BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1208     Reading:  153

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1230     BP:  139/56     Pulse:  60

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2100     Reading:  105

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2042     BP:  178/81     Pulse:  62

    Breakfast: Normal, except without her usual diluted O.J.; detox tea and coffee, instead.
    Lunch: V-8 juice with 1 tsp curry powder.
    Dinner: Cobb Salad; instead of cheese, I served some slices of formaggio made with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and cappacolo.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at about 1400: Very good volume; slightly smeary consistency; very easy elimination; somewhat challenging clean-up.
    She retired at 2350. Lights out at 0010, 9/3/06.

Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1313     Reading:  144

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1341     BP:  146/65     Pulse:  57

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2039     Reading:  143

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2048     BP:  145/68     Pulse:  58

    Breakfast: Normal.
    Lunch: V-8 juice with 1 tsp sweet curry powder.
    Dinner: 1 roasted chicken leg and thigh and about 3/4 cup of home made stuffing with lots of vegetables including chopped onion, celery, red bell pepper, fresh garlic and Shiitake mushrooms.
    Retired at 2335. Lights out at 0000, 9/2/06.

BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1002     Reading:  116

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1037     BP:  143/68     Pulse:  59

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1817     Reading:  113

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1821     BP:  153/72     Pulse:  59

    Seems like my mother's body is returning, slowly to normal, from whatever challenge it was facing. Her BG this morning surprised me, considering that her dinner last night was Just Desserts. I expected it to be somewhat higher.
    Breakfast was blessedly normal. Notice when she arose, by the way. That was her doing. Bathing and breakfast, both, were done before noon.
    No lunch, though. Although she seemed good to go this morning, she tired early. She laid down for a nap at 1300 and didn't arise until 1700. I allowed this. She was sleeping hard and I figured she need to recuperate from yesterday. When she arose she wasn't interested in food, only coffee. I noticed, too, that she slept so hard and her body recuperated so completely that she had a minor urine shed. As well, although it was cool and rainy all day, upon awakening I noticed she had sweated just before awakening. I touched her forehead. Cool as a cucumber. She may, though, have run a bit of a fever while sleeping.
    When she finally mentioned she was "beginning to get hungry" around 1800, she repeated that she was "really hungry". Since it has been that kind of day, I suggested some of that luscious bean & ham soup I made last week, and that we finish off the exotic fruit we had: kiwi fruit, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, mango and strawberries. Perfect dinner, she agreed.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 2315: Very good volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.
    She retired at 2345. As of the time I am closing this off, 0015, 9/1/06, and she is still reading in bed. I'll report back when her light goes off. Light off at 0018.

BM Three Quarter Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  0639     Reading:  112

Blood Pressure:     Not taken

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1939     Reading:  203

Blood Pressure:     Time:  1935     BP:  137/71     Pulse:  76

    I was thrilled to see her BG reading this morning. Even though a high BG wouldn't have changed that I had decided to allow her whatever she wanted to eat at lunch, and probably pie for dinner, today, I was glad she got a good, low start.
    I didn't have time to fix bacon, so I served Kielbasa with her eggs and toast this morning. I switched out her usual 81 mg morning aspirin with an adult buffered aspirin, knowing that it would probably help head off some of the stiffness and small-of-the-back-ache I knew she was going to feel at some point during the day from her walkering. It did head off some of it, but not all of it.
    For lunch she ordered a hunk of Marie Callender's cornbread (it's actually corn cake, with honey butter, which is why she loves it and I hate it); a double order of breaded, fried jumbo shrimp with some sort of seafood sauce, and ate a full dinner salad with Thousand Island Dressing. The only med she received was her second dose of Niferex-150.
    Dinner was, indeed, pie. She chose to her her slice of peach pie. This is when I gave her all her remaining meds and supplements. I'd given her an adult buffered aspirin before her nap, which occurred, I think I said 1700 over at the main journal, but it was actually around 1730.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at about 1645, just after we arrived home: Fair volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.
    She retired at 2030 tonight. Her light just went out at 2050. She asked me to let her sleep as long as she wanted in the morning, to "recover from today's trip". I told her I would, sort of, but I was going to be judicious. If she wasn't up by 1230, I would be calling her. That sounded fine to her.

Three Quarter Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1226     Reading:  124

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1304     BP:  133/65     Pulse:  55

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2031     Reading:  136

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Not taken

    Well, her BG seems to be responding a little bit to to the severe cutback in refined carbohydrates, but not enough for me to be convinced that the cause isn't something else entirely.
    Breakfast was completely normal, right down to the diluted O.J. I just wanted to see what would happen, and since her arising BG was lower than the last few days, I figured today would be a good day for this.
    Lunch was a glass of V-8 juice with 1 tsp sweet curry powder ("sweet" meaning not hot...it does not mean it has sugar in it).
    For dinner I served scrambled eggs with ground, defatted, bulk sausage, with which I sauteed chopped onions, red bell pepper, celerly and fresh garlic. I also added a rounded teaspoon of MPBIL's Southwestern Fire blend, with a selection of fresh fruit on the side: Pineapple, mango, raspberries, blueberries and kiwi fruit.
    Tomorrow is trip day, so I coaxed her to go to bed as early as possible. Her first try was at 2200. She was up, again, though, when I went to bed at 2330. Then, again, she was awake at 0030, 8/30/06, going to the bathroom. She admitted that she slept "a little" between those interruptions, but, as well, "I think I'm excited about the trip tomorrow." I think so, too.

