Combined Breakfast Stats: 5/25 - 5/27/05

5/25/05

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1309     Reading:  100

Blood Pressure:     Time:  Not Taken

5/26/05

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1227     Reading:  117

Blood Pressure:     Time:  Not Taken

5/27/05

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1044     Reading:  108

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1150     BP:  148/64     Pulse:  64

    I know, it's always dangerous to take her blood pressure in her morning, but I want to get a fairly reliable record before our routine PCP appointment in June. That will give me enough information so the FNP and I will be able to make an informed judgment as to whether she needs to be taking 5 mg of lisinopril at night.
    On the days when I take her blood pressure in the morning, I'll probably also take it (only, not blood glucose), in the evening, as well, just before she takes her lisinopril.

Today's Stats

BM Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1916     Reading:  132

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1856     BP:  108/50     Pulse:  66

    The higher-than-normal for fasting blood glucose is because at about 1600 she had a lunch of fresh, sweet raspberries with cream, one of her favorite things to eat. I was surprised that her blood glucose wasn't higher, but the highly refined fructose in fruit doesn't do as much damage as refined-by-humans cane or beet sugar or other refined-by-humans carbohydrates. I had started her morning blood glucose regimen yesterday but forgot to take it. At dinner time I was glad I'd forgotten, as I was curious about what her reading would be, given the raspberries.
    The somewhat earlier than usual blood pressure reading happened because I was worried, most of the day, that she was running on empty, hydration wise, mainly because every two hours when I herded her into the bathroom to pee her underwear was practically dry to dry and I was concerned. She was peeing into the toilet but I haven't gotten used to the fact that our Every Two Hours routine is training her bladder to wait until she's seated on porcelain to pee. Anyway, the time of her blood pressure reading was one of our two hour jaunts. She had her Bowel Movement at this time and when she announced this is what was happening I thought, "Oh, shit, it's a blood pressure crash," so I insisted on taking her blood pressure while she was on the toilet. Well, as you can see, her blood pressure wasn't crashing. It's pretty much in line with her recalibrated blood pressure now that she's drinking that Detox tea in the morning. At any rate, her bowel movement was the rest of what wasn't eliminated yesterday. Fair volume, much better consistency (not rocky), easily eliminated, etc. It still seems to me that she may be retaining fluid around the abdomen, but she's not hacking, which usually accompanies torso fluid retention, so, I think today was just one of those flukes.

Medication Notes
    Two extra strength acetaminophen this morning with breakfast and this evening with dinner. Her knees were really bothering her today, probably from the formal exercise session yesterday, particularly the SUSD practice.

Today's Stats

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1240     Reading:  105

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1338     BP:  125/62     Pulse:  61

    That's right, I took her blood pressure this morning, although I waited until she was settled at the table, had wiped her nose, put on her oxygen and had been reading her gossip magazines while I prepared breakfast (sausage and scrambled eggs, this morning). I wanted to see if the furosemide had "worked" as well as it appeared, and it had.
    Today was the first morning of Peach Detox tea instead of coffee, although she asked for and received a cup of coffee after breakfast. She was ravenously thirsty and guzzled her orange juice, which was a good sign.

BM Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1913     Reading:  104

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1910     BP:  96/50     Pulse:  49

    Yeah, just to make sure that I wouldn't have to give her any furosemide today, even though she looked, if anything, a little underhydrated, I decided to take her stats at dinner, too. I wasn't at all surprised at her blood glucose, as she had only a light lunch at a bit after 1600 this afternoon: 8 oz non-fat artificially sweetened lemon yoghurt and six olives. But, her blood pressure really amazed me. I think it was so low for two reasons: 1) After her exercise session she relaxed in her rocking chair like a discarded rag doll, and 2) She was just this side of being dehydrated. I've been walking a fine line, today, between feeding her liquids and making sure I don't give her body a reason to start packing them away around her heart. Perhaps I was a bit too conservative.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1600, fair volume, easily eliminated but the consistency was a little hard. When I cleaned her I ended up with a small shit rock in the baby wipe. That's why I gave her six olives for lunch. Probably the consistency was due to her water shed from the furosemide yesterday evening, even though we had a hearty chicken salad with lots of olive oil based dressing and olives last night.
    I decided against a second cup of detox tea, tonight. I think one a day, in the morning, is enough to keep her water level adequate and flowing.
    I also gave her 2 extra strength acetaminophen to counteract any stiffness or muscle aches she might experience from today's exercise session.

