Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1131     Reading:  116

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1248     BP:  123/59     Pulse:  64

    I do remember that we had ham and eggs for breakfast. I also remember that I chose not to give her lisinopril, but did decide to administer 425 mg metformin for breakfast, knowing that I would give her V-8 juice between lunch and dinner. I'm sure she also got all her other standard pills and doses for breakfast, although I have no memory of giving them to her.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1742     Reading:  90

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1750     BP:  151/73     Pulse:  60

    I remember giving her her full dose of lisinopril, because her blood pressure alarmed me and I'd remembered not giving her any at breakfast. I also remember deciding not to give her any metformin at lunch. I do not remember what she ate.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2111     Reading:  151

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2118     BP:  143/63     Pulse:  58

    I'm sure I gave her metformin. I'm sure I didn't give her lisinopril, even though I remember being surprised that giving her 5 mg at lunch didn't bring her systolic down as low as I'd've liked. I know what we ate. I spent the afternoon making more of that chicken and rice mixture, because Mom had liked it so much, and I remember that she ate heartily, which pleased me. I think she may have also vomited, too, sometime during the day, so that may also have had something to do with my dinner choice, but I don't remember for sure.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  0918     Reading:  122

Blood Pressure:     None taken

    This was the morning I awoke to the sight of Mom sitting on the floor staring at me, and I called the paramedics to take her to the emergency room in Prescott.
    This lone blood glucose stat was taken after we'd arrived home. I bathed her and we ate breakfast, as usual. I can't remember why I didn't take her blood pressure. I think it was because she was pretty run down (or, I suppose, run over) by the ridiculous emergency room experience and I didn't feel like bothering her with the typical instructions about how to make sure the blood pressure was "good".

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1808     Reading:  110

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1854     BP:  120/52     Pulse:  62

    These were actually dinner stats. This is when we had Cobb salad for a second night in a row. She slept through most of the morning and part of the afternoon, after her ER visit, and simply wasn't hungry when she arose, although she was, unusually, thirsty, and, as I recall, drank orange juice (her second glass of the day), tea and V-8 juice before she decided, a little before 1800, that it might be nice to eat.
    I am sure I did not give her lisinopril. I am also sure that I gave her double doses, on this day, of garlic and vitamin E. Other than that, I can't swear to anything.

Evening Stats

Blood Glucose:     None taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2236     BP:  128/59     Pulse:  59

    I don't remember why I took her blood pressure; probably because I knew she was mini-stroking and wanted to see if her brain was calming down. I do know that she had only two real meals, this day, only one dose of glipizide, two of metformin, 425 mg, double doses of vitamin E and garlic and cinnamon in her V-8 juice, which she drank between breakfast and lunch/dinner. She also had popcorn during the evening before bed, but I don't recall administering any night time medication. I do recall that I did not give her Niferex-150 on this day, but did give her her 36 mg dose of Iron Protein Succinylate at both breakfast and lunch/dinner.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1001     Reading:  99

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1112     BP:  158/72     Pulse:  57

    I assume we had a normal breakfast, on this day, and I probably administered meds typically, as I usually do. It seems to me that I remember this day was a day of standard dosages of 425 mg of metformin at each meal, making sure that she drank a can of V-8 juice between breakfast and lunch, so her blood glucose wouldn't drop into the 50's, as it had been doing fairly often, lately. But, don't take my word on that. I'm sure I also administered lisinopril on this morning, probably a full 5 mg tablet, but, again, I can't be sure.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1726     Reading:  96

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1813     BP:  150/68     Pulse:  66

    Absolutely no earthly idea what Mom ate. No idea, as well, what meds I gave her.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2100     Reading:  124

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2138     BP:  147/67     Pulse:  61

    Oddly, I do remember that we had Cobb salad on this day, the evening before I took her into the emergency room in Prescott, because we also had Cobb salad the night of her visit, at her request. It was, like, two days in a row of salad and I was quite pleased, knowing that she'd be moving her bowels with regularity, even though, by now, it was fairly obvious that she was minutely-stroking and had, once again, forgotten how to monitor internally whether her bowels needed to move. Strange thing to remember.
    I'm pretty sure I held off the lisinopril, as well, because I gave her a full tab in the morning. By this time, her elevated pressures almost seemed normal, even though I was pretty sure they were an indication that she was stroking out. So, I am also sure, as I remember, that today I also administered extra doses of garlic and vitamin E in the evening.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  0953     Reading:  119

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1107     BP:  139/44     Pulse:  58

Breakfast:  1130  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 3 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 2 slice toasted oat bran bread with 1 tbl Fleischmann's margarine each 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/425 mg	1/2 of 850 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	for obvious reasons, connected with her diastolic BP

    I'm not actually sure that I got an accurate reading of her blood pressure, this morning. Once again, while I was staring her down, coaching her not to move or talk, she released her right arm from her left hand to scratch her nose. Everything else is good, though, including her color and her appetite. Since she's missed meals, about 50% of her meals over the last few days, I decided to beef up her breakfast since this is the meal when she eats the most.
    No metoclopramide, today, even though her diastolic blood pressure could be due to anemia. Her color is so good that I tend to think it's because her nose was itching and she decided to scratch it. At any rate, she'll be up a lot more than she expects, today, and although this is no guaranteed strategy for keeping nausea in line, she spends more time vomiting when she's prone than when she's upright.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1630     Reading:  116

