Today's Stats:

Cheater Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     No longer taken at this     time unless necessary

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1226     Pressure:  150/69     Pulse:  58

Breakfast:  1310  & 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 1.5 tbl Fleischmann's margarine 1/4 tsp cinnamon on bread 6 oz orange juice diluted w/8 oz water
Med/Dose	Administration	Explanation
Niferex-150 [150 mg elemental iron]	at 1220 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
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
glipizide ER/10 mg	1 pill with meal	standard breakfast and dinner med to increase cells' sensitivity to insulin
aspirin/81 mg	1 tab with breakfast	standard breakfast med - given for anti-coagulant properties
lisinopril/2.5 mg	1/2 of 5 mg tab with meal	given for kidney protection when her blood pressure can handle it
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
Levaquin/250 mg	1 tablet to be administered at 1420 w/cranberry juice	to address UTI
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 don't know why, exactly, maybe because of the UTI, but I thought it would be interesting to take her blood pressure this morning, especially since she seemed to be serene on the toilet. Well, I was wrong. She wasn't serene, she was steaming, irritated that I didn't hear her when she first awoke in her bedroom; irritated that I insisted, upon discovering her already beginning her day that we'd begin her bath, which she'd decided not to take, today; irritated in general.

BM Non-stat Lunch

Lunch:  1710  & Meds What she ate:  1/2 3 oz bag "lite" microwave popcorn 6 pitted pimiento stuffed olives in brine with four mini dill pickles and the pickled detritous, about 1/3 cup, from MCS's home made bread and butter pickles 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	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
tolterodine tartrate ER/4 mg	Once per day	4 week trial to see if it inhibits her incontinence

    She received her Levaquin w/cranberry juice on time, today: 1420. She was, indeed, insterested in napping after receiving her medication and drinking the juice. So, there has been a good interval between her antibiotic and her recent iron supplement.
    Her Bowel Movement today happened just before she headed in for a nap: Excellent (even extraordinary) volume; floating some (usually her bowel movements sink like stones); very easy elimination, very messy clean-up; very good consistency.
    This almost-every-day regularity is both surprising and appreciated. It's been about a month, I think, since I've felt the need to give her a dose of Phillip's Milk of Magnesia. Good track record.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2012     Reading:  119

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2015     BP:  132/62     Pulse:  56

Dinner:  2030  & Meds What she ate:  7 garlic & cheese tortellini covered with approx 1.5 cups the leftover, smoky marinara from some nights ago sprinkled with approx 1 oz. freshly shredded Parmesan
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

    Her blood sugar looks good, tonight. So does her blood pressure. She's still moving slow, but she's alert and her energy level is game, if not up. She headed into the kitchen to throw away Kleenex a couple of times. She also insisted, at 1844, that she was going to make dinner, "...it's about that time."
    "Are you hungry already?!?" She'd eaten lunch a little over an hour previously.
    "No."
    "Well, neither am I. Who are you planning on cooking dinner for?"
    "Well, this is about dinner time."
    I laughed, gently. "It hasn't been dinner time for a long time, Mom, not since your breakfast time traveled to around noon."
    "Oh! Well. I guess you're right."
    "If you're a little hungry I can make you some more popcorn."
    She waved away the offer. "No, no. I'm not hungry."
    And, I was sure she wasn't.
    Old habits aren't just hard to break, they remain within memory for decades...possibly centuries.