BM Full Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1307     Reading:  153

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1327     BP:  110/61     Pulse:  60

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2037     Reading:  144

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  2040     BP:  121/60     Pulse:  55

    I'm still concerned about her BG, although her BP seems to be doing much better, and I'm seeing to it that she remains well hydrated, neither over or under. The BG problem could be one (or more) of any number of things. Maybe it's the strips. Maybe the glipizide is no longer working for her; this is not an uncommon occurrence. Maybe some other health problem is affecting her BG. At any rate, I'm going to exercise as strict control as possible over her diet (minus this coming Wednesday, of course), try to get her out moving, more, take a few more control tests until I'm convinced, one way or another, whether the strips might or might not be the problem, continue full BG stat days, you know, all the usual; and see what happens. As well, I'll research other diabetes medications to see what might look good. Glucophage, of course, will probably remain off the list. I'll be very careful about researching Avendia. The others, I'll just read as much as I can and cross research regarding her other health conditions. I'm hoping to be fairly well informed by the time her appointment occurs on September 12th. At that time, as well, I'll have lots more data from her life to work with.
    Breakfast: Normal.
    Lunch: V-8 juice with 1/2 tsp Maharajah curry powder (it has saffron in it).
    Dinner: Chicken cobb salad with fat free croutons and our usual home made Greek/Italian dressing.
    Her Bowel Movement occurred at 1510; Fairly good volume; excellent consistency; very easy elimination; very easy clean-up.
    I wasn't able to get her to move today. She didn't seem to be feeling up to par, although every time I asked her (many times), both generally and specifically, she continued to tell me that she felt "okay". I substituted an adult buffered aspirin for her usual 81 mg aspirin at breakfast with no argument from her, as, when I asked her about general stiffness she answered, "Yes, I guess so." Otherwise, her energy level has just been unusually low. Her nap, though, lasted only two hours today. I didn't have the heart on insisting on another walkering session today. I figure, we'll see how she feels tomorrow. Then, of course, on Wednesday, she'll be doing some walkering, as well. That's one good thing; she remains excited about the trip on Wednesday, so we should have an excellent time.
    I'll report back on her retirement and lights out times.
    Retired at 2340. Lights out at 0000, 8/29/06.

Three Quarter Stat Day:

A.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  1308     Reading:  159

A.M. Blood Pressure:     Time:  1319     BP:  140/81     Pulse:  59

P.M. Blood Glucose:     Time:  2021     Reading:  134

P.M. Blood Pressure:     Not taken

    Her BG seems to be slowly getting back to normal. Not sure about her BP. She continues to find it really irritating when I test it, so, for awhile, anyway, I'm just doing it in the morning. She wasn't quite as dehydrated this morning as she has been, either. I must confess, I was still a little surprised at how high her BG was this morning, but I think with a little more attention to hydration and movement, we'll get back to where we were.
    Breakfast: Normal, including her usual O.J., although I had to substitute Kielbasa for bacon, as that was the only breakfast meat we had left, this morning.
    Between breakfast and her nap I coaxed her out for a two-lap driveway walkering session. I told her we needed to get her moving in order to bring her BG down and to get her ready for the upcoming trips to the Valley over the next few weeks. It was hard for her: She rested standing up at each end of the driveway; took a short sitting rest after the first lap. She complained about a slight small of the back ache afterwards, too, so, before her nap, I gave her an adult buffered aspirin. That seemed to do the trick. Her nap lasted for three hours, but I gave her that, knowing that she needed to incorporate the unexpected, unusual movement. I expect, as the days continue and she moves more, her naps will go back to their half hour to two hour typicality.
    Thus, no lunch, just coffee while I set up dinner: A roasted chicken leg and thigh and a hearty but not too hearty dinner salad, minus the usual meat, when it's a Cobb salad; an excellent variety of vegetables, though, some chopped garlic stuffed, chardonnay marinated green olives (mmmm...were they good), a light sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan, some "real" croutons (which Mom prefers), my home made Greek/Italian dressing.
    As of this writing, she's a good hour and a half to two hours from retiring, I'm sure. I'll check back and note her retirement and lights out times.
    Retired at 0030, 8/28/06. Lights out at 0045. Just before heading into the bathroom to prepare for bed, she asked for an aspirin...asked for it. She never does this. I quizzed her and she said the stiffness from walkering, today, was "getting to [her]". So, of course, I gave it to her. When she actually asks for an analgesic, which is rare, she gets it. Period.