My mother went to the ER on Friday.  Her memory care called us to say
she was not acting as usual, didn't want to get out of bed, had no
language and was unable to follow even simple directions.  ER diagnosed
a stroke, even though it didn't show up on the CT scan, after testing
for  a UTI,  etc.  I don't think anyone could imagine her recovering
significantly.  However, by Sunday evening she was just about back to
pre-incident levels, except for being exceptionally tired and having
decreased endurance.

I guess this is a good thing, but the ups and downs of this are very
stressful.  As I've written before, my mom is now a tortured soul and
very unhappy in memory care.  To be honest, a large part of me was
thinking this might be a blessing... to have her lose her an awareness
of her situation.  Now she's back and as aggitated and unhappy as ever.
It's so wearing.

By the way, she has been quite constipated for several days.  The ER
doc and med aid said constipation would not cause such a drastic change
in her abilities.  Has anyone had any experience with constipation's
effects on dementia.  My sibblings have mentioned a stroke can be
caused from strain.  She's on coumadin to decrease her chances of
strokes.