Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1053     Reading:  74

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1212     BP:  112/53     Pulse:  72

BREAKFAST:

Breakfast:  1230  & 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
metformin/500 mg	1/2 of 1000 mg tab with meal	standard dose
acetaminophen/500 mg	1 tab with meal	when necessary; this morning, her knee was rickety and giving her trouble
Daily Senior Multivitamin	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
vitamin C/500 mg	with breakfast	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, to see if her BP goes up a bit
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

    She seems to be feeling a bit more vital, today, and looks a bit more pink than yesterday, which is good. I think I may have overdone it on the cheese over the last few days. She's bound up good. So, today, no cheese, lots of fiber, lots of liquids, and if that doesn't move her bowels I'll give her a laxative tomorrow morning.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1616     Reading:  110

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1623     BP:  119/55     Pulse:  64

Lunch:  1630  & Meds What she ate:  2 oz microwave popcorn (not light popcorn) 2 strawberries; 2 chunks cassava; 2 chunks cantaloupe; 2 chunks pineapple; 8 grapes 11.5 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
metformin/637.5 mg	3/4 a 850 mg tab with meal	considered the fruit and popcorn

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; BP isn't quite as high as I'd like it to be when I administer this

    First of all, those chunks of fruit that I've been labeling 1", well, I wasn't paying attention. They are somewhat larger than that; maybe 2" square, although they are not quite square.
    Secondly, this is her fiber lunch, in order to bomb her bowels, which is exactly how I put it to her. If this doesn't work before she goes to bed tonight (and, I guarantee, she won't be going to bed before 2200; with lunch this late, I'll be keeping her up for her iron at 1900, then dinner at least 4 hours after she finished lunch), I'll be giving her a laxative about an hour after breakfast tomorrow morning (in order to give everything she's had and will be having today a chance to work; we'll be having sauerkraut and polish sausages tonight, so, that might help, too) and we'll sit out the results. Typically, laxatives work on Mom by surprise.
    She's been pretty sedentary, today. Her knee has been bothering her, so I'm not pushing her. No, it's not from an injury, it's from the way she sleeps, which is one of the reasons why I am, by increments, trying to work her back to 8-10 hours of sleep. Today, she's showing, when she walks, that her knee is especially rickety, which is why I gave her the acetaminophen this morning, ooops, which I forgot to enter into the "Breakfast Meds" section. Better do that now before I forget it.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2103     Reading:  55

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2112     BP:  142/62     Pulse:  59

Dinner:  2135  & Meds What she ate:  6 oz sauerkraut w/caraway seeds & 4 oz polish sausage 1.5 oz microwave popcorn (not light popcorn)
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	2 18 mg tabs 1 hour 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/425 mg	1/2 a 850 mg tab with meal	standard lunch med
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 tab with meal	decided her BP could take it at this meal

    Her blood sugar reading tonight shocked me, both good and bad shocking. I was surprised that she ate the amount of fruit and popcorn she did and, with only 500 mg metformin and 1/4 tsp cinnamon her blood sugar dropped so low. I was pleased to know that her body is working so well, but chagrined that it didn't occur to me that such a low calorie, high fiber, high fructose meal was not going to provide enough glucose for her body. I'm still thinking about this. We'll see how things go over the next few days.
    She still hasn't eliminated, and, according to her, doesn't have that full feeling below her waist as though she's building up waste. The sauerkraut and the rest of noon's popcorn should do something. It's going to be interesting, tomorrow. I won't administer a laxative immediately in the morning. I'll wait until after breakfast, maybe walker her on the driveway to get her body pumping, and give it an hour or so before administering a laxative, and then it will be a mild laxative, Phillips Milk of Magnesia. She doesn't like having accidents any more than I like cleaning them up, so maybe we can avoid one. Whether she eliminates naturally or with a boost, tomorrow, she'll probably spend most of the day cleaning herself out, so I don't think we'll plan a lot of activity.