11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,PMPS 182,+2 195,+6 210

Yesterday's Condo

Wasn't at all surprised by the AMPS this morning because of the lows overnight, but the 149 at +3 was a bit if a shock. Dropping from 267 to 149 in 3 hours! Had to leave to go over to the hospital for several hours so gave her a teaspoon of LC plus a teaspoon of gravy so I could hopefully slow down the nosedive a little.

Made a dash back at noon (+6) and she was at 63 so I'm going to stick around a little while and make sure she's through dropping. I wish she'd eat better (I know that's part of what's going on) but in the meantime, if I have to leave, I'm fine with giving her a little gravy if she's dropping like a rock, even if she's not already low

Mom was up in a chair when I went over this morning, and they were removing the chest tube. She's still in a lot of pain, and very tired, but considering all she's been through in the last 3 days, that's to be expected. They want her to start eating but said that the anesthesia would make things taste different for awhile. It's important to get calories into her though. They offered her everything they had on the unit, but she wasn't interested. Finally got her to eat a couple teaspoons of orange sherbet but she said it didn't taste good (It tasted fine to me so that's the anesthesia)

Her blood sugar is sky high so they have her on insulin..she's always been a diet controlled diabetic so hopefully when her body isn't under so much stress, her BG will come down again. It's a little shocking to see that she's getting 6 units/hour when you think about China getting .75 unit every 12 hours

Going to stay at least one more night in the hotel and then see how things are tomorrow. I'm worried about China not eating enough, so I'm anxious to get her back home, but I'll stay as long as I need to. Her BG have been good, but I think the lows last night and the big drop today has as much to do with her not eating enough as anything else.

Hope everyone has a good Monday and all the kitties are great! Supposed to drop into the teens here tomorrow..I'm not ready for winter!!!

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63

What a night last night! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Are you doing the 3 drops below 50 thing? China might not want to stay on this dose much longer. Be good China, your mom still has a lot going on.

Great to hear your mother is sitting up today - that's got to be good for her recovery and make her feel better too. Sorry things aren't tasting very good. Last time my DM had to spend any time in the hospital I was running around trying to find what she had a craving for so she'd eat.

Is your DM on R insulin? I have a friend on Lantus and her daily dose was the same amount Neko was getting at her highest dose. Paws crossed your mom gets destressed soon.

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77

Yes, with her history of failed reductions, I'm doing the 3 below 50 on her. I'm not sure how to take last night though since she isn't eating like she does at home. I would think that has to have something to do with last night's low

I don't know what insulin they're using...I've asked them 3 times and instead of giving me a straight answer, they just tell me why they're giving it...I KNOW why she's getting it...and the fact they pumped her full of steroids probably has a lot to do with the high numbers as well as the stress her body is under but they don't seem to want to give me a straight answer. I suppose they think I don't understand why she's getting it since she's always been diet controlled, so instead of telling me the "what", they're more used to explaining the "why" they're giving it to patients families.

Next time I go over, I'm going to ask..again..and explain I understand the "why" part....I want them to answer the "What"!

Yeah they said not to worry about what she eats right now, just to concentrate on finding something she'll eat, but when I mentioned the one thing she's always eaten when nothing else sounded good (chocolate shake) they said to stay away from high sugar foods. Make up your mind people..do you want her to get calories or do you want them to only be calories without sugar? I'm not sure we'll get her to eat a cheeseburger anytime soon!

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77

I hope China will surf safely for you and eat when she needs to. That's great your Mom was sitting up today. I hope you can find something she will eat. Sending prayers for your Mom.

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77

Hi Chris,

You have had a full day. I am glad that your mom is sitting up today. she has been through so much in the last few days. I am sure her body needs time to adjust and recover. How are you doing Chris? Our prayers are with your mom
to recover. I can see how she would not feel like eating.

It does sound like China maybe getting lower due to less food to counteract the insulin. Loveys' Bg's are lower when she eats less.

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Thanks for the visits today!

I'm not sure what to do at this point...I went to get China's PM shot and the insulin was lightly frozen...the refrigerator in the hotel room must be a lot colder than mine at home. A few seconds of warm water melted it, so since I didn't have anything else, I went ahead and gave it. I know freezing isn't good for it, but didn't have a lot of choice. The last thing I needed was to have to buy more Lantus right now.

I put the insulin back in the refrigerator tonight but put it in the door since I don't want it freezing again. Not much I can do about it tonight anyway. Guess I'll see if it's ruined soon enough but as soon as possible, I know I have to replace it since it's not supposed to be used if it's frozen.

On the mom front, things are looking a little better tonight. She spent most of the day in the chair (although reclined mostly) and they got her up to try to walk but as I've been telling them since this all started, she's got a problem with her right knee that started a couple weeks ago and she's not able to walk on it more than just a couple steps. They stressed to me how important it was going to be for her to walk, and I've told them multiple times a day that she's not going to be able to, but mostly I just got a pat on the head and sent along (that's how I felt anyway). When she could only take a few steps today and the pain in her knee was worse than the pain she's feeling everywhere else stopped her, they had physical therapy come look at her (instead of having the orthopedic surgeon consult and see if he could find out what was actually wrong with it). I don't know if there's anything he can do, but he's injected her other knee with Synvisc and although it took several weeks to start helping, it did help...and if they'd listened to me in the first place, maybe he could have seen her before the open heart surgery and possibly given her some relief. We'll never know. Then they changed their tune again and said that he'd probably want special xrays and they couldn't be done at the bedside, so they'll have to wait until she can be out of the ICU to go to get them. Talk about the runaround!!

