Monday, November 21, 2005
It's that time of month, again...
...for Mom's health review on the occasion of her monthly blood draw:
Blood Pressure:
Doing okay, as you can see by the chart. Splitting the 10 mg lisinopril tablets in half and giving them to her in the morning and evening seems to work best for her. Last week her BP took a slow climb up until, on Saturday evening, I noticed that she was retaining some (not a huge amount) of abdominal fluid (although her feet weren’t swelling). I gave her 20 mg furosemide and an extra 5 mg lisinopril that night. She shed all excess water over the next 24 hours and her BP has settled down, although I’m keeping my eye on her.
Blood Sugar:
Very good control. See attached numbers.
Urinary Issues:
No change. Macrodantin continues to keep her UTI free.
Hydration:
No change from last month.
Energy Level:
After a long surge of active (for her) days, the last two weeks she’s been slow and tired, sleeping a bit more than usual. Her blood draw tells me it might be because her hemoglobin was falling a bit. It goes up and down, though, and her hemoglobin isn’t out of her normal range so we’ll just go with it.
Skin & Circulation:
Both continue to be excellent. No changes.
Appetite & Diet:
Both remain excellent. No changes.
Dementia:
Remains unchanged.
Will & Spirit:
Remain strong and high, respectively.
Medication & Supplements:
I’ve boosted her to 1 tablespoon Benefiber a day just recently as her body gets used to it. Other than this, on 11/18/05 I gave her one 200 mg ibuprofen because she was complaining about her knees. On 11/19/05 I gave her an extra 5 mg lisinopril in the evening besides her usual evening dose and 20 mg furosemide to rid her of some fluid retention. Other than these there have been no changes in her medication since her appointment on 11/01/05. I haven’t yet located a flu shot for her. Still working on that.
CHF:
Apparent CHF episodes and wild BP have both calmed down since last report.
COPD:
No changes from last report.
Bowel Movements:
No constipation or diarrhea this period. Continues to eliminate every 24-72 hrs; usually every 48 hrs. Fecal consistency, volume and ease of elimination remain excellent overall.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Blood Pressure:
Doing okay, as you can see by the chart. Splitting the 10 mg lisinopril tablets in half and giving them to her in the morning and evening seems to work best for her. Last week her BP took a slow climb up until, on Saturday evening, I noticed that she was retaining some (not a huge amount) of abdominal fluid (although her feet weren’t swelling). I gave her 20 mg furosemide and an extra 5 mg lisinopril that night. She shed all excess water over the next 24 hours and her BP has settled down, although I’m keeping my eye on her.
Blood Sugar:
Very good control. See attached numbers.
Urinary Issues:
No change. Macrodantin continues to keep her UTI free.
Hydration:
No change from last month.
Energy Level:
After a long surge of active (for her) days, the last two weeks she’s been slow and tired, sleeping a bit more than usual. Her blood draw tells me it might be because her hemoglobin was falling a bit. It goes up and down, though, and her hemoglobin isn’t out of her normal range so we’ll just go with it.
Skin & Circulation:
Both continue to be excellent. No changes.
Appetite & Diet:
Both remain excellent. No changes.
Dementia:
Remains unchanged.
Will & Spirit:
Remain strong and high, respectively.
Medication & Supplements:
I’ve boosted her to 1 tablespoon Benefiber a day just recently as her body gets used to it. Other than this, on 11/18/05 I gave her one 200 mg ibuprofen because she was complaining about her knees. On 11/19/05 I gave her an extra 5 mg lisinopril in the evening besides her usual evening dose and 20 mg furosemide to rid her of some fluid retention. Other than these there have been no changes in her medication since her appointment on 11/01/05. I haven’t yet located a flu shot for her. Still working on that.
CHF:
Apparent CHF episodes and wild BP have both calmed down since last report.
COPD:
No changes from last report.
Bowel Movements:
No constipation or diarrhea this period. Continues to eliminate every 24-72 hrs; usually every 48 hrs. Fecal consistency, volume and ease of elimination remain excellent overall.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- In retrospect over the last five days or so, I think her body’s been fighting a cold but it’s been handling it so well I didn’t pick up on it. I took her temperature tonight (11/21/05) because she felt warm. Arterially on the forehead it was 100.9°F, which is .7 degrees above the cut-off for normal range. I gave her a buffered adult aspirin with water while she still had food on her stomach and before she retired. I’m not worried, I think her body is fit to handle this.
- Also, just for fun because of your mention of BP averages at Mom’s last appointment, I set up a spreadsheet to calculate average BPs by month and time taken for as far back as I have BP numbers. I thought you might find the following interesting:
- November breakfast BP average: 121/65
- November dinner BP average: 128/59
- October breakfast BP average: 131/64
- October dinner BP average: 139/66
- September brakfast BP average: 125/63
- September dinner BP average: 131/63
