[julie4470]

Well, my initial feeling when I arrived was not positive. The staff did not have their act together at all. It took ten minutes to find the new patient paperwork etc. I also found it a bit odd that I had had to wait nearly two months for an appointment yet the waiting room was a ghost town. When I got into a room, and they finally located the blood pressure monitor, my BPS was high. I thought to myself that that was just great! Now, this will become a BP issue. Anyway, when the doc arrived I immediately liked her at least in the sense of feeling comfortable. She asked about symptoms etc and began her exam. It went ok I suppose. When she tested my reflexes with her hammer she kept hitting my right knee which basically did nothing. My left leg flew up. She commented on the difference but then never mentioned it again. When I did the heel to toe, I fell to my right. Otherwise nothing stood out to me as odd. So, at the end, she said that nothing really stood out to her about my exam. She wanted to test for seizures due to my episodes of sleep paralisys and scheduled an EEG. She also scheduled a neck xray and halter monitor? Lastly, she ordered a nerve conduction test. (I think that's right). She also said a sleep study may be needed. We talked about my anxiety and she said she never blames anxiety without ruling out other possibilities. She was, as I figured, concerned about my BP. So, I guess for a first appointment it went fairly well. My impression is that she is concerned about possible seizures and not much else for now. Any thoughts?

[tkrik]

I'm glad things went well and that you liked the dr and she didn't immediately say, "It's just anxiety." That's always a good sign. She took your complaints and symptoms seriously. You now have some testing to get done and hopefully all will go well with them. The hard part is that now you just have to wait and see what the results show.

Let us know how the testing goes.

[NurseNancy]

your dr was not dismissive and that is a good sign.
try to take one day and one test at a time. keep a sx journal with the date and type of sx you have. she may find that helpful. and, start to keep a medical record file on yourself with dr notes and copies of test results.

if you ask for the record as you go along it will cost you nothing.
and, if you see any other dr it will be invaluable.

if anything becomes really difficult for you concerning her office operations you might mention it. any dr worth her salt would want to know.

please keep us posted. oh, and would you mind breaking your post into a few paragraphs? it would make it easier to read...an MS thing for some of us. thanks.

[julie4470]

Thanks and sorry about the run on paragraph. I will break it up. I find that I ramble as my thoughts come! Can I ask for a copy of the notes she takes? That would be interesting. She did a lot pf typing lol! I hope you don't mind my hanging out on this board for awhile while I navigate through this. Did you see any significance to my lack of reflex on my right since that is where most of my symptoms are?

[doydie]

I would say your blood pressure may be
'white coat syndrome' which basically is that you are tense in a doctors office.

As far as the office being empty, my neuro is in the office with about 6 other doctors and she has 'her' day and times to have the office. So the reception room is empty sometimes since she schedules 45 minutes for an appointment.

Yes, hang out with us!!!!! If you want the lighter side of us come on over to the Stumble Inn. We talk about anything over there where this forum is jsut for the MS part.

[julie4470]

Thanks Doydie. I think I was just picking about the little things like no one in the waiting room because I was so afraid she would be a "dud." I have read too much about bad neuro experiences I suppose. I do take meds for BP and it is usually under control. I also think it was high due to some anxiety about my appointment.