Donna, absolutely, he needs to see a specialist as soon as possible,
and you are doing the right things.

You need to know what is going on, and what the underlying cause is -
so comprehensive assessment as to the extent and cause of his problem
is crucial.
There are many causes of memory loss and confusion, so it needs expert
examination (i.e. is it strokes? is it Alzheimer's? is it from B12
deficiency? etc. etc.)

A solid diagnosis will also help both you and your husband make
informed decisions, in terms of what can be done to help, what the
prognosis is, and what plans need to be in place for the future. You
need to know what you are up against, so you can prepare and plan for
what might happen next, particularly if you are in the US and up
against potentially daunting costs for care.

If he does have Alzheimer's, there are some newer medications that can
slow down the progress of the disease in many people - and obviously,
the time to start those medications is as early in the game as
possible, when the person is the most intact.

Another reason to have a good assessment done is to figure out just
how impaired he is. When my mother-in-law was in early AD, she was
assessed by a psychometrist who put her through the kind of cognitive
tests you might put a person through when looking for learning or
perceptual problems. It was very shocking, because she was much worse
than any of us realized, even though many family members were very
close to her and spent a lot of time with her. She managed to cover up
her deficits, and no one realized that her problems went far beyond a
little memory issue. It was key information to get us all out of
denial and into action.

By the way, I can't imagine what she's thinking suggesting you could
wait and see. Things like this never get better, just worse, so
waiting and seeing is never a good strategy i.e. he may not be as safe
driving as you think. If he has AD, it isn't just memory thats
impacted, but depth perception, reaction time, judgement etc.

God bless, and get him in to see a neurolgist or geriatric
psychiatrist ASAP for both a complete exam and diagnosis, plus
assessment of the current extent and nature of his deficits.

Mary G.

We saw the neurologist today and he started him on Reminyl.  He will go back
to see the dr in 30 days.  All of his lab work and CT scan came back ok, so
there isn't anything physical that they could find.

I'm hoping the Reminyl will buy us some time.

Thanks for all the replies I received to my original post to this ng.

Donna