11/17/10 - The Neurologist

So 3 days, 3 doctor appointments...wow. So to complete the trifecta we consult with a neurologist...because if one believes one has an impending diagnosis of ADHD one goes to a neurologist...correct? So we go, the 3 of us, Dave, Peter, and myself. First of all the office seems to be undergoing some sort of paranormal activity in that the lights are fluttered in such a way I am concerned one of the patients whom very likely in this office could have a seizure disorder, will break out into a grand mal seizure at any moment. Dave is thinking this is some sort of test, and I am thinking, I am failing whatever this guy is testing me on. Anywho the lights continue to blink and stagger as this nice doctor provides the verbal assessment. He asks Peter a series of questions, reviews the teachers answers of a questionnaire, gives Peter a quick Neuro check, and then hands us over a script for some ADHD drug and says "he will be better tomorrow." He then goes on to give Peter a computer test which will gauge his distractability. Well we could hear his distractability from 4 rooms away. Dave and I sat stunned in the waiting room...not because we were told by a Neurologist our son has ADHD but shocked because he handed over a prescription after a 20 minute evaluation. One has to go to their Internist 3 times with a fever, green mucus coming out of every orifice, and pneumonia before one can receive an antibiotic and this guy is prescribing a mood altering medication like it is a multivitamin. I know we went to him for help and advice and now that I have gotten what I asked for I am not sure this makes common sense to us. This is not denial...it's logic.
The doctor stated that ADHD does not have a diagnostic test, it is diagnosed based on verbal assessment, genetics, and response to medication. It disturbed my core of being not that he did not do an "ADHD test" but that he did not order some testing to rule out any other possible explanation for the behaviors. Is he such an incredible evaluator that he can diagnosis and rule out all other possibilities in 20 minutes? Well maybe...but I believe in my core there could be another way. If medication is the end result, so be it, but I believe there is more to the story and am not willing yet to commit to this treatment recommendation at this time.