My grandmother recently had a knee replacement surgery. She was given Morphine and she took a high dosage of morphine. So she had a reaction to the morphine and she got very sick. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong, if they had done something wrong, or if she was allergic to morphine. So she spent a month in the hospital while they conducted tests to find out. Ever since her surgery she has seemed to loose her mind on things. She was driving to a doctor's appointment and forgot where she was and was found right by our house and had no clue where she was. While my grandmother swears the morphine was what made her loose her mind.
So i've done some research and I can't find anything that would support that. Though she does have a history of Alzheimer's disease in her family she will not accept the fact that, that is where it is coming from. I feel so bad for my grandmother cause she doesn't want to get old and forget us. I talked to her about last night and she asked me to take care of her when she gets old. No one every thinks of how it will be when they are so old they don't remember what they ate for breakfast that morning. Everyone is so wrapped up in the wars or murders that are going on. Whatever happened to the old times where people could leave their doors unlocked. I wanna be old. Real old so I can understand what it's like.
You're grandmother's event with her surgery could have very well spurred on some form of Alzheimer's. I have worked with many patients with this terrible disease and it just happens all of a sudden. Granted after the sudden onset the symptoms get progressively worse over time. The best thing that you can do for her is what you are doing right now. Spending time with her and talking about memories that you share. Even going through picture albums to keep that repetitive view of the family going. Alzheimer's in one person is never exactly the same in another.
There is no cure, but there is a medication that is supposed to help slow the symptoms. I don't know if you have ever heard of Aricept before or came across it in your research of Alzheimer's. Here's the link: http://www.aricept.com. The issue will be if your grandmother ever becomes wiling to seek another physician for medical attention after her recent incident. The medication could be described to her as a medication to help her keep her memory rather than the explanation that she has Alzheimer's. There are other forms of mild dementia that exist outside of Alzheimer's that your grandmother could be experiencing. It would be best if she would seek medical attention now to prevent a drastic loss of memory over time.
Threw working with many elderly people, something like this is very hard to accept. To accept that she is "losing her mind" is having to accept that she will lose all that she is worked so hard for. To the elderly, they take pride in everything that they have, including family. To contemplate losing any of that is enough to make someone very depressed and feel like life is just not worth it. Many dementia patients are then attacked with severe depression. It's even harder to accept that she may need medication for what is going on right now. I really hope that, since you seem close with her and care a lot for her, that you can convince her to see someone about the symptoms she is experiencing to slow the process. Good luck to you and your grandmother.