For instance she will remember a event from her past but wrongly remember who was involved. Should I correct her or just let it go. Shes had good memory until a few months ago, now she sometimes confuses me with dad or her brother (both deceased) or if shes thinking of something her & I did she'll refer to me as Michael instead of "you". We've been to doc recently, he thought it was normal aging. All day today shes referred to me as "him" instead of "you". I'm tempted to ask her who she thinks I am, hoping maybe shes just getting her pronouns(?????) mixed up. I hate to keep correcting her mistakes b/c that makes her think there is something wrong with her. So ..should I correct her or let the mistake slide?
Has she been tested for Alzheimer's/Dementia? If not then, that would be my first stop. Seems to me it came along rather quickly and that's not normal.
For now I personally wouldn't correct her, just go with the flow but make sure you get her a complete medical work-up.
Mom's MD always tells her how great she is doing. On the side he agrees with us, that she is safer at Assisted Living, and cannot be living alone, cannot manage her own meds. If you bring this up with her in the room, she will be madder than a wet hen. Talk to the MD privately, and lay it on the line.
Maybe this is normal aging. Maybe it is something to be concerned about. The best you can do now is keep an eye on it and see if changes or gets drastically worse.
My mother has always been terrible with names. She often has called me by the wrong name, since childhood. I'm lucky she usually used a sister's name and seldom one of my brother's! So for her getting names mixed up was not a sign of dementia -- it was just more of same. (She does have dementia, and there are lots of other signs.)
It is hard to say whether your mother is just getting names mixed up, or truly is forgetting who was involved. If she calls you by your uncle's name but clearly knows you are her son that is different than her thinking that she is talking to her dead brother. Does that make sense? Forgetting names is less serious than mixing people up.
After a head injury, my husband would often say he was in a high school. Was he really that severely confused, or was he just not able to bring up the word "hospital"? No one could say for certain. We just had to wait and see how things developed.
I think you are in "wait and see" mode. If things become more serious, go back to the doctor or a different doctor. But meanwhile, please don't correct her unless it would really make a difference in her actions.
I agree that there's no reason to correct her, unless her incorrect memory is somehow making a difference.
In terms of everyday conversation, only correct her if matters (it hardly ever does). You can do this most tactfully by continuing the anecdote or conversation or whatever, substituting the correct persons for the ones she's got wrong, and all being well she'll then follow suit.
The other day Dad said he plans to put together a trust fund that includes a college education for his brother's children.... I told Dad that his brother's children are ready to retire so chances are slim that they would want to leave home to attend the college that he attended. They are in their 50's and 60's. Oh? Then Dad said on he meant his brothers grandchildren. Again, Dad wasn't clear on the time frame as most of his brother's grandchildren are either in the college of their choice or married with children.
I know I shouldn't correct Dad, but the OCD in me will kick in. I need to just bite my tongue.
At one point you have to lighten up and tell yourself that they are becoming children again. So, let them have their memories no matter how fictitious they are