Non-stat Day:

    Pretty good day. She went to the grocery with me, walked a fair amount before deciding to sit the rest of the trip out at the modified deli with a cup of coffee.
    Dinner was broiled rib eye steak with pickled (without sugar) beets, and we finished off the frozen, home made pumpkin-pecan pie an hour or so after dinner.
    She retired at 2345. Light went out at 12:45.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1021     Reading:  123

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1043     BP:  132/72     Pulse:  66

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1948     Reading:  117

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1945     BP:  117/55     Pulse:  59

    That's right, folks. My mother saw the morning this morning. I was expecting that I'd call her at 1000 and we'd be at the lab by 1100. It didn't quite work that way. As you can see, it took me 21 minutes to coax her arm into a position for me to take her blood glucose while she was still in bed. It took another 22 mintues to get her into the bathroom. When I take her blood pressure, now, I routinely take it in the bathroom after she's undressed, is sitting on the toilet and I've left her alone for a few minutes while I strip her bed, collect pills and do a few other things so that she's breathing evenly and is relaxed. I didn't do that, this morning. She had barely thrown her underwear away when I approached her with the blood pressure monitor. That, I think, is part of the reason why her BP is a little elevated. The other reason is that she was, once again, noticeably retaining water in her torso and face. That usually elevates her blood pressure, too, although, all in all, I'm satisfied with her morning reading. I did give her 10 mg furosemide at breakfast when we returned from having her blood drawn. We got to the lab, by the way, at 1145. Her blood was drawn at noon, straight up. That's for my reference, since this lab doesn't record draw times on the lab reports.
    Her dinner readings look good, too. She had a light lunch at about 1600, when she awoke from her short nap: olives and a few slices of sharp yellow Cheddar. For dinner I served chicken breasts marinated in that Lee & Perrins stuff. I was forced to buy a bottle of it when I picked up a two bottle package of Worchestershire sauce that last time I was there. It was included in the package. I'd never tried it and decided tonight might be a good time. It was good enough so that we'll probably use it again. Very light flavor. I also served my usual pea/onion/celery/olive/garlic/bacon/Greek-Italian dressing mixture. She ate everything tonight.
    She retired at 2350. Her light went out at 0005, 2/4/2006.

Combined Non-stat Days: 1/31 - 2/2/06

1/31/06
    Did I mention that my intention, for a few weeks, now, is to do stats every other day? Probably not because I haven't been successful at this strategy, but, since I'm back in the statting saddle, I thought I make a go of it. It seems that, when I take one set of stats in the morning, I have the urge to take the evening stats, whether or not I actually do this. Thus, if I want to cut back on statting it makes sense to me that I do stats every other day. Today was The Other Day.
    For some reason, I'm not sure why, it turned into a mild party day as far as meals were concerned. We resolved in the morning to watch GWB's 2006 State of the Union. I'm not sure that Mom remembered that it's a political address because as the day continued she became excited about it, as though we were planning on watching Hawaii or another one of the movies for which she has a particular fondness. When I announced at her abbreviated lunch that I was planning on sauerkraut and Polish sausage for dinner, maybe with pickled beets, she approved then said, "I'm not sure how hungry I'll be...I'm thinking it might be a good idea if we have popcorn during the show we're planning on watching tonight."
    Why not, I thought. So, we did.
After the State of the Union, to which Mom paid surprisingly acute attention, I mentioned that I'd better get dinner started.
    "I'm not all that hungry," she said, "but dessert sounds good. Anymore of that apple pie left?"
    Just enough for two pieces. So, that's what we had for dinner. Which is why I'm putting off having her blood drawn until Thursday. I'm sure the apple pie will still be celebrating in her blood stream tomorrow morning.

2/1/06: BM
   nbsp;Well, this non-stat day was planned, more or less, but we didn't make it to the lab and I don't think we'll be making it tomorrow. I am pre-dating this because both Mom and I were up into the very early hours of this morning: Mom retired at 0245 (light out immediately); I retired at 0330. I'm not sure why either of us had so much energy, but we did.
    Mom's dinner last night was sauerkraut and polish sausage with a glass of orange juice. She hadn't eaten much throughout the day after breakfast, which occurred early (she was up before noon, which was a surprise) so I figured she could use the glucose.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 2020: Fair volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.

