Thursday, July 28, 2005
Holymarymotherofgod, I'm doing something right!
The PCP's office called a few hours ago with an overview of my mother's blood work. The nurse covered only a few highlights, I asked about some, but the upshot is, my mother's doing well, better than well.
Her hemoglobin A1c is 4.6! The preference for diabetics is 6 or lower. This particular PCP likes to see his diabetics come in at 4-6. The nurse said that the doctor feels that 4.6 is running a little low for her and I can allow more sugars. The A1c test is essentially a handy, dandy 3 month review: In other words, it indicates how a person's blood glucose has performed over a 3 month period. Mind you, in my mother's case, the particular 3 month period we're talking about included that decadent Costco chocolate cake, fun with two flats of raspberries, blueberry cobbler, Baskin Robbins French Vanilla ice cream, lemon sorbet and raspberry sherbet. As you know, we didn't have these things every night, nor did we gorge on them. Some of them were consumed when we entertained company. Despite all this, I've been controlling her diet well enough (and, I suppose, we're getting close to Diabetes Vacation Time) that her Hemoglobin A1c was lower than her doctor would like. Hallelujah!
The other exact number I got was her CBC hemoglobin: 10.2. Both her doctor and I are satisfied with this. I'd love to see another month at 11.3, but she's stable between 10 and 11+, so she's doing fine.
I asked about her liver enzymes on her CMP and her iron, which, because of her supplements, tends to run high. The nurse probably didn't have the test with her because she couldn't give me numbers but said the doctor did not express concern about either. This is good news as it means my mother's liver is not being ravaged by the iron she's taking; thus, it underscores her good candidate status for daily low dose Macrodantin to prevent her UTIs.
Copies of all tests are being sent to me. They'll appear here shortly, probably within the next few days.
We're both still tired from the trip. I thought I'd sleep deeply last night, my first full night of sleep for a couple of days, but I didn't. I tossed and turned and awoke several times. Mom seemed to sleep well through the night but complained of being tired today. She's napping. I think some of it may be in reaction to the antibiotic, as this is one of the temporary side effects mentioned. I've held off on putting her through her exercise regimen but I think we'll try starting that again tomorrow.
I forgot to mention that her weight at the doctor's office was 144. Typically she comes in at 137. She was shocked, but I wasn't. Her clothes continue to fit her as they did before; they aren't tighter. I think she may be putting on some muscle weight from the exercises, particularly the informal sessions that I usually don't mention over at =>Moving =>Mom. I also saw to it that she was well hydrated for this appointment because I had a hunch either they'd be taking blood or we'd be directed to a very close testing lab to give blood and I expected they'd be wanting a urine sample, too, which, as it turned out, they didn't. It is especially hard to get her to drink when she's traveling but I kept after her, much to her irritation.
I feel vindicated. Too bad Shiny New Doctor was too shiny and too new to listen to me rather than become defensive with me. Too bad all Shiny New Doctors of his ilk (and, mind you, I have some thoughts, which I'll share one of these days, on which shiny new doctors are most likely to react as he and the one here in Prescott reacted; they don't all react like this) aren't put through some sort of softening course before they are released to Patients. It can do a physician a great deal of good to be educated on two facts:
Later.
Her hemoglobin A1c is 4.6! The preference for diabetics is 6 or lower. This particular PCP likes to see his diabetics come in at 4-6. The nurse said that the doctor feels that 4.6 is running a little low for her and I can allow more sugars. The A1c test is essentially a handy, dandy 3 month review: In other words, it indicates how a person's blood glucose has performed over a 3 month period. Mind you, in my mother's case, the particular 3 month period we're talking about included that decadent Costco chocolate cake, fun with two flats of raspberries, blueberry cobbler, Baskin Robbins French Vanilla ice cream, lemon sorbet and raspberry sherbet. As you know, we didn't have these things every night, nor did we gorge on them. Some of them were consumed when we entertained company. Despite all this, I've been controlling her diet well enough (and, I suppose, we're getting close to Diabetes Vacation Time) that her Hemoglobin A1c was lower than her doctor would like. Hallelujah!
The other exact number I got was her CBC hemoglobin: 10.2. Both her doctor and I are satisfied with this. I'd love to see another month at 11.3, but she's stable between 10 and 11+, so she's doing fine.
I asked about her liver enzymes on her CMP and her iron, which, because of her supplements, tends to run high. The nurse probably didn't have the test with her because she couldn't give me numbers but said the doctor did not express concern about either. This is good news as it means my mother's liver is not being ravaged by the iron she's taking; thus, it underscores her good candidate status for daily low dose Macrodantin to prevent her UTIs.
Copies of all tests are being sent to me. They'll appear here shortly, probably within the next few days.
We're both still tired from the trip. I thought I'd sleep deeply last night, my first full night of sleep for a couple of days, but I didn't. I tossed and turned and awoke several times. Mom seemed to sleep well through the night but complained of being tired today. She's napping. I think some of it may be in reaction to the antibiotic, as this is one of the temporary side effects mentioned. I've held off on putting her through her exercise regimen but I think we'll try starting that again tomorrow.
I forgot to mention that her weight at the doctor's office was 144. Typically she comes in at 137. She was shocked, but I wasn't. Her clothes continue to fit her as they did before; they aren't tighter. I think she may be putting on some muscle weight from the exercises, particularly the informal sessions that I usually don't mention over at =>Moving =>Mom. I also saw to it that she was well hydrated for this appointment because I had a hunch either they'd be taking blood or we'd be directed to a very close testing lab to give blood and I expected they'd be wanting a urine sample, too, which, as it turned out, they didn't. It is especially hard to get her to drink when she's traveling but I kept after her, much to her irritation.
I feel vindicated. Too bad Shiny New Doctor was too shiny and too new to listen to me rather than become defensive with me. Too bad all Shiny New Doctors of his ilk (and, mind you, I have some thoughts, which I'll share one of these days, on which shiny new doctors are most likely to react as he and the one here in Prescott reacted; they don't all react like this) aren't put through some sort of softening course before they are released to Patients. It can do a physician a great deal of good to be educated on two facts:
- The person who lives in the body knows it better, without the results of medical tests, than anyone else, and
- if someone has a Medical Advocate who lives with her and manages her health care, you can safely bet on the Advocate knowing the patient's status better than any doctor does.
Later.
