Thursday, December 21, 2000
Not the Sweetest Girl: 2 - To LTF
Since I last e'd you we'd gotten the results of Mom's full blood panel and she has, once again, been diagnosed with high triglycerides and high cholesterol. I'm not sure of the numbers. I have to call today for those. I do know what I need to do about it and I'm glad that now "the Dr." is demanding that as long as she is able she should be walking more, eating vegetables (it is fair to say that she currently eats none) and attempting to lower her triglycerides. I just finished reading some stuff on WebMD. I think I'll go into Medscape later and see what they have to say. I know she's been scolded about this and treated (with medication) for this before. When I lived in Seattle her physician put her on, then took her off, Pravacol. On, when he discovered her levels; then 6 months or so later, off, when he read the research (which I'd independently stumbled across in Seattle and read) that in elderly patients who show no other signs of heart disease and have not suffered from symptoms medication has not proved to do any good and this condition seems to coincide, at this age, with an increased protection from stroke. But simply because, at 83, she is able to change her life-style, I tend to agree with "the Doctor" that it couldn't hurt so I am now charged, per her PCP, with bullying (I use that word with implied pause, now) her into walking and eating "better".
"Her levels will never be reduced to what they probably were [they had never been measured before 1990] when she was 45 or 50. But she has no signs of heart failure. There's no excuse for her not doing what she can do. You tell her that for me."
So I've been arguing with her to, "...look at how much you walk already, Mom. I'll bet you did a good mile at Costco, today." We went Christmas shopping, which she loves to do. "We're just going to add a stroll down to the rec center and back in the middle of the afternoon when it's warm."
And the cheese. She has been known to eat a pound of Tillamook sharp cheddar in a day, slice by clotted slice. "If I cut down on the cheese a little, Mom, you won't even notice it."
"Well, I guess we'll try it," she says.
I'm expecting a certain amount of success. She has been a dream about cutting back on sugar. Except cocoa, which is easy to make fat free or with a little half-and-half for disguise, she hardly has any chocolate anymore, which was her primary refined sugar source. And Cerreta's makes a decent (she likes it) sugar free chocolate candy and she can have some (emphasis on the "some", it is also a highly refined, although not as volatile, carbohydrate) sorbitol. Soshe's looking forward to that. And her glucose levels have been reduced admirably. Today I'm going to call her diabetic FNP and ask her for numbers (she left the initial message on our answering machine) and suggest particular steps I think my mother can reasonably take for reducing her triglycerides and, probably, her LDL. I think cutting her cheese intake in half per day will make a big difference, as well as will an increase in her walking. Her blood oxygen level will also rise. I mean, why not get healthier at 83?
So that's what we've been doing lately. She is cutting back on smoking on her own. She literally forgets to smoke, which is nice. This has also increased her blood oxygen level. It is amazing how little one must to do make changes in one's overall level of healthful functioning.
I'll bet Mom would like egg white omelets. I've just never tried them on her. That should help. She insists on one egg every morning. I could do two whites with water and the stuff in the omelet would look great. Eye candy (as a substitute for the other kind).
She has had a couple very odd episodes. I'll tell you about those later.
"Her levels will never be reduced to what they probably were [they had never been measured before 1990] when she was 45 or 50. But she has no signs of heart failure. There's no excuse for her not doing what she can do. You tell her that for me."
So I've been arguing with her to, "...look at how much you walk already, Mom. I'll bet you did a good mile at Costco, today." We went Christmas shopping, which she loves to do. "We're just going to add a stroll down to the rec center and back in the middle of the afternoon when it's warm."
And the cheese. She has been known to eat a pound of Tillamook sharp cheddar in a day, slice by clotted slice. "If I cut down on the cheese a little, Mom, you won't even notice it."
"Well, I guess we'll try it," she says.
I'm expecting a certain amount of success. She has been a dream about cutting back on sugar. Except cocoa, which is easy to make fat free or with a little half-and-half for disguise, she hardly has any chocolate anymore, which was her primary refined sugar source. And Cerreta's makes a decent (she likes it) sugar free chocolate candy and she can have some (emphasis on the "some", it is also a highly refined, although not as volatile, carbohydrate) sorbitol. Soshe's looking forward to that. And her glucose levels have been reduced admirably. Today I'm going to call her diabetic FNP and ask her for numbers (she left the initial message on our answering machine) and suggest particular steps I think my mother can reasonably take for reducing her triglycerides and, probably, her LDL. I think cutting her cheese intake in half per day will make a big difference, as well as will an increase in her walking. Her blood oxygen level will also rise. I mean, why not get healthier at 83?
So that's what we've been doing lately. She is cutting back on smoking on her own. She literally forgets to smoke, which is nice. This has also increased her blood oxygen level. It is amazing how little one must to do make changes in one's overall level of healthful functioning.
I'll bet Mom would like egg white omelets. I've just never tried them on her. That should help. She insists on one egg every morning. I could do two whites with water and the stuff in the omelet would look great. Eye candy (as a substitute for the other kind).
She has had a couple very odd episodes. I'll tell you about those later.
