Today's Stats:
Breakfast
Regarding the BP, I took an earlier BP just before she ate, which was 100/46; Pulse 75, a suspiciously low BP for her. The reason I took the second BP is because, while the first was being taken, she decided to try to put her watch back on, which probably messed up the first reading.
As you can see, getting Mom up this morning was especially difficult; so much so that I have begun to question whether this is the best place for her and whether I am the best caretaker for her, anymore. It took her 12 minutes, from the time I "awoke" her with my typically cheery, "Good Morning, Mary Sunshine," greeting to the time when she extended her arm for blood glucose testing. Then, it took another hour and a half to coax her up and get her headed into the bathroom for her bath. During that time, she asked me several times "why" she had to get up. Although I have all kinds of answers for her, including, simply, "because", during this particularly difficult morning it occurred to me that maybe, here, with just her and me, she doesn't have much of a reason to awaken. Maybe she needs to be somewhere with more people and more social people, more stimulation, like in one of my sisters' homes. It's something I'm seriously considering, now. I know I've been valuable to her for some time, but it's possible that, other than managing her medical care so that she doesn't get scoped and tested to death, I may, in fact, be a hindrance to her quality of life, now, because I don't come with a built in family and I'm not a particularly social person. It's not beyond me to imagine that I, and the way I live life, are a source of boredom for her, enough of a source of boredom so that she can't even imagine that going anyplace with me would be interesting.
As I told her, today, when I introduced the idea that maybe it's time for a change for her (which she is, understandably, not immediately interested in considering), "Mom, if you can't see any reason to awaken here, to me, maybe you need to be somewhere else, with other people, where and to whom you'll want to awaken (yes, I really talk like this)." We're not making any decisions, yet. Her extreme lethargy, this morning, could very well be health related, so I'll wait for a few days, and see how it goes, see what her blood draw on Thursday registers, etc. The decision will probably be left to me and the sister who agrees to take her in, as, on the one hand, she considers herself "comfortable" with me, at which time she forgets that she doesn't see any reason to arise in the morning. As well, it has not been uncommon for her, when she has spent a lot of time napping (which hasn't been true, recently) for her to tell me that she sleeps because she's "bored". I can understand how a life directed by me and only me would be "boring". I can also understand that this isn't a good thing for her. It is sad for me to consider that I may not be the one who is most appropriate to see her through to her death, but it's more important for me to see her lead a life, for the rest of her life, that allows her the most opportunities to want to awaken in the morning and express an interest in what is going on around her. Besides, it would give her an opportunity to bond, as an Ancient One, with other of her daughters before she dies. This, in itself, might be what she might need to enrich and extend her life.
We'll see.
Lunch
She's been up since breakfast, moved her bowels (Yes!) a couple of hours ago, is still quite lethargic (hasn't wanted to do anything but watch TV and play Sorry; I couldn't even get her to walker a little on our driveway, which is why I administered the laxative, this morning), but is looking pretty good. I'm only half expecting that we'll get in a "dinner" tonight. I think she'll be up late enough, but she may not want to eat much. If this is true, I'll see if I can't talk her into a light, carbohydrate-rich snack before bed, just to get her meds in. In any case, she will be getting her second dose of iron around 2000, but, if she decides she doesn't want to eat, or doesn't want to eat much, I may forego her diabetic meds. We'll see.
Dinner
Not too much to report, here. I was just pleased that she stayed up late enough to have three meals, today, and wanted to make sure she ate something she likes.
|
Blood Glucose: Time: 1012 Reading: 95 |
Blood Pressure: 2nd BP, post meal Time: 1340 BP: 121/56 Pulse: 67 |
|
Breakfast: 1240 & Meds What she ate: 1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 2 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 1 slice toasted potato bread with 1 tbl Fleischmann's margarine 1/4 tsp cinnamon on bread 8 oz orange juice diluted w/8 oz water |
||
| Med/Dose | Administration | Explanation |
| Niferex-150 [150 mg elemental iron] | 1 hour before breakfast | to pull her out of what I hope is her temporarily severely anemic state |
| vitamin C/500 mg | with Niferex-150 | helps the body metabolize iron |
| glipizide/10 mg | 1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal | standard pre-breakfast and pre-dinner med |
| Protonix/40 mg | 1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal | standard pre-breakfast med |
| Albuterol/2.0+IPRAO/.5 | nebulized during meal preparation | standard breakfast, sometimes dinner med |
| acetaminophen/500 mg | 1 tab with meal | she was complaining about her knees, so, in the hope of getting a little movement out of her today (which didn't happen), I gave her this |
| metformin/500 mg | 1/2 of 1000 mg tab with meal | standard dose |
| 2 Tbl Phillips' Milk of Magnesia | given 1/2 hour after meal | gave her this when I realized I wasn't going to be able to get her to move much, today; it worked a couple hours after breakfast, without accident |
| Daily Senior Multivitamin | with breakfast | standard breakfast supplement |
| vitamin C/500 mg | 1/2 a 1000 mg tab with meal | standard breakfast supplement |
| folic acid/400 mcg | with breakfast | 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 | decided 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 |
| garlic/1250 mg | with meal | can function as an anticoagulant, thus I've nixed this medication, for the time being |
Regarding the BP, I took an earlier BP just before she ate, which was 100/46; Pulse 75, a suspiciously low BP for her. The reason I took the second BP is because, while the first was being taken, she decided to try to put her watch back on, which probably messed up the first reading.
