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Thanks, @IndianaScott. So far, we have managed to keep her from going out on her own because she was deconditioned from being in the hospital and therefore was a fall risk, so the PT said she had to be accompanied. At this point, they are still saying that she needs to be accompanied while walking due to strength and balance issues, but she's adamant that she's going by herself in a taxi and we can't stop her. Part of the challenge is that this comes up while we're both trying to work - she's so impulsive that she demands to go right this instant, which of course we can't do because of work commitments.
My concern is that she'll get away from home into a store or other public place, not be able to figure out how to get home, and have a public meltdown. In the hospital when this has occurred, she has shouted, used profanity, thrown things, and once even made a nurse cry. But maybe she will be fine, and then I have kept her home against her wishes when I didn't need to.
We heard today that the speech therapist is coming on Saturday to do the cognitive evaluation. Maybe she can give us some insight, since hubby seems to think she's fine (just being difficult) and I'm not sure what the real story is.
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Good morning @coloradogirl While it is always nearly impossible to tell what is happening in another's home, it sounds to me as though your MIL's anger and physical reactions are more than a person 'just being difficult' unless that is how she acted with your husband all his life. Personally, I hope not!
In our case, with dementia, we found the ability of some family members to accept the presence and overpowering impacts of the disease to vary greatly, Some were quick to acknowledge some 'outside force' was at work, some took a long, long time. In my family, I also had to realize this with my wife while she fought her war with brain cancer. I had to accept that it was her disease that was running her life, not her any longer, no matter what I was wishing for. It's hard, if not impossible, to know when exactly the disease 'took over' with my MIL, but with my wife I knew right away. We'd been married for 27 years when she began to exhibit symptoms and was diagnosed so I knew her well enough, when I was honest with myself, I accepted she was a different person at that point. I wished it wasn't that way, but again the disease was running her life, not her. I also came to know no disease is rational so I needed to accept and act as her caregiver, guardian, and guard immediately.
I hope the speech therapist can give you some insights.
Strength, courage, and peace