Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1204     Reading:  106

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1235     BP:  129/71     Pulse:  73

    Usually I don't mention what she's had for breakfast because it's always the same. Today, though, she had an 8 oz ham steak, her absolute favorite, with her egg and toast and orange juice.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1741     BP:  101/57     Pulse:  87

    I can't think of why her pulse rate was so high; it seems to me that part of it was that I took her pressure right after she came into the living room after arising from her nap, going to the bathroom and shuffling out to the living room. Her blood pressure indicates dehydration, though, as does the look of her, probably a continued reaction to the furosemide from last night, and I'm still having a problem keeping her out of bed and getting her to move around. I might have to turn hard on her, tomorrow. I'm trying hard to be gentle and accepting but she's taking advantage of it.
    Anyway, she ate a great lunch: 8 oz yoghurt, about 6 oz of sliced cheese, olives, and a snack, about an hour later, of about 5 oz mixed nuts and dry roasted peanuts. She drinking well, too. We'll see how her dinner pressure looks.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2113     Reading:  97

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2110     BP:  110/57     Pulse:  83

    Her pulse rate is still high and she's been sitting in the living room all evening watching some special programs on Animal Planet. It's gotta be dehydration.
    I was blown away by her blood sugar, especially because of the nuts. I asked her what she wanted for dinner. She grinned and said, "Chocolate cake. Just chocolate cake." So, that's what she got. She's eating pretty healthy otherwise...oh, I didn't mention the V-8 juice she had at lunch. And, day by day, we've been putting off that Cobb salad for other, warm things. I'll be glad when we get rid of the chocolate cake, though. Tonight I had to make two meals because, well, I'm no longer much of a fan of chocolate anything except coffee and cocoa and I just couldn't face down a piece of chocolate cake, tonight, nor anything sweet.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1205     Reading:  102

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1233     BP:  145/66     Pulse:  57

    Her blood pressure's still high, despite the third lisinopril last night. She doesn't appear to be retaining fluid, though, so I'd hate to give her furosemide and dehydrate her. I'll just play a wait and see game, today.

BM Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2039     Reading:  134

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2039     BP:  133/65     Pulse:  69

    I don't know, it's weird. I didn't take lunch stats. Frankly, I forgot, although I wish I hadn't. I would have liked to have known what her blood pressure was. She was extremely tired all day. It's been one of those rain-settling-in days and she was not happy about that when I first awoke her at 1100. She decided to go back to sleep and asked me to awaken her at noon. Then, at 1400 she wanted to go to bed again. I tried to get her interested in other things but she stopped listening to me, arose from her chair and headed off to bed. I let her go. She didn't awaken until 1700. I fed her a soup and bread & butter pickle lunch, again: This time the Beef Pot Roast soup with added carrots, green onions, beef jerky and sweet curry powder. She hasn't been dry hacking at all, and she still isn't swelling, not in her feet, anyway; maybe in her belly but it doesn't seem like it. Since lunch she's been dragging, but she's remained up.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1730: Excellent volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; not the easiest of clean-ups, her feces was, again, soft and slick, but not diarrhea. I haven't given her Benefiber® or olives, lately, so I'm not sure what's doing it.
    For dinner she had a home made corned beef sandwich on an onion bun with Italian dressing, mustard, the equivalent of a slice of cheese and a slice of Bermuda onion.
    I will be taking her blood pressure again before she goes to bed.

Bedtime

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2220     BP:  141/70     Pulse:  78

    I gave her both a third lisinopril and 20 mg furosemide. Her belly was noticeably swollen when she undressed for bed. I'm wondering if any of this is connected to the Benefiber®. You wouldn't think so, but that's the only thing that's been different about our routine, lately. I'm glad we stopped it a couple of days ago. Now, I guess, we'll just wait for it to work it's way out and I'll make sure she gets plenty of fibrous fruits and vegetables and olives, and lots of liquids, tomorrow. I actually expect her to feel better, tomorrow, than she has in two days. We'll see.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1100     Reading:  107

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1131     BP:  111/61     Pulse:  61

    Okay, so it must have been the "back grabbing" that was causing her high blood pressure yesterday. Otherwise, everything looks good. I did not give her Benefiber® this morning, as we will be having Cobb salad tonight, which will include olives and, of course, a bunch of other stuff with lots of fiber.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1656     BP:  129/59     Pulse:  58

    She had, once again, Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pie Soup with added sweet curry, chopped green onions, celery and carrots and added chicken. I'm a little concerned about her blood pressure creeping up, but maybe it was just a blip.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1936     Reading:  140

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1934     BP:  146/61     Pulse:  64

    At Mom's request, she had the rest of the potato sausage soup from a couple of nights ago and a piece of chocolate cake. I will be checking her blood pressure before she goes to bed.

