[xxxxcrystalxxxx]

Well Monday's the "big" day. I have my testing. I'm really nervous about it. The Neurologist wants my testing done before he clears me to go back to work. My coworkers keep asking when I'm coming back. I feel like a broken record.....I dont know.... Honestly the thought of going back to work scares the living heck out of me. I was sent back less than two weeks after my injury. I suffered terribly.

Lately I've noticed that I'm more depressed and my anxiety is through the roof. My Neuro said if I needed Ativan to simply call. Well I did and he never called back. I've been having palpitations and my heart rate is jumping from 118 bpm down to 80bpm. I can feel my heart fluttering and thus I have shortness of breath. I dont think it's my heart. It's an awful feeling. I went to visit my old job and I realized I was sweating bullets and had to leave. I haven't had panic attacks in a long long time.

My Neurologist told me a couple of weeks ago he thinks I'll be able to go back to work. I only seen him twice since the injury. In fact I I've only had five appointments with Neuro's docs since my injury. My headaches are here everyday along with the horrible whooshing sounds. It feels like I'll never get better. I know the anxiety cant be helping me in all of this.

Yesterday I had a girlfriend stop by for a visit. She was only here for an hour or so. She was complaining about her man and kept going on and on and on. My head was ready to explode. She must have seen it on my face because she asked me if she was making my head hurt.... If I cant handle someone else's stress how can I handle my own. I feel lost. The bills are piling up. My coworkers dont understand why I'm still home.

Can I tell the MD on Monday my fears? Has anyone else had docs that wanted to send you back too soon? My Neuro told me in a year this well all be a bad bad dream and that this shouldn't be a permanent injury. I dont quite believe him. The testing is three hours... Does anyone know what the testing involves?

Thank you for letting me vent...again!!!!

[tamisue]

I've told my daughter over and over-if it seems like a Dr isn't listening-tell them-plain and simply-You aren't listening to me. Dr's are educated guessers-you are the client-if Dr doesn't listen, FIRE THEM! There are other neuro's out there.

Hope you get listened to loud and clear on Monday and you get good results.

[Mark in Idaho]

I have had three Neuro-Psychological Assessments over the last 10 years. The first thing you should be thinking is simple. You want the various tests to accurately show you current condition. If you have a difficult time doing any of the tests, that is to be expected.

There is only one test you want a high score on. It is the validity/malingering test. It shows you are not trying to scam the system. The rest of the tests should show your struggles. If you fall apart trying to do them, that is OK.

Just try to relax and do what you can, nothing more and nothing less.

Remember, a good result will show the neurologist how you are really doing.

And one more point, the validity/malingering test is usually 'hidden' in the rest of the tests. You will not be able to tell, "Oh, this is the validity/malingering test. I need to do good on it." That is a big part of how validity/malingering tests work.

So, just do what you can and if you overload, explain it to the tester and go on.

My best to you.

[xxxxcrystalxxxx]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

I have had three Neuro-Psychological Assessments over the last 10 years. The first thing you should be thinking is simple. You want the various tests to accurately show you current condition. If you have a difficult time doing any of the tests, that is to be expected.

There is only one test you want a high score on. It is the validity/malingering test. It shows you are not trying to scam the system. The rest of the tests should show your struggles. If you fall apart trying to do them, that is OK.

Just try to relax and do what you can, nothing more and nothing less.

Remember, a good result will show the neurologist how you are really doing.

And one more point, the validity/malingering test is usually 'hidden' in the rest of the tests. You will not be able to tell, "Oh, this is the validity/malingering test. I need to do good on it." That is a big part of how validity/malingering tests work.



So, just do what you can and if you overload, explain it to the tester and go on.

My best to you.

My gosh...I never heard of such a thing....I would think faking an illness like this is awful. I guess I never imagined people would fake this.....but I guess they do....thanks for the info....I will strive to do my best.....This is one test I want to ace.....

[Mark in Idaho]

Most NueroPsych Assessments are done because the injured party is involved in some sort of claim, either a Work Comp claim or Personal Injury litigation. This creates an opportunity to fake symptoms. The malingering/validity tests are to show this issue, one way or the other.

I got 48 and 49 out of 50, 50 being a perfect 'no malingering' score. One would need to score in the mid 30's and lower to be diagnosed as malingering. Even with my high validity scores, the NP tried to say that I was faking my problems or was severely depressed. The depression scales said I was definitely not depressed. He pointed to my high IQ scores in the WAIS-II (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, version II)

The research shows that a big disparity between IQ scores and cognitive, reaction, and memory scores is evidence of a organic injury. There are also some depression scores that will be elevated when the subject has an organic injury that appears as depression.

Hope you have a good NP who understands PCS.