DH and I saw his neurologist today. His EEG and PET/CT scans showed normal - other than a mild degeneration of the temporal lobes. He said he saw no signs of dementia and that DH is in more of a pre-alzheimers stage. He didn't put much strength in the neuro-psyche testing done in May which showed deficits in the frontal lobe area. Could turn into Alzheimers or could not. Won't get better and might or migh not get worse. He suggested more exercise, both mental and physical. We go back in 6 months. If he has declined during that time he will then be on medication. The doctor gave him the go-ahead to drive a school bus.
He is a part-time school bus driver. No ISSUES but the psychologist who did his neuropsyche testing suggested he consider not driving. The neurologist said that he didn't read as much into those tests as the psy. did.
Sheila1951 – you have a big problem with this one. I follow your posts closely because your story is most similar to where I am now. Although the root cause is probably different, our DH's are in a similar place in terms of function, symptoms, attitude towards us and insight into their own behavior and disease.
Excuse my frankness but your neurologist sounds like an idiot to me. I can not believe that he would discount very descriptive neuropsych testing and use imaging results (useless in most early dementias) and his own personal analysis of your DH's condition in the short time frame of your visits to form his recommendations. I know my husband can fool almost anyone at anytime. Unfortunately, living in your shoes, I know you are stuck with this doctor for the time being because your DH is very functional and got the answer he was looking for. Your dr's wait and see approach is probably valid for everything except driving that school bus.
No one with neuropsych results like your husband should drive a school bus but you are going to have a tremendous fight on your hands to stop it. I see in my own husband that he has the most difficulty when there are multiple things happening at once and he needs to make quick decisions (executive function/frontal lobe skills). That is what driving a school bus is. If yours gets confused on the golf course playing a game he has probably played for years, you know it is going to happen on that bus.
Although I know it would start a war, I would tell my DH that I want him to find another part time job that does not involve transporting children and that if he refuses, I would tell him that I am planning to take my concerns to his boss. You can not wait until he misses the fact that two children got off the bus and he hits the second one crossing in front of the bus or gets distracted by the kids behind him and gets in an accident.
There are no easy answers for you and I am truly sorry you have to be the one to try to fix this mess. I know the gray area you are living in now where you are really the only person that is fully aware of the magnitude of your DH's problems.
Thought there was a thread where everyone told you to get him off that school bus. I don't know, but one way to think of it, if it were YOUR child, would you want him driving the bus?
Does the school know he went for testing for anything yet??I hope the dr who says its ok for him to drive the schoolbus, documented that in his file. if your DH does have an accident and there is a great atty on the 'other' side, that dr better have lots of malpractice insur handy- and further if he has copies of the neurosphyche tests showing ANY disfunction of diminished capacity, hes in for a biggy by whoever gets hurt. i dont get it, nowdays, everyone wants to 'CYA' when it comes to liability. divvi
Sheila, I think Catherine stated it very well. Ditto her opinion. Dr. is an idiot. He cannot drive the school bus. Any way to report this without getting personally involved? How about calling the Alzhiemer's Assoc. and talking to someone there, a social worker perhaps? Can you get the people who did the neuropsych testing to recommend some approach?
So sorry you have to deal with this disease and dumb doctors to boot.
I just emailed the psychologist who did the neuropsych testing to let her know the test results and what the neurologist said about driving the bus. I'm sure I will hear from her on Monday. I'll figure this out tho. School doesn't start for 2 weeks. He hasn't been "hired" for the route job yet...in fact hasn't even gotten an application in. He just subbed for drivers the past couple of year. I just have to do it without him knowing I had anything to do with it.
the school would probably be covering him if hes a driver in their bus and would also be onthe hook .but yes good to up your own personal insur as well just in case. everyon who has an AD spouse still driving shouldbe carrying the <MAXIMUM> amounts available! thing is if the school doesnt know something is amiss they have a way out if he has an accident they can saythey werent advised of his condition..it would be less liablity to them probably. you would be on the hook personally as well. ugh, i feel for you too having this decisions to make...divvi
You might contact the neuro and tell them you need confirmation from them like was stated to you that he is Ok to drive the school bus. Bet you they won't comply.
That is a great idea (((((JudithKB!))))) The neuro knows what another professional has stated. Let him stick HIS neck out. It would be interesting to see if he would actually put it in writing. If he doesn't, then you know something's *up*.
When my boys were teenagers, I told them if I EVER heard of them driving under the influence, I would be the one to call the State Patrol and have them picked up before they killed themselves or someone else. In your case, I wouldn't hesitate. I would just call his boss myself and fill him in. It's not good to keep that boss in the dark. If I was the boss and didn't find out until too late that he had MCI or mild AD or whatever, it would be very upsetting. As painful as it was, I asked our doctor to write to our DMV and have DH called in for a retesting of his driving skills. Very hard to do. But, it had to be done. If he gets into a wreck and hurts someone, they can sue you for everything. And just upping the insurance won't really do the trick if they can prove it was a pre-existing condition.
Sorry to be such a wet blanket but it's a pretty serious subject. Blessings! I hope it all works out for you!