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1636     BP:  113/49     Pulse:  61

Lunch:  1645nbsp; & Meds What she ate:  approx 10 oz of the home made chicken and rice soup we had last night 1 piece oat bran toast with 1 Tb. Fleishmann's margarine and 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; gave her an extra dose of this, today, in the hopes that it would counterract all the problems, lately, that have dealt her anemia problems
vitamin C/500 mg	with iron supplement	helps the body metabolize iron
Levaquin/250 mg	1 250 mg tab with meal	for urinary tract infection; two hours before or after iron
metformin/425 mg	1/2 an 850 mg tab with meal	standard lunch dose

    Lunch went well, actually. Her appetite was good, surprisingly, both her blood pressure and her blood glucose look good, finally. Nothing else to report.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2054     Reading:  105

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2104     BP:  142/60     Pulse:  60

Dinner:  2130  & Meds What she ate:  Approx 6 oz of leftover homemade potato soup with chopped green peppers, chopped celery, pork sausage, chopped onion and MPBIL's southwestern fire seasoning Approx 6 oz of left over macaroni and cheese with chopped celery, chopped green pepper, chopped onion and hamburger
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/500 mg	1/2 a 1000 mg tab with meal	standard dinner med
vitamin E/400 IU	with meal	to promote thinner blood without aspirin; added because of my concern about mini-stroking
garlic/1250 mg	with meal	to promote thinner blood without aspirin; added because of my concern about mini-stroking

    Nothing special, really, about dinner, except that I'm pleased to report that we got in three meals, today, and three doses of iron. She's been holding down her meals well. I'm hoping this will apply, tonight.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1045     Reading:  105

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1156     BP:  93/75     Pulse:  64

Breakfast:  1215  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 2 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/425 mg	1/2 of 850 mg tab with meal	lower of the standard doses because I wanted to stop the possibility of very low blood sugar
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	blood pressure way too low to administer, this morning

    By the time I started preparing breakfast, this morning, I knew we'd be going to the urgent care clinic in Prescott Valley, because I noticed the slight pinkish tinge to her urine. So, I gave her the lower of the standard doses of metformin. I know she's anemic, now, pretty low although I hope not terribly low, and I know it's because of the bleeding from her urinary tract, again. Apparently, the 3 day course of Cipro XR was not enough to take care of the urinary tract infection. She may have been bleeding slightly, without me being able to detect it, since she finished the course of Cipro XR. I fed her a good breakfast, though, figuring that we'd probably be at the clinic for a long time, just as before.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1741     Reading:  63

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1742     BP:  165/74     Pulse:  71

Dinner:  1815  & Meds What she ate:  In order to guard against vomiting, I fed her a version of the BRAT diet: I made, from scratch, chicken with rice soup, featuring my own chicken broth (which I'd made and frozen a few months ago from the frozen carcasses of some roasted chickens we'd had), a boneless, skinless chicken breast nuked with Old Bay Seasoning and grilling spices, some chopped celery (for flavor), the juice of half a lemon, 1.5 cups steamed rice and a tsp dried Sweet Basil 1 slice sourdough garlic toast
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
36 mg Iron Protein Succinylate	2 18 mg tabs 1 hour before meal	didn't have time to give this to her an hour before dinner, so gave it to her with dinner
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 1000 mg tab with meal	standard dinner med
garlic/1250 mg	1 tab with meal	standard dinner med

    No lunch, today. Dinner happened after Mom took a nap, after we returned from the urgent care clinic and the pharmacy and she took her first dose of Levaquin 250 mg, prescribed at the urgent care clinic.
    She seemed surprisingly revived after her nap, even though she looked pretty pale, had a good appetite and was pleased with what I'd planned for lunch/dinner. She ate well, although I had to turn off TV because she zoned in on a program on Animal Planet, was ignoring her food, and announced, halfway through the soup, that she was no longer hungry. I turned off TV and reminded her of two things: first, that if she'd had a big bag of potato chips in front of her, she'd have eaten the entire bag mindlessly and, second, that it was entirely possible, considering her low energy level, that she would only be eating two meals, today, and she needed the sustenance, and that I don't overfeed her. Once TV was off, though, she rediscovered her hunger and dug in, complimenting me on the soup and complaining that I had "forgotten the cheese" on the garlic bread. I explained to her that I was concerned that the cheese might be a bit too harsh on her stomach.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  0907     Reading:  122

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1007     BP:  145/70     Pulse:  57

Breakfast:  1030  & Meds What she ate:  3" x 3" x 3/8" piece of sharp cheddar cheese 3 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 2 slices 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
metoclopramide/5 mg	1 pill at least 1/2 hour pre-meal	to prevent nausea and vomiting
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
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 tab with meal	Decided she could handle this, this morning
metformin/425 mg	1/2 of 850 mg tab with meal	standard dose
acetaminophen/250 mg	1/2 of 500 mg tab with meal	she complained of a little stiffness in the back of her legs, this morning, probably from the over-walkering yesterday
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

    She looked good, stat-wise this morning. We'd run out of eggs (obviously, a visit to Costco is way overdue), so I gave her cheese, instead, since she had a couple of bowel accidents, yesterday. I made assumptions about what the cause of her vomiting was, yesterday, but, because I wanted to make sure, in case it was anemia vomiting (I have no idea, at this point, whether it is), I wanted to make sure she kept her breakfast down, I gave her metoclopramide. Other than this, nothing unusual about breakfast. An hour or so after breakfast, though, she was feeling woozy, which was, I'm sure, due to the metoclopramide.

