We have a neurologist and a psychiatrist that I really like. It hasn’t always been the case. Over the past several years the quality of care has been variable to say the least. One big part of that was access. When we moved my mom into a home, the one we could find that would take her was in a small town without a psychiatrist or a neurologist. We would have to travel an hour or two to find someone. Then we were limited in our options. And when we would finally find someone we liked, they would retire, or move out of state, or be too busy to get another appointment anytime soon. It was a continual exercise in frustration. Not to mention it was 3 1/2 hours one way just to get to my mom. Add on the time spent after that to get to a doctor and it was a seemingly never-ending day. I don’t even like to remember how many days I logged 7 to 10 hours of driving in one day just to see her and get her to appointments.

When we moved mom in August to a nursing home that is 1 1/2 hours away, we also increased exponentially our choices for medical care. Not only are there specialists within a 30 minute drive, there are choices for specialists. And so far, the two we have chosen have proven to be patient, kind, knowledgable, and helpful to both mom and me. They take the time to answer questions. They tell me what I should be looking for. I didn’t realize how much I was missing out on by just trying to “get by” with whomever we could see.

So we are adjusting mom’s psych meds this week. The psychiatrist, like me, wants her to be on only what is necessary. So we are experimenting and taking her off one med and hoping she does just fine. Fingers crossed…