Monday, May 23, 2005
Test Results
Here you go, if you're curious:
Blood Draw Date 5/20/05; CBC; BMP
Urinalysis Collection Date 5/20/05
She's obviously holding her own. Her hemoglobin is a point lower than last month. In fact, all her anemia indicators have dropped a bit but I'm not worried. I continue to consider that her PCP would consider her stable. Her BUN is normal, surprise, surprise and hallelujah. Her urinalysis shows that we've conquered her latest UTI.
Unless there's something I'm not catching, it looks as though there will be no reason for us to see the doctor before next month's routine catch-up. Good!
I noticed that I mistyped something when I entered her 4/13/05 report but can't find the original at the moment so I'll fix that later.
I checked Mom's feet this morning while she was sleeping (which she's still doing) before I headed out to pick up her lab report. It looks as though her body hasn't completely released the excess water but we're getting there. I'll be able to get a better idea when she's up on end. If her body is still insisting on retaining water I'll give her another 20 mg furosemide.
She seems to be feeling good. Her eyes were open when I checked her. She even insisted that she'd still be awake when I returned from the lab (which is about a 15 minute round trip from here) and asked that I get her up. When I returned, though, she was sleeping again and didn't hear me gently calling her so I'm letting her sleep in.
Yet another hot (relatively speaking; certainly not as hot as in Mesa) day. Yesterday I finally turned on the a/c in the afternoon for a couple of hours to take the edge off the living and dining area. I'm watching the local weather as I post. Yesterday's forecast predicted that today would be warmer but we've got a nice breeze going so I'm thinking that it may be the same or cooler. Ah, here we go, let's see: Yesterday's actual downtown was 93, which means we were in the high 80s. Today, the high is predicted to be 92; still high 80's up here. The heat index is usually about 6° lower than the predicted temperature downtown, probably a bit more up here. Ooooh! Looks like we're going to have isolated thunderstorms this weekend! Cool! Literally! 75° is predicted for Sunday, 81° for Saturday. That means we'll be in the high 60's to low 70's, respectively!
We watched the Crufts Dog Show last night. Mom's decided that she wants either a Pharaoh (I think it's because she likes the name; she's always been fascinated by Egyptology) or a standard Dachshund, like Fritz, our Dog of Legend from my childhood. Every time we watch the dog shows I reconsider us having a dog and every time I reconsider I realize, no, not a good idea. Mom understands, luckily. Last night when we talked about it (again) and I mentioned that I'd be the one taking care of the dog (dogs are much higher maintenance than cats), negotiating the adjustment period between The Little Girl and whatever dog joins our family, trying to manage three or more dog walks a day and/or having an electronic fence installed around our property, making kennel or sitter arrangements when we go to the Valley for her appointments, etc., she didn't counter me like she usually does. "You're right," she said, "it would be impractical."
I still consider, too, in the far reaches of my mind and spirit, that, maybe, someday, while Mom is alive, having a dog might work. I don't know, we'll see.
I'm trying to root an unusual flower and a bush cutting from the batch of cut flowers I got at Costco last week. I'm not sure I'll have much luck but I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm becoming very good at keeping cut flowers alive and thriving in their display vases. Surprisingly, the purple accent flowers, the ones that are often dried and grow on flattened stalks, are putting out more blooms in the vase...tiny white ones. It seems, although my thumbs are black and my mind is distracted when trying to tend to rooted flora (rooted plants are better off, in fact, if I leave them alone), I seem to have a talent for encouraging the best from plants that are obviously approaching their demise. Hmmmm...
Well, I think I'll go check on The Mom. The Little Girl is anxious to awaken her, now. I'm expect to be writing more, today...
...later.
Blood Draw Date 5/20/05; CBC; BMP
Urinalysis Collection Date 5/20/05
She's obviously holding her own. Her hemoglobin is a point lower than last month. In fact, all her anemia indicators have dropped a bit but I'm not worried. I continue to consider that her PCP would consider her stable. Her BUN is normal, surprise, surprise and hallelujah. Her urinalysis shows that we've conquered her latest UTI.
Unless there's something I'm not catching, it looks as though there will be no reason for us to see the doctor before next month's routine catch-up. Good!
I noticed that I mistyped something when I entered her 4/13/05 report but can't find the original at the moment so I'll fix that later.
I checked Mom's feet this morning while she was sleeping (which she's still doing) before I headed out to pick up her lab report. It looks as though her body hasn't completely released the excess water but we're getting there. I'll be able to get a better idea when she's up on end. If her body is still insisting on retaining water I'll give her another 20 mg furosemide.
She seems to be feeling good. Her eyes were open when I checked her. She even insisted that she'd still be awake when I returned from the lab (which is about a 15 minute round trip from here) and asked that I get her up. When I returned, though, she was sleeping again and didn't hear me gently calling her so I'm letting her sleep in.
Yet another hot (relatively speaking; certainly not as hot as in Mesa) day. Yesterday I finally turned on the a/c in the afternoon for a couple of hours to take the edge off the living and dining area. I'm watching the local weather as I post. Yesterday's forecast predicted that today would be warmer but we've got a nice breeze going so I'm thinking that it may be the same or cooler. Ah, here we go, let's see: Yesterday's actual downtown was 93, which means we were in the high 80s. Today, the high is predicted to be 92; still high 80's up here. The heat index is usually about 6° lower than the predicted temperature downtown, probably a bit more up here. Ooooh! Looks like we're going to have isolated thunderstorms this weekend! Cool! Literally! 75° is predicted for Sunday, 81° for Saturday. That means we'll be in the high 60's to low 70's, respectively!
We watched the Crufts Dog Show last night. Mom's decided that she wants either a Pharaoh (I think it's because she likes the name; she's always been fascinated by Egyptology) or a standard Dachshund, like Fritz, our Dog of Legend from my childhood. Every time we watch the dog shows I reconsider us having a dog and every time I reconsider I realize, no, not a good idea. Mom understands, luckily. Last night when we talked about it (again) and I mentioned that I'd be the one taking care of the dog (dogs are much higher maintenance than cats), negotiating the adjustment period between The Little Girl and whatever dog joins our family, trying to manage three or more dog walks a day and/or having an electronic fence installed around our property, making kennel or sitter arrangements when we go to the Valley for her appointments, etc., she didn't counter me like she usually does. "You're right," she said, "it would be impractical."
I still consider, too, in the far reaches of my mind and spirit, that, maybe, someday, while Mom is alive, having a dog might work. I don't know, we'll see.
I'm trying to root an unusual flower and a bush cutting from the batch of cut flowers I got at Costco last week. I'm not sure I'll have much luck but I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm becoming very good at keeping cut flowers alive and thriving in their display vases. Surprisingly, the purple accent flowers, the ones that are often dried and grow on flattened stalks, are putting out more blooms in the vase...tiny white ones. It seems, although my thumbs are black and my mind is distracted when trying to tend to rooted flora (rooted plants are better off, in fact, if I leave them alone), I seem to have a talent for encouraging the best from plants that are obviously approaching their demise. Hmmmm...
Well, I think I'll go check on The Mom. The Little Girl is anxious to awaken her, now. I'm expect to be writing more, today...
...later.
