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My mom is now deceased, she was in a nursing home and had Lewy Body Dementia. She seemed quite happy there, considering, and the staff and many of the residents just loved her.  She was always pleasant and outgoing.... She recognized all her visitors, but when asked a question, she would reply and start talking about something entirely unrelated. 'Mom, what did you have for lunch today?'......'We went to the shopping center and there were two dogs in the car, where are the dogs? There was a big one and a tiny white one.' ...... 'Mom, would you like some ice cream?'......'See that man over there? His mother flies to Chicago and he doesn't like it there.'........'Mom, want to go out on the patio?'.......'When is my sister coming, she fell asleep in that church by the lake.'......Nothing made any sense. We would just sit there and 'chat' or look at magazines together, but no actual conversations took place. I don't think I have read anything about this, here.   Has this happened with your loved ones, is it common? I'm just curious. I did ask her doctor once and got some mumbling about dementia, so I suppose that is that!

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Thank you all for your responses. Her passing away was indeed a blessing....just wondering because it was kind of un-nerving. It was like she wanted to respond, but what came out was something totally different..... But, as I said, mom seemed always pretty darn happy and cheerful, bless her.
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My mother will often "fixate" on what she's thinking about. In a conversation she'll talk about only that. It's usually how someone is hurting her (not) or stealing her belongings (not). It doesn't matter if we change the subject-she's on a "broken record."
She will often say she has a headache (a constant complaint), when she doesn't know how to answer a question.
She doesn't have the severity that your mom did but their thinking patterns are erratic.

My condolences on the loss of your mom.
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What you describe is not unusual. If they are thinking about something or fixated on it, it can be difficult for them to "turn that off" and start thinking about something that someone else suggests. sorry about the loss of your Mom
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Lassie, I had the same thing with my Mom but it wasn't from dementia.... it was from not hearing things correctly. Even with hearing aids, Mom would hear one word in a sentence and then Mom would talk about that subject.
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My mom was on the phone yesterday with my SIL and it sounded like she was answering questions and having a good conversation. After, my SIL said that mom was carrying on her own version of the conversation that had nothing to do with what my SIL was saying.

She has also done that with me, and we just go with it and I carry on my conversation and she carries on hers and it's fine. Or sometimes I'll answer her questions and reassure her that I'll find that man and tell him. My daughter was visiting yesterday and figured I knew what her grandma was talking about and she asked me when we walked away, "who was the man" I said, "I have no idea! LOL I just tell her what I think she wants to hear. It's kinder and less upsetting to everyone involved not to try to figure out who are all the people she is talking about."
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Lassie, my dad has PD with dementia (different from Lewy Body). His dementia has progressed to the point of very little sensible conversation. Now he suffers from almost constant violent hallucinations, so that he's living his remaining time in fear.
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I have the same conversations with my mom as you do...so I just let my mom talk about whatever she wants ..
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I have not had this experience. It must have kept you on your toes :) It sounds like you made the best of things. My mom's dementia hasn't been diagnosed yet (we are in the process). It is probably vascular. It is interesting what she can remember and what she can't. We just try to go with the flow.
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