My mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. She has never admitted to anything being wrong with her...I don't know if she won't admit to it or truly believes there is not anything wrong (which I find hard to believe since she has problems with her words, can't really follow conversations - even though she will pretend she is, etc.)...I just get very frustrated because she still knows how to lie and/or cover things up?! Is this normal for the disease or what does this mean?
Of course this may be quite frustrating for you. But if you know the true situation, do you need her to come out and accept it right now? Would it make a lot of difference? If you mean to hang in there and help, you are going to need to develop a great deal of patience and understanding, so perhaps you treat this as a learning experience. It can be a bit like Alice in Wonderland – you can practice believing at least three impossible things before breakfast. Or at least, pretending to believe!
In the research that I have done people with dementia/ALZ don't really know that something is wrong with them. Research has showen people with brian injuries ( due to a disease or injury to the brain) really don't know what they are doing is not normal. But like anything with the human body it varies from person to person. In my option, I think your mom really believes what she is saying to be true. I feel your frustration! Someone posted on here "think of it as she has a broken brain". And that is what I tell myself everyday. You can not get her into your reality. They see thing very different. I am still learning myself. This is just from what I am learning.
I think one of the hardest part about this disease is realizing that we want them to be the way they were in some cases. But that is like asking them to grow taller. It can't be done.
Best wishes.