We met my husband’s new Primary Care Doctor last week. It is the second change in the last six months and I really like her. It was obvious that she had gone through his file before our meeting and was ready to learn more. She actually listened as he told her he wanted to be treated just like any other patient, not like someone with Parkinson’s. And when we left, he had a plan of action that made sense for him, I think this is a good change.

Unfortunately not all members of his medical team are as willing to listen. He has been receiving treatment for a sore knee from an orthopedic PA and we had an appointment with her yesterday. She was expecting to give him a cortisone shot in his knee and even when he told her the last one didn’t work, she kept on prepping him for the injection. I finally had to stop her and say, “you heard him tell you he doesn’t want the injection, right?” She looked at me with a strange look on her face as if to say, well, why are you here then?

I try very hard to let my husband speak for himself when at his appointments, however, I also need to make sure that his wishes are being followed. That can mean taking things to the extreme and asking for a new doctor as I had to last year, or simply stepping in and making sure the professional is listening as I had to yesterday. My job as CarePartner is to make sure he gets the care he wants and deserves. That means advocating for him to make sure everyone hears what he has to say. Sometimes I have to be the greasy wheel to make sure best care happens.