Mom getting lost on the way to the house brought me back to a few months earlier. We were leaving my oldest daughter’s eighth-grade ceremony and excited about her accomplishments. I was driving behind my mother. It should have been a straight shot to our parents’ house once we got on Broadway which would be no more than twenty minutes. However, it took us almost 45 minutes. My mother was turning down various streets. I was discombobulated and wondered what she was doing. Once we finally arrived to the house, I asked my mother where she was going, and she stated that she was dropping off their water payment. We went near the building, but she did not stop to put anything in the dropbox. About two weeks prior, her manager at the learning institution she was working part-time called while I happened to be at the house. She said she was concerned because did not show up to teach her class. She wanted to make sure Mom was alright. I was very concerned with both of these occurrences. However, she assured me everything was fine, but deep in my thoughts, I knew something was not right. I tried to push down the anxiety, but I was really overwhelmed after both incidents. We had to take action!
It just so happened that Mom had transferred to a new physician who was in the same office as my primary physician. I was my mother’s primary contact for medical information. Therefore, when I went to my annual visit, I requested the date for her next appointment. I had to alert my aunt of my plan to have her take my mother to her appointment, and I would meet them there. She agreed and stated she had noticed some things were off lately. The day of her appointment finally arrived, and I kept hoping Mom would cooperate. I knew any little detail could derail her from going to the annual wellness visit. My aunt picked her up, and I met them at the doctor’s office. You could tell she was frustrated that we were both at the appointment and kept our conversation in the lobby light to focus on anything but the screening. Once we were in the exam room, Mom asked why we had to come with her. I pleasantly told her we just want to make sure the doctor is discussing everything with you. The doctor did his typical process, and the only concern he had was her blood pressure. He increased one of her medications and asked if we had any questions. I explained our concern about her forgetting names and getting lost driving. He asked how long these instances were occurring. We shared some of our perspectives for the past few months. He agreed to complete the cognitive exam, and based on her responses, he stated that he wanted to order an MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging). We would still have to wait a couple of weeks before we had an outcome…
