my mother died in the final stages of the disease
my father may have had the disease 
my younger brother now has the disease and is in 
a long term care facility

i am on aricept (donepezil) for the possible alzheimers disease
its really the only thing that helps
but it does not affect the progress of the disease
just the symptoms 
maybe
its all there is for now

i am staying active mentally and physically 
i dont let this drag me down 
at least im alive and healthy and am doing a lot of things
that i am enjoying
except of course im not practicing medicine which is what 
i enjoyed the most 

there is a test that may give me the definitive answer
its the beta amyloid pet scan
ive had one already and will have another next year with the 
study that im in 
the (adni) alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative

but they dont give me the results
it would be the piece of the puzzle that im missing

the test is now available commercially in some areas
the amyvid pet scan
they inject a radioactive substance that attaches itself to 
any anyloid deposited in the brain 
if amyloid is present it will show up as red highlighted areas

if i have no amyloid present then there is a good chance that 
my symptoms are not from alzheimers
not definite but as definite as you can be

if amyloid is present that doesnt mean you have alzheimers but
it implies that you might

i want the test to add to what i already know

now we just need a treatment to stop or slow this disease down
if my test is completely normal i might have a chance if this 
disease shows up later for that treatment that is coming

otherwise my generation has missed out on the cure or treatment

but at least i will know 
i want to know

its like having metastatic cancer
theres no treatment 
but i want to know if its metastasizing
so i can speed up my planning for the rest of my life

i want to know

the organicgreen doctor