My mom was very lucid one morning I was visiting. She woke me up, dressed herself had make up on and wanted me to curl her hair. I was so excited to see her so together, so of course I got up and got the iron hot. My niece is not a professional caregiver but stays and takes care of mom. She came in and scolded my mom for being up so early and said you need to go back to bed now. Mom said "jen is going to curl my hair " and I said go back to bed me and mom are fine. She continued to scold us and then said in her sweetest voice"grandma if I give you a pain pill will you go back to bed? My mom hopped out of that chair and followed heather like an addicted crack head. I was so floored by what I just saw and thought you don't give an opiate to someone who isn't in pain. I am so upset about this, how many times has she done this? My mom slept on and off the entire 2 weeks I was there. Something doesn't feel right, what do I do? I live out of state and feel so helpless.
The reason I ask is this. You are posting on another thread about your position that your mother needs to be placed in memory care, and your disagreement with your half-sister about this and other matters. And that makes me wonder whether you think your mother should be in residential care because you're concerned about her welfare at home; or you're looking for reasons to support your view that she should be placed, and this one seems promising.
So... If you just this weekend returned from staying with your mother and you've been worrying about that pill all the way home, that's one thing. If actually it was some time ago and this is only one example of the generality of issues that concern you, that's another.
And I'm not suggesting that the question settles it one way or another; I'm just asking you to describe what the situation is so that we can understand better what is going on.
How early was early?
What is your mother's normal routine?
Was this pain pill prescribed to your mother? In which case, what for and by whom?
Did your niece in fact give her an opioid? -i.e. was it an opioid, and was it given to her.
Did you question this (very questionable) ruse at the time?
Does she get paid? Is it more than she can handle?
It is called prescription drug diversion.
Was the medication prescribed to your mom?
You've already seen the niece do this once, that probably wasn't the first time. Have you discussed this with your sibling?