Bedtime

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2134     BP:  151/72     Pulse:  64

    Needless to say, I gave her a third lisinopril this evening. I'm not sure what's causing this high blood pressure bout.

Today's Stats:

BM Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1042     Reading:  88

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1114     BP:  121/63     Pulse:  70

    Well, everything looks good, despite yesterday's popcorn and mint cocoa fest.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at about 1125, while we bathed her, as usual: Fair volume, slick consistency, very easy elimination, difficult clean-up. I think the one tablespoon of Benefiber® may be a bit much for her when she gets a lot of other fiber during the day, as she did yesterday. Maybe what I'll do is skip the morning fiber after a day when she has eaten lots of fibrous foods.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2044     Reading:  108

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2044     BP:  138/66     Pulse:  69

    I'll be checking her blood pressure again before bed to see if she needs a third lisinopril. I'm surprised at her blood glucose reading. For lunch she had Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pie soup enhanced with extra chopped onion, carrots and celery and a teaspoon of sweet curry powder; plus about a quarter cup of MCS's Bread & Butter Pickles. That was at about 1700. Maybe, as I long ago suspected, the curry powder helps increase her cell sensitivity to insulin.
    For dinner she had about 6 oz. home corned beef and about a cup of peas with chopped onions, celery and bacon season with some Greek feta dressing.

Bedtime

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2225     BP:  147/72     Pulse:  75

    I not only gave her an extra 2.5 mg lisinopril, her back was "grabbing", although she insisted it wasn't hurting, so I gave her two extra strength acetaminophen. I asked her how long her back had been bothering her. She couldn't remember, but I'll bet it's been since shortly after our exercise session, since she wasn't in the mood for it and resisted it. This, unfortunately, didn't occur to me until after I'd given her the third lisinopril, but I don't think it'll hurt her.
    Her light went off right at 2300.

Today's Stats:

BM Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1137     Reading:  104

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1207     BP:  119/65     Pulse:  63

    Everything looks good. She has been coughing, some, but she is not swollen anyplace so I think some of the hacking is the result of the extreme humidity over the last few days. She reports that she feels as though she has to clear her throat a lot and I've been doing the same, although not as a cough.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred, as usual, as we bathed her, about noon: Fair volume, excellent consistency, very easy elimination, easy clean-up.
    Lunch will probably be a drawn out affair, as we're planning on watching Gone With the Wind and having popcorn, olives and she'll be having mint cocoa, as well as a large glass of water.
    I'm lagging, a bit, with the yoghurt and I need to work that back in to make sure she doesn't develop vaginal infections from the daily Macrodantin.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1650     BP:  116/59     Pulse:  63

    Looking good. No further action necessary.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2046     Reading:  190

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2045     BP:  127/62     Pulse:  70

    Her heart pulse rate continues to be a little fast; or, maybe it's finally reaching normal, I'm not sure. Anyway, nothing else seems to be going wrong, so I'll just observe it, for awhile.
    The blood glucose is a result of popcorn, olives and mint cocoa (two cups) while we watched Gone With the Wind. I'm not going to worry about this, as readings like this should help her Hemoglobin A1c come up a bit the next time her doctor takes it, which is what he wants.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1104     Reading:  108

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1123     BP:  118/66     Pulse:  79

    Although her pulse rate is a little elevated, I'm not worried. I took her blood pressure within a minute after she'd manuevered herself into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Her feet were swollen, despite her stellar blood pressure, she was doing a lot of dry hacking and I noticed that her belly seemed a little swollen. I'd taken an earlier blood pressure, right after she arose, that came out 146/75. Although I waited until breakfast to make the call, I decided to give her 20 mg furosemide, just to see if we couldn't work some of that excess fluid off.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1854     Reading:  101

