Bad day for my mom, too

Topping it all off, I had to stop by my mom's apartment today to give some medication to her cat. Her cat has this very strange growth on his eyeball, we are hoping it is not cancer. We are treating it as if it is feline eosinophilic keratitis, which is a kind of autoimmune thing that can happen to a cat's eye. So I have been going over there to put ointment in his eye.

I used a paper towel to clean off the excess ointment, then threw the paper towel into the garbage. She asked me where we bring the garbage when it gets full. (Usually, housekeeping staff empties it once a week, but if it gets full before then, a resident might want to empty it.) So I suggested we walk down the hall so I could remind her of where to drop off her garbage. We got down there, and she said, "Oh, I remember this!" And so I was relieved.

Until we got back to her apartment. Now, remember, I have hung a LARGE pink heart-shaped pinata on her door, she can see the pink, she can touch the pinata, she can't miss it. That way, she knows which door is hers. So we got to her door, and she stopped, reached out, touched the pinata. I told her, "Mom, you're right! That's your apartment, great job!" Let's go in. She looked at me kind of funny. I said, "Let's go on in." So she went to knock on the door, as if it was someone else's apartment. I said, "Oh you don't have to knock, this is your own house." She got a confused look on her face, and I said, "Let's just use the doorknob." So she tentatively turned the doorknob, as if I was telling her to break into someone else's apartment. As soon as the door opened, she said again, "Oh, I remember this, now!" I felt very sad. I wonder how long she'll be able to stay there. I need to get my search underway, to see what nursing home/assisted living options are out there for her, so that if the time comes up suddenly, we have a plan. But some stupid part of me keeps hoping I won't need to worry about that.