One painful step forward, and 2 painful steps back

Oh..the best news! Her heart is finally beating on its own instead of requiring 100% pacing, so for now, it's working normally for the first time since the bypass surgery. If it starts to beat erratically (or not at all like it was), the pacemaker will kick in again

ETA...they did finally tell me what insulin they're using and it's R

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Hi Chris,
I'm so sorry that your mom is still in distress, but at least she was able to sit up. I hope that she will continue her recovery and that they can do something to help her knees. We are sending a beautiful bouquet of healing vines to her tonight. Can she drink something like "Ensure"? My aunt, who was in her mid 90s at the time, was able to do very well on Ensure when she didn't feel like eating hospital food (who does feel like eating hospital food, anyway?). Hang in there!

Bummer on the Lantus freezing. I keep Rusty's insulin wrapped in bubble wrap and inside a little cardboard box. This insulates it from the changes in temperature it could encounter in the 'fridge. I also keep a little "zipper-pull" thermometer (you can buy them in hiking stores) in the box. You can also wrap the insulin tightly in several sheets of newspaper. Newspaper is a great insulator. When I was a kid at camp, we used to put layers of newspaper under our (very thin) mattresses to keep warm. With regard to whether or not your Lantus is still good: I guess you will find out soon!

Hugs, scritches,

Ella & Rusty

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

What I don't understand is why it hadn't frozen until today...I've been in the same hotel room with the same refrigerator since Saturday and tonight was the first time it was frozen. It was fine this morning and had been fine all this time. I didn't do anything with the temperature dial either

Oh well...Like you said, we'll soon find out if it's still good or not!

Right now, Mom doesn't feel like eating anything...that's the problem..whatever she's tried so far tastes funny (which is a side effect of the anesthesia). We'll just keep trying things until we either find something that tastes good to her (anesthetic or not) or whatever the anesthesia is doing to her taste buds wears off

I know they have Ensure on the unit so if she doesn't start eating better soon, I'll tell them to try it

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Boy you have a lot going on Chris :YMHUG:
Good news about your Mom sitting up and her heart beating on it's own
Bad news on nobody ever listening to you. It can be sooo frustating :-x
Sending lots of speedy recovery and appy vines to your DM ♥
And China is looking good for being on an adventure ;-) Good girl China, but you gotta eat your fuds so mama won't worry cat_pet_icon
Sorry about the frozen Lantis. I froze solid a new vile of Hoots once :-x :-x :-x
I didn't even try to use it :roll:
Enjoy your night Chris :smile:

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Hi Chris :YMHUG: :YMHUG: Sorry everything seems to be hammering at you all at once. Very, very frustrating dealing with our health system (more times than not IMO). You must be one very patient person! So good to hear your mom's heart is beating on its own (huge relief) and that she is sitting up. As Ella mentioned, Ensure had also popped into my head because they make a chocolate flavored one (maybe like a shake for her). Argggg about the hotel fridge freezing your Lantus :evil: Like you needed that on top of everything else. You will need to seriously reward your sanity very soon China sweetie, hang in there for your mama!
Hugs, prayers headed your way Chris and extra scritches for that sweet kitty of yours :YMHUG: cat_pet_icon

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Hi Chris,

I am so glad that your mom's heart is pacing on its own and that she was sitting up today. That is great news. After major surgeries, it is not uncommon to lose your appetite. We will pray that as the anesthesia side effects wears off, she will begin to eat. I know when my mom had a strangulated hernia. We tried everything to get her to eat, but her appetite did come back. She hurt her knee just recently, didn't she? On top of everything, you needed the insulin to freeze...... You must have a lot of patience Chris.

Let's see what china's numbers are tonight.

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

Hey Chris, glad to see you finally got some sleep last night. Glad to at least see your Mom is sitting up. I am telling you, our Mom's sound so much alike in what they are going through. I just hope she can come out of the ICU soon and then get to leave soon after that. There is nothing better than recouping in a place where she is more comfortable. I just hope they treat her well when she leaves the ICU. When my Mom left the CICU they were not the best in the world. So I just hope she gets the best care.

Is there a way to turn the fridge down a little so its not so cold? Hopefully it didnt affect it to bad. If so, I am sure we can all pull together to help you get a new vial.

Lots of hugs and healing thoughts!!! :YMHUG:

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182

actually, they said she'd stay in ICU until she was ready to leave the hospital

I thought she'd stay in ICU for a few days, then go to Cardiac Step Down, and then to a regular room (that's how it's usually done) but at this hospital, they keep their bypass patients in ICU until they are ready to go. Although it was unexpected, I kind of like the idea! The level of care is much better and since the ICU has the same group of nurses at all times, they get to know their patients really well

Re: 11/11 China AMPS 267,+3 149,+6 63,+8 77,PMPS 182,+2 195

Well that is actually fantastic! Wish the hospital here was like that. My Mom has been in the ICU here 4 times in a year.

Hello Chris and China .. .

So glad to hear that your Mom's heart is beating on it's own! With all the other stuff she has going on right now, that news I am sure is very comforting. You are so right about it being best for her to stay in ICU, there she will be watched and taken care of more attentively .

Man, you have way too much going own in your life right now. Make sure you are taking care of Chris too :smile:

Sorry about your problem with lantus freezing .,.hopefully it will be OK.

Sending thoughts. Prayers , and hugs your way :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:

Give that sweet China some special attention today . . .