LO is probably about mid 5 in AD. She asks her husband who he is and why he’s in her house. She tells people he left her 9 years ago and she is with her ex husband (who she divorced 45 years ago). However, she calls him on cell phone (only 4 numbers on it). She calls to tell him she loves and misses him but when he’s there she doesn’t know who he is. She sounds very normal when you talk to her. Is manipulation a possibility with an Alzheimer’s patient? She is 71 years old.
Someone once told me that their SO wasn't 'suffering' at all from dementia, that they seemed perfectly happy most of the time, the 'stuff' that dominates all of our lives was simply not registering.
Unless there is a history of manipulation, families tend to assume some type of manipulation because they fear facing the reality that their loved one is experiencing BRAIN DEATH. Just like some diseases destroy other organs, this one destroys the brain.
Wires get crossed, sections of memory stop be accessible, sometime for a short period other times for much longer. It's all hit and miss. But, at the same time, the demented are trying to patch it all into some type of coherent story for themselves.