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curiouslore

We’ve suspected that my mom has Alzheimer’s for about six months. It felt like overnight she went from maybe forgetting the word for something here and there to repeating stories and forgetting details about things she’d known cold before. But we kept hoping that maybe it was something else - she doesn’t (to our knowledge) have a family history of it, she’s only 68, she has other pre-existing conditions that could be causing similar symptoms. 

But yesterday I had to send non-emergency police to do a wellness check on my dad (as I live in a different state than they do). My mom went to my brother’s place while my dad was napping, claiming that my dad had said he was going to divorce her (no) and that he had been cheating on her (he’s with her 24/7 for months, so no). Her behavior alarmed my brother so much (who has his own set of issues that make it difficult to process and help during a high emotion situation) that he ended up calling me. 

The fact that she had said that my father was “napping” and that he didn’t know where she was alarmed me. Then I couldn’t get my father to answer the phone. I was so worried that she had done something to him during a fit of anger over these imagined situations. Thankfully she calmed down at my brother’s place, made her way home, and my father was ok. 

I don’t know how to process this, though. I thought I had lost my father yesterday and suddenly the elephant in the room that we’ve kept kicking down the road (excuse the mixed metaphors!) needs our immediate attention. She’s currently dealing with an infection that will not heal (and could potentially result in her losing a limb) and uncontrolled type two diabetes. We’ve been trying to stabilize those two things for months now so that we could get her well enough to do an Alzheimer’s screening. 

This is a lot. 

Quilting brings calm

Have your Dad ( or your brother) have the doctor do a UTI test on her urine.  Sudden confusion  and nonsensical thinking is one of the main symptoms in the elderly. It’s also possible  that her already existing infection has spread to her blood ( septic).

towhee

It sounds as if you need an immediate visit to the doctor. I do hope she is not driving. If you have been trying to get this under control for months, then I don't think you can get it under control in her current environment. Does she have caregivers that come into the home? If not, you might talk to the doctor and try that, even if you have to pay for them. Otherwise, a good skilled care rehab with extra visits might help, even if you have to pay for that for a couple weeks.

curiouslore

We've made steps to have her checked out for potential sepsis - so thank you for your comment! We've had the two issues (ongoing wound care and memory issues) happening concurrently for a while now, so the potential for one to be causing the other is for sure there.