SO!!! She ate and will re test as per usual. But looks like my luck shooting same dose on blues ran out. That said OF COURSE I am traveling later today and overnight...I will be home to test till around 3 pm. Need some advice on what to tell the sitter to