Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1114     Reading:  111

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1114     BP:  124/60     Pulse:  54

    Seems Mom's BG did well on a dinner of bread (and, for her, loads of margarine) last night. Dinner wasn't the free-for-all it sounds like. She had two slices, a little thinner than a half inch each, which she slathered with butter to her liking, and some cranberry juice.
    Perfect meal for both of us last night.

Non-stat Lunch
    Lunch happened at an extended trip to Costco on which my mother accompanied me with fuss. She sampled her way through the store then we had a berry smoothie before heading home.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1926     Reading:  115

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1924     BP:  113/54     Pulse:  58

    Mom's dinner stats are amazing, especially considering her extended, voluptuous, Costco Sample lunch and the berry smoothie. Could be all the exercise she received walkering through the warehouse from sample kiosk to sample kiosk.
    At her insistence, we picked up a Costco Shepherd's Pie for dinner. I've always avoided it because of the lack of vegetables listed in the ingredients and what I have assumed to be the preponderance of potatoes, since that vegetable is listed close to first in the ingredients. Neither Mom nor I is much of a potato fan, although I like them a bit more than she.
    Mom liked the pie. A lot. I found it a little disturbing. I didn't realize the crust was going to be mashed potatoes. Mom didn't recognize it as such and enjoyed it, calling it "a hearty crust". I threw most of my crust away. Costco uses ground beef, so the internals look a little like half-digested beef to me but I didn't mention this. Because of Mom's taste for it, I froze all that was left. I don't think I'll be buying another, though. When she gets the urge for stewy, pie-y beef, I'll make a beef pot pie with a nice, thin pastry crust.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1328     Reading:  101

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1328     BP:  102/56     Pulse:  61

    I'm beside myself. I don't know what to do, anymore. I don't know how to motivate her anymore. I should describe what happened yesterday concerning her going along to a couple of stores with me. The entire episode, before I finally left the house on my own lasted 1.5 hours. I'm still recovering from that one.
    So, today, I just let her sleep in because, frankly, I didn't want to face her. Other than being a little dehydrated, her stats look good. She ate well. She seemed fine this morning.
    I don't know. I give up.

BM Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1726     BP:  110/55     Pulse:  63

    Nice BP. She's hydrating well today, in part because I got her out and walkered her. Although it was not appreciated, it bothered her back, her knees and the backs of her calves, it also stimulated her thirst.
    Normal lunch: 8 oz yoghurt; about 1/3 cup MCS's Bread & Butter pickles; 11.5 oz V-8 juice.     Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1745: Cleaner-outer volume; good consistency, left behind some slick tracks; very easy elimination; slightly messy clean-up but not bad.

Non-stat Dinner
    I didn't take stats before dinner. I can't remember why, but I do remember that we had a pretty unusual dinner. Just prior to dinner the last of three home made loaves of bread came out of the bread machine. The house smelled of freshly baked bread, we had two loaves that had endured the sweat box for a couple of hours and were at their peaks of flavor and texture. One was a rich, sweet egg dough loaf with pieces of dried Granny Smith apple and pecan swirled throughout. Mom said, "Those smell so good, why don't we just have fresh bread for dinner?"     So we did. It was toothsome.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1144     Reading:  102

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1209     BP:  133/63     Pulse:  54

    I'll be keeping an eye on her blood pressure. Otherwise, everything looks good. She slept exactly 12 hours and opened her eyes on her own.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1737     BP:  103/58     Pulse:  57

    No, she received no extra medication today. It came donw on it's own. She is, of course, "running a little dry", as one doctor put it a little over a year ago, but nothing unusual or dangerous.
    For lunch she's having 8 oz non-fat artificially sweetened yoghurt; 4 pimiento stuffed green olives; about 1/3 cup of MCS's Bread & Butter pickles. We're planning Cobb Salad for dinner.

BM Non-stat Dinner
    There were so many things going on around dinner, included animated conversation, that I forgot to take stats. Later this evening I realized that it's a good sign when I forget to take stats: Either Mom is feeling exceptionally good and we're so involved in our lives that her mere numbers are forgotten; or, conversely, she's traversing an episode of extremely bad health and I am being so solicitous in alleviating stress around her that I drop the numbers game and focus on leading her body where it seems to want to go.
    We changed our minds several times on what to have for dinner but finally settled on leftovers: A little of this and a little of that. Tonight I found leftover Mac & Cheese with all the added good stuff and leftover potato soup with all the added good stuff. She didn't eat very much but I think I know why. I think she was so full of shit that she simply wasn't interested in dumping anything else into her digestive tract.
    All day long she has been attempting to eliminate. This morning during her bath she thought she had to evacuate but left a tiny droplet of a turd. Same thing just before she napped. This evening at 2152 she finally let 'er rip and had a healthy Bowel Movement: Very good volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination (which was a surprise); very easy clean-up. I think she still has some up there to dump, but her day long discomfort subsided and although she'd been getting ready for an unusually early retirement, after the final Movement played she stayed up for almost an hour.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1006     Reading:  105

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1006     BP:  130/69     Pulse:  51

    We both seem a bit more aware than yesterday. I'll keep my eye on her blood pressure. We're back to a bacon, egg and toast breakfast, our normal venue.
    She was up of her own accord at the above time. I was pretty thrilled. She also awoke out of a strong memory phase regarding her uncle, his "boys" and who the woman was "taking care of his boys". I kind of figured her confusion and shock over me straightening her out might register as slightly elevated blood pressure. It did.

