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Elderly parents
Original poster

what is wrong with my Mum?

60 replies

hellymelly · 20/01/2013 15:19

she's in hospital at the mo, with a broken leg. She had a stroke a few years ago. She is 81. Anyway, she's been getting more confused for want of a better word. She is convinced that she has been on a day trip with all the other people on the ward, other things like that. However, the doc said she's been assessed and she did really well on the memory test, he said better than some of the nurses would, so he was baffled and surprised when db told him about the confused patches. We are worried as my Dad died in September and she is alone at home now, and it would be good to know what might be going on. Anyone experienced anything similar?

OP posts:
Original poster
hellymelly · 21/01/2013 14:18

I did sort of put it down to painkillers, but she is only on paracetamol now. Also the bit that is worrying us, is that this was happening prior to her being in hospital, although it is more noticable now. It is strange as her memory is fine, so that rules out dementia doesn't it? Does anyone know? She has other things going on, she's fallen victim to various financial scams, she seems far too trusting, but then that has always been the case to some degree, which is at odds with her general character (she is very bright). she will go into some detail about these delusional happenings, and can't be convinced that they didn't happen.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 21/01/2013 01:28

Broken leg? Might be the painkillers. I used to ramble when I was.

Also stuck in hospital, probably dozing and half dreaming. Being out of her own home, daily life and activities will not do her any good.

If she cannot easily get to loo she may be avoiding fluids.

pippop1 · 21/01/2013 01:14

Could she have had some kind of mild stroke (a TIA) during the operation or just after perhaps? Was she on some blood thinning drugs before the op and are they still being given? Just a thought.

Original poster
hellymelly · 20/01/2013 22:27

She is hypothyroid, but her memory isn't the problem as such. We were aware if it before this most recent fall, and then after the general anaesthetic she was really not aware of where she was or anything, ( that was when we asked the docs who said norm for after a GA) but although she has improved vastly since the post-surgery week (she's been in for weeks now) she is still having these delusions.

OP posts:
EmbarassingBodies · 20/01/2013 21:54

It may just be because of the operation if she had general anaesthetic or maybe being in hospital has highlighted a problem not so noticeable at home? The other thing worth checking is thyroid as low thyroid can lead to memory problems.

Original poster
hellymelly · 20/01/2013 16:28

She has been checked for a UTI, as I knew about that. She is eating and drinking well, short and long term memory are good, no memory lapses or problems generally-its just the delisions, or possibly hallucinations? Maybe she is dreaming and can't separate it from reality? She asked me how dd was getting on at nursing college, because in her mind dd had told her that was what she was doing. DD is 5...When I pointd that out, she said "yes, I thought that was strange". This has been going on for a while but is worse since she's been in hospital. After the surgery she was all over the place but the surgeon said that was normal, she then improved a lot but still the flights of fancy.
I don't know about altzheimers, how do they test for that?

OP posts:
CMOTDibbler · 20/01/2013 15:29

UTIs often cause confusion in the elderly, so hopefully they will be checking for that

greenhill · 20/01/2013 15:26

Is she dehydrated? Sometimes if you are unable to reach your own drink, a nurse may not think of offering you a fresh drink, if you are leaving one untouched.

Jas · 20/01/2013 15:22

If the confusion is a recent occurrence, I would want to rule out any kind of infection as the cause. It can be a common symptom of infection in the elderly.

jackstini · 20/01/2013 15:22

What is she like for long term memory?

If that is good and she can remember lots of details from years ago and it is just recent things that are confused, it could be the beginning of Alzheimers, did they check for that?

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