Today's Stats:

Meds Before Stats
    That's right, pills (some, anyway) before stats, today. I awoke late feeling pretty cold fucked, and, shortly after, so did Mom. Sometime between 0900 and 1000. She wasn't interested in staying up, and I wasn't sure I was going to (although I did), but she needed to use the bathroom so I decided to get in some of her medications, anyway, and worry about breakfast later. She drank her orange juice and I gave her the following meds before she returned to bed:

Meds before Stats
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	1/2 1000 mg tab with Niferex-150	helps the body metabolize iron
glipizide ER/10 mg	1 pill with meal	standard breakfast and dinner med to increase cells' sensitivity to insulin
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 of 5 mg tab with meal	given for kidney protection when her blood pressure can handle it

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1307     Reading:  93

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1319     BP:  165/81     Pulse:  50

Breakfast:  1357  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 4 oz slice sugar cured ham 1 slice toasted oat bran bread with 1.5 tbl Fleischmann's margarine 1/4 tsp cinnamon on bread
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
100% Aloe Vera gel/1 oz	just before meal	helps increase the cells' sensitivity to insulin when used with glipizide
Protonix/40 mg	1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal	standard pre-breakfast med
aspirin/81 mg	1 tab with breakfast	standard breakfast med - given for anti-coagulant properties
Daily Senior Multivitamin	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
folic acid/400 mcg	with breakfast	standard breakfast supplement
garlic/1250 mg	with meal	standard breakfast supplement; a natural antibiotic and anti-coagulant
1/2 cup pure cranberry juice w/12 oz water	with or after meal	standard once a day supplement for kidney protection and enhancement of waste management

    Well, I was pleased to discover that the O.J. kept her blood sugar from dropping too low before she awoke. In case you're wondering why I administered certain meds early, knowing that she'd be going back to bed: First, I want to get her back in the habit of three regularly spaced meals, primarily because in order to work properly, her two doses of glipizide should be administered at least 8 hours apart. We've been fudging on that a lot, lately, and, although her blood sugar levels haven't been traumatized in either the high or low direction (unless she eats something sugar sinful or eats a lot of starch, both of which have happened within the last month, but not habitually), I think a lot of conditions will improve if we get her back on schedule. Second, I had a feeling that her feeling as she did and me feeling as I did (both of us are still a bit punked, but doing better), we'd be eating breakfast very late and I figured that the best way to keep her blood sugar from diving too low and her blood pressure jumping too high through her extended sleep was to make sure she got her prescription meds before she headed back for bed. I also wanted to make sure she took three doses of iron with enough time between doses to keep her stomach from becoming upset, which sometimes happens when she's on high doses of iron.
    I think I made a rational choice. Although, as it turns out, I forgot her dose of iron at lunch. But, her readings, as you'll see, continued nicely, throughout the rest of the day.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1831     Reading:  135

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1834     BP:  167/70     Pulse:  53

Lunch:  1835  & Meds What she ate:  1/2 a 3 oz bag of "lite" microwave popcorn 7 variety unpitted olives in a dill, vinegar olive oil brine 11.5 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	2 18 mg tabs with meal	FORGOT IT
vitamin C/500 mg	1/2 1000 mg tab with iron supplement	FORGOT IT

    The difference between the 130s and the 170s at lunch is the difference between a pumpkin cranberry muffin and a piece of oat bran toast. Not that I'll ban muffins, but now I'm sure of this, so I'll be confidently judicious with muffin management. She actually took a somewhat shorter nap than is reflected by when she ate, but when she first awoke the Phillip's Milk of Magnesia I'd given her before she napped had already begun to work so she settled into the bathroom for a half hour or so with one of her beloved holiday craft and recipe magazines.
    Nice stats; they make me feel better, even though I've got a cold.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2108     Reading:  139

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2113     BP:  138/65     Pulse:  53

Dinner:  2130  & Meds What she ate:  8 oz chunky potato soup with added sage sausage; sauteed onion, celery and green pepper 1/4 piece split ciabatta bread grilled with garlic butter and parmesan cheese
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
100% Aloe Vera gel/1 oz	just before meal	helps increase the cells' sensitivity to insulin when used with glipizide
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	1/2 1000 mg tab with iron supplement	helps the body metabolize iron
glipizide ER/10 mg	1 pill with meal	standard breakfast and dinner med to increase cells' sensitivity to insulin
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 of 5 mg tab with meal	given for kidney protection when her blood pressure can handle it
vitamin E/400 IU	with meal	given for anti-coagulant properties
garlic/1250 mg	with meal	given for anti-coagulant properties
calcium-vitamin D/500-200 mg	with meal	believed to be an osteoporosis preventative
1/2 cup pure cranberry juice w/12 oz water	with or after meal	standard twice a day supplement for kidney protection and enhancement of waste management

    I'm pleased to see her blood pressure settling down; it might be the effects of the cold we're sharing, but I consider it a good effect. Although I'm beginning to feel as though I'm bouncing back this evening, I'm not sure she'll feel that way, tomorrow. We'll see. If she does, maybe we'll start modified exercising.
    Through the month of November I resurrected some of our old dinner standards we hadn't had for months: Potato soup with additions; home made nachos; the Sauer Supper recipe, this time made with bulk sausage and a delicious brown/wild rice blend I discovered; a ham/noodle salad gifted us from MCF that Mom really loves; I even made a tuna casserole that we haven't had in years, with some changes, of course...absolutely delicious; and salmon patties, which actually were pretty bad, sort of like cardboard, so I quickly mixed together a lemon/dill dressing that seemed to help. So, it's too late to go back, now, and both of us our relieved about this.