Besides Hospital Physcosis, could my Mother have Dementia or Delirium, although her CT scans shows no evidence of either. Depression???

It could be any and all of the above, but the one thing that will almost always be the case is that anyone in ICU will almost always have times with complete amnesia. Your Mom is suffering from all the things you mentioned right now and add on the fact that she isn't getting enough O2 to her brain right now which ALWAYS causes this behavior. I am surprised none of the medical personnel have neglected to tell you this, but I am certain they are exhausted and overwhelmed.
As to how long this will last? Every single patient is as absolutely unique as his own thumb print. If only we COULD predict this, but there is no way to. I am so sorry. This had to be very difficult to see. I wish you the very best and am so relieed that your Mom seems to be recovering well. Remember it is not an every-day-better sort of thing. Sometimes it is the simon-says-one-step-back. Backsliding isn't unusual, nor are any of your Mom's responses. Please take care of yourself in all this so you stay well.

It can take quite some time to recover after being taken off of a ventilator, even for a younger person with no pre-existing health conditions! I wouldn't say your mother is experiencing 'psychosis' as much as hospital delirium, a combined effect from the ventilator, being very ill and also from being in the hospital for an extended period of time. I saw this very thing with both of my parents when they were hospitalized; my father had no pre existing dementia but my mother did. Dad had hospital delirium to where he was acting as if he DID have dementia; my daughter had to spend every night with him on the couch in the hospital b/c he was THAT disoriented and upset to be alone. My mother's dementia worsened to the degree that she was unable to tell dreams from reality, was seeing mice crawling on the floor *when there weren't any*, and in a fugue state in general. Both parents DID get back to a good baseline after being released from the hospital AND rehab 3 weeks later. It take some time, though, so you need to have patience. It's impossible to say whether your mother will return to her old self entirely, though, who knows?

It IS likely that she will be sent to a Skilled Nursing Facility for REHAB for 3 weeks or so to regain her strength. Of course, the delirium often continues for that duration, so prepare yourself. Have a talk with her doctor to express your concerns as well and to get his or her feedback. My suggestion is to have mom taken to the SNF for rehab by AMBULANCE (non emergent) or by medical transport if she is not acting like herself. You certainly do not want to have her acting aggressively towards you while driving, and anyway, it's not a good idea to try to load a sickly elder into your car for a drive to a medical facility! I always use a non-emergent ambulance for my mother and/or I hire a taxi that is wheelchair accessible to drive her from rehab to her Memory Care AL. The price is about the same for both (b/c Medicare pays all but $100 for the ambulance ride).

As far as an MRI showing dementia; it doesn't always show up on tests of that nature. My mother has vascular dementia (thought to be) and her MRIs are clean. It's the cognizance tests she fails on a regular basis, getting lower and lower scores as time goes by. Alzheimer's is the disease that oftentimes DOES show up on an MRI as plaques in the brain. CT scans are less accurate than MRIs in relation to such matters.

Wishing you the best of luck moving forward, and figuring out how to best help mom with her future care.

Hi

It's not uncommon to be "in a fog" in a hospital setting. You are surrounded by strangers noise and commotion, and it can be hard to get a good night's sleep. She may be suffering from Delirium. If so, it can go away but it takes time.