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Is this a sign of declining cognitive abilities?


My mom is visiting for my daughter’s graduation. She’s 71, almost 72 and has made some starling comments.


She needs a motorized scooter to get around after a slow healing from surgery and when we arrived at the stadium she sat in the car while I took it out and put it together. Later when we returned from the ceremony, she said I don’t know how you’re going to get this back in the car. I said the same way I got it out and she said “but I helped you take it out.”


She didn't.


She was sitting in the car the entire time so as not to stand longer than she had to. Wtf!?


During a conversation about her siblings, she made a random comment that “even though she’s younger than me she had her kids before me” re her youngest sister. This is also incorrect as her youngest sister had her first child when I was 13.


I don't know what to do because she won’t talk about her state of mind and gets REALLY defensive if I even tip toe around that area. How can I check on this?

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It could be or it could be the left over effects of the anesthesia from surgery.

Keep an eye on her, you will see a pattern and notice if she is improving or declining.
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OhBoy999 May 2019
Her surgery was last October but she had quite a few setbacks as well as other issues so she’s not back to full mobility just yet.
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It can be quite frightening when you see the first signs of something not being quite right. If your mother sat in the car and just thought about you getting stuff out of the boot/ trunk, she might have got confused. It doesn’t matter. Watch and wait until you see something that does really matter in terms of her safety. Both myself and my DH are at present organising too many things and forgetting past conversations and options that got junked a fortnight ago. We are just getting old and tired! The less stressed you are about this, the easier it will be for her to talk about it.
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OhBoy999 May 2019
Thank you. She lives in another state so it’s hard to witness what she’s going through in person. I’ll try to listen more when she’s talking.
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Is there someone you trust who lives close to your mother? If you could talk with them about it, they might watch and let you know how she is. In these early stages when things aren’t totally obvious, other people can be noticing but feel a bit shy about bringing it up.
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OhBoy999 May 2019
Good idea. Thank you. I reached out to a friend who stops by to raise my concerns. This trip was quite an eye opener.
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