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1802     BP:  115/65     Pulse:  78

    Again, an elevated pulse rate, which surprised me since everything else seemed to be okay and she'd been sitting for awhile, but I let it go. We had only two meals, today. She slept through what would have been lunch and I didn't awaken her, figuring the furosemide was doing its thing. If you're wondering why there is a significant time lapse between taking her blood sugar and taking her blood pressure, I took her BP immediately when she arose, just to see how it was doing. I'll take it again before she retires.
    I made sure she got lots of potassium and sodium, as she's really flushing fluids, today. We had a hearty home made tomato basil marinara with chopped green peppers, onions and celery and a sprinkling of sausage, over rotini, sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and grilled french wheat garlic Parmesan bread. She ate lustily.

Bedtime

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2111     BP:  127/57     Pulse:  69

    Although her systolic and pulse rate were a touch higher than I was expecting, I left her alone as far as extra meds are concerned. I figure, by morning, she'll be back to normal. She actually didn't go to bed for a good 45 minutes after I took her BP.

Today's Stats:

BM Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1008     Reading:  130

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1019     BP:  131/66     Pulse:  74

    The blood glucose is a result of the last two days: A chicken pot pie (I can't believe she ate the whole thing) at Marie Callendar's Restaurant in North Phoenix friday night; a piece of Double Lemon Meringue Pie (I can't believe she ate the whole thing) that she ordered to take back to the motel that evening; the nuts, Cheetos, chocolate cake, onionbun/pastrami/cheese/sandwich spread sandwich and bread and butter pickles she ate throughout the day Saturday while MPS stayed with her at the motel; the Carl's Jr. $6.00 Guacamole Bacon Burger with onion rings she insisted we pick up for dinner last night on our way home from Phoenix. All things considered, her body performed very well on all those refined carbohydrates.
    I'm not sure about her blood pressure and pulse rate, but I think it'll settle down, although I'll check it throughout the day. She has been in excellent spirits all day, had no problem arising at 1000 when I called her, has been looking rosy and we even did a formal exercise session today. At 1400 she went down for a nap. I'll call in her two hours, if she's still down.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred, as it often does, while we were bathing her, about 1045: Good volume, excellent consistency, very easy elimination, very easy clean-up. I did administer 1 tablespoon of Benefiber® in her orange juice this morning during breakfast. So far, it doesn't seem as though she needs much more than this per day, so I won't be hiking the dose per day unless necessary.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1622     BP:  141/73     Pulse:  75

    Curosity. I had to see how her blood pressure was doing. Although I seem to be the only one who worries about her systolic when it's this high. I gave her an extra lisinopril at lunch, which consisted of a pastrami and cheese sandwich with mustard and Italian dressing on an onion bun and about half a cup of MCS's superior Bread & Butter pickles.

BM Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2030     Reading:  135

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2029     BP:  135/72     Pulse:  81

    Well, I'm not as concerned about her systolic as I am about her heart rate. I'll take her blood pressure again at bed time and, if necessary, give her a fourth lisinopril. Could just be her readjustment to the altitude. The next few days will tell.
    Neither of us were very hungry so dinner was a small version of Cobb salad; all the ingredients on about half the scale as usual.
    Her Bowel Movement was a pleasant surprise. At least she's not becoming impacted. I think one tablespoon of Benefiber® a day is all she needs at this time. I'm hoping it's not too much. This movement occurred at 1910: Fair volume, as though she was eliminating the last of what should have been eliminated this morning; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.

Bedtime

Blood Glucose:     Time:  Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2314     BP:  163/84     Pulse:  89

    Well, obviously, I gave her a fourth 2.5 mg lisinopril tonight. I hope this is just a blip. She doesn't appear to be retaining water more than usual, but, if I'm wrong and she is, she'll probably shed most of it tonight. If her blood pressure is still unusually high in the morning, I'll probably give her 20 mg furosemide. I know that she and MPS consumed a lot of salt on Saturday while I was gone. Could be she's still flushing that. We'll see.