Mom's been progressing little by little this week. She even said that they told her her kidneys are working better. Hopefully, she'll be off dialysis before long. She's continued to walk a few steps during her therapy sessions. Her feet are still swollen, so she can't wear her walking brace on her bad foot. But, she's still trying to walk anyway. She's doing great.

Today she said she wasn't feeling too well. Jenny, Curt and and kids came to visit. Dad was there, too. Dad hurt his back earlier this week trying to help mom shift in bed. Not a good sign. Don't want both of them out of commission. Mom said they went down to the library where there's more room to visit. Mom had dad lay down on the couch. Mom said she started feeling light headed and "weird." They took her back to her room and had the nurse get her back in bed. The nurse was checking her out, had the head on her bed lower than her feet, thinking that would help. She still felt funny. Finally, the nurse came in to check her blood sugar levels. Whoa, they were almost up to 400. Not good, not good at all.

Today's lesson: Blood sugar levels.

Question: What is the normal range for blood sugar levels?

Answer: In a normal individual we measure blood sugar under different circumstances. What we call fasting blood sugar or blood glucose levels is usually done six to eight hours after the last meal. So it's most commonly done before breakfast in the morning; and the normal range there is 70 to 100 milligrams per deciliter. Now when you eat a meal, blood sugar generally rises and in a normal individual it usually does not get above a 135 to 140 milligrams per deciliter. So there is a fairly narrow range of blood sugar throughout the entire day.

So, if blood sugar gets up above 180 to 200, then it exceeds the capacity of the kidneys to reabsorb the glucose and we begin to spill glucose into the urine. And if it gets way up high, up in the 400s or even 500s, it can be associated with some alteration in mental function. And in this situation, if it persists for a long time, we can actually see mental changes as well.

Fortunately, They were able to give mom insulin right away. She was resting well tonight, but still a little wiped out. I hope they can get her blood sugar levels under control soon.

Mom says thank you to the Primary, Young Women and Young Men for the great posters they made her. They are hanging on the wall in her room. She says they really lift her spirits when she sees them.

She's still doing dialysis Monday, Wednesday and Friday's for now. That's from 9am to 12pm. She's usually back by noon. Her weekly schedule is still listed below.