YEP, THAT'S THE WAY MINE WORKS TOO...I WISH THAT WAS ALL THEY HAD TO DO, ON MON. I HAVE TO GO FOR MY ANNUAL MRI...ERGGH...I HATE THEM.

don't they treat you like you're drunk? :D

I was not trying to trivialize anything that might be asked on this board. I would never do that.

My experience with neuros is that sometimes they just "go through the routine" to make sure their notes are thorough. So that no one can question them in the future. I can picture them on the witness stand..

"Did yo do the finger to the nose test? Well its not in your notes. Dr. I propose that your negligence lead to this womans demise, you didn't even perform a simple finger to nose test.. blan blah blah..."

My response was not a hit on anyone here, it was a reality check on what often motivates physicians.

I was just trying to make the point that focusing on one particular sign at one particular point in time is probably not a worthwhile endeavor unless it is such an overwhelming sign (Like your arm is falling off) that it can't be ignored.

Sorry if i pushed anyones buttons, i was just trying to bring some sense of proportion to the actual event in question.

I still want to know who said:

"at least it is not like losing the ability to walk."

LOL

I have not been able to touch my nose in several years. I have decided not to worry about, I know that I am going to lose my vision in my left eye.

i would agree..it is part of the whole picture of hamer...walking...finger touching...turning over of hands testing every time i go at least to see what progress..or loss etc..there is...but DS...if you are praticing at home hon...then you are not giving a true picture of what is going on with you when you go to see your neuro...sigh... lifting weights with your hands will strengthn your arms per say...but to pratice for this test....you will give a false reading...(not exactly the phrase i want but tired today)... to your neuro when he does test you...as you have been pratisicing so much that you have it down pat...for him to be able to follow you properly...you have to do the test properly hon....praticising at home is almost like having a cheat sheet up your sleeve if you know what i mean??....

okay better example.... my ot came by last week...gave me three words to remember...then told me she would ask me them later....and yep i remembered two of them..grin...but you praticising for this test would have been the same if as i had written the words down when she had given them to me....a false reading to the test...

luv
heather

WOW I hope I didn't offend by laughing about the test. I was not trivilizing at all. Sorry if you saw it as so.

late reply to dslynn....that was my first neuro...oh, he's long gone!

but still, the nose thing? my current dr always spends hours with me and we never do this test!

Heather
LOL
One of my past neuros did the three words thing the first time I was there. On the second visit, my husband and i are walking into the office and he says, remember the three words--says them to me --DooH! Needless to say I remembered them when the doc asked, then told the doc that my husband just said them to me. But what if i hadn't told the doc? My neuropsych testing should have been more then sufficient for him to not even use that silly test.
There are cracks in the system!

Its like the cashier that has been trained to look at you and say, Hi how are you today? which she does and then two seconds later looks at you and smiles and says Hi how are you today?

Sometimes it just seems like the stuff the doc says just babbles out of their mouths--meanwhile they are thinking about the fishing trip they are going on the next day, or that their kid just put a scratch in the Beamer--damn he knew he shouldn't have let him take the Beamer to school--

Now --ok touch your finger to your nose--ok what were the three words i told you last time?

I'd love to believe this isn't the way it is, but I know better..

I'm always afraid I might poke myself in the eye.

It has to be part of a standard rating system for ms. I have had ms a long time and I do not do the walking or vision test any more. The SS dept,std,and ltd looks at these ratings so they ARE a important part of your medical history.

Hi nancy2,
It seems to me that if someone was trying to pull the wool over someones eyes, missing your nose would be a pretty easy trick. Or as shtiya (woooww, almost messed that up) says "poke myself in the eye ". If i ever thought that someone was making such an important judgement as to my medical status based on whether or not I could touch my nose, i'd be rather upset. As stated earlier in this discussion, "practice makes perfect". I get it, it's a test, a measure that is used. But geez, i'm gonna remain stubborn on this one. i think it's a bad measure when there are so many other tools at a doctors disposal.

Today i might be able to find my nose just fine, but tomorrow I may walk past my pool and fall in! Sometimes my balance is fine, other times--not so good.

But, my MRI always looks the same--like swiss cheese. I'd much rather have the doc right that in my chart and refer to it the next time i'm in the office.

I don't mean to be cantankerous about this, it just is sticking in my craw for some reason.

Sorry if i sound cranky--it happens sometimes.
Peace :-)

Hi nancy2,
It seems to me that if someone was trying to pull the wool over someones eyes, missing your nose would be a pretty easy trick. Or as shtiya (woooww, almost messed that up) says "poke myself in the eye ". If i ever thought that someone was making such an important judgement as to my medical status based on whether or not I could touch my nose, i'd be rather upset. As stated earlier in this discussion, "practice makes perfect". I get it, it's a test, a measure that is used. But geez, i'm gonna remain stubborn on this one. i think it's a bad measure when there are so many other tools at a doctors disposal.

Today i might be able to find my nose just fine, but tomorrow I may walk past my pool and fall in! Sometimes my balance is fine, other times--not so good.

But, my MRI always looks the same--like swiss cheese. I'd much rather have the doc right that in my chart and refer to it the next time i'm in the office.

I don't mean to be cantankerous about this, it just is sticking in my craw for some reason.

Sorry if i sound cranky--it happens sometimes.
Peace :-)

I have Intention Tremor, have had for 35 years. This was the first neuro problem that self identified for me. Twenty years ago this is the first test the neuro had me do to look at my tremor in 'action'...this test is not passable for me. It is a fail 100% of the time...it might take a few more tries to get it to act up, but it does act up.

The way it was explained to me was to touch my nose and then pick a 'spot' in space and try to touch it...or a finger or any 'spot' the tremor will occur for me...look up intention tremor or essential tremor.

The degree of tremor changes with the degree of other factors for me.

I personally don't think this test is silly...I use this test to explain my 'condition' to people who otherwise might think I have the 'DT's when I can't hold anything in my right hand.

Remember that everything about this disease and its relatives are personal.

NO TEST that identifies anything is silly...please find me the 'Silly' test that will give me a DX for all of my conditions.

Nancy thanks so much for explaing that to me, I hadn't thought of that. I already am on disability, applied and was granted disability in the lightening speed short time of three months! It makes sense that theyu would need to do those tests for that reason. It makes sense to me now, why the nurse asked out of the blue fo no apparent reason, if I did the walking test & pef test before my appointment. I am certain, many are applying for std,ltd and disability. She must just be used to conducting those tests before an appoimtment.


Jan53, I disagree with your comment about the "waste ofd time" the test is. When the red sirens go on, in a blue & white care. The touch your nose test has caused many people having to surrender their DL,large amount of fines, and even jail time.It's called a field sobriety test. It has some meaning in a court of law, so I doubt it is useless.

Bayou, about 10-15 years ago, I had intention tremors so bad that I was unable to change a light bulb in my apartment, were I lived alone. I just kept te curtains open so i could see in my apartment by the street lights. I also lost 50# in a couple of months because it was too greatr of an effort to get food to my mouth. That was 10-15 years ago, I was just diagnosed with clinical depression. It was 10-15 years before I was diagnosed with MS. I think it really was clinical depression the, but it was caused by the frustration and not understanding why I couldn't change a light bulb, why i always liked eating & it was too difficult to do at the time & not worth it, anfd I was getting lost all; the time to trhe point I would find myself in the wrong city I had intended to go to. Like 180 deg south instead of north. Those are very differnt locations, it is hard to mix them up, but I did...it was just depression....

But those probably add up to why my doc said I am declining fast now.