Between Meals

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1403     Reading:  114

    I took this because of her fairly recent habit of her blood glucose dropping just before lunch. I decided to check her blood glucose between breakfast and lunch, in case that was the cause of her wooziness. It didn't appear to be.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1527     Reading:  59

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1524     BP:  119/59     Pulse:  61

Lunch:  1530  & Meds What she ate:  sandwich w/ 4 oz tuna salad, 2 slices toasted oat bran bread approx 1/2 oz Nachos Doritos chips 11.5 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
metoclopramide/5 mg	1 tab 1/2 hour before meal	just to make sure she keeps this meal down

Conspicuously Absent Meds & Supplements
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
metformin/any dose		blood sugar too low; decided to nix this

    I took her blood glucose twice. The first reading was 57; I recorded the second reading. It looks like maybe we're back where I can really start cutting down, again. Maybe. Who knows. We'll see. Obviously, it wasn't enough to take her blood glucose between meals. I've handled this, lately, by giving her V-8 juice between breakfast and lunch. I think it's time to start cutting back meds at breakfast.
    I expect this meal to be the last one I'll be giving her metoclopramide. It really sets her on her ass, I think she's got enough in her system to take care of dinner, and, anyway, I think maybe we'll be able to maneuver around the vomiting, now, if it's not from very low hemoglobin. We'll find out tomorrow.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2030     Reading:  269

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2129     BP:  181/79     Pulse:  64

Dinner:  2145  & Meds What she ate:  Cobb Salad without egg; with Swiss cheese, jalapeno pepper cheese, 4 green olives sliced in half, sliced pastrami, sliced peppered turkey, chopped green bell pepper, chopped yellow onion, sliced radishes, mixed greens, grated carrot, crushed Nachos Doritos chips, in the same amounts as usual; about 2 Tbl Kraft Creamy Caesar dressing
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/500 mg	1/2 a 1000 mg tab with meal	figured, considering her blood glucose reading, I'd better give her this
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 a 5 mg tab with meal	figured, considering her blood pressure reading, I'd better give her this
acetaminophen/500 mg	1 500 mg tab with meal	although she insists she is in no pain, feeling no stiffness and seems to be walking exactly the same as before, because her knees gave way, again, tonight, I thought it might be a good idea to give her something for inflammation, if not for pain
garlic/1250 mg	1 1250 mg tab with meal	giving it to her both as a blood thinner and because she's complaining, again, of having trouble urinating, although her urine looks fine

    Well, I guess I should have given her some metformin at lunch, even though her blood glucose was low. And, I guess cutting back is going to have to wait even longer. I'm not sure why her blood pressure is this high, although her knees gave way, again, which I'll be covering in a later post on The Mom & Me Journals dot Net, so it may have something to do with the shock of having lost her balance, again. Give me a couple of hours, on that one. It is, for several reasons, a busy night.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1012     Reading:  97

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1111     BP:  142/79     Pulse:  57

Breakfast:  1125  & Meds What she ate:  1 hard over egg, heavily peppered 2 slices thick cut sugar cured lean bacon 2 slices (her request) 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
lisinopril/5 mg	1 tab with meal	decided to give her the whole 5 mg because of her diastolic
metformin/425 mg	1/2 of 1000 mg tab with meal	decided to slowly cut back
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

    My only concern was her diastolic blood pressure; combined with her systolic, I decided to give her the entire 5 mg lisinopril. Other than that, her stats looked good, she was hungry enough to ask for two pieces of toast, she ate good and, and seemed to feel up for accompanying me on a visit to the grocery. Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn't go so well.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1617     Reading:  85

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1630     BP:  137/58     Pulse:  61

Lunch:  1635  & Meds What she ate:  sandwich w/ 4 oz tuna salad, 2 slices potato bread 3/4 cup small curd 4% cottage cheese, heavily peppered 11.5 oz V-8 juice with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
metformin/425 mg	1/2 a 850 mg tab with meal	standard lunch dose

    We'd gone to the grocery and although it was difficult for her to walker, she did a fair amount before her knees couldn't take anymore. This, however, was the lunch she lost, details here.

Dinner
    There is a link to what happened to her lunch in the post below this one. She spent most of the afternoon vomiting it up, then, finally, when she was completely empty except for water between spews, she went to bed at 1930, exhausted. Not the best ending for what looked like a promising day.