For the past 5 years or so she has been more forgetful and repeats herself several times a day. She often inaccurately rewrites past events. Still she keeps track of her appointments and finances and living alone she eats healthy and has good hygiene and remembers people's birthdays. My brother and I get worried about her forgetfulness about conversations we have had and whether that means she is headed for dementia or alzheimers. I wonder if at 92 this forgetfulness is "normal". Can you help me with this?
Rewriting history -- I find myself sometimes confusing two events or putting details from one into telling about the other. My sisters, all younger than me, do this, too. If the rewrites are not delusional ("then a tiger chased my cat, and my brave nephew shoo'd it away") I wouldn't be overly concerned about this. I remember my very elderly aunt telling stories that involved me, and she remembered them very differently than I did! But so what? She got the essentials correct -- I've been baking from a very early age and I have a good memory. Does it matter that the item was ginger cookies and not banana bread?
Keep a loving eye on Mom. If her forgetfulness starts to interfere with daily functioning (she leaves the stove on, she eats long-expired food from the fridge, she pays the same bill twice and skips others, she has unopened mail piled up for weeks, misses appointments, etc) that is the time to take some action. For now she seems competent to live on her own. It is good that you and your brother recognize changes. Keep being observant.
Here is a guideline for when to worry about memory:
Forgets where she put the keys -- don't worry
Forgets what keys are for -- worry
Thank you for your reply. It is truly difficult to know when it is time to worry! This repeating isn't happening every 10 minutes though and basic activities are normal. So that is reassuring.
If someone is living alone, it is hard for us to remember what we told whom, so we might repeat a story someone had already heard. The time to start worrying is if Mom tells a story, then 10 minutes later tells the same story again, and again, and again.
Plus, if your Mom has been doing this for the past 5 years, and hasn't accelerated into more forgetfulness and doing odd things, then bravo, she has normal age related forgetfulness.
I remember my Mom was always rewriting history most of her life, and at 95 she could still balance a checkbook and keep up with the NY Stock Exchange :)
Try not to over-analysis this... it could drive you crazy. Use that energy when something really serious should happen.