Finding a Doc for Diagnosis

[mmanion]

Hello all,

I'm at my wits end and hoping you can provide some guidance. For about a year (maybe more) my sisters and mom and I have noticed concerning behavior and memory changes in my 71 y.o. father. His mother died with Alzheimer's at age 84. His symptoms are pretty mild, I guess, and it is only those who are with him who notice. He also is pretty good at hiding or justifying behaviors. Things came to a head about five months ago when he hit my mom. She was not hurt, but obviously this was not acceptable. We confronted him and gave him the option of getting an evaluation for mental health problems or dealing with the legal ramifications of domestic abuse. He agreed to the evaluation, but had to get a referral from his PC doc, who did an in-office 10 minute evaluation and decided he was fine! He is noticeably not fine to those of us who know him and some symptoms seem to be getting worse. He seems at times to get lost and confused in his own house and he wanders or shuffles around until someone talks to him. Then he acts like everything is fine, he just can't remember why he came in the room, etc., etc.

So he feels vindicated by the evaluation of his doctor, the Alzheimer's clinics out here (Phoenix) require referral, and we all see him getting worse. If it is Alzheimer's or other dementia, I am frustrated that we are wasting valuable time that could be important for treatment trying to maneuver through the medical system. Does anyone have suggestions?

[Jim]

As a person that has been diagnozed with Alzheimer's over 2 years I find it imperative that the patient must be diagnozed by a qualified MD such as a Neurologist - I work with patients at a local hospital with Alzheimers and in many cases a general practitioner was the handling doctor: big mistake: please this is my personal opinion.

Jim