Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1208     Reading:  124

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1350     BP:  125/52     Pulse:  74

Breakfast:  1400  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 3 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 1 slice toasted oat bran 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
Daily Senior Multivitamin	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
folic acid/400 mcg	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
vitamin E/400 IU	with meal	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	her blood pressure appears to be returning to normal, even a bit on the low side, diastolically, so, considering the amount of lisinopril she received yesterday, I nixed this dose.

    Although my plan, as I stated in my morning journal entry, was to awaken her at 1030, when I attempted this she responded, from out of the depths of sleep, "Go away."
    I'd been checking on her throughout the morning and, usually, when I let her "pick" her wake up time, I determine her druthers by watching her eyes. When her eyelids open by a slit and the bottoms of her irises are visible, this is when I know I'll probably have some success awakening her. This didn't happen until just after noon, today. This was my first indication that she was going to be experiencing the leveling effect of the antibiotic that she didn't experience yesterday. In fact, she wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of waking at noon, but I could not let her dehydrate any longer. We wrestled her lethargy until about 1315, when I finally semi-whupped her up and she took herself the rest of the way.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1901     Reading:  70

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2006     BP:  135/61     Pulse:  64

Dinner:  2000  & Meds What she ate:  We had nachos, to tempt her appetite. See previous recipe for what they contained; the only difference is that we used a different type of salsa and the tortilla chips were the kind that are formed into little cups.
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
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 dinner med
Cipro XR/500 mg	1 tab 2 hours after dinner	according to my research, this is the best time to administer this antibiotic

Conspicuously Absent Meds & Supplements
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	2 18 mg tabs 1 hour before meal	cut this dose since Cipro XR should not be taken 6 hours before or after iron
vitamin C/500 mg	with iron supplement	cut this dose because I cut the iron

    That's right, no lunch today. She slept through it. I wasn't surprised and I didn't worry. I just allowed her body to silently fight the infection and let sleep prepare her for the final onslaught tomorrow. I have no idea what her energy level is going to be like tomorrow. Although I pushed fluids the entire time she was awake, today, since she wasn't awake that much, she went to bed minimally hydrated. So, tomorrow, regardless of her energy level, and I told her this as I tucked her in, I'm not going to let her sleep quite as long as I let her sleep tonight. Optimistically, when I awoke her from a 2.5 hour nap at 1900 and reminded her that the Eukanuba Dog Show was on tonight, she was excited, reared out of bed, and she was seated with dinner in front of her ready to watch it when it started at 2000. She remained attentive through the entire show, we discussed several of the dogs, she chided me when my attention was distracted during a sidebar about a particular breed that she wanted discuss, and we talked imagin-airily about getting a Newfoundland puppy "for The Girls [our cats] to raise. So, I'll be ready for anything, tomorrow.