Draw a Clock!

please don't try this without supervision of a medical professional

Similarly to the fact that when Babcia would pick me up from school, she would ask, "How was your day?" or "Did the teacher have a dress on?" (to get the conversation started) now that I'm on my rotations she tends to ask Wenisa and I if anything interesting happened at the hospital. Here and there we have some crazy stories to tell her about the hospital, but with my VA rotation I became slightly obsessed with cognitive function tests and testing for dementia.

There's one simple test that we used during my geriatrics rotation in July at the VA, that just blows my mind. It's called a Clock Drawing test. It's typically used for assessing dementia and Alzheimer's. So one day, Babcia was in the kitchen, and she said "Hmm..why did I come in here? I can't remember why I came in here!" So I said:

"Draw a clock"

Babcia deep in thought, attempting the Clock Drawing Test

She had no idea what was going on, yet she followed my simple directions without asking many questions and her clock was unremarkable. Nothing to be concerned about. So my clinical test showed no dementia via the Clock Test. PHEW! Usually you ask for the clock to say ten after 11, however, I just picked a random time. Thankfully her clock didn't look like one of these:

These are .... concerning...

 Unfortunately however, she doesn't realize this is a diagnostic tool. She uses it as a game or a brain exercise with her friends when she talks to them on the phone:

"Oh no, I forgot what I was going to say...  I really had a funny story to tell you. I just completely lost it!" -Friend #1,000,000 that calls daily

"Oh it's OK... it'll come to you. Draw a clock!" -Babcia

 Even when Wenisa and I forget something, she'll tell us to "Draw a Clock!" Heaven help her doctor if he ever asks her to draw a clock! Not only will she know what he's doing to her, but she'll have it down pat and probably say "OH NO PROBLEM! I do this all the time..."

Namenda and Aricept Appreciation,
Justine