Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1147     Reading:  124	Blood Pressure:     Time:  1156     BP:  176/80     Pulse:  64
	Blood Pressure:     Time:  1206     BP:  162/75     Pulse:  55

    I think it's obvious why I took her BP twice this morning. Wow! I also noticed that her right foot was a little pudgy, she flushed very little last night although she did leak through and her belly was mildly bloated. I'm wondering if this is just a blip or if we're getting to the place where I need to keep an eye on her sodium. She had a very high sodium dinner last night.
    This morning she did get extra medication: I gave her an extra 5 mg lisinopril and 20 mg furosemide.
    Although she awoke on her own a little less than 12 hours after her light went out last night.
    She was phasing when she awoke, as well, which could mean anything...maybe a mini-stroke, although no other symptoms were evident; maybe just a hard sleeping night, who knows? Her phasing took the form of asking me, when I entered her room, if "[MPS] went with me." I'd just returned from a multi-visit supply run to four different stores. She was convinced that MPS was visiting. As her "morning" continued she continued to drag. The extra lisinopril didn't help. She's already down for a nap.
    Just before she settled herself under the covers she asked me how long I went to school in Mechanicsville.
    "I didn't go to school in Mechanicsville, Mom. I've never been to Iowa. I wasn't even a gleam in your eye when you were there."
    She looked confused but recovered quickly. "Really! Well, I'll have to take you there next week."
    I guess we're in Iowa today. "Okay. I'd like to see the area where you grew up in high school."
    "Don't forget college. I'll bet you'd like to see the school, again."
    "I didn't go to college there, either, Mom. How could I have? I've never been to Iowa."
    "Poor girl," she joked, "You just weren't raised right."
    I laughed. "Well, I guess you'd know, since you raised me."
    She looked confused.
    "I'm one of your four daughter's Mom."
    Her face went through one of those quick changes that indicates she's trying to get her mental footing but not sure where the ground is, since she thought she was on solid ground. In a moment she turned coy. "Oh," she mugged, "that's who you are! I must make a note of that!"
    I smiled and curtsied. I didn't bother checking to see if she remembered which daughter I am. I'm The One Who's Always Here. That's all she needs to remember.
    She'll probably sleep for awhile since it's going to be a reorienting sleep, both mentally and physically.

Non-stat Lunch
    Mom didn't sleep as long as I expected. She was up before 1700. She wasn't hungry. I counted off the hours since she had breakfast and decided, that's fine, I'll hydrate her and we'll have dinner later. She was feeling good and had begun to shed water prodigiously, though. I'm anxious to see what her BP is like before dinner.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1927     Reading:  69	Blood Pressure:     Time:  1721     BP:  148/60     Pulse:  59
	Blood Pressure:     Time:  1726     BP:  147/70     Pulse:  62

    Oops on the BG. I let it get a little low; not too low but it was headed there. I've got to remember that when she refuses lunch. Once again you'll notice I took two BP readings. I thought it would be lower by now but these readings reminded me that she awoke late and moved slow this morning, so she didn't get her pills until about 1230.
    I've begun the lower sodium regime. We always eat really well when I do this, and, anyway, lately, because I've been so busy, I've been relying on quick fixes for dinner that are usually high in sodium. Tonight I grilled salmon filets with herb (no salt) butter, some fresh, some dried, smothered, after grilling with fresh lemon juice. For our vegetable I nuked fresh peas with Bermuda onion (not sauteed) and some commercial bacon bits that came with brocolli slaw and seasoned with my Greek/Italian blend dressing. We won't be using the bacon bits again. They had were defatted and low sodium had had no flavor. We may as well have not had them.
    I was going to do some baking tonight but decided to hold off until tomorrow. I didn't want to tempt her with anything that might interfere with flushing.
    As far as hydration is concerned, I'm keeping liquids in front of her, which she tends to automatically sip, but I'm not applying water torture, yet. The furosemide, while it's working, is working slowly.
    No extra medication at dinner. I'll just let the furosemide do it's thing and we'll see how she is in the morning.
    She insisted on going to bed early tonight. She was in bed reading by 2145; her light just went off as I'm finishing and timing this post.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1339     Reading:  114

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1328     BP:  135/62     Pulse:  55

    Mom had yet another "worried" night: She was up and down several times going to the bathroom, even though I don't think she was flushing any faster than usual. I think, again, she was concerned about me and my knee. Curiously, my knee was feeling so much better by yesterday evening that I remained awake until 0400 this morning, doing a variety of computer and house maintenance tasks that don't get done regularly (but probably should). Thus, I saw her padding back and forth between bedroom and bathroom a number of times so high that I asked her, during her 0330 run, if anything was wrong. It gave me a chance to look her over, too. She didn't consider that anything was wrong. Neither did I, from what I observed, so I think she was just sleeping very lightly. After I retired at 0400 she was up twice more that I was aware of.
    Thus, I let her sleep in until 1300. When I slipped into her bedroom she was rousing herself into a sitting position.
    Her systolic is a little high for her, but I didn't increase her lisinopril. Breakfast was normal.

