BM Three Quarter Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  0951     Reading:  143

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Not taken

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2005     Reading:  104

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2001     BP:  125/61     Pulse:  58

    Today's early arising was due to Blood Draw Day. As I promised Mom, we went out to breakfast afterward. She had a blueberry buckwheat waffle with pure maple syrup and a sausage patty with coffee.
    Needless to say, today also involved a bit more movement than usual...in, out and around the lab, then in, out and around the restaurant. This exhausted her. We arrived home at 1300. Within an hour Mom was down for a nap. Her knee was "a little iffy", although her back didn't hurt, but I could tell by the way she was moving that all that movement had exhausted her, aside from which she had a short night (for her), so I let her sleep as long as she wanted. Turns out, she slept until 1700.
    She had a normal lunch: Peanuts and V-8 juice.
    Because of the waffle and maple syrup, this morning, I was expecting her BG to be pretty high. You'll notice it was normal. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was that the waffle was buckwheat, which is rumored to lower blood sugar. Maybe it was because she didn't have orange juice this morning, although she refused it when I suggested it at the restaurant (syrups and such, she reminded me, turns "perfectly good orange juice sour", which is true). Maybe, because she moves so little anyway, the little-more movement helped. Maybe it was a combination of everything. At any rate, I was pleased. I'm going to see if I can gently "insist" that we do one round of walkering per day, either on the driveway or on an errand. We'll see how that goes.
    She asked for "a real breakfast" for dinner, by which she meant her normal breakfast. I gave her an extra slice of bacon...and offered her the orange juice she refused this morning. She refused it again.
    As of this writing, 2139, to be exact, she's watching her nightly M*A*S*H run, perfectly alert (for her) and perfectly happy. I imagine she'll probably retire earlier than usual, but you never know. We'll see. I'll report back later on that.
    Much to my surprise, Mom stayed up much later than I expected. She made to go to bed at 2200, when her daily M*A*S*H run was finished. I wasn't sure, though, if she was tired, so I suggested a movie. She agreed.
    At 2205 we began preparations for the movie. I hassled her to guzzle what was left of her coffee, a half cup, reminding her that she was way behind on fluids today. I also told her I was going to prepare yet another cup for her. Good thing, too.
    I ushered her into the bathroom at 2215, little over her usual every-two-hours visit. At 2220 she had today's Bowel Movement: Fair volume; rock-shit consistency; strained delivery, including a little fresh blood, probably from a hemorroid (which I hadn't known she has, but, all things considered, it wouldn't surprise me) or the breakage of small blood vessels just inside her anus from obvious straining; very easy clean-up. I was a little surprised at the blood, but didn't freak. I learned, about four years ago, when her anemia was discovered and the doctors were sure she was bleeding internally, that fresh blood in a stool is nothing to worry about, unless, of course, it's a copious amount, then there are either hemorroids or major tears at the anus that need prompt attention. A little here and there, though, while it may be from an active hemorroid, is also from straining and friction involved in eliminating large rocks of hard-packed shit. Of course, I'll keep an eye on her movements, but I'm sure either (or both) of these was the cause. Mom wasn't freaked, either. I imagine some old information from raising kids or taking care of my father in his last years probably kicked in, although she didn't mention anything.
    At this point, I decided the following:

• She definitely needed more fluid "today", so I told her I was going to harass her to drink a full cup of coffee (her cups equal about 12 - 14 oz of coffee).
• I thought she could use some extra fiber immediately, so I suggested popcorn during the movie. She ecstatically agreed.
• I decided to also give her a 2 Tbl dose of Phillip's Milk of Magnesia, to help soften what remains in her colon for easier elimination, hopefully tomorrow.
• Starting tomorrow, in order to avoid frequent doses of laxative, I'm going to add yet a third Tbl of Benefiber to her diet, given to her in her evening liquid. I also told her of this.
  Her response was, "Well, it's probably necessary."
• I'll keep her fluid at about 2200 cc's per day, but will be much stricter about enforcing her ingestion of at least this amount. Although I can't swear to it, I think I may have been a bit lax over the last few days with fluids. I resolved, this evening, to be much more vigilant "every day for the rest of your life, Mom, unless something happens to you that precludes you receiving at least 2200 cc's of fluid."
  "Well, how much is that?" she asked.
  "A little over 2 quarts, Mom."
  "Well," she admitted, "that sounds reasonable."
  Of course, I'll still need to struggle and keep after her, but, you know, this is routine, now.

    Anyway, we enjoyed a movie from our collection, Mona Lisa Smile, on which we can always count to entrance us. The movie ended, including credits (it's one of those movies where you watch the credits) at sometime after midnight. She retired at 0045, 6/14/06. Her light went out at 0105.