Sudden Memory Loss in the Elderly?

I'm not a doctor.  I don't even play one on TV.

But when my ailing Mom started to have cognitive problems, her mental health issues were SUBSTANTIALLY more upsetting to me than her physical health.

I can't describe it.  It's not even something you think about unless you experience this yourself with a loved one.  I guess we get afraid of our parents forgetting who we are.  Physical ailments can be treated - but memory loss is just on another level of scariness.

But, literally overnight one day at the home my Mom and I shared while I was taking care of her, I noticed my Mom's memory kinda "left."  She hadn't had any dramatic memory loss to date - just typical forgetting words or forgot where she placed something.  But all of a sudden one day my Mom lost the ability to work the tv remote she's been using for years.   "How do I change the channel?" she would ask me as she held out the remote for me to operate for her.

Later that night, she looked down confused at all her pills, trying to figure out which pills she needed to take, even though they were separated in her regular pill container labeled with AM and PM, and she had had the same routine for taking her pills for years. 

More and more throughout the next two days she would be very confused on how to work things or do things, where before she didn't have these memory or cognitive issues.  It was very frightening for both of us.

I deeply cried to a friend of mine about my concerns for her and I, and he all of a sudden asked me if my Mom had a urinary tract infection.

Through my tears, "uh,  what?"

He was a psychologist by trade and told me that elderly people sometimes have sudden memory loss when they have a urinary tract infection.

Really?

Turns out he was right!   And I was saved from feeling like I was losing my Mom and she was saved from being so confused.

Wanted to share this in case /all of a sudden/ an elderly relative gets confused with daily activities (where they hadn't had any major confusion before).    

My Mom knew something wasn't right, either.  She would say, "aren't you worried?!"

Well, YES.   

My Mom being funny in the ER for a different visit

Taking her to the doctor and him remedying her urinary tract infection led to her gaining back her cognitive issues and resolving the confusion she was experiencing.

I hope this helps at least ONE person!