[00:00:00] Pete Waggoner, Host: We would like to welcome in Dr. Beth Staab, who of course is with us here at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology. And thank you so much for joining us. If you could tell us a little bit about yourself and your location. What led you to Coon Rapids? 

[00:00:12] Beth Ann Staab: Okay. Yeah. So I practice general neurology. I do epilepsy and I also do neuromuscular disorders. And I am at the Coon Rapids location. It’s one of our northern locations, a pretty busy practice.

[00:00:25] Beth Ann Staab: The diverse patient population and the different kind of things that we see there. Led me to that location. 

[00:00:31] Pete Waggoner, Host: So when you went through your journey of education and you decided you want to get into medicine, and then neurology became your focus, let’s start there first.

[00:00:39] Pete Waggoner, Host: What got you interested there? 

[00:00:42] Beth Ann Staab: So, interestingly, I hadn’t really planned to go into medicine from the get go. My undergraduate training was actually in engineering and so I graduated with an engineering degree and it wasn’t until the end of my, engineering degree that I decided that, I think I wanna do medicine.

[00:00:56] Beth Ann Staab: I think that’s what I want to do. And so by doing [00:01:00] engineering as my undergrad that sort of shaped where I went in the field of medicine. The one thing that engineering teaches you is it teaches you how to think. It teaches you how to think critically systematically. And that’s one thing that really lends itself very well to neurology.

[00:01:16] Beth Ann Staab: By using those skills, you’re able to use information from the patient’s history, from their physical examination to really take that and localize that and determine what the issue is in the nervous system by using those kind of critical thinking skills from engineering. A lot of what we do in neurology is a bit of a puzzle, if you will.

[00:01:34] Beth Ann Staab: We’re taking symptoms, we’re taking patient symptoms, we’re taking examination findings, and we’re putting those pieces of the puzzle together to localize that in the nervous system. And so engineering lends itself very well to that because you’re using those same critical thinking skills.

[00:01:48] Pete Waggoner, Host: So it’s like problem solving really. Exactly. 

[00:01:50] Beth Ann Staab: Yeah. And 

[00:01:51] Pete Waggoner, Host: for you, that must be great every day because no two problems Exactly. Appear the same. Correct. 

[00:01:56] Beth Ann Staab: Exactly. 

[00:01:56] Pete Waggoner, Host: Wow. Okay. That’s fascinating. And I suppose a [00:02:00] lot of the people that work in your area are really, for lack of better terms, wired the same way. Do you ever talk about that approach?

[00:02:06] Beth Ann Staab: Sometimes, yeah it’s like we don’t always talk about the approach, but. Everyone is going through that in your head, like when someone comes, just as you’re listening to their story and kind of what symptoms they’re having and how they’ve evolved over time and how things changed. In your head you’re thinking like,

[00:02:21] Beth Ann Staab: what part of the nervous system is this coming from? What could this be? And so that’s how your brain is working all the time when you’re talking to patients and trying to figure out what’s going on and. Developing a plan. 

[00:02:31] Pete Waggoner, Host: Yeah. And that’s back to solving the problem, right?

[00:02:34] Pete Waggoner, Host: Yeah. So, when you get into, I think you probably see this, but the delaying of treatment, and it may be a number of reasons. Don’t want to wait, don’t want to do this. And obviously we’re being seen sooner here with this whole Yeah. 

[00:02:45] Pete Waggoner, Host: Campaign of what we’re doing. But what does that really mean for those with epilepsy and other neurological conditions?

[00:02:52] Beth Ann Staab: It is pretty important. So a lot of times when, especially, you know, with epilepsy, with seizures, a lot of times when they initially present, sometimes with focal [00:03:00] onset seizures, people are having episodes of staring or confusion or deja vu and at the time aren’t really quite sure. What exactly this is it something neurologic?

[00:03:09] Beth Ann Staab: Is it something concerning? And so at times that gets delayed as you’re trying to figure out, is this a problem? Should I see someone? So that’s something that we see commonly. And delaying that can then lead to bigger issues that we sometimes see these smaller spells that are indicative of a seizure can then lead to.

[00:03:26] Beth Ann Staab: If not diagnosed timely and started on treatment can lead to bigger generalized tonic-clonic seizures, which is what most people think of when you think of a seizure. 

[00:03:33] Pete Waggoner, Host: So time matters, obviously. 

[00:03:34] Beth Ann Staab: Very much so. 

[00:03:35] Pete Waggoner, Host: And when you, when a patient comes through in a consultation in your world, what does that look like for them?

[00:03:42] Pete Waggoner, Host: Like, how does that all go and what can they expect? 

[00:03:44] Beth Ann Staab: So usually when a patient comes in, the most important thing is for them to be able to prepare ahead of time to just say, okay, what exactly has been going on? And what the evolution in the time course is because that’s what we use to help figure out what, is going on, what symptoms have you been having?

[00:03:58] Beth Ann Staab: How long has this been going [00:04:00] on? How has it evolved? Because. With neurology being a somewhat complex field, typically when patients see us, we’re not the first person they’ve seen for their symptoms. Right. A lot of times we’re the fourth or the fifth or the sixth and sometimes we’re not even the first neurologist that they’ve seen for their symptoms.

