Regarding increasing confusion...
Gma (94) has cognitively been great until recently. She is getting more and more confused wiht time of day. Last night at 10pm she asked when the nurse was coming...we had hours early said the nurse was coming tomorrow. She hadn't gone to sleep in between that we know of, she was working on a puzzle. This has now happened a couple times, and twice she has taken her medicine improperly as a result. She also left the water running in the kitchen yesterday. For how long, we aren't sure. Obviously, pills go to our hands not hers. She isn't cooking, just microwaving what we cook. But is this the starts of dementia? or is she just depressed and dispondant. She tells me daily that she wants to die. I don't know what to do for her other than be there.
Best to you!
It isn't unusual for older people to get depressed as the losses add up in their lives and they see the end is coming soon. Sometimes medications help. Sometimes the best we can do is let them know they are secure and loved, that they are not walking the path alone. It sounds like that is what you are doing.
Depending on your gma's personality, sometimes being lighthearted helps. Perhaps if she doesn't want to die today, she might prefer helping make a batch of cookies or going out to eat. It is hard to know what to do when they are despondent, though. Sometimes the best we can do is, as you wrote, be there as she grapples with what is going on.