Entering the fun new phase of paranoia

lilacgirl

My mom has been in AL for just over 2 weeks. She finally had her doctor's appointment there with the doctor on staff to establish her as a new patient. It was a very painless exam, he just wanted to go over her medications and he could not have been nicer — she complained about how one of her pills is not delivered to her automatically and she has to ask for it, so he said, "I can change that and have them bring it to you automatically every day if you want," and she said yes. Today she has no recollection of that and was upset when the nurse brought her afternoon dose, thinking the doctor must have told them she was "wacky" and needed the pill (it's anxiety medication - lorazepam).

Now she thinks I am the one who for some reason set up this appointment and made her go to the doctor, even though of course we explained to her numerous times that she just needs to have a local PCP in case she ever gets sick or needs antibiotics or new medication or something….

She called me tonight all upset, not only about that, but also because she skipped going to dinner tonight (because I took her out for lunch today), and someone came to her door to ask if she was coming to dinner. Mind you, the staff comes around before every single meal and asks if people are coming to the meal — she complained about that to me incessantly for the first week — so when I reminded her that that's just what they do, she flipped out, told me I was lying, called me a liar, and hung up on me!

I called her back later to make sure she was okay; she still is upset and paranoid that the doctor has turned everyone against her, has warned everyone that she is "wacky" and that I am the one who started it.

I don't quite know how to respond to this. I realize it is pointless to argue. I told her, "I am on your side 100% and it hurts my feelings when you call me a liar." How else can I handle this, because I have a feeling this is going to be an ongoing discussion!

SDianeL

You are handling it properly. You might try a fib. Tell her you will talk to the doctor. You can’t reason with her. Her reasoner is broken. Maybe have her medication or the dose changed. It sounds like she is agitated.