Neurological Disease: A Case Study

Scenario: An elderly woman showed symptoms of near syncope and was admitted via ambulance to a small community hospital. She experienced an inability to move on her own and almost lost consciousness while watching her grandson play basketball. Her symptoms occurred during a visit to her daughter’s home, which is approximately 150 miles from Liza’s home. When Liza was admitted to the hospital, her daughter explained the numerous types and dosages of medications her mother was taking. She also mentioned that Liza had not been taking her Coumadin as directed by her physician for the past week or so. Liza was admitted to the intensive care unit for evaluation. Over the course of hospitalization, Liza’s condition worsened.

The social context influencing Edith’s diagnosis and care began in the emergency room. Depending on the hospital and the time of day there is not always a radiologist available to read CT scans for the emergency room doctors so often they are left to interpret the scans themselves. Unfortunately, this may have been the case for Edith’s scan, therefore eliminating a positive social influence to help check for errors (pg.97). The ER doctor would have benefited from getting another perspective on the scan. Another physician may have focused more on the basal ganglia infract and less on the deterioration of Edith’s white matter of her brain.

Susannah Cahalan, a 24 year old, healthy and successful journalist for the New York post, experienced an acute onset of psychosis. Symptoms ranged from paranoia to seizures, which eventually led to a catatonic state. The onset of the female’s symptoms occurred when she became paranoid of a bed bug infestation in her home, yet after having her home exterminated there was no indication of bedbugs. Concern arose from her nonexistent appetite and severe insomniac behaviors. She began noticing her own erratic behaviors and shortly after experienced her first seizure episode. In search of an answer to reoccurring seizures she went to a physician who put her on Keppra (an antiseizure medication) and warned her the symptoms were due to stress and heavy drinking. The increasing paranoia developed into hallucinations, people plotting against her or speaking poorly of her. EEG and MRI results exhibited normal results; further indicating stress and alcohol withdraw. After being admitted to the NYU medical school EEG monitoring floor, examination showed tangential, disorganized, and temperamental behaviors. Several escape attempts later, placed Susannah in the more difficult patients category. Doctors suggested conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and cancer. She exhibited abnormally high blood pressure pointing to extreme concern.

Nancy is transferred to the Intermediate Care Unit after the MRI is completed. She has a 20 gauge saline lock in her right forearm and an 18 French indwelling (Foley) catheter. Gail is sitting by her mother's bed. The nurse asks Gail if there is anyone that can be called so she won't be alone. She informs the nurse that she is an only child and her father died years ago. Gail states, "I don't understand what a brain attack is. The healthcare provider told me my mother is in serious

Kathy realizes that she cannot wait until her appointment to receive medical care; she quickly goes to the emergency room. After a mountain of questions about Kathy’s symptoms and medical history, the doctors decide to admit her for further testing. She is transferred to the neurology unit and the doctors request she undergo a series of laboratory tests, including an MRI and a spinal tap. In the meantime, the doctors prescribe high dosages of steroids to help alleviate

Typically, adults would have headaches, confusion, hallucinations, or even, double vision. These symptoms, as readers could imagine, can remarkably change a person’s life. Susannah experienced hallucinations, confusion, headaches, and a few more uncommon symptoms which caused her to get tired and emotional. “Still obsessed with my bites, despite the exterminator’s assurance that I had nothing to worry about, I prepared for him to spray the place and spent that night discarding things that could be harboring bedbugs” (Cahalan 7). Susannah’s encephalitis meant that the left side of her brain was inflamed. The book references that the cause for the paranoia of bedbugs may have been because of the encephalitis. The paranoia resulted in tremendous amounts of stress for Susannah, sending her disease into a downward spiral. “Dr. Najjar saw tear gather at the corners of my eyes….It was another crucial moment in my case….But it was just a blip. After that outpouring, I lay back down and dozed off, exhausted by the brief display of emotion” (Cahalan 134). Susannah had spent hours in the hospital before finding a diagnosis. She was told she had been drinking too much alcohol and was bipolar. Her display of emotion in this particular event caused Susannah to get tired. Susannah had had several displays of emotion towards her father, whom she believed was kidnapping her when she first entered the hospital, as well as, to her co workers before her lengthy hospital stay. Susannah had changed from being outgoing and friendly, to a paranoid, uneasy and unpredictable person; however, she had learned many crucial life lessons from her

Sharon is a 17 year old young women, her mother noticed that Sharon had lost a significant amount of weight, and she looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Sharon was complaining of severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, and after battling this for weeks she was extremely tired. Her doctor conducted a standard physical exam, and interviewed Sharon about her general health, diet, family history, and environment.

