Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day ---2011

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there....I hope yours was a good one.

Other than spending some time on the phone with my Dad and my Mom earlier today, this one was not so good around here.  I think the stress of everything is really setting in on everybody here. The constant threat of being homeless and having to beg and plead for money to pay the rent, utilities and all the rest of it is taking a huge toll. It has been a constant drumbeat of problems for months now and just seems to be getting worse. I think we all have had it. This has been a day of very short fuses, lots of angry words, and lots of chaos and commotion.

I have very little of a positive nature to share, but there is one thing. Last Friday I met with the mental health person Texas DRS sent me to because of my Social Security Disability Case.

After taking a very detailed medical history of myself going back to when I was teen 30 years ago as well as the history of my family up and down the family tree, she did some various cognitive tests. Fortunately,  I knew what day of the week it was, the date as well, who the President was and all that sort of thing so I passed. Being able to think was never my problem--if anything I think and worry way too much.

So, after an hour later she finished things off and told me it was very clear to her that I had something major physically wrong with me and that I urgently needed to be evaluated by a doctor who could review everything. She promised several times to stress in her report that I needed "real help" and that the patient is barely ambulatory and in extreme pain.  After discussing it, she agreed with the idea suggested by the neurologist last October that I probably have several different physical problems going on at the same time that create the overall deal and not just one thing. She also agreed with my assessment that whatever is wrong just might be not be findable in time.  One hopes though, since I continue to get worse, that new tests now might show something if I were to be seen by a doctor.

It was fantastic to have somebody outside of the docs I saw last summer  validate the fact that there is something seriously wrong with me. It is not a mental problem or lack of willpower, etc. but a real physical issue. She agreed with my assessment that whatever this is, it is progressive and worsening. Hopefully her report will convince somebody at the state to get me some medical evaluation and assistance.

How long that will take or if it will even happen I have no idea at this point. But, it is a little something to hope for.  I don't know if it can be treated or even slowed down. But, I sure would like to be able to hang a name on my enemy.

2 comments:

Terry W. Ervin II said...

Hope the social worker's voice added to yours makes a difference.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

She was not a social worker--she is some kind of psychiatrist. I hope it will make a difference. Nice to have some vindication of what I have been saying all along. I knew it was a body issue and not a mind issue.