Half Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1522     Reading:  115

Blood Pressure:     Not taken

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2131     Reading:  225

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Not taken

    Over at The Mom & Me Journals dot Net for this date I reviewed the first part of her extremely strange day: Up at 1045, glass of OJ (1/3 OJ, 2/3's water), decided to go back to bed at noon. I realized it was going to be a sleep day and was going to let her go on her own, but decided at 1500 to awaken her. I thought she was "making" to rouse a little after 1400, but no such luck. At any rate, sometime around 1600 I was feeding her a full regular breakfast. She felt good, as though she'd "got her sleep out".
    She stayed up from then on...until 0230 6/18/06, finishing off the night by watching three William Powell/Myrna Loy movies on TCM. After retiring, her light was on until 0300. What an interesting day!
    Anyway, breakfast included a Costco lemon Danish, the evidence of which you can see swimming in her blood stream six hours later just before I fed her the second of the two meals she ate yesterday; at her request, a Marie Callendar's beef pot pie. Although she didn't have a lunch, per se, I managed to get all her medication in, including her three iron pills. For dinner I served her a Marie Callender's beef pot pie, much to her delight.
    I can't remember why I didn't take her BP. I think it was to keep from irritating her.

BM BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1319     Reading:  158

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1332     BP:  135/74     Pulse:  57

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2005     Reading:  129

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2008     BP:  135/62     Pulse:  59

    She actually awoke at 1300 but we chatted for a good 15 minutes while she considered what would be involved in getting up.
    Normal breakfast, all the way around.
    Normal lunch: V-8 juice and peanuts.
    Dinner was broiled rib eye steaks and frozen peas with bits of bacon and sauteed onion, celery, garlic and green olives nuked with some Greek/Italian dressing.
    Her Bowel Movements. Here's where it gets weird. It's beginning to look like she was so full of rock shit that it took a couple of days for the laxative and all the extra fiber to bomb through the brick. Her first movement occurred at 1325 while she was in the bathroom awaiting her bathing: Fair volume; slick consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up. From that point on she felt like she had to eliminate the whole day...so much so that she was afraid to do a walkering. She was afraid she'd shit in her pants. That was fine. Her next Bowel Movement, though, didn't occur until 2225: Better than excellent volume; not exactly loose but more like slush balls, which confirmed my theory that the laxative and the fiber had to soften tons of rock shit; very easy elimination, although it lasted a long time and involved two separate strong movements; clean-up was amazing. She'd begun eliminating the first batch before she got into the bathroom. Luckily, we were in the middle of cleaning her from the first batch when she said, "Uh, oh," quickly replaced herself on the toilet and delivered the second batch. This time she insisted on being allowed to "sit here for awhile." It did, indeed, take awhile for a complete clean-out. The entire episode lasted until 2300 and included two separate cleanings.
    When she was done, although she'd insisted, at first, that she didn't want to go to bed, yet, she wanted to watch a couple of episodes of I, Claudius, which we'd started earlier in the day, she decided to go straight to bed. She didn't even want to have her legs rubbed down. I was going to insist, maybe in the bedroom, but whe she said, "I feel like I've had a plumbing snake run through me," I decided to honor her wishes.
    No wonder. I want to mention, as well, after it was all over and I was steadying her for her final rise from the toilet, she said, "I'm sure glad you were here with me. I'd been up all night on my knees cleaning this up if you hadn't been."
    Truth be told, it wasn't that messy, but, considering her age and all related factors, she's right, she would have tried to clean it up and would have been there all night, on her knees, which would not have been good for either her knees or her back.
    I appreciated her gratitude. I said, "I'm glad I was here, too, Mom. You don't need to be doing this for yourself anymore. That's why I'm here."
    She laughed. "Well, you can stay, then!"
    I laughed. "My exact intention!"
    So, anyway, I don't think I gave her too much laxative or fiber. I think, over the last few days, she's needed that much to get herself cleaned out. I do think, though, since it was the last Tbl of Benefiber that triggered the last bowel episode, that I may have been premature in deciding to give her an extra Tbl of Benefiber every night. I think I'll cut it back to 1 extra tsp, now, and see how that works. We'll try it for a few days before I add this to the Current Meds & Supplement schedule.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1330     Reading:  142

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1418     BP:  122/63     Pulse:  59

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2100     Reading:  177

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2057     BP:  137/60     Pulse:  54

