She tries to be more active. She does. But it's probably not enough. She used to practice walking up the stairs, but we haven't done that in a few days. She does walk every now and then, but most of the time it's just to go to the bathroom or make things in the kitchen. I've been slacking on getting her to walk, so the blame there is on me. I've just been so demotivated recently, but I can't let things like this happen again, not to my mom. She is obese, probably morbidly so. Or close. And the glucose levels of the results, when we got them, were at least 2 weeks old-- and it'd been almost 2 more weeks or so since we even heard about that. She might have type 2 diabetes by now, or be a lot closer-- we didn't really start trying our hardest to eat healthy until maybe very late march/early april. I think one of our friends, the same one that recommended tropicana juice to help keep her blood sugar in check (one of her friends has diabetes and they drink that, the friend says), sent a box w/ some salts that help with that I think. Lavender-scented, I know that much for sure, but I also know they do something else for her body. We haven't used them yet, though.

Her swelling is definitely going down. Slowly, but it is. I checked again, about maybe 45 minutes later or so. It doesn't feel much better than before, but it does. It's probably because she's technically still on a fluid restriction and she can't have more water, which probably made the swelling go down faster earlier on. That and the little walk she did. Doc is calling tomorrow so we can discuss that very fluid restriction, though. We'll tell her everything that happened tonight.

We checked her blood pressure, too, with the little wrist thing we got. Apparently it's lower than it used to be, when we did the test. Mom's blood pressure is normally pretty high. It was 139/79 I think, or around that range. It might just be the food she ate. She had a little more water to take her pills, got up one last time (it was for a bathroom trip but still, a walk is a walk), and since then the swelling has continued to lessen. It's still noticeable, but its better than when it first started-- and when it went down the first time, maybe 1-2 hours ago. She hasn't been taking the magnesium yet, pills are too big but I'm also worried she doesn't need it, even if everything points to her needing it. I'm not a doctor, I can't just give her something that could end up making things worse. We WILL bring this up with her doctor tomorrow, though. I'm gonna collect as much info as I possibly can to relay to doc tomorrow. Her vit levels, if she needs magnesium/fish oil/any other vits, what her blood sugar is, all that.

Regardless, she didn't start eating super healthy until recently, and then we regressed some today. Veggie and gluten free or not, pizza is still pizza. And that fried chicken piece definitely didn't make matters better. There was no pain or shortness of breath with the swollen leg, we made sure of that. As best we could, at least. Her blood pressure is better than it usually is, too. Other than what she ate today, there doesn't seem to be other possibilities now that I've calmed down and thought about it a little more. Not that I...y'know, am a doctor and know what it is or how to accurately find out, but still. Either way, we're calling doc tomorrow, and getting what we need.

You're doing just fine. Don't ever blame yourself for any of this.
Hopefully your mum can get moving around more. It's so important.

Get some epsom salts if you can when you shop next. Handy to have them on hand. They're very inexpensive and I find them so helpful. Just have to make sure that you don't use too much ... follow directions.

As I said get her to raise her leg higher than her heart for a while now. I'm hoping it's all good in the morning.

You take care there, hey? You've got a lot on your plate and you're such a great support for your mum.

Her leg's elevated on two big pillows, she's in bed for the night right now. It felt better now too after I felt it. I keep saying it, but it helps me cope: it's definitely getting less swollen. She took all her necessary medication-- gabapentin, took her b12, I'm refilling her daily medications right now for tomorrow, and we're looking forward to the call w/ doc tomorrow. I got a list with everything on it. Or all I can remember. I need to check the box on her dresser, I think that's the one with the epsom salts in it. Idk if it's actually epsom, or if it's bath salts, or even if there's a difference. But I'll check, both in the box and online just in case.

Thank you, Lara. Sincerely. Your words help this weary soul get by in his time of need... :) I'll do my best to care for myself, I can't imagine how much harder things would be for my mom without me. Frankly, I don't want to imagine.

I need to sleep soon so I'm not sleeping by daytime and can help my mom stay active, so I'll leave this as my last post for the night. But I truly, truly, truly appreciate your help. You and everyone else. This place has been an absolute godsend for me. I really don't know where we'd be without it. We're going to walk more, we're staying faaar far away from fried food and pizzas-- no matter how many veggies we put on it or how much gluten we take out of it, it doesn't seem to be helping (or at least it doesn't now, not after tonight). So we're going to increase our efforts in healthier dieting.

Thanks for your help, again. Truly!

Hey SoulfulYin,

I think Lara is right here and its the high salt content of fried chicken that has caused the problem and it's your mum's physical inactivity that has made her vulnerable to this. To avoid a further episode consider the following.

