Hi all, new to the forum and very anxious about my mum.
She is 79, and although reasonably physically fit and well, has been showing some signs of short term memory decline for a year or so. She was 200 miles away from me, but we moved her closer so now I'm only 30 mins drive away. She is in a retirement flat, with warden support but living independently.
She went for an MRI brain scan recently (she actually took herself to the doc knowing her memory was failing) and, according to her very brief account of the psychiatrist who visited her at home, the scan showed shrinkage of the brain. That's all she could tell me, oh plus they've given her Ibixa to slow the atrophy process?
So what does it mean? They've notified DVLA so she can't drive anymore. But they took her through all the dementia verbal tests and she passed easily. She knows what day it is, where she is, she can get up and washed and dressed, she never misses an appointment and she wipes the floor with the old ladies in the community room at scrabble and rummikub haha! But she can't remember if she's eaten today, or what she had, and she won't recall conversations or even having a bad cold and a fever last week. Last night she explained about the DVLA and her licence being rescinded on the phone, then went straight on to ask me 4 times why she wasn't allowed to drive...in the space of 5 minutes.
Plus she can be a bit inappropriate at times...I'm wondering about her normal inhibitions being affected!
It all seems to be escalating and I have no idea what to do next. What should I be doing? Talking to her doctor?
Thanks for any support. I'm feeling a bit at sea.
She is 79, and although reasonably physically fit and well, has been showing some signs of short term memory decline for a year or so. She was 200 miles away from me, but we moved her closer so now I'm only 30 mins drive away. She is in a retirement flat, with warden support but living independently.
She went for an MRI brain scan recently (she actually took herself to the doc knowing her memory was failing) and, according to her very brief account of the psychiatrist who visited her at home, the scan showed shrinkage of the brain. That's all she could tell me, oh plus they've given her Ibixa to slow the atrophy process?
So what does it mean? They've notified DVLA so she can't drive anymore. But they took her through all the dementia verbal tests and she passed easily. She knows what day it is, where she is, she can get up and washed and dressed, she never misses an appointment and she wipes the floor with the old ladies in the community room at scrabble and rummikub haha! But she can't remember if she's eaten today, or what she had, and she won't recall conversations or even having a bad cold and a fever last week. Last night she explained about the DVLA and her licence being rescinded on the phone, then went straight on to ask me 4 times why she wasn't allowed to drive...in the space of 5 minutes.
Plus she can be a bit inappropriate at times...I'm wondering about her normal inhibitions being affected!
It all seems to be escalating and I have no idea what to do next. What should I be doing? Talking to her doctor?
Thanks for any support. I'm feeling a bit at sea.