My 73 year old mom forgets and misplaces things and accuses her husband of cheating. Dr says memory is good according to her. Dr. Prescribed her meds for anxiety and depression but she refuses to take them with concerns of side effects. I believe she has early signs of dementia.
Do know that a diagnosis is of little help in moving forward if you are not currently her POA. It would insure you could no longer be assigned as POA for her. You would be quite helpless to intervene without help of APS.
Do also understand that normal aging and the anxiety thereof can mimic dementia. Go to YouTube and look up SLUMS and MoCa testing. They will show you certain question and answer tests you can "play with" with your mother on your own, and give you more an idea where she is "at".
Good luck.
Before the exam pass a note or discretely talk to the nurse to request a thorough exam because dementia is mainly diagnosed by discounting all other medical causes, like a thyroid problem, over- or under- medicating, dehydration, diabetes, other infections, stroke, tumor, etc. If these are all discounted then request the doc order a follow-up visit for cognitive and memory testing.