Bjeans, have your Mom tested for an Urinary Tract Infection, if she hadn't already had a very recent test. UTI's can cause people seeing things that aren't there.
My Dad started seeing ants on the wall and in his food. When his caregiver told me that, she asked if it was ok to take Dad to his primary doctor who was in Urgent Care, thus no appointment. Dad was tested for UTI, and sure enough it was positive. After a couple days on antibiotics, the "ants" went away.
At least you would know if it was an UTI or a phase within dementia.
Hallucinations, which means people see things that aren’t there, and delusions, which means people have convinced themselves something is true when it isn’t, are a big part of dementia. My mother had so many of both I couldn’t keep up with all of them. There is nothing you can do to convince her the writing isn’t there, just like I could not convince my mother there was no one stalking her at her apartment or later, in her nursing home. Not to diminish the fact that this can be annoying, in the big picture, your mom could be doing much worse—wandering off, crying and yelling all night, smearing poo on the walls—you get the idea. We’ve had posts from people whose loved ones have done all these things. When Mom wants to read to you, you need not give her 100% of your attention. She probably won’t notice. If the writing on things upsets her, tell her it will “wash off” the next time you wash it. The good thing is that when they obsess about things, it usually disappears after a while and they’re on to something else.
My Dad started seeing ants on the wall and in his food. When his caregiver told me that, she asked if it was ok to take Dad to his primary doctor who was in Urgent Care, thus no appointment. Dad was tested for UTI, and sure enough it was positive. After a couple days on antibiotics, the "ants" went away.
At least you would know if it was an UTI or a phase within dementia.