travel / confusion

[carlraut]

I wonder if anyone else has experienced what my mom (vascular dementia) is currently experiencing, or could offer me suggestions of what to do.

My sister lives in Ireland, and came over to fly my mom over, to spend Christmas and New Year with her. My mom flew back on her own. Since then she's been having confusion about whether shes in Ireland, or actually at her flat. Strangely though it appears more when she talks with my sister, than with me. And it has happened on previous trips, though she appears to have got 'normalised' quicker.

My sister feels its something more, and wants to pursue it with the GP, though my feeling is that we just need to manage mom more, and that its just degeneration. My mom lives by herself, and has a carer come in twice a week to help clean, and check on her, and also has meals delivered twice a week as well

 

[Amy in the US]

I'm not an expert with this situation, but have heard here on TP and in my carer's groups, similar stories.

It could be that the change in routine has upset things and your mum needs more time to settle.

It could be that her dementia has progressed (I know with vascular dementia there can be sudden changes) and this is now just more than she can handle.

She could have an infection (UTI or other) that is causing more confusion.

She could be off her sleep schedule since the trip, and sleep deprivation could be causing confusion.

If she is on any medications, she could have missed a dose or accidentally taken an extra dose of something. This can cause all kinds of issues.

I'd say confusion somehow related to traveling is a likely suspect, but of course it's hard to know.

My best ideas are:

-get her checked out for a UTI, even if just to rule it out

-contact the GP/memory clinic/whoever, to have her medications checked and maybe a general checkup

-strongly consider that it's time for her to have more of a care package in place, at least for the short term. I'd say at least one daily visit, at an absolute minimum, in addition to the four visits a week you currently have. I think you might all feel better with a closer eye on her.

-you or another family member might want to go and stay with her for a few days or a week, to get a clearer picture of how things are and how she is or isn't managing, or what needs to be done

Sorry, that's the best I've got for you. I hope others will have better ideas!