Category: Neuropsychologist

And…. The FOURTH time.

Darren LongLeave a comment

Saw the Neuropsychologist for testing this morning. Just as I’ve previously explained about this tests I’ve taken, this one was… well… very close to the others. I recognized this as being the same as testing that I’ve done before.

The counting is easy to do… when I use my special way of counting numbers/letters that are spoken to me. “…put your fingers on the table and DON’T move them….”

(sure…. Don’t need to move fingers to count with them…)

Then there was the one about having a large story read to me, and describe what the whole thing was about back to her. The problem with that one is… that thing called: short-term memory. She would tell a long story, but I wouldn’t be able to remember much about what was just told to me.

Maybe I just didn’t enjoy the stories? Maybe? I’ve heard better….

Ah! There was this last one that I did and it was just too easy for me. Had four cards laid on the table in front of me with each card having a picture on it.

Square. Circle. Star. Triangle.

Each card has one a different number of shapes (3 squares or 2 triangles or 4 circles…. you understand.) The shapes on the card were one of the four colors.

Basically, she said “start”. Then, I took a card from the pile next to me and I had to decide if we were matching numbers, shapes or colors. I’d lay one down below one of the cards shown and she would say “yes” or “no”. After one or two cards that I laid down, I had it figured out. Then she said “change” and I would have to find a different way to match the cards. SHAPE or COLOR or NUMBER of images shown.

Heck, that last one was WAY too easy for me. The others…. not so much.

One More Test!?!

Darren Long1 Comment

Finally got ahold of the lady at the hospital that I need to talk to about getting the appointments set up with the doctors/surgeon to have a meeting next week about my surgery in September. She told me that “yes” the doctors/surgeon had talked about me this week and decided that they wanted one more test. The Wada Test. This is the test that I was told is a “dangerous” type test, and would only be done as a last resort. (Guess I got that far)

Wada Wada Wada…  Let me find a good description on the web to copy over…

The neuroradiologist inserts a catheter (a long, narrow tube) into an artery, usually in the leg (groin). The catheter is directed to the right or left internal carotid artery in the neck, which supplies the brain with blood. Once the catheter is in place, a dye is injected. Some patients report a warm sensation when this happens. The dye can be seen on a special x-ray machine. This machine takes pictures of the dye as it flows through the blood vessels of the brain. Once the angiogram is done, the catheter will stay in place for the Wada.

During a Wada, the neuroradiologist puts one side of your brain to sleep for a few minutes. This is done by injecting sodium amobarbital (also called sodium amytal) into the right or left internal carotid artery. If the right carotid artery is injected, the right side of the brain goes to sleep and can’t communicate with the left side. Once the physicians are sure that one side of your brain is asleep, the neuropsychologist shows you objects and pictures. The awake side of the brain tries to recognize and remember what it sees.

After just a few minutes, the sodium amobarbital wears off. The side that was asleep starts to wake up. Once both sides of your brain are fully awake, the neuropsychologist will ask you what was shown. If you don’t remember what you saw, items are shown one at a time, and you are asked whether you saw each one before. Your responses will be recorded word-for-word.

After a delay, the other side of the brain is put to sleep. To do this, the catheter is withdrawn part of the way and threaded into the internal carotid artery on the other side. A new angiogram is done for that side of the brain. Different objects and pictures are shown, and the awake side (which was asleep before) tries to recognize and remember what it sees. Once both sides are awake again, you will be asked what was shown the second time. Then you are shown items one at a time and asked whether you just saw each item.

I’m reading some more things on this web page about safety and so forth. I’ll just keep that info to myself….

Told on the phone this takes two hours. NEXT WEEK is when I’m doing this and NEXT WEEK is when I’m meeting with the doctors. Just have to figure out what day/time.

Cognitive Testing Results

Darren LongLeave a comment

I have the results of the cognitive testing that I finished a couple weeks ago. Very long and informative evaluation. Many “big words”. Not too many things that I didn’t already know. My memory sucks. Compared to the last time I’ve had this evaluation, this one came out slightly lower. Could be because of age, or other things. They say that I should be living my life the way I already do by having a structured routine and relying on a smartphone to aid in my daily activities.

The evaluation goes on and on for 8 pages, but that’s the main things in a nut-shell.