My 86-year-old mom has been experiencing cognitive decline since pandemic but has been ok except for tip of tongue. Yesterday she got confused; couldn’t recall my middle name, my daughter’s, my b-day, etc. She was a very intelligent educator and didn’t know suddenly what the word “geriatric” meant (thought it had to do with food). Today she’s back to herself and in denial of any problems, doesn’t want to tell her primary care doctor. Is this dementia? Mini strokes? She also fell a few weeks ago in a hair salon and said she didn’t hurt herself; now complains it hurts when she sits. Anyone been through similar?
Find out what's going on and don't guess. That's my suggestion. Nobody can tell you except a cognitive exam, too, bc we've seen LOTS of doctors diagnose an elder who's wandering the streets at 2 am as perfectly fine. While others dx dementia w/o conducting a test, just off the top of their head. Neither is okay. Rely on testing, that's my advice.
Best of luck to you
For one thing, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus needs to be ruled out. As do a lot of metabolic issues.
She didn't have the forgetfulness about names or not understanding words that you point out, but in retrospect, it was the beginning of her inability to plan and prioritize.
She started to panic over minor incidents--bad weather, ants, burnt out light bulbs. She lived alone.
By the time we got her into the care of a geriatric doc (her regular PCP saw no problem) we'd needed to get her into a good Independent Living facility due to the panic and her mismanagement of her otc meds, after a lot of floundering around trying various kinds of care.
In the end, the geriatric doc recommended a geriatric psychiatrist who insisted on a full cognitive workup. Although mom was still "sharp as a tack" according to family, testing and an MRI revealed a prior undiagnosed stroke that had taken out her executive functioning and some more subtle language skills.
Knowing what was going on made planning more clear and led to greater sympathy from my brother, her POA, who, prior to testing was disdainful that mom was simply feeling sorry for herself and needed to "buck up".
Mom was a bit resistant to the testing, but we presented it as "we need a baseline" which was true. You don't know if cognitive decline is static or progressive unless you compare the results over time.
Wishing you and your mom well on this journey.
As for the complaint about when she sits, probably not related to the fall. At our age we all get aches and pains. Sometimes depending on the weather.
Try not to over think this, unless there is a real emergency.
I would ignore these symptoms if they were on one day. Sometimes an anxiety attack can put us off. Forgetting words is all to common for all we seniors. One day it took me all day to come up with nasturtium.
There are simple tests you can do. Draw a clock set at 15 minutes after 11. What are these three animals? Remember this name--the talk a while--ask for that name again. Look up the tests and make it a game. I often can't remember birthdays for a few moments, either (and, as I don't proofread my responses, I am often appalled at what I wrote when I stumble upon my responses later).
If this continues you will know soon enough and can speak with her with her MD about simple tests moving forward. Meanwhile be CERTAIN that he will, advance directive, and her POA are done and that you know where things are if you are the one named to act for her when she needs you to.
I know this is a worry and I am so sorry.