As you can see, getting Mom up this morning was especially difficult; so much so that I have begun to question whether this is the best place for her and whether I am the best caretaker for her, anymore. It took her 12 minutes, from the time I "awoke" her with my typically cheery, "Good Morning, Mary Sunshine," greeting to the time when she extended her arm for blood glucose testing. Then, it took another hour and a half to coax her up and get her headed into the bathroom for her bath. During that time, she asked me several times "why" she had to get up. Although I have all kinds of answers for her, including, simply, "because", during this particularly difficult morning it occurred to me that maybe, here, with just her and me, she doesn't have much of a reason to awaken. Maybe she needs to be somewhere with more people and more social people, more stimulation, like in one of my sisters' homes. It's something I'm seriously considering, now. I know I've been valuable to her for some time, but it's possible that, other than managing her medical care so that she doesn't get scoped and tested to death, I may, in fact, be a hindrance to her quality of life, now, because I don't come with a built in family and I'm not a particularly social person. It's not beyond me to imagine that I, and the way I live life, are a source of boredom for her, enough of a source of boredom so that she can't even imagine that going anyplace with me would be interesting.
As I told her, today, when I introduced the idea that maybe it's time for a change for her (which she is, understandably, not immediately interested in considering), "Mom, if you can't see any reason to awaken here, to me, maybe you need to be somewhere else, with other people, where and to whom you'll want to awaken (yes, I really talk like this)." We're not making any decisions, yet. Her extreme lethargy, this morning, could very well be health related, so I'll wait for a few days, and see how it goes, see what her blood draw on Thursday registers, etc. The decision will probably be left to me and the sister who agrees to take her in, as, on the one hand, she considers herself "comfortable" with me, at which time she forgets that she doesn't see any reason to arise in the morning. As well, it has not been uncommon for her, when she has spent a lot of time napping (which hasn't been true, recently) for her to tell me that she sleeps because she's "bored". I can understand how a life directed by me and only me would be "boring". I can also understand that this isn't a good thing for her. It is sad for me to consider that I may not be the one who is most appropriate to see her through to her death, but it's more important for me to see her lead a life, for the rest of her life, that allows her the most opportunities to want to awaken in the morning and express an interest in what is going on around her. Besides, it would give her an opportunity to bond, as an Ancient One, with other of her daughters before she dies. This, in itself, might be what she might need to enrich and extend her life.
We'll see.
Lunch
|
Blood Glucose: Time: 1710 Reading: 124 |
Blood Pressure: Time: 1718 BP: 111/50 Pulse: 62 |
|
Lunch: 1730 & Meds What she ate: a hearty bowl of Marie Callendar's Beef Pot Pie soup with added celery, beek jerky, green onions and grape tomatoes 1 oz potato chips approx. 3/4 cup canned, drained mandarin orange sections |
||
| Med/Dose | Administration | Explanation |
| metformin/637.5 mg | 3/4 a 850 mg tab with meal | her blood sugar was a touch high, and I knew I would be giving her the potato chips and mandarin oranges, so I boosted her dose |
| 2 Tbl Phillips' Milk of Magnesia | with meal | she didn't eliminate 4 days' worth, so I gave her a little more to see if her body couldn't be coaxed to empty out a little more before bedtime, which will be late, tonight, I'm sure |
| Conspicuously Absent Meds & Supplements | ||
| Med/Dose | Administration | Explanation |
| lisinopril/2.5 mg | 1/2 tab with meal | decided 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 |
She's been up since breakfast, moved her bowels (Yes!) a couple of hours ago, is still quite lethargic (hasn't wanted to do anything but watch TV and play Sorry; I couldn't even get her to walker a little on our driveway, which is why I administered the laxative, this morning), but is looking pretty good. I'm only half expecting that we'll get in a "dinner" tonight. I think she'll be up late enough, but she may not want to eat much. If this is true, I'll see if I can't talk her into a light, carbohydrate-rich snack before bed, just to get her meds in. In any case, she will be getting her second dose of iron around 2000, but, if she decides she doesn't want to eat, or doesn't want to eat much, I may forego her diabetic meds. We'll see.
Dinner
|
Blood Glucose: Time: 2128 Reading: 93 |
Blood Pressure: Time: 2155 BP: 128/54 Pulse: 58 |
|
Dinner: 2200 & Meds What she ate: fruit plate similar to what she's been having for lunch, lately about 3/4 cup of mixed nuts |
||
| Med/Dose | Administration | Explanation |
| 36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate | 2 18 mg tabs 1.5 hours before meal | to pull her out of what I hope is her temporarily severely anemic state |
| vitamin C/500 mg | with iron supplement | helps the body metabolize iron |
| glipizide/10 mg | 1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal | standard pre-breakfast and dinner pre-med |
| metformin/500 mg | 1/2 a 1000 mg tab with meal | standard lunch med |
| Conspicuously Absent Meds & Supplements | ||
| Med/Dose | Administration | Explanation |
| lisinopril/2.5 mg | 1/2 tab with meal | decided not to administer lisinopril, this evening; her blood pressure seems a bit too low; I'll wait and see how it goes tomorrow |
Not too much to report, here. I was just pleased that she stayed up late enough to have three meals, today, and wanted to make sure she ate something she likes.
posted by Gail Rae @ 23:59
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