BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1352     Reading:  127

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1350     BP:  124/61     Pulse:  53

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2047     Reading:  101

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2045     BP:  141/66     Pulse:  56

    She awoke on her own at 1330. Because of the last two days have been early and busy for her, I decided to let her define her own awakening time, especially since, when I went in at noon to awaken her after 12 hours of sleep she was sprawled in a position that indicated she was completely relaxed and she was snoring. I checked on her again at 1245 and she was still hard at the log sawing. I actually thought she'd sleep longer than she did.
    I heard her head into the bathroom but didn't bother her for a few minutes because I was a little behind schedule with setting up the rest of the house for bathing and breakfast. When I entered the bathroom 15 minutes later she had already had her Bowel Movement: Fairly good volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; fairly easy clean-up.
    Breakfast was normal. She wanted to go back to bed two hours after she awoke but I kept her up until 1700. When she arose at 1900 I'd been down for a hard nap for about an hour. I didn't hear her awaken and go to the bathroom. What I did hear was the knocking about of glass in the kitchen. When I struggled awake (I'm not sure why I felt so beaten, today) she was snacking on pickled asparagus spears, which is fine, using a fork to get them out of the jar, which was extraordinary and appreciated. I thanked her for this. She decided asparagus spears was enough for her lunch (along with the second iron capsule I slipped her.)
    We ate dinner at about 2115: The left over chili (her request; earlier she'd requested Mac & Cheese but changed her mind) and cornbread.
    Although she was complaining of stiffness, which meant her level of stiffness was unusual for her, she refused the adult buffered aspirin I offered her before bed, also typicaly for her, and I didn't push. "All I need is to lay down and relax," she said. I trust her self-evaluations on this issue.
    She retired at 2300. Light out at 2315.
    As I make this last entry, it is 0133. Unable to sleep, my mother emerged from her bedroom at midnight straight up. We talked and she watched TV until 0125. Her light is on as I write. I'll report, later, when it goes out.
    Her light went off just now at 0145, 5/12/06.
    In case you wonder why I try to record as regularly as possible what time she arises, what time she retires and how much sleep she gets, my mother's medical profile is not unusual for oldsters her age, although my success at treating her infirmities is. Despite my ability to keep her chronic conditions light, there are still aspects of her conditions I am helpless against, one of those being her need and desire for sleep (which reminds me to post a reminder here to myself to write about what I discovered about the intractability of her sleep habits over the last few days). My hope is that within my meticulous recording of the seemingly inconsequential details of my mother's old age, including her sleep habits, other caregivers to Ancient Ones will find confirmation of their own experiences and use this confirmation to relax about their abilities to care for someone who's health profile in old age is much like my mother's.