Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  0807     Reading:  120

Blood Pressure:     Time:  0855     BP:  143/65     Pulse:  65

BREAKFAST:

Breakfast:  0915  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 1 4 oz slice sugar cured ham steak 1 slice toasted oat bran bread with 1 tbl Fleischmann's margarine 1/4 tsp cinnamon on bread 6 oz orange juice diluted w/6 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
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 tab with meal	blood pressure showed she could handle it
Daily Senior Multivitamin	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
folic acid/400 mcg	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
aspirin/81 mg	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

    I'm pleased with her early rising this morning. I, of course, leaned on the excuse that the Home Health Care PT was coming and we needed to "get around" so that she wasn't still in pajamas when he arrived, between 1045 and 1100. This worked out well.
    Although my intention was to move the cranberry juice to dinner, I forgot it last night and she complained (once again, sort of hazily) of having trouble peeing. I'm never sure if she really is; sometimes she means she's having trouble defecating, but takes offense when I correct her, as though I am accusing her of not knowing her own body. Anyway, I decided to give her the cranberry juice this morning; but didn't bug her about drinking it. It took her a couple of hours to get it down.
    I am, by the way, not having any trouble laying off the water torture. It is a relief to feel that I don't have to do that, anymore. I still keep an eye on her from a hydration point of view, but my standards are much amended.
    I will be giving her vitamin E and garlic at dinner, but I decided to include the first of 2 doses of garlic with her morning meal. The SNF prescribed 162 mg aspirin, which I think is a bit high for her, from the aspirin point of view. If she was mini-stroking, and if it was connected to thickening blood, it could very well have been because I took her off aspirin, at doctor's orders, soon after the blood transfusion, under the doctor's supposition, which I have no reason to deny, that, if she is bleeding in the gastro-intestinal tract, the aspirin wasn't helping. Since she's on Protonix now and her anemia appears to be under fair control (I'll find out in a week if it is under good control), I'd prefer her to receive her anti-coagulants through natural sources, and both garlic and vitamin E are natural anti-coagulants. As well, the research does not indicate that they are irritating to the gastro-intestinal tract.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1310     Reading:  153

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1335     BP:  141/66     Pulse:  55

Lunch:  1400  & Meds What she ate:  Fried Chicken Soup: 8 oz Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pie Soup with 1.5 chopped green onions and about half a fried chicken breast I picked up at the grocery last week on may way home from driving up the mountain and was too tired to eat 11.5 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
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

    Very decent blood glucose reading, especially considering that she is no longer on metformin and didn't pig out on Cheetos before lunch.
    I simply forgot the vitamin C, which normally accompanies a dose of iron supplementation.
    I was a little surprised at her systolic blood pressure. I'm thinking that she could probably use maybe 3.5 mg lisinopril morning and night. 5, obviously, is a bit too much. It drops her right into the oh-no-zone, as per my experience, yesterday. But, I'll bet 3.5 would do it. I would need to have a compounding pharmacist do this. I just talked to one here in Prescott and Medicare/TriCare for Life does not cover compounds, so he told me it would be about $1.00 a pill. But, if this worked, it would be worth it. Now, what I need to do is research what are standard lisinopril doses. Perhaps there is such a thing as a 6 or 7 mg pill for which I can have an Rx written, and split one of those. If not, well, we'll just pay out of pocket for 3.5 mg doses.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1906     Reading:  103

Blood Pressure:1949     Time:       BP:  148/66     Pulse:  64

Dinner:  1950  & Meds What she ate:  mini-meatloaf hamburgers containing: 6 oz ground chuck; 1/2 egg; chopped onion, green pepper and celery; seasoned with Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder and dried sweet basil Approx 5 oz. sliced canned beets pickled in tarragon and rice vinegar, garlic powder, dried thyme and pickling spice
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	2 18 mg tabs with 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
garlic/1250 mg	1 tab with meal	standard dinner med
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 a 5 mg tab with meal	blood pressure reading indicated she could stand it

    So, I was just congratulating myself mentally for remembering all her medications on her new schedule and realized I'd forgotten the vitamin E. Hopefully, mentioning it here will cause me to remember it tomorrow.
    She ate well, tonight, every bit that I served her. Drank well, too. Probably because she got a lot of exercise today, which I'll review at The Mom & Me Journals dot Net in a bit.
    One thing I want to mention. The SNF had her on a calcium/vitamin D pill, a 600 mg/200 mg dose, twice a day. She gets about this in her morning senior multi-vitamin pill. Although I purchased the supplement at Costco, yesterday, I haven't decided whether to give her the second dose. Firstly, she tends to run high on calcium, anyway. Secondly, I am very leery of supplement fads and, right now, there is a Calcium/vitamin D fad running rampant. I'm working on researching it but am finding little but the fad party line, even on medical sites.