93 yr old aunt living alone with vivid imagination. Should we worry?
My 93 yr old Aunt (second mother to me) says there are people that come to her house at night & stay with her thru the night & leave in the morning. She says she speaks to them but they don't answer. She has no idea where they sleep, but they spend the night. We know she has no one visiting but aren't sure what this means and should we worry. Her sons are in the process of hiring daily part-time help to see that she takes her meds & eats enough. I check the fridge weekly & see that very little in the way of food is being used & I know she's not drinking enough fluids. She is on her second urinary tract infection w/antibiotics.....the last one left her dehydrated severely & showing stroke-like symtoms......she ended up in the hospital & rehab for a couple weeks. But her sons keep having her come home to rehab instead of a nursing home.....but then they leave her alone way too much.
She has almost entirely stopped drinking liquids because she gets up so much during the night. It keeps her awake. Going to bed later doesn't help. Sleeping pills didn't work for her. So, her solution is to stop drinking liquids.
Yet, even after the "talking to" she's not drinking nearly enough liquids. Today, she had one cup of herbal tea.
The doctor did mention what others here have said, which is that this can lead to other issues, such as faultier memory and worse balance (if she's falling, for example).
I wish I had some good advice. However, anything seems to be easier than getting someone to drink more liquids. My mom goes along with eating whatever I say she should eat, taking whatever medications she's told to, going for any tests she's asked to take, etc... I have gone as far as to try to give her interesting things, like a different flavor of herbal tea several times a day. The only thing that has worked, so far, is to feed her a lot of soup in order to get more liquids into her. In fact, I've fed her so much soup that she is actually starting to complain about that, so I might have to come up with yet another idea.
Delusions can also be a part of many forms of dementia.
Daily part-time help is an excellent start. See how Aunt does when she is taking her medications correctly and eating well. See how the help views her daytime behavior.
Part-time help may not be sufficient, but it is a start, and it will give you a better basis for long-term decisions.
Since she is your "second mother" I hope you and your cousins can work together to do what is best for Aunt. They don't have to allow you to have a role or to listen to your advice, but I hope with goodwill all around you can participate in her care.
Keep us informed of how this goes. We care!