Recent News

Saikin no nyuusu

This is another kind of funny, kind of sad story about my dad.

If you've ever been to see a neurologist (or taken someone there), you know there are a couple standard questions. The most common are "what is your name?" "what is today's date?" and "do you know where you are? Where?"  These are to assess the patient's orientation for person, place, and time.

There are other questions, like "subtract 7 from 100, then again, and again, and again." 7 is a good number because it is a large prime number and there will be no pattern to the first digit of each answer until 30, and no neurologist goes that far.

Another common question is "anything in the news catch your attention recently?" This assess the patient's ability to acquire and retain new information. Most people can recall something they saw on TV or read on Yahoo! or someplace (like a recent natural disaster or an arrest of a terrorist or a serial killer), but others haven't been able to remember anything new for a while.

When my dad was first asked this question in February of this year, his answer was "President Trump. He makes me angry." The neurologist nodded and wrote it in the chart.

When my dad was asked this question at his last appointment the other day, his answer was "President Trump. He makes me angry." The neurologist nodded and wrote it in the chart.

No matter your political views, I am sure you will agree that since his election, Donald Trump has consistently been in the news. I can see how some of it might be misunderstanding, but no other president in recent memory has been able to produce negative press so effectively and so constantly. Based on the premise of the recent news question and how it is assessed, my dad's memory issues are not too bad. But in reality, he can't remember what month it is. Donald Trump is inhibiting adequate neurological assessment by being in the news so heavily as he is.

So Donald Trump needs to avoid negative press for a while, so my dad can get an accurate assessment of his neurological status. Oh, and to form a more perfect union. Or something.

(Disclaimer: I did not vote for Donald Trump. I did not vote for Hilary Clinton, either. Something about residency and citizenship :P)