So get her moving or even simple leg elevation for a few minutes at a time may help.

Avoid salt.

Avoid processed foods that are high in salt.

Avoid processed/refined carbs, they encourage sodium/water retention.

Drink water. I appreciate she has restrictions

I think from memory you have a magnesium supplement, that's good to take

Potassium rich foods such as avocado and sweet potatoes and green leafy vegetables and tomatoes and bananas help reduce sodium levels.

Does she take B6 in a B multivit? That helps too, but not too much.

Dandelion tea is a natural diuretic.

Hope this helps.

Take care SoulfulYin.
I hope your mum appreciates all that you do for her.

Atty

I know earlier I said that would be my last post for the night, but I can't leave someone who's giving me useful advice hanging. :D

Can do. Starting tomorrow, I'll be making sure she walks for maybe 5-10 minutes, or as long as her legs will allow her to.

Avoiding salt like the plague, effective immediately.

We're going to make a list of things that are confirmed to not be processed and/or high in salt, and we'll try and make meals using that list.

Definitely avoiding processed/refined carbs, and probably just carbs in general.

She DOES have a restriction, but it's very likely we'll get it lifted by the end of tomorrow, on account of the nurse who called yesterday saying her lab results were all normal. She might be okay to drink water at a normal rate now. Additionally, is sparkling sugar-free water okay? It's La Croix, Pure Sparkling Water. Nutrition facts says it has 0 Total Fat, 0 Sodium, 0 Total Carbs and no sweeteners. She's been drinking that or regular water, with sliced up fruits/veggies sprinkled in there too.

I was on the impression we should avoid potassium since her amlodipine besylate seems to raise those levels. Maybe we should just be a little more careful with them, is the idea. Either way, we'll be careful! We have oranges, tropicana orange juice (which another diabetic friend also drinks and recommended).

She does not take B6, i do not know her levels so I was worried about giving her supplements when she didn't need them. Same with magnesium-- I'm afraid they both will exacerbate her neuropathy problems.

She has decaffeinated honey lemon chamomile green tea, we'll see about getting some dandelion tea too.

I hope so too. I'm sure it will-- at least a little. And I'm forever going to be grateful for you and everyone else's help in this endeavor. Thank you, truly.

She does, she appreciated all the nothing I did for her even before I started caring for her. I'm not proud to say it, I wasn't the best son. Kinda still far from that title, especially considering I let her eat that chicken. But my mom loved and still loves me like I am, and now she needs me to be better so she can get healthy, so I'm trying. I'll do all I can, for as long as I can. And then when she's better, I'm gonna turn my life around. Work at Costco or something, make money, make her proud. The whole shebang.

Point taken with amlodipine.

You deserve some sleep man.

Nos da ... as we say in Wales :)

Update for today
 

So, mom's leg is still a liiiittle swollen, but it has been gradually de-swelling. She walked for 15 minutes today, that was a good workout. We talked about her going to my grandma's to get better help and move some of the stress off of me. Originally we both didn't want her to go, in my case it's because I'm going to be stressed no matter where she goes-- short-term care, assisted living, or grandma's. It could be a place where she'd get literally every single thing she needs to recover safely and with no incident, and I'd be beside myself stressed until she got home. That, and grandma's also already taking care of my great grandma. She might not have the time to remind my mom to take her gabapentin when she needs to, or to exercise or that stuff. That's what I'm worried about, really. I can't be there all the time. Well, I could, but I...I guess I wouldn't want to. I still have to take care of the cats. And I mean it'd probably be easier for me to just go there and visit the cats 2 times a day, but I'd have to do it early and late, since one of them has to take a pill every 12 hours. I also have to refill their water fountain frequently.

But today, we decided she should go. Grandma can cook better meals than I ever could, even if the meal she brought us last night was something mom shouldn't eat. Grandma also frequently has relatives coming over. The interaction would be nice for mom, I think. She needs that. They could also probably help her remember things she needs to do, since most of the time the relatives visit to help with my great grandma. I'm happier having her to talk to so I'm not alone in the house, but I think she needs it more than I do. Additionally, outside isn't barred by stairs that are difficult for mom to traverse. There's an outside patio both in the front and the back, she'd be able to get fresh air without having to go up or down any steps.

She wouldn't stay for long, 3-4 days she says would be the longest. I'd visit probably every day, likely just to make sure she's exercising and taking her medications. I don't know. It's just, this is all rough for me. I guess either way it's gonna be. I'm just really worried, especially now after last night, that grandma will cook her something she can't have. Knowing my grandma, I don't doubt the possibility, even though she takes care of great grandma practically 24/7, and great gram is a diabetic. Idk. I guess I just can't help but to worry about mom, even when she's in likely far better hands than mine. Well, that and I hated being alone while she was in the hospital. This was even when we thought it would be as simple as them correcting her hyponatremia, and then her coming home completely fine.