“I tell you I don’t know what it is,” they tell the guy in charge of personnel. “Since I started on that ward with that woman I feel like my veins are running ammonia. I shiver all the time, my kids won’t sit in my lap, my wife won’t sleep with me. I insist on a transfer--neurology bin, the alky tank, pediatrics, I just don’t care!”

She was on top of the world when her month of madness started with two mysterious bedbug bites. Obsessed with the idea that her apartment was infested with insects, Cahalan had an exterminator sweep through her apartment. Despite being told that there was no infestation, Cahalan’s paranoia continued. Eventually, her left arm started to feel numb; the feeling soon traveled. Originally, she thought these symptoms mirrored influenza but this was before she developed seizures. Along with the seizures came increased paranoia, irritability, and insomnia. Concerned for her health, Cahalan’s mom and dad took her to the New York University Langone Medical Center in an attempt at getting her seen by a doctor after another labeled her condition as “alcohol withdrawl”. While walking to a coffee cart, Cahalan had a seizure, insuring her acceptance into the center’s epilepsy

In this short story by Gilman, she draws from her personal experience and the frustration of feeling “stifled by marriage and motherhood” (Golden and Zangrando 185). Gilman’s experience with S. Weir Mitchell, a well-known neurologist of

Oliver Sacks, British neurologist, historian, and novelist, paved his way to fame through several best-selling novels about his patients and even his own neurological disorders. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is his fourth novel, published in 1985, which consists of twenty-four short essays that each discuss a unique case that he came across during his time as a neurologist. It is divided into four parts: Losses, Excesses, Transports, and The World of the Simple, and all are cleverly dubbed as “clinical tales” because of how they are told in a scientific, yet conversational manner. While he includes specific medical jargon, and analyzes the situations as a neurologist should, dialogue inserts with his patients

Mrs. Chen has had a progressive decline in her mental capabilities in the past five or six years. She had a CT Scan done and it showed that she had diffused cerebral atrophy. Cerebral atrophy as defined in our textbook is the wasting away of brain tissue. This means, she is experiencing a loss of neurons and the connections between them. Also, since her cerebral atrophy is diffused, it has affected multiple parts of her brain. Cerebral atrophy is commonly associated with Dementia and Alzheimer's. I think Mrs. Chen is suffering from one of these two diseases because of the description of her symptoms. Alzheimer's and dementia are commonly associated with memory loss, confusion, and the cognitive decline of a patient. Alzheimer's

In the book Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan, a New York Post reporter, gives a memoir of her time afflicted with an autoimmune disease. After she contracted the disease her life and personal identity, was forever changed. Cahalan details her symptoms leading up to her month's stay in the New York University Langone Medical Center, until she was finally the 213th person diagnosed with that disease. The number of patients diagnosed has greatly risen over time with the help of the nonprofit Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance that Cahalan started.

In the summer of 2015, I was enrolled at The University of Phoenix to start the summer program. Due to my mother having a terrible car accident, I pushed back my enrollment date since the car accident left my mother unable to walk. Not only that, I was left with the responsibility and care of my two younger siblings who have cerebral palsy. I called and talked with admissions and they pushed back the date for me to start school, after a couple of weeks passed I received a call from the school telling me I would loose my funding for school and it was important that I started on the next starting date. The following start date arrived and I started school every week I received a call from a adviser if I didn’t sign on to

Typically, it is thought that doctors and the rest of the staff at health care facilities are trustworthy. However, Robbie’s neurologist, Dr. Abbasac, proves this thought wrong. Robbie’s condition got worse while being under her supervision, because she kept changing the treatment and increasing the dose of the medications. Due to the doctor’s actions, Robbie’s seizures became more frequent and lasted longer. He also started getting skin rashes, and his behavior was dramatically changed.