Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1021     Reading:  95

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1109     BP:  126/52     Pulse:  65

Breakfast:  1120  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 2 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 1 Costco croissant with 1/4 tsp cinnamon sprinkled inside 8 oz orange juice diluted w/8 oz water
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
glipizide/10 mg	1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal	standard breakfast and dinner med
Albuterol/2.0+IPRAO/.5	nebulized during meal preparation	standard breakfast, sometimes dinner med
Protonix/40 mg	1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal	standard breakfast med
Detrol/2 mg	1 tab with meal	standard breakfast and dinner med
metformin/500 mg	1/2 of 100 mg tab with meal	standard dose, because of orange juice, when her BG is in the 90's; and, frankly, didn't think to drop it to 425 mg, which I could easily have done, I think. I was just moving too fast, this morning, to think of it
Iron Protein Succinylate/18 mg from 360 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	with meal	standard breakfast, lunch and dinner med while she's anemic
acetaminophen/500 mg	1 pill with food	administered today specifically to counteract possible stiffness in the backs of Mom's legs from her recent walkering
Daily Senior Multivitamin	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
vitamin C/1000 mg	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
folic acid/400 mcg	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
garlic/1250 mg	with meal	standard breakfast supplement
1/4 cup pure cranberry juice w/12 oz water	after breakfast	standard after breakfast supplement

Conspicuously Absent Meds & Supplements
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
aspirin/81 mg	1 tab with breakfast	Has not been receiving this, per doctor's orders, since 6/18/04; he feels that, if she is bleeding internally intermittently, the aspirin, being a blood thinner, will increase the blood flow, and this is a higher risk to take, right now, than protecting her against strokes, including mini-strokes
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 tab with meal	decide to wait until later in the day, just to see how well her blood pressure holds its own on what I hope will be a fairly active, alert day
vitamin E/400 IU	with meal	standard breakfast supplement; temporarily deleted to due physician request regarding concern about it interacting with the iron and some of her other meds; vitamin E, by the way, has a thinning effect on the blood and enhances the use of blood thinners; this is why it's off the list, temporarily, I assume

    As I aroused Mom, I predicted internally that we wouldn't be done with breakfast until 1230 or so. As it turns out, at 1154 I was firing up my computer to input breakfast stats while Mom is savoring her cranberry juice and a few cigarettes before I put her back on oxygen for awhile. I'm not sure why the morning went so fast, but I'm pleased. I have yet to style Mom's hair, which takes about a quarter hour, and I think we should play a game of Sorry, just to give her body some time to think about having a bowel movement, then, we'll head for the grocery. Mom and I talked about Chicken Fricassee, last night, something neither of us has had; we actually didn't know the description. So, I looked it up and, lo and behold, we have everything we need for it except heavy cream. We could also use a few more pieces of chicken, since I've got enough stock for a full recipe. So, that's what we're going to have, tonight. In the process of making up the almost non-existent shopping list for this cooking venture, both Mom and I added a few other things we need besides the sugar that prompted the trip. I mock warned her that as she suggested items she was lengthening her walker time and distance in the store. This didn't seem to bother her. Just in case, you'll notice, I added a 500 mg acetaminophen to her morning med regimen. I'm really looking forward to an active day for her.

Surprising Lunch
    The first surprise was that, after we arrived home from a rousing walkering of the grocery store, Mom's was "ravenous", just 3 hours after she'd sat down to breakfast. Good sign, I figured, and set about getting her lunch and taking her stats, below:

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1508     Reading:  189 - 2nd surprise

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1506     BP:  101/52 - 3rd surprise     Pulse:  74

Lunch:  1520  & Meds What she ate:  sandwich w/ 4 oz tuna salad, 2 slices potato bread approx. 2 oz MCS's bread and butter pickles 12 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 3 sugar free, diabetic candies
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
metformin/750 mg	3/4 a 1000 mg tab with meal	as an attack on her surprisingly high blood sugar reading
Iron Protein Succinylate/18 mg from 360 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	with meal	standard breakfast, lunch and dinner med when she's anemic
acetaminophen/7400 mg	1 pill with meal	an attack on her surprisingly high blood sugar reading

    I can't say why her blood glucose was so high. It might have been the croissant, but I doubt it. It might be that, over the last few days, I've been lowering her level of metformin retained in her body to the place where it's a bit too low to take care of normal meals, so, I might have to up her metformin a bit, for awhile. I would be happy, with her much improved diet, more exercise, more awake time and improved alertness, if I could lower her metformin dosage judiciously and then, every so often, find that I have to mega-dose her for a day or two. I don't consider this a problem.
    Surprise number 3, her blood pressure, how low it was immediately after her jaunt around the grocery and, I might add, right after a cigarette, is a bit of a concern. But, typically, the more active people are, the lower becomes their blood pressure, so maybe I'm about to find out what my mother's true blood pressure is. In any case, I did not administer lisinopril and decided that I'll not post my decision to not administering it at lunch; only at breakfast and/or dinner.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1957     Reading:  80

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2040     BP:  137/61     Pulse:  61

Dinner:  2045  & Meds What she ate:  6 oz tuna mixture (celery, green onions, dill pickles, enough mayo to substitute for glue), 3 oz sharp yellow cheddar, one slice Bermuda onion, 1 oz dill pickle relish, grilled between 2 slices of toasted potato bread (a tuna melt) 1 slice lemon mousse cream cheese cake; 1" x 3" x 3".
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
glipizide/10 mg	1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal	standard breakfast and dinner med
metformin/750 mg	3/4 a 1000 mg tab with meal
Iron Protein Succinylate/18 mg from 360 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	1 tab with meal	standard breakfast, lunch and dinner fare while she's anemic
Detrol/2 mg	1 tab with meal	standard breakfast and dinner fare while we're trying, again, to see if this will work on her
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 5 mg tab with meal	seems that the lisinopril will now be most helpful being administered at dinner

    The dinner, even though it seems like somewhat of a repeat of lunch, was Mom's idea. She loves tuna. She remembered that she had it at lunch, today, and couldn't get it "off her taster". So, at her suggestion, we had tuna melts, tonight. The lemon mousse cake was something she eyed in the store that I allowed her to get. We'll be eating it mini-slice by mini-slice, chopped off the cake which will remain in the freezer over the next few weeks.
    I'm pleased with today. Although I was surprised at the high blood glucose, but it reminds me of her more active days, a few years ago, when her blood glucose at lunch was regularly high. So was her energy, her level of activity and her alertness. So, although I'll keep my eye on her sugar numbers, but I'll consider this, for the time being, lacking evidence for the opposite, optimistic.