My 75-year-old (widowed) mother’s memory is slipping and has for several years. During last week’s visit, I sat her down and told her she needs to be physically tested and to bring it up to her Doctor. The problem is that my Mother is a compulsive liar with a big ego, and doesn’t want to appear ‘old’ to the world. In fact, she spends a minimum of 2 hours each morning putting on makeup/wig/clothes so that she can go out in the world and ‘look’ like she has her life together. I live in another state and trying to figure out how I can confirm if she is REALLY bringing up the memory lapse issue to her doctor ---- any suggestions. My mother keeps telling me that the doctors look at her chart and actually bring in other nurses/doctors to ‘guess her age’, as they can’t believe she is 75 and thinks she visually looks 60. (this is one of the many absurd stories my Mother tells her family after each doctor/dentist visit) I fear her vanity ‘ego’ will prevent her from addressing her memory lapse issue.