We also just discussed a diet plan-- I don't know why we took so long to figure that out. Mom said they were going to call her and have her talk to a nutritionist sometime, but that never happened. So i guess now we have to take initiative here. On that topic, doc didn't call today. Mom must've been wrong when she said she'd call us on saturday about the results. Maybe they meant Monday, or something. She seemed pretty sure that doc was calling today until she didn't, then she said "maybe I remembered wrong" or something along those lines. Idk. Either way, it's aggravating. Idk what she can and can't have anymore. We could be 1 more meal from a rush to the ER, and we don't even know it.

Tonight we're having shrimp, potatoes and chicken baked in the oven. Mom's getting Mrs Dash seasoning substitutes to try, and the "I can't believe it's not butter" type of spread, just in case regular butter is a no-go. I'm going to make sure she doesn't put any salt on her food, but is pepper okay?

You might look into the Dash Diet.
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I have heard about it-- we're already using Dash seasonings with our food. I just hope mom's leg doesn't swell up again. I want to get this entire plan thing under way, I'm getting an app both on my phone and on hers to help her keep up with what she eats. But the problem is I don't even know what she needs. We haven't been recommended to a nutritionist so we have to just do everything on our own right now, at least until Monday-- but she won't be here Monday. I guess I can go visit her, though.

Well, I say that, but it already did a little, I think. She did have dill pickle chips, but only like 5-6 of them she said, and the full serving (which is ~20 chips) only has 180mg of sodium. Her leg started bloating a little again. I don't think it was as bad as it was last night, but this is still worrying. Although now that I've done a little checking her pills, she did seem to forget to take her amlodipine pill. The one for her blood pressure. She just took it now, so I guess we'll see if that helps. But still. I don't like this. The food we're eating has sodium too-- the oven-baked chicken, some shrimp, broccoli and some baked potatoes. what if it gets worse? What if she needs to go to the ER? Ugh, this is so stressful. She tells me not to worry, but it's not like I can just ignore this. I'm her caretaker.

Either way, she's eating the baked chicken with the Dash seasoning, some broccoli and a bit of shrimp seasoned with Dash too. Hope this helps. She also is drinking some water, within her restrictions at least. Maybe she doesn't need them anymore, though. Maybe that's why her leg is swelling. I know we walked today, too at about 4:50PM. 15 minutes.

Either way, I'm stressed, but she's going to my grandma's tomorrow. Maybe grandma will know what to do. I hope I'm just overreacting. I really do.

Quick update
 

So mom's been doing better, she's been more active (we've been walking about 6 minutes or so every hour starting from like 2-4PM and doing her exercises by 8-9PM to top it off, occasionally practicing the stairs). She was given a cane recently by one of the physical therapists that came to check on her a couple days ago-- she's been trying to use that more when we do our walks. She also places her walker a little further away from her bed so she has to get up and walk to it on her own when she moves around-- just little changes to be more active. Proud of our progress.

Still somewhat forgetful, but technically treatment for that (in the form of the B1 her doctor gave her at least, and the B12 i've been giving her) only started a little over a month ago. I think she's doing better on that front.

I just have a question-- what kind of Magnesium should I get her specifically? There's a couple different forms, and I'm a little nervous since too much magnesium can cause problems and I haven't been able to ask the doctor about it or anything yet. I know she probably does need at least a little on account of her having once been an alcoholic, but I don't know which kind to get her. I've been thinking about this Magnesium L-Threonate kind with Magtein or whatever the site's calling it to help her memory/overall brain function, but again I just don't know.

Edit(like 2 minutes later): I also forgot-- when mom did talk to her doctor and mentioned her leg swelling, she said it's likely mom doesn't have diabetes or even prediabetes, but did say if we wanted to find out for sure we could come over and get mom's A1C to find out what that is-- since that's different from blood glucose levels. Her leg does still do a little swelling, but it goes down a lot more when she's walking/exercising. Although I don't know if the doctor mentioned what actually was causing the swelling, since this is all just mom relaying what she remembers of her video chat, but she did say she's off the fluid restriction (which has also helped the swelling) and confirmed that all of her lab results were in fact normal. Mom's still avoiding salt, and is still drinking/eating sugar-free or low-salt free stuff. We're using the Dash seasonings whenever we make food for her to eat still. I actually tried some baked chicken with it-- not half bad!