For the love of a Neurologist...

haha. Good title, eh?

We LOVE Joseph's new neurologist... Monday was his first visit to his new doc. Here's how the day went:
*Woke up early, left a little late, took Mom with us (to make sure we could find the place- she knows Spokane better) Put the pedal to the metal walked up to the check in desk exactly when they asked us to be there-couldn't have timed it better. lol. We had barely finished the health history when he was called back. The nurse was nice, she took his vitals and also got the info to contact Dr. Vincent- his old neurologist (she needed this because even though we formally requested his medical records over one month before his appointment, we haven't recieved it!! Grr.)
*Anyway Dr Cooke came back really quickly. He got a really detailed history, and he took tons of notes. He spent the next hour or so testing everything (Joseph's reflexes, nerves, balance, vision, hearing, strength resistance and others I couldn't figure out) He was very hands on, and a little old school, he had to see it, test it and write it down. Although he was a little old school testing he is extremely knowledgeable and "in the know" when it comes to medications and treatments for MS. He talked to us about different types of treatment, what he reccommends and he entertained questions about things we have researched.
* He reccommends that Joseph start on Rebif, and get an MRI of his brain and spine (He hasn't ever had a spine MRI) Dr. Cooke also wants Joe to see their Physical therapist once (then we can follow up with more if needed locally)
* Overall I don't think that Dr. Cooke and his staff could be any better or earned any more brownie points- they are spectacular!!

** MRI Follow up** MRI's are REALLY expensive so I did some calling around and MSAA has a program to help MS patients pay for MRI's, it looks like we qualify to have his MRI's paid for completely. So we are currently working on getting all that paperwork done.

** Medication** Rebif is a medication administered 3 times weekly by shot. We've read through the packet, watched the DVD, and everything else, we think it's a good way to go. We feel good about it. And since he can't go on it until after his MRI's there is still time. Good News: Rebif has a program to help patients pay for it, at most we'll pay $50/month, or nothing

***To sum up*** Dr. Cooke & Staff = Amazing!! It's worth the $50 gas (1 tank for the 260-ish mile roundtrip, then the tank filled up again in town), $20 food & $25 co-pay for 2 hours with Dr. Cooke. When compared to what we used to do, pay the same for a 30 min. drive and 15 minutes with his old neurologist. Can you say Score??

-J&S