[00:04:15] Beth Ann Staab: And so for a patient coming in to just if they can even just jot down their kind of, this is what’s been going on and this is how it’s changed, that’s very helpful. So then they can relay that information to us and we can better. Put the pieces of the puzzle together, if you will.

[00:04:28] Pete Waggoner, Host: Do you find, if someone has to, let’s say, advocate or tell their story half dozen times, if you’re, yeah. Number six, does it get into the telephone game where maybe it might not be as clear because they’ve been doing it, or, I mean, Do you think it gets difficult? 

[00:04:43] Beth Ann Staab: I think it does, but I always like to hear from the patients.

[00:04:46] Beth Ann Staab: ’cause some patients say, well, my doctor put it in their notes as to what. What they’re sending me here for. But I always like to hear it from the patient because sometimes, the way that it’s been described over and over from previous episodes or who they’ve seen, it’s more helpful hearing it from the [00:05:00] patient to describe to me exactly what you mean when you said you were having dizziness.

[00:05:04] Beth Ann Staab: Like what do you mean by that? Do you mean did you feel lightheaded? Did you feel like things were spinning? Were you seeing two of things? When you were having, numbness. Did you mean like your arm felt dead, like you couldn’t feel it or it was tingly? Like having those kind of clarifications is really helpful.

[00:05:18] Beth Ann Staab: So hearing it directly from the patient, a lot of times it is definitely more helpful and the patient can always tell us how things are, how they’ve changed. 

[00:05:25] Pete Waggoner, Host: Let me ask you this then, in terms of that sometimes people put off seeing the doctor. If you were to say to anybody. Out here, please don’t like, what would your message be?

[00:05:34] Beth Ann Staab: Your health is vital to your longevity and to your wellbeing. Don’t delay. A lot of times a lot of neurologic things start with constellation of sometimes smaller symptoms that sometimes seem insignificant. Sometimes it’s hard to put the pieces together. Don’t delay because, small signs can be symptoms of bigger things.

[00:05:54] Beth Ann Staab: And the earlier we catch these things, the earlier we can treat them sometimes they’re, symptomatic of, [00:06:00] seizures of, neuromuscular disorders, of epilepsy, of seizures, of multiple sclerosis, early warning, early signs of a stroke. So by getting those things evaluated early, we can properly diagnose those and help prevent further long-term.

[00:06:14] Beth Ann Staab: Sometimes permanent injury, 

[00:06:16] Pete Waggoner, Host: so don’t ignore it. And in your world, I’m sure you don’t mind if it’s nothing. 

[00:06:21] Beth Ann Staab: Right. I’d rather, see it and say, this is not something worrisome or, yep. We looked at it and it’s not something worrisome. I’d rather have that than have something go along.

[00:06:31] Pete Waggoner, Host: Fair enough

[00:06:31] Beth Ann Staab: cause sadly we see sometimes things that have been delayed either. Misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, or the patient didn’t seek care or they sought care and just the diagnosis wasn’t made appropriately. And it can lead to long-term irreversible neurologic deficits that we would like to avoid.

[00:06:47] Pete Waggoner, Host: If you were to say some of the, like more obvious type things that people would tend to ignore. What would those symptoms be? 

[00:06:55] Beth Ann Staab: So a lot of times people are having headaches that are new onset headaches that they didn’t have [00:07:00] before.

[00:07:00] Beth Ann Staab: And a lot of times people write that off as well, I’m just stressed out. If you’re having headaches that are ongoing, that are something new, not something you’ve had before, that’s something you should get checked out. Having new numbness or tingling or weakness. Those are things you need to get checked out.

[00:07:13] Beth Ann Staab: Don’t delay. Any episodes that you’re feeling, you know of, confusion or memory loss, those are things that need to get evaluated. So we can get to the bottom of those and hopefully correct that and find a cause sooner rather than later. 

[00:07:25] Pete Waggoner, Host: Good stuff. What advice would you have for someone who’s nervous or scared to see any of you?

[00:07:32] Beth Ann Staab: It’s scary coming to the doctor and you never know what reception you’re gonna get. You never know are they gonna listen to me? Are they gonna hear me out? I’ve already seen seven other people and no one listened and no one heard me out. No one figured this out. Don’t be afraid.

[00:07:44] Beth Ann Staab: We’re on your team. We’re here to work with you, not against you. We’re here to work with you to figure out what’s going on, to find answers and to find solutions. We’re here to help you. And while it’s scary, come, we’ll get through it all together. 

[00:07:57] Pete Waggoner, Host: That’s great. And then this is the, my [00:08:00] fun final question for you.

[00:08:01] Pete Waggoner, Host: What do you enjoy most about working with this group at Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology? 

[00:08:05] Beth Ann Staab: I really like it. Everyone is very collegial. Everyone supports everyone. And really the whole goal of the clinic is patients first. So the goal of the clinic is patient-centered care, patient-focused care which in today’s healthcare environment that’s not the norm.

[00:08:24] Beth Ann Staab: And it means a world difference for patients. 

[00:08:26] Pete Waggoner, Host: You’re making a difference for patients, and we appreciate your very calm, professional demeanor. I’d come see you anytime, so I appreciate that. Thanks. You’re the best. Dr. Staub. Thanks for joining us here today.