HT get a diagnosis

ibterry

ibterry Desperate to get a diagnosis for my wife. She is 75 yo, has all the symptoms of Stage 5 Alzheimer''s, and some symptoms of Stage 6.
I don''t believe she is in denial. She simply does not realize that she is in any way impaired (a condition called anosognosia). I am her sole caregiver, also her Legal Guardian and Conservator, but none of that allows me to force her to see a doctor. Without a diagnosis there are very few support options available. Also, only moved to Olympia in Nov 2021 and do not yet have a family doctor. Any suggestions for getting her a diagnosis would be appreciated.

M1

Welcome to the forum. Common ruse is to tell her its a visit required by Medicare or she'll lose her insurance. Meanwhile you put everything in writing and give it to the doctor's office ahead of time.

toolbeltexpert

Ibterry I was in your shoes. My dw is in a similar place with the, I am not going to a doctor. Finally I had enough, she had a little bump on her neck that got red and wouldn't go away. I made the appointment told them the real reason and on the day of the appointment the bump wasn't  bad and of course she didn't want to go. I told her because of the way things are there would be  300$ charge for canceling. I have learned that she didn't  need to be told till the day of. I still don’t  have a dx yet but I am hoping it will be soon. I just got the cat scan results yesterday so I am hoping the doctors office has it now if they don't I'll bring them my copy. By the way I pulled the same excuse when we had to do the cat scan,she got dress and came down crying, when it was done she hugged me for helping her get thru it. Good luck you can do it.

Ed1937

Ibterry, welcome to the forum. Sorry you have a need for it, but you found a good one.

You have a good suggestion above. I'll add another possibility for you. I know you said she has anosognosia, but does she realize she has memory loss or other symptoms? If so, you could tell her that there are numerous conditions that can mimic symptoms like that, and when found, could be treated, and the symptoms could fade away. The good thing about this is that it is true. Best of luck to you.

Have you seen a CELA (certified elder law attorney) yet? If not, that should be done asap.