Miscellaneous Stat

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2101     BP:  118/58     Pulse:  65

    My concern over her unusually low blood pressure at dinner caused me to take one last reading, tonight, before she headed for bed. I wanted to make sure that she was well hydrated, but not overly so, and that the low reading had not been the beginning of a trend. As you can see, she looked very good at bedtime.
    I expect her blood pressure readings to improve, her systolic, especially, as we continue her exercise sessions and the daily cup of Peach Detox tea kicks in.

BM - Almost Forgot - And, review, as far as I can remember

    She had a heft Bowel Movement today before breakfast, while we were bathing her. Easily eliminated, good consistency. She's been regular, as usual, since the last time I reported these; every day to every other day.
    We did, indeed, go for her blood draw on Friday. I expect to be able to pick up the results tomorrow, Monday, hopefully in the morning. Since she's having an episode (brief, I hope) of Congestive Heart Failure (signaled by the stubborn retention of fluid), I'm especially curious to see the results of her blood draw. I expect her urinalysis to be clear, though and normal, though.
    I discussed with her, tonight, the idea of trying, over the next few days, a substitution of the Peach Detox Tea in the morning and the Detox Tea in the evening, once the furosemide kicks in and she sheds all the excess fluid. She asked me if I'd be drinking the tea, too, and I made an on the spot decision to join her. It certainly won't hurt me. I'm hoping that, by having her ingest these teas regularly every day, we might be able to exercise some control over future episodes of CHF and the resulting high blood pressure. At least until she decides it's time for her to check out permanently. We talked, as well, about how I would prefer to handle her various health "issues" with as many natural products as possible. "There'll be plenty of time for the doctors to eagerly and thoughtlessly ply you with the stuff in their pill cabinets," I said.
    "Well," she said, with just a hint of slyness, "if it's all the same to you, I'd rather we stayed away from their pills as long as possible."
    "That's better than all the same to me," I agreed.
    You'll notice that I didn't take any stats today. I considered it but I'm sure her blood pressure was pushing itself up and knowing the numbers wouldn't have helped, nor would it have changed my strategy of giving her furosemide/20 mg. The furosemide didn't kick in quite as quickly as I would have liked, but I didn't want to give her a full 40 mg pill, since I already know that this takes the water off way too quickly and I didn't want to change a blood pressure crash in the middle of the night.
    About an hour after giving her the furosemide we had dinner. I made beef soup with lots of potatoes, teriyaki beef jerky, lots of onions and lots of liquid. She requested fresh raspberries (which we happen to have, right now) with cream. Lots of sodium, lots of potassium. The dinner should keep her electrolytes from taking a nose dive while her body sheds water.

Just wanted to mention...

...for my own reference. I just gave my mother 20 mg furosemide. She's been retaining water, today, which is unusual for her. Peach Detox Tea (I gave her a cup this morning for breakfast, about 1130, and another for lunch at 1700), on which I can usually count (in fact, almost any tea will cause my mother to shed water, which is why I don't often serve her tea) doesn't seem to be taking it off and it's not only swelling her feet, it's beginning to settle around her middle, causing occasional breathlessness.
    I hate giving her furosemide. It's like creating an internal waterfall within her. I have to be careful that she doesn't lose too much water, sodium or potassium, since we've had emergencies involving all three. The last time I gave it to her was last fall, I believe. I remember giving her 10 mg then having to give her 20 mg the next day, so, today I decided to hit her with 20 out of the gate.
    I've approached her with the blood pressure wrist cuff a couple of times, today. I'm very curious to see what her blood pressure measures when she's retaining water like this. She's easily aggitated, though, and isn't interested. "I'm fine!" She is adamant, and irritated. I'm not surprised. Typically she's easygoing, but on the rare occasion when she's retaining water, although she thinks she's still easygoing, she's actually touchy.
    Yes, I'll be catching up on stats, maybe tonight. Maybe I'll be posting at the main journal, too, I'm not sure. I've been so calm and relaxed, lately, that I haven't wanted to approach the computer much, I've been doing other stuff that requires more movement and is less abstract. Yes, I still consider what I'm doing here important, to me and, eventually, to others, but, well, doing has been more interesting than thinking and writing, lately, for me.