Steering stopped working and couldn't control car

My car is a 2003 Toyota Camry (automatic) with about 140,000 miles. No significant issues with it until now.

Over the past month or two, I've had about 4-5 times where it felt like my car was hydroplaning, but there was no reason it should've been based on the road conditions. Each time it was when I was driving slowly and either was coming to a stop or was starting from a stop (like at a stop sign). Basically the car felt like it lost traction and the wheels were moving to the left. I checked the tires and the tread, air pressure, etc were fine each time.

Last week I was driving my car, drove it about 70 miles on the freeway, stopped for like 30 mins, and then drove back 70 miles. Getting off the offramp, going slowly and braking (~25 mph) as at the end of the offramp was a red light, I felt the same issue with my car where it felt like it was hydroplaning and I couldn't use the steering wheel to control the wheels. The wheel wasn't locked but it was incredibly difficult to turn it and keep the wheels straight. This time was way worse than the other times and I managed to get the car straight for a half second again before it veered all the way left and crashed into the curb.

My boyfriend (just a car hobbyist) looked at my car and thought the right tie rod looked weird (all the rubber casing had blown off). We took it out and replaced it but actually looking at the old tie rod now we don't actually think it was broken. It was the only thing we could find that looked amiss. The power steering fluid and pump seemed fine.

What could this possibly be? My boyfriend also says I'm explaining it really badly so I'm scared when I take it to a mechanic they won't know what I'm talking about. It's also super hard to recreate this as it seems to happen sort of randomly (like, it hasn't happened every time I've come to a stop or come off an offramp or anything) so I'm really at a loss and very anxious. Any ideas?