BM Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1448     BP:  132/65     Pulse:  55

    Can you believe it? We're having what would be considered a normal day!
    Because of her high systolic this morning I decided to take it again at lunch. I administered her "third" lisinopril at this time. She wanted just a "light" lunch: 11.5 oz V-8 juice, about 1/2 cup cottage cheese with lots of pepper and a banana.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1445: Fair volume; excellent consistency; easy elimination; very easy clean-up. At this point I should mention that she thought she needed to move her bowels at 1215 but sat on the toilet for an unsuccessful 15 minutes until she decided she must have been wrong.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1853     Reading:  118

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1853     BP:  129/54     Pulse:  53

    Ahhh...a fairly normal day, fairly normal hours, good humor, good stats, what more could I ask for? Although her systolic is higher than her normal reading, since she received a "third" lisinopril at lunch, I think, with a good leg rub this evening before bed, she'll be fine through the night without me checking her BP at bedtime.
    For dinner I took the dregs of the baked ham (the slices were separated into servings and frozen) and made ham & bean soup, adding chopped celery, onion and green pepper and a very liberal sprinkling of MPBIL's Southwestern Fire spice mix. I also grilled some whole wheat garlic/Parmesan bread as an accompaniment.

Today's Stat:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1259     BP:  123/61     Pulse:  60

    Today was pretty much a No Stat Day; a No Energy Day, too, for that matter. I checked her blood pressure this morning, as you can see, and was satisfied that she'd be fine without me checking anything else for the rest of the day.
    She had a Blueberry Crown sweet roll for breakfast along with ham (still) and eggs. I didn't have a sweet roll. It had already become obvious to me that my energy level was so low it surprised me, so I didn't want to eat anything that would slow me down further. At any rate, I figured, since her sweet tooth was screaming this morning (she actually said, before breakfast, "Do we have anything sweet around, like candy or something?" which is why I treated her to one of the last two sweet rolls in the freezer), since I was going to forget about stats today would be a good day to give in to her sweet tooth.

Non-stat Lunch
    Turned out ot be pretty much a lost day, so I'm glad that I decided not to do stats. She napped from about 1430 (soon after she ate breakfast) until about 1830. I didn't stop her from napping because, for some reason, I was exhausted and laid down at 1530, intended on taking a "short nap". I awoke, confused a slightly shamed, when I heard Mom close the bathroom door on her way to urinate after her nap.
    We both decided, considering, that she'd tide herself over with 11.5 oz. V-8 juice (neither she nor I were immediately hungry) and we'd eat some sort of scraped together dinner about 2000.

Non-stat Dinner
    I scraped together dinner about 2000: spicy hot buffalo wings, six apiece, and about a cup of cottage cheese with lots of pepper. She headed for bed about 2145. Again, I didn't stop her. I'm in a kind of exhausted funk.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1000     Reading:  89

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1022     BP:  129/62     Pulse:  57

    Although her systolic is a little high I'm not concerned. I shuffled her around "early" this morning so we could take care of the lab draw. She was Johnny on the Spot during the entire procedure and there was barely a moment when she was truly relaxed. When the lab technician drew blood I noticed the clock in the foyer: 1119. Good timing.
    Breakfast was a bit different this morning. Since we had baked ham last night, she had a hearty portion of ham with her egg and toast.

BM Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1616     BP:  114/55     Pulse:  62

    I was right not to worry about this morning's systolic reading. For lunch she's having, as I type, about 3/4's cup of cottage cheese; 6 pimiento stuffed green olives; 11.5 oz V-8 juice; one banana.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1550: Good volume; excellent consistency; easy elimination; very easy clean-up.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2134     Reading:  109

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2127     BP:  141/69     Pulse:  78

    I should have taken her blood pressure again before she retired. She probably could have used a third lisinopril last night. I intended to but we had yet another dinner fiasco involving scalloped potatoes, this time with ham and parmesan cheese. I guess I'll stop making them. Even though I was sure I'd corrected for altitude the dish took much longer to bake than I anticipated. It tasted good but looked unappetizing. Neither Mom nor I was able to eat much. I fixed her a ham sandwich, instead.
    At any rate, I rubbed her legs down last night and that, alone, relieved the swelling in her feet, which was of unusual volume but not extraordinarily so. Then we got involved in "watching" more of The Old Testament Christian Bible on DVD and before I knew it Mom was up, getting ready for bed, then asleep. Then I remembered about taking a bedtime blood pressure. I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll just keep an eye on her BP tomorrow.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1148     Reading:  105

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1211     BP:  114/57     Pulse:  59

    Everything looks good. I've cut her back to one piece of bread instead of what had become her usual two. Since we're back in the seasons of home made bread, though, it's a thick slice. I didn't mention anything and she said nothing, so I think we're fine.

Lunch

Blood Glucose:     Not taken

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1726     BP:  112/58     Pulse:  63

    Everything seems to be back to normal with her blood pressure. Tonight's BP reading will tell the tale.
    In the meantime, lunch: Very light, lighter than I've ever seen her eat. I think I know the reason. When she awoke I was baking a ham, the ham she's been wanting for weeks and weeks. I finally found a small enough one at Costco yesterday. The house smelled incredibly fragrant. She wanted ham for lunch but it wouldn't be done until dinner. That's all she wanted. I talked her into a banana and 11.5 oz V-8. She talked about the ham the entire time she put away the banana and the V-8.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2021     Reading:  99

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2017     BP:  108/59     Pulse:  55

    Right on the money. Excellent. I won't be taking her blood pressure tonight before bed.
    She got her ham tonight. With pickled beets (pickled without sugar) and the rest of the butterfly pasta salad with the rest of the peas from two nights ago and some chopped olives added.
    She ate like a ham demon, which is what she is.