We are on our way to Prescott...
...although the procedure takes a good week. We began in earnest late last week. Our first Absolutely Moved Day, when The Girls (our cats) come with us, will be Saturday. In the meantime I may not be posting much except for blood glucose readings...it's been very busy since we finally, this year, focused on Prescott.
    I'm not sure why Mom's blood glucose was so high this morning. I did notice, this weekend, when I was looking for a full bag of croutons I knew we had that only a few crumbs were left in the bottom of the bag so it's possible that she's waking in the middle of the night and eating, which is her occasional habit. There's not much I can do about this and I'm not sure I'd want to but if it becomes a more than occasional habit I'll probably try to control her blood glucose with 850 mg metformin at night.
    Otherwise, the 192 afternoon spike on Saturday was my fault. Mom arose at exactly the time I received a surprise (it was a Saturday, after all) business call regarding our refinancing that I was extremely reluctant to put off. So, I ushered her through our morning routine while I continued with what turned out to be a very long call. As a result I not only forgot to take her blood glucose reading I also forgot to administer her dose of glipizide. That taught me a lesson about answering the phone when Mom has just arisen. Things start hot and heavy as soon as she wakes up, so it might be best from now on if I let voice mail get the phone during our morning routine, as I typically do if she and I are involved in giving her a bath or some other maintenance activity that requires both hands and/or strict attention.
    Sunday, however, was pretty typical glucose wise. This morning she was a bit on the high side but, after her hair appointment we had some shopping to do so she got some walking in and it snapped back to normal at lunch. She's already requested a junk food dinner (we haven't had junk food for awhile), but, depending on what her reading is, I may not bother with metformin tonight and see "how it all comes out in the wash" tomorrow morning. As well, we're making delivery trips to Prescott tomorrow and Wednesday which will involve some more exercise for her so I'm not too worried about what her blood sugar will do over the next few days.
    We will be experimenting with the oxygen in the car tomorrow so, as our oxygen guy suggested, "I can get the practice". It'll be interesting. She won't be able to smoke on the way up. I've also banned smoking over the last few years when we transfer the cats because one of our cats suffers from motion sickness. I remember, when I was a kid before I could drive and, thus, suffered from motion sickness almost every time I rode in a car that my parents' cigarette smoke worsened my misery. Mom has been cooperative with not smoking when the cats are in the car. I hope she'll also be cooperative (with some reminders, I'm sure) with the oxygen/smoking ban.
    She isn't as excited as I am about being able to spend a couple of months in Prescott this year. I'm working on her response to Prescott. It is completely emotional and unreasonable, especially considering that she really wanted the house when we bought it; so much that, when I tried to talk her out of it, reminding her of her innate emotional problem with Prescott and the fact that Prescott was not my choice for a summer place, she refused to listen to me. Curiously, I was the one who made the adjustment and now love Prescott. She hasn't yet. I am, though, being stubborn about insisting that she once again try, in part, now, because from a health standpoint Prescott has a lot more to offer her than Mesa. There are plenty of places to walk and exercise for free, lots of outdoor people-watching places that don't involve having to be in stores, my support network up there loves my mother and is completely amenable to me bringing her along to almost any place or function I attend (although, to be fair, this is also true of my support network down here) and the Veteran's Hospital is only 5 miles from our house. Up until this period of my adventure with my mother I have allowed her to stay at home when she didn't want to go someplace with me, both in Prescott and here. That, unfortunately, worked against her general health and, as well, against her emotional perception of Prescott. Now, because she has to come with me at least for awhile and we have the tools, both oxygen and a wheelchair, if needed, we're going to do it my way. I'm hoping that she'll come to see Prescott in a different light.
    Wish me luck. More, later, as time allows between delivery trips, "final" visits with people down here and business we must handle before moving.
- posted by gail rae @ 17:04   email...this post