Hi Colleen...

Thanks for your response… I really appreciate it very much. I hope you’re able to get the care for your mom that she needs. I like your suggestion about getting a referral to a geriatrician. However, I’m not sure I would trust her doctor’s recommendation. It’s been my experience for my own health problems that bad doctors generally refer their patients to other bad doctors. And good doctors generally refer their patients to other good doctors. Also, I’m pretty sure that she would see this as a challenge to her doctor. Having said all that, I’m going to give it a try. I can always research the referred doctor online. You’re so right that in our situations it is a fine line between getting our mothers proper care, and not upsetting them.

My mom had an appointment with her doctor yesterday. And miracle of miracles… he sent her for bloodwork. I’m not sure what changed his mind, but my mom was very happy to tell me this as she knew it was one of the things that I had told her he needed to do. Should have the results in 1 or 2 days. Now if he would just do a sputum culture…

JQ