Friday, March 20, 2009

Diagnosis Confirmed - it's NPH

I took Mom to the Neurologist today to review the results of the cisternogram testing last week.

The testing, along with the results of the earlier MRI and neuropsychological testing confirmed a diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

We will now interview for a competent Neurosurgeon with experience treating this condition and move forward with planning for surgery.

An interesting developement was that Mom's primary care physican discovered that Mom had a Brain MRI in 2003, so we will be getting copies of that test to compare with the more recent MRI testing to see if there was any spinal fluid accumulating in her ventricles at that time. This test would have been closer to the time of her fall in Mexico that I remember being the onset of these problems. The films should be ready for me to pick up next week.

I will also be giving Mom B12 injections for the next 6-7 months. You can say that she is less than thrilled with this news. But I've done this before and feel confident we will have no trouble with the administration. Now ensuring that she takes her other prescription medications as prescribed is another matter.

Mom continues to be confused by the entire process, and I have to continually remind her of the simplest tasks. I pray that we can schedule the surgery in the next few months so the healing can begin.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

*hugs all around* Our thoughts are with y'all back home.

-Surfer Girl

Anonymous said...

Hugs from New England, too. I've only had one experience with this, but the gentleman did very well once his shunt was put in, etc. Here's hoping your mom does well, too.

jedivet