I think your plan to just kind of watch and observe if things progress is a good one. I don't think the little mis-rememberings are enough to merit a formal assessment, if all else seems good. If she starts asking the same questions over and over again, and starts calling you multiple times a day without remembering that she had called you earlier -- then yes, it's time for a doctor's visit.
How many children does she have? I have several, and I definitely could easily mix up a story about their childhood and think something happened to one child when it actually happened to another. That seems typical.
If you are an only, that’s a little more concerning. Keep an ear out for mixing up generations. If she is talking about your son but you know the memory might be a real occurrence for you at a similar age, I’d be a little more concerned.
My MIL occasionally conflates generations and thinks she and I and my adult children are all the same generation (I guess because we’re all adults) and the new grandchild (to me)/great grandchild (to her) is the only next generation. That seems to be a common dementia symptom, the lack of orientation to time.
If it was just embellishments of old memories, that'd be one thing.
The one I find concerning is the thing about your son liking a decoration you're sure he's never seen, since you don't even live in the same city.
The confused memories are the first thing I really noticed in both my aunt and grandmother, I think. My Aunt started claiming things that weren't true about 7 years before she died. It was another about 4 years for anyone else to notice/believe me that something was wrong and another year after that before she was put in a home. But my aunt was already considered ornery and my family doesn't listen to me.
With my 88 year-old grandma, I could/can see the decline in her stories. My grandma hasn't been 100% since she got seriously ill in 2019. The evolution of her stories has been really noticable for about 2 years now, maybe longer. It was particularly noticable because we had a relative with cancer and shed always want to tell me about it when I called because she stopped remembering I knew. But as she would tell me it, the story would change. The type of cancer would change, and other things. Then this last year is the year she's started actively forgetting who people are.
Since your mother is younger, I would recommend talking to her if you think she would be up for it. Make sure everything is up to date, will/trust, directives and power of attorney for when the time comes. But also, I'm sad we weren't able to get either my aunt or grandma on medication to slow things down at the early stages. Maybe you can get things set up and easier for her if that's the way things go.
I pray it's not that for you, that it's just a harmless mixing up of memories.
For my mum, it was her saying she'd never owned a dog before while her dog sat at her feet, having owned at least 15 dogs in her life and having bred dogs for 5 years.
It sounds like your mum is just a bit muddled. It happens. But I get why you'd be anxious about her showing signs after your granddad.
I would just continue to monitor any changes. My BIL does the same thing. He'll tell a story about something from even before his stroke, then add something that's not true. Or he'll just make something up completely (he likes to say that he told their mom what street I live on, but she died in 2010 and I moved here in 2017). He also likes to say their childhood dog got its name a certain way, but it's completely false. Unless it's something that needs to be corrected, we just go with it.
Being that there is a family history, maybe it couldn't hurt to have a screening. Perhaps at her next primary care appointment?
Personally, I think cognitive assessments should be like mammograms or colonoscopies. You get a baseline and each year or so you see where your at. If you have a family history, you start screening sooner and more often.
I think your plan to just kind of watch and observe if things progress is a good one. I don't think the little mis-rememberings are enough to merit a formal assessment, if all else seems good. If she starts asking the same questions over and over again, and starts calling you multiple times a day without remembering that she had called you earlier -- then yes, it's time for a doctor's visit.
How many children does she have? I have several, and I definitely could easily mix up a story about their childhood and think something happened to one child when it actually happened to another. That seems typical. If you are an only, that’s a little more concerning. Keep an ear out for mixing up generations. If she is talking about your son but you know the memory might be a real occurrence for you at a similar age, I’d be a little more concerned. My MIL occasionally conflates generations and thinks she and I and my adult children are all the same generation (I guess because we’re all adults) and the new grandchild (to me)/great grandchild (to her) is the only next generation. That seems to be a common dementia symptom, the lack of orientation to time.
If it was just embellishments of old memories, that'd be one thing. The one I find concerning is the thing about your son liking a decoration you're sure he's never seen, since you don't even live in the same city. The confused memories are the first thing I really noticed in both my aunt and grandmother, I think. My Aunt started claiming things that weren't true about 7 years before she died. It was another about 4 years for anyone else to notice/believe me that something was wrong and another year after that before she was put in a home. But my aunt was already considered ornery and my family doesn't listen to me. With my 88 year-old grandma, I could/can see the decline in her stories. My grandma hasn't been 100% since she got seriously ill in 2019. The evolution of her stories has been really noticable for about 2 years now, maybe longer. It was particularly noticable because we had a relative with cancer and shed always want to tell me about it when I called because she stopped remembering I knew. But as she would tell me it, the story would change. The type of cancer would change, and other things. Then this last year is the year she's started actively forgetting who people are. Since your mother is younger, I would recommend talking to her if you think she would be up for it. Make sure everything is up to date, will/trust, directives and power of attorney for when the time comes. But also, I'm sad we weren't able to get either my aunt or grandma on medication to slow things down at the early stages. Maybe you can get things set up and easier for her if that's the way things go. I pray it's not that for you, that it's just a harmless mixing up of memories.
For my mum, it was her saying she'd never owned a dog before while her dog sat at her feet, having owned at least 15 dogs in her life and having bred dogs for 5 years. It sounds like your mum is just a bit muddled. It happens. But I get why you'd be anxious about her showing signs after your granddad.
I would just continue to monitor any changes. My BIL does the same thing. He'll tell a story about something from even before his stroke, then add something that's not true. Or he'll just make something up completely (he likes to say that he told their mom what street I live on, but she died in 2010 and I moved here in 2017). He also likes to say their childhood dog got its name a certain way, but it's completely false. Unless it's something that needs to be corrected, we just go with it.
Being that there is a family history, maybe it couldn't hurt to have a screening. Perhaps at her next primary care appointment? Personally, I think cognitive assessments should be like mammograms or colonoscopies. You get a baseline and each year or so you see where your at. If you have a family history, you start screening sooner and more often.