2/2/06: BM
    I swear, with every day that I don't take stats, it's easier not to take stats the following day. That's probably good. I used to be so stat-focused that, in true nuclear science form, my observations skewed the results. Besides, she's doing good, stat wise. When she starts to slip I'm sure I'll be there with the instruments of torture lathering over numbers, again.
    Yesterday was an unusual up-and-down-and-up-and-down day. Mom's day actually started at 1100, much to my pleased to surprise. However, she was back in bed by 1300, almost immediately after breakfast. I couldn't even tempt her with episodes of Roseanne or a Planet of the Apes movie. I decided not to order her up: I could see tiny beds in her eyes, so I simply hurried up chores, made her bed up as she day-dreamed about it and loosed her to the arms of Morpheus. She slept until 1500. She remained awake until bedtime, though, at 2300. We did the full hair deal yesterday and she considered bedding herself again after that but I quickly hustled Murder She Wrote on one of the cable channels and that kept her up long enough for her to decide it was too late to nap.
    She didn't have any lunch, again, just coffee, which was fine. A very abbreviated dinner, as well. Although I made something she loves, potato soup with loads of vegetables and crumbled, fried, de-fatted bulk sage sausage, even added sun-dried tomatoes, she only ate about 2/3's of her serving. But, she's not starving, by any means, she gets plenty of supplements and I don't detect that her lack of appetite if from lack of interest, just lack of movement, I think.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 2010: Poor volume; very good consistency (so she's not dehydrated); very easy elimination; very easy clean-up. I think this one was the part of yesterday's that would have made it into "good" to "excellent" volume. I think she might be getting a little backed up again. Fortunately, I accidentally gave her 6 tsps (2 tbl) Benefiber at breakfast. Maybe I'll do that again tomorrow, just to see if she's got anything old shit left up there blocking the way.

Just a Few Notes in Review:

    Now that I'm caught up, I've decided that from now on I think I'll record the day's stats in one post (assuming that I don't have anything spectacular to report that can't wait). Seems to work better that way.
    I also doubt that I'll meticulously record her breakfasts and lunches, since those rarely change. You can assume, from now on, that breakfast is always some sort of breakfast meat, usually bacon but sometimes Canadian bacon, or ham, or sage bulk sausage or Polish sausage; and toast with margarine and cinnamon and O.J. I'll mention specific breakfasts if it seems warranted.
    As for lunches, I'll only record unusual lunches, as she usually has V-8 juice or coffee, cottage cheese or yoghurt or sliced cheese and either pickles or olives.
    Dinners, of course, are a different matter. I'll probably be doing some experimenting with this, as I'm noticing that her morning blood glucose has been running a bit high, lately. I'm going to wait, though, until she has her blood drawn on February 1st for an A1c and we get the results back on that.
    Over the last week or so she's refused lunch or had a very modified lunch: Maybe only V-8 juice, or maybe only cottage cheese, or maybe only olives. So far, though, I'm not concerned. If she's losing weight, it's weight she can afford to lose. As well, she hasn't been moving much, lately, so her lowered appetite is not a surprise.
    As far as sleep is concerned, over the last week or so we've pretty much kept it to 12 - 14 hours a day, including naps.
    So, that's it, folks. All caught up. I think I learned a lesson...it's hell to try to catch up after a month of not entering. I won't be doing that again soon, I don't think.

BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1152     Reading:  124

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1150     BP:  122/64     Pulse:  54

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1936     Reading:  99

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1934     BP:  110/53     Pulse:  55

    Dinner: Last of the Bean & Ham soup with cornbread.
    Bowel Movement occurred at 2100: Fair volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1227     Reading:  136

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1226     BP:  131/64     Pulse:  49

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2038     Reading:  89

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2037     BP:  121/53     Pulse:  63

    Dinner (only meal recorded): Some of that left-over frozen-then reheated chicken concoction with stuffing, vegetables and cream of chicken soup that I made a few nights ago.