Mom & Me Two Archive

...and take your blood glucose with you! Whew! Her lunch number was 100 [link provided for those of you who want to check all her stats], after no metformin at breakfast. Before lunch I was able to find aloe vera juice. Unfortunately, I don't know if it is 80% aloe vera gel. The brand Costco carries says that in a 2 oz serving there is 60 ml of aloe vera gel, however, two fluid ounces is 60 ml (almost, anyway), and the back of the bottle lists some additions to the juice, including water, so I hope that at least 80% of a two ounce serving is aloe vera gel. At any rate, instead of breaking the 2 oz up, I gave it to her all at once at lunch instead of giving her any of her normal diabetic medication. I did, however, also administer 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.
    Needless to say, I am breathless to discover what her blood glucose measurement will be tonight before dinner. Considering when we ate lunch, we'll probably be eating dinner around 2130. I'll decide, at that time, whether to administer glipizide. I expect that I will but we'll see. I'm prepared for anything, including the possibility that her blood glucose will jump through the roof. If it does, I'll reconnoiter her medicine and the timing of it.
    At the moment, though, the only real health problem I'm worried about is her knees. I'm trying to be patient. The knee weakness probably is a result of some strenuous over-walking a little over a week ago. As MPS says, I have to remember that she's almost 87 and "she's not Olympic material anymore." As well, movement hasn't been something in which she's been specializing lately. She did pretty well walkering in the driveway yesterday, considering, but today she gave out in the middle of one lap and could barely make it back to the door. I go back and forth between sympathizing with her and trying to motivate her, sometimes like a beloved coach and sometimes like a hated drill sergeant, whatever I think will work at the time. Today neither worked. As well, I think she may have a bit of a cold, which doesn't help. She's napping now, which is something she hasn't done for some days.
    Our business has been pushed back a day at her request, which is okay. Just as I was heading into her room to wake her up at 0900, I got a call about that particular piece of business, which lasted 40 minutes. As it turns out, doing what we need to do up here, which involves some paperwork, can wait for a day.
    I'm glad Mom feels comfortable being Ancient around me. The further I accompany her along The Road of The Ancients, though, the more I think I don't want to live to qualify for Ancient One status. I would say she's brave and courageous but I know better. She simply hasn't yet decided that she no longer wants to be alive. Old people can talk all they want about how old age isn't for sissies but, most people who live long enough to be ancient move into old age whether or not they're sissies. I'm lucky, from a caregiver's perspective, that my mother isn't a sissy, but I can tell you, lots of sissies become ancient. Old age doesn't play favorites. Perhaps the most important favor we can do for those who live into old age is to stop glamorizing it and those of us who remain alive long enough to become old. It's full of both compensations and drawbacks, just like any other age, and even those compensations and drawbacks depend on the particular Ancient One.
    Later.