Aging

I had a visit with my primary care physician this week and it included a batch of questions Medicare wants checked once a year. I have no problem with this and am quite happy that I can report so far that I'm able to dress and feed myself and take care of my finances. Except for the checkbook. Sometimes I need help balancing the checkbook. Nevertheless ...

The first time I went through this process I was laughing at the tasks. My doctor said that the questions gave her the chance to address some issues that an older patient may not realize they were having. And she agreed that at 65, the questions are usually completely unnecessary.

The first time I did this, the nurse said she was going to tell me three words and ask me to remember them later. Banana, sunshine, chair.

Moving on, another of the tasks is to draw a certain time on a paper with a circle. The nurse took pains to draw a dot in the middle to help me get started. Then she asked me to draw the hands to show 8:20 on an analog clock. No problem.

A couple more questions and she asked if I could remember the three words. Banana, sunshine, chair. No problem again.

The reason I'm laughing about this now is that the time and the three words don't change. How valid is the test when a person has an entire year to practice those two little skills?

Although, I suppose that if someone had reached the point where they couldn't remember the words or how an analog clock works, maybe they wouldn't have anything to take home to practice.

I think I may go make a few notes for the future. Just in case.