Experience with NYU Langone

Lucid

Hello,

My dh is 66 and has been dx'd with Alzheimer's. We have been with Columbia U Medical Center (Dr. Karen Bell) since this summer. We are not having any issues with Columbia except I'm wondering if other institutions offer more than prescribing you a medicine and you come back in a few months. Columbia has a few virtual social programs but they generally have you reach out to the Alzheimer's Foundation and Caring Kind for programs which I have.

Earlier in the year, we were at NYU Langone and I had thought we were told that if it was Alzheimer's that they would connect us with their memory specialists/coaches to help dh work on his memory. I may have misheard (at the time we didn't think it could be Alz) and then we wound up going to Columbia.

I'm wondering if anyone has been to NYU Langone and if such services exist (memory specialists). Otherwise, I feel like we'll just stay with where we are.

Jeff86

Hi Lucid,

The Pearl Barlow Memory Center at NYU Langone is one of the early stops we made along the way on our AD journey.  I took my wife there after her dx for a second opinion, to see whether there was anything more they could offer by way of treatment options, and perhaps out of desperation as I wanted to do anything and everything possible to try to help my DW.  

I’d say our experience there was unexceptional.  Dr. Wisniewski confirmed the dx and, alas, had little to offer beyond conventional wisdom:  eat a Mediterranean diet, exercise, do brain exercises like puzzles.  Because of my DW’s complex dx (cerebral amyloid angiopathy and brain aneurysms as well as AD), she was ineligible to participate in clinical trials being conducted at NYU Langone.  We were not offered the type of memory specialists you reference, although I might harbor some skepticism as to how much they would be able to achieve if they, unlike unicorns, really exist.

This was about four years ago.  NYU Langone is a bit of a haul from northern Westchester but I would have gladly done it if they had anything special to offer.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Lucid

Thank you Jeff86. I appreciate the feedback. I’m inclined to stay with Columbia since I trust the doctor from a clinical perspective. We got the same advice from the dr  regarding puzzles etc. We live in midtown Manhattan so NYU Langone is closer but Columbia is manageable since we don’t go much. I have an appointment for my dh with NYU for March but think I should cancel it since we have our dx, he’s taking Donezepil, and I can’t imagine what else they could tell me. When I made the appt with NYU it was October and I wanted to cover my bases since dh was dx’d in August. But now I feel like I’m ok with who we’re seeing if no one else has something extra to offer. I’ve been running around with so many appts for my dh’s neurological and physical issues for the past year and am ready to slow down the train if that makes sense.