Talking to self on cell phone and paper

Pocahontas229

I am new to this form. My mother in law has been recently diagnosed with alzheimers and her progression has been quick. Her husband is currently incarcerated and my husband and I were left to take care of her, her horses and bills. We recently had to take her cell phone away and turn off as she was texting scammers and her friends at 3 or 4 am. She also was texting g her husband's cell number all day and night, were she was answering herself as he can't respond. We tried numerous times to show she was talking to herself and it never clicked. Now she is finding old notes, bills and letters and answering to them. Has anyone else experienced this

M1

Hi Pocahontas, yes i had similar problems with my partner. She would go through old bills and try to repay them until I took the checkbook away. Does one of you have power of attorney for her or are you a signatory on her bank accounts? You may need to see an elder law attorney to address these things.

psg712

Yes, when my mother was still living alone, she wrote down numbers off her caller ID and sometimes called them back. She signed up over the phone for 3 home warranties within a year. It took a lot of work to get her out of these. She bought $900 of Target gift cards and sent them to someone she didn't know. She saved huge piles of junk mail, mostly solicitations for charities or political groups. She meticulously recorded on these "bills" which she had "paid" and which were "not sent". Hundreds of dollars each month went to politicians of every stripe, bogus charities, even some hate groups that she would NEVER have supported in her right mind.

When I discovered all of this, I filled out a forwarding address request in her name at the post office and had her mail forwarded to my address. She was furious when she found out but didn't know that she could go to the post office and cancel the forwarding order. Do what you need to do to protect her. Like my mom, your MIL sounds like an easy mark for scammers.