Lunch
    Because she ate breakfast so late, even though she took a minor nap, maybe 45 minutes if that, she was hungry for lunch so I just gave her coffee.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1530: Good volume; good consistency; very easy elimination; slightly messy clean-up.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1939     Reading:  115

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1937     BP:  116/59     Pulse:  55

    Dinner was earlier than usual because she didn't want any lunch. I'm pleased with her stats.
    For dinner she had Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie soup with lots of added veggies: Chopped carrots, celery, green and yellow onion. Also added a combination of curry powders equal to 2 teaspoons. I also made her a grilled sharp yellow cheddar cheese sandwich on sourdough bread. She was hungry and ate quickly and heartily.
    She stayed up until 2300. She spent a long time reading in bed, tonight. Her light went out at 2345.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1140     Reading:  127

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1157     BP:  146/71     Pulse:  58

    Breakfast was normal. I'm not sure what caused the jump in her fasting blood glucose.
    I do know, though, why her BP was high this morning: I "did something" (not sure what) to my right hip night before last and it's been causing a problem with my knee. I'm fine as long as I'm standing up, but when I standing up or sitting down is painful for the outside of my knee. Going up and down stairs causes me to wince. Yesterday was my worst day and Mom winced along with me every time I winced. She was extremely concerned, this morning, how my knee was, especially since I had a very restless night and ended up sleeping on the couch because I couldn't get comfortable in my bed. My ups and downs kept Mom on edge all night. She was aware of each of my trials at settling into a comfortable position for sleep. Thus, she was also up a lot, peeing and having her underwear changed throughout the night and her bed was dry this morning, so her bath was abbreviated, much to her (tired) delight.
    Despite the fact that I knew the cause of her high blood pressure, I gave her an extra 5 mg lisinopril at breakfast this morning, especially since it looks like it's going to be another day or two, I think, before my leg is normal, again. As a result, although I'm very mobile, my mother is watching me like a hawk and continues to wince when I wince.
    It's a toss up, determining whose night was more exhausting, hers or mine. She napping now. I expect her to be down for awhile.

Non-stat Lunch
    She was awake from her nap and eating lunch before 1700 again today.
    Yoghurt, today, with wheat germ; 11.5 oz V-8 juice; green pimiento stuffed olives, the tiny ones, so she shook several out of the jar, not sure how many, and ate them all.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1854     Reading:  113

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1849     BP:  146/79     Pulse:  66

    Although I took her stats close to 1900, we didn't actually eat until between 1930 and 2000. I'm not sure if her high BP is a result of her worrying about me and my knee. I doubled her dosage of lisinopril for dinner, giving her a total of 10 mg.
    We had a curious concoction that I made up as I went along for dinner: I thawed some of the leftovers from a pork roast we had a couple of months ago, mixed it with a specialty pork taco seasoning, added sauteed onions, both yellow and green, and just before I served it added sour cream. I served it over a very small mashed baked potato. It smelled wonderful and the first few bites were savory for each of us. There was something about it, though, that stuff in both of our craws. We both ate only about half of what we had on our plate. We both agreed that we were "full" at that point.

Today's Stats:

BM Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1224     Reading:  93

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1240     BP:  129/67     Pulse:  54

    Mom was actually up at noon. It just took a little while and a lot of conversation to move her toward bathing. She awoke full of a dream about her dream home that we both felt the need to and wanted the pleasure of discussing.
    I'm happy with her BG. I'm reserving judgment on her BP.
    Breakfast was her egg scrambled into bulk sage sausage and some marmalade on her toast. No extra meds.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1230 just before bathing: Very good volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.

Lunch
    Normal lunch once again, around 1640: cottage cheese, V-8 juice and MCS;s Bread & Butter pickles.

