Mom has been saying that she's seen things before: All the people in the restaurant are the same people she saw the last time we were there (they weren't,) the car pulled over on a road was there the last several times she drove by (it wasn't,) the live newscast is the same one over and over, with the anchors even wearing the same clothes (it isn't.) This seems so odd to us, but we're not sure what it might be. Our dad was just moved to MC with Lewy Body and Alzheimers, so we might be overthinking it, but we certainly observe it often enough that it's raising flags. Has anyone experienced this?
There are statistics that indicate that a high % of seniors taking care of their spouse with dementia often are diagnosed with dementia themselves. Now I do not know if just due to their age they might have been diagnosed with dementia anyway. Or is it isolation that often comes with caregiving.
It is possible that what you are describing is dementia.
It can take a person with dementia often 45 to 60 seconds to process what is said, heard or seen. If this is the case seeing a car on the side of the road, a room full of people if you "see" these things and it takes a while to process the image the brain just might be overlapping the image that was processed and what she is seeing in the moment so it might seem like a memory. Sort of like Deja Vu.
It could also be a UTI that is causing symptoms that you would never think to associate with a UTI. (There are test strips you can get OTC so that you can try to do a quick test before you even call for an appointment)
All she ever wants to talk about is her ONE living friend, b/c that's always who she saw last and she can remember a few days back pretty well.
The 90 years leading up to where she is now is pretty jumbled. We all know it and just don't harass her if she makes a mistake in 'remembering'.
Since you are already dealing with your father's dementia I'm sure you know how to go about asking for an evaluation, either with a simple MMSE or a more comprehensive tests.