I work at an Adult Day Center and my grandma goes with me there every day. On the way one day I told her that we couldn't go a certain way because there had been an accident. Later that day she asked me about the accident but couldn't remember what she had won at bingo just 30 minutes earlier. She also changes things about her past, ie; someone asked her if she likes camping, she said "I do but to get my husband to camp was like pulling teeth" and yet they owned a motor home and traveled all over the country. The next time she is asked she answers appropriately. Similar things happen all of the time with her. I have worked with Alzheimer's and dementia patients my entire adult life and have never seen this before. Any thoughts?
Short term memory is normally the first to go, then long term, though it works differently with different patients. My cousin's long term also went pretty quick with Vascular Dementia. She retained some things like memories of her parents, grandparents, old music, etc., but soon into the illness she forgot her high school, college, jobs, health background among other things.