    I know why her BG was high this morning: The Mac & Cheese from last night. It always does that. I have no idea why it was so high this evening. Today even included yet another walkering stint on the driveway.
    I did substitute polish sausage for bacon, but that normally doesn't do it. We did finish off the spice cake instead of having toast, but it was a small piece and we haven't had that reaction before. No lunch, as well, not even peanuts. She wasn't interested. Who knows. The vagaries of blood sugar, I guess.
    For dinner we had roast chicken with Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice (original recipe) with added chopped green olives, very lightly steamed broccoli and home made Hollandaise.
    No bowel movement. I mention this because I was expecting a small end to yesterday's excellent clean-out movement. Although I mentioned I was going to start giving her another tablespoon of Benefiber in her evening liquid, I didn't actually remember to start that until tonight. We'll see how this works, from the point of view of keeping colon from being challenged by rock-shit.
    She mentioned she was feeling a little achey in the hips; from the walkering, even though it wasn't much, I'm sure. She refused any analgesics, though.
    She retired at 2345. Her light went out at 0015, 6/16/06.

BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1457     Reading:  121

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1505     BP:  111/61     Pulse:  69

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2135     Reading:  120

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2132     BP:  144/66     Pulse:  67

    I actually awoke Mom at 1430. The journey there is recorded over at The Mom & Me Journals dot Net for this date. No biggie, though.
    Breakfast substituted a piece of spice cake for her usual toast; probably will tomorrow, too, since it didn't seem to affect her BG all that much, surprisingly. That's finish off the spice cake then I'll have to either make or buy more bread.
    Although she had a "short" day, she was terribly hungry after a short nap (less than an hour), but I didn't want to hit her with dinner, yet, so she chowed down on peanuts, two 1 oz packages. These didn't bother her BG much, either, which continues to surprise me. I'm also pleased about his, since peanuts are good for her.
    I did ger her out on the driveway after her breakfast and she did well, a one lap wonder. I'm going to try to incorporate more walkering into her schedule.
    Dinner was the usual Mac & Cheese, loaded with meat, extra cheese and veggies, including sun dried tomatoes.
    No medication additions, no medication misses.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 2320: Relievingly (forgive the pun) healthy, since I'd loaded her with a laxative and fiber, excellent volume; slightly soft consistency but not loose; very easy elimination, no straining and no blood; slightly challenging clean-up, but who cares, since I think she cleaned herself out.
    She retired at 2345 but her light didn't go out until 0055, 6/15/06. She's started a book purported to be the "autobiography" of Santa Claus. I guess it's pretty good; kept her up for awhile reading.

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.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1504     Reading:  145

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1525     BP:  117/63     Pulse:  61

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2152     Reading:  151

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2134     BP:  133/62     Pulse:  57

    Today was the day following Mom's and my After Midnight Madness night. Thus, I let her sleep in until 1500, it was a short day for her because an early awakening follows tomorrow for Blood Draw Day. I managed to get in all her meds, though, surprisingly, even though she had only two legitimate meals.
    I was actually surprised that her blood sugar in the morning wasn't higher, since we'd had that piece of spice cake around 0400. I also wasn't surprised that her evening BG was high, since she also had a (requested, she may forget everything else but she never forgets sweet things) piece of spice cake instead of toast for breakfast. I had expected it, as well, to be higher.
    Lunch was merely a cup of coffee and her second iron capsule. That's all she wanted.
    For dinner I had a hankering for a tuna fish sandwich on sourdough, so that's what I made. The tuna mixture was loaded with diced yellow onion and celery, dill pickle relish, well seasoned with celery salt, a McCormick company salad seasoning, Herbes de Provence (the Penzey's company mixture) and onion powder, lightly glued together with mayonnaise, served on a bed of greens between two slices of sourdough bread.     She retired at 0015, 6/13/06. Her light went off at 0030.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1404     Reading:  104

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1423     BP:  124/65     Pulse:  59

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2049     Reading:  117

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2045     BP:  130/63     Pulse:  51

    Normal breakfast. No lunch, although I spent most of the afternoon making a spice cake and a chili based seafood sauce for dinner tonight. Mom supervised, thus, throughout the afternoon she also ate the odd walnut and dried cherry and helped me taste test the seafood salt using tortilla chips several times. Thus, her evening BG is a nice surprise.
    Dinner was shrimp cocktail on a bed of greens with the superlative seafood sauce I created; she probably had about 20 medium boiled-then-cooled shrimp. Immediately after I served dessert: spice cake with walnuts and dried cherries, sprinkled with rum, topped with freshly whipped cream lightly sweetened with powdered sugar and flavored with dark rum.
    She retired at 0030, 6/12/06. Her light went out at 0100.