Chosen Solution
Lately my mouse/pointer moves on up and down on the screen clicking files/apps on its own. When an external mouse is connected the pointer moves very slow. This only happens occasionally. Is my touchpad going bad? Here is the battery status.
Often times I need to replace the trackpad as liquids seep into the touchpad sandwich causing it to mis-track. So you clearly need a new trackpad MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Trackpad and here’s the guide you’ll need to follow. But before you go this far given the systems age I would check the battery to see if it too needs replacing. Install this gem of an app CoconutBattery. Take a snapshot of the main window and paste it here for us to see Adding images to an existing question. Sometimes the battery swells up pressing on the bottom side of the trackpad which can also damage the trackpad.
