Finding a Dr and Relocating question

February 7, 2011

Hi,

I appreciate all of the posts and am glad to have y'all out there for

assistance. Wishing none of us were in this boat....

My mom was dx'd several months ago and generally is doing pretty well. The last

few weeks she seemed perfect, now signs of decline again. Anyway, I am trying

to arrange for her to move closer but that is taking some major coordination.

She lives in NV now. I have a couple of questions:

There aren't any Drs I can find (confirmed with ) in Austin, TX. Have

any of you travelled for care to cities far away from where you live? I could

travel to Dallas or Houston, each @ 2-3 hours away. Would I be better off

fining a neuorlogist here or having two? Now she would be fine witgh a long

travel (it would be a major coordination for me to do it often), but I could do

it. How often do your loved ones end up seeing the Dr.

Also still on unsure whether I need to find a neurolgist, psychiatrist or both?

How do you best coordinate care between the two?

The move is going to be hard because of the financial issues. My mom is

fortunate in that her current mortgage is quite low. She won't make any money

on the sale of her home, in fact, she may not even be able to sell. If she

moves into an assisted living it is 3-4 times her current. Since she relies on

SS and only has a modest amount of retirement money. I am trying to figure out

how to help best manage $. I know it is terrible to say, but the choices she

has depend on how long she needs to make her $ last. I am torn between advising

her to live in a place/manner that brings her happiness now while she is able to

enjoy it or being very modest now so that she has more $ available when she will

need more assistance.

I have room for her in my home which is an option, but she is still independent

and I won't let her drive here (nor would she probably want to), so I am not

sure how to manage that with my work, my kids, etc. She tends toward depresion

if she is not active and engaged and I don't know if I can be her only

meaningful relationship. I'd love for her to be in a living situation where she

could meet people and establish relationships, etc but not sure she can afford

to do so. Any advise or experience on how your family navigated these waters

would be appreciated.

I will say that my mom has been complaining of memory issues for as long as I

can remember ( a decade or more). Only recently have I noticed anything, so

progression seems to be slow to this point.

Thank you ,thank you for helping me sort this out and for reading this long list

of questions!

Sherrie

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