BM Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2008     Reading:  117

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2005     BP:  133/64     Pulse:  66

    We had a dinner salad (a minor version of Cobb Salad, without the meat and egg) and the rest of the sauerkraut and kielbasa from last night.
    I decided to up her lisinopril dosage by 2.5 mg (one tablet). Otherwise, no changes in medication.
    At about 2100 Mom headed into the bathroom with what she called "gas". She actually had a minor Bowel Movement which felt, to her, like major gas expellation: Poor volume but fine as a follow-up to her earlier movement today; loose consistency but not diarrheaic; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up. I think this movement was caused by the extremely high fiber dinner. Undigested sauerkraut was distinguishable in her movement, the last hurrah, so to speak. I was pleased about it.
    She was up until 2345. Her light went out a little after midnight.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1232     Reading:  89

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1231     BP:  133/58     Pulse:  57

    Now, that BG is what I like to see in the morning after a twelve hour sleep and a few hours without food before sleep. Once again, I note the high (for her) systolic, but it's not as bad as yesterday so I decided not to double up on her lisinopril and see what happens. She reported to me upon awakening (at noon, straight up, as I walked in the door from errands) that she continues to feel "a little coldish" but "much better than yesterday". Her nose and eyes aren't constantly running today, either, and her to-the-touch skin temperature is cooler than yesterday. Although her I took her temple arterial temperature yesterday in the afternoon when she seemed unusually warm to me and it was only 100.2°F, which is fine, I'll bet if I were to take it today she'd be down in the 99's to 98's, which is her normal running temperature. She doesn't want to do much, but I'm fine with that.
    I had intended to awaken her a bit after 1100, assuming that I'd be back from "wandering", as my mother calls it, by 1100 or sooner. At Best Buy I caught myself up in an interesting converstation with a man who had brain surgery about a year ago...then, the cable which I intended to purchase and had called ahead to locate wasn't on the racks, which I determined after laboriously looking for it sans floor help and having to wait for customer service to get to me then look for the cable "in back". By that time I knew I was going to blow buy 1100, since I still had some staples to pick up at Costco that I forgot last trip. So, I decided, what the hell, I jam a few more errands onto the list: picking up a couple of computer books at one store and checking another to see if they'd replenished their supply of a particular ornament I wanted to buy for Christmas presents (yes, I'm sending out Christmas boxes this year). They had.
    When I arrived home at noon I dashed into Mom's bedroom before unloading the car and she was sitting on the edge of her bed with glasses on, blinking at the light coming from her window. I apologized to her for being so late, since I'd told her last night of my errands and she'd asked that I awaken her "at 1100" when I intended to arrive home.
    "I probably wouldn't have gotten up then, anyway," she said. "I was awfully tired this morning."
    For breakfast she had bulk sage sausage and eggs. As she ambled through the kitchen to settle in the living room for breakfast (we watched a movie starting at breakfast, one she's wanted to see since it's been advertised on TV, March of the Penguins; I picked it up at Costco today) she noticed the Robertson's Marmalade I'd accidentally left on the counter yesterday and decided today would be a good day to have some on her toast. "I feel like something sweet," she said. She got it.
    No medication changes this morning. She's napping, now. I'm not sure when she'll be up. "Let me sleep," she said when she laid down, "I'm still tired," which means, "Don't wake me up even if you get nervous." I'll try to honor her wishes.

Non-stat Lunch
    Not a big deal. She awoke around 1700 feeling refreshed (instead of stuffed up) after napping for about an hour. Good. Lunch was back to normal: About 3/4's cup cottage cheese, about 1/2 cup MCS's Bread & Butter pickles and 11.5 oz V-8 juice.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1953     Reading:  111

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1951     BP:  112/65     Pulse:  72

    Now, that's what I like to see. Her pulse rate was a little high, I'm not sure why, but that is a variable I don't yet understand.
    No extra pills or supplements.
    For dinner she had sauerkraut and polish sausage, one of her favorite entrees and a slice of roasted garlic artisan bread grilled with garlic butter and fresh grated Parmesan. She was a happy camper.
    She retired around 2330. Her light went out at 2345.

Today's Stats:

BM Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1123     Reading:  116

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1147     BP:  140/66     Pulse:  55

    There we go, that's where I like to see her blood glucose in the morning, or a bit lower. Good. We'll see how it reads over the next few days.
    I want to note that she awoke of her own accord at about 1115. Surprised me because she hadn't quite gotten in her normal 12 hours night-sleep.
    Breakfast was normal.
    I was a little surprised at her high systolic, since the furosemide obviously continued working last night. Her bedding and her body were soaked. Since I was positive the spike wasn't irritation from me getting her up or rounding her into movement before she wanted to move, I took her BP twice with a couple of minutes between readings while she relaxed in the very warm bathroom on the toilet. The two readings were within two points of each other. The above reading is the lower of the two. I decided to give her an extra 5 mg lisinopril with breakfast.
    Her nose and eyes were running a lot this morning. No fever, though. She complained of feeling as though she had a cold and spent a lot of time trying to clear her throat. Could be she's got one coming on, although she might also still be reacting the the furosemide and the low that swept through here yesterday.
    She's in napping as I write. It's been a long nap today. She went in, by surprise, at about 1400. I'm going to awaken her at 1700, just because she needs some fluids. I'm going to try to keep her up for awhile tonight.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1330: Fair volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; easy clean-up.

Lunch
    As it turned out, Mom had a long nap, today: two and a half hours. I let her sleep. Aside from having her lisinopril dosage doubled this morning (I usually wait until evening to up it, if necessary, because the added medicine makes her drowsy), her body is definitely fighting off a mild cold...nothing to worry about; just a runny nose and runny eyes and a dragged out feeling. She laid down at 1430. I finally awoke her at 1700.
    Thus, I served her a hearty lunch: Starting with a base of Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie soup, I added chicken (quite a bit) and lots of chopped green onions, celery, carrots and green peppers, then spiced it with a teaspoon each of Maharajah curry powder and Hot curry powder. While she napped I did some shopping for extra baking ingredients and finally found Robertson's Scotch and Thick Cut Marmalades at a store here. I wanted Mom to try them to see what she thought about using them in baking so I toasted a piece of home made 100% whole wheat bread, slathered it with real butter (I had some out and soft from baking) and spread each piece with one of the marmalades. She likes the Thick Cut better than the Scotch but considers them both superior.
    She was, by the way, feeling much better, although low energy, all evening.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  2010     Reading:  144

Blood Pressure:     Time:  2008     BP:  122/55     Pulse:  61

    Supper was late and light tonight because of our luscious lunch. I expected her blood glucose to be higher than usual at supper. I also expected it to be lower than the marmalade she had at lunch would normally boost it because curry powder seems to lower her blood sugar. I was right on both counts. Good reading, everything considered.
    Her blood pressure was back down, too. There was minor irritation during the reading, as she settled herself in front of a Christmas movie, The Christmas Box, that she wanted to see and me taking her blood pressure was a bother so I couldn't get her to completely relax her arm and she snipped at me while I took it. I was good...I didn't snip back.
    At about 2015 I served her a 3.5 oz bag of microwave popcorn with extra butter (she "blessed" me for this) and 11.5 oz V-8 juice.
    Because the furosemide was continuing to pull fluid off her, when she was up I plied her with tea and coffee all day and evening. When she retired (2315; light out at 2340 after four episodes of M*A*S*H) she was nicely hydrated but not overly so. No swelling anywhere.

Today's Stats:

Breakfast

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1153     Reading:  134

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1139     BP:  130/67     Pulse:  68

    Normal breakfast. A little high on both stats but I'm relieved that, after the piece of pecan pie last night, her blood glucose is in the same area as it's been recently, even though her relatively high fasting readings continue to cause me concern.
    She was actually up a little before 1130 and eating at noon...I forgot to take her blood glucose until just before I put her plate in front of her. As well, she had awakened much earlier, around 0700, to pee. She hadn't yet leaked through her underwear, so I quick changed it out. As a result she only needed to take a half bath this morning (lower torso, upper legs) and I didn't have to wash her bedding. Hallelujah!

Non-stat Lunch
    Very short nap today, about a half hour. She hasn't been particularly hungry but I rarely worry about this, it happens so infrequently. I had to beg to get her to drink 11.5 oz V-8 juice for lunch. She didn't want it, but the furosemide was still working on her and she not only needed the liquid but the sodium and potassium. This was about 1630.

Dinner

Blood Glucose:     Time:  1921     Reading:  90

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1920     BP:  124/63     Pulse:  57

    In order to tempt her appetite I decided a simmered dinner was in order. I decided to mix a quick, savory chili using a can of Mom's favorite generic hot chili with beans, added about 6 oz browned ground beef, a quarter of a Bermuda onion and a green bell pepper, sauteed, about 12 oz medium hot chipotle salsa and about a tablespoon of MPBIL's Southwestern Fire seasoning. Although technically it didn't need to simmer, the aroma wafted through the house through the early evening and did the trick. At 1915 she announced she was ready for dinner. I had planned on making cornbread but we were out of corn meal. No matter. There was plenty of chili and we split the entire load.
    I set her up in front of Little Women for the evening. She enjoyed it and we paused it and chatted about the detail of life "back then" several times. She finally retired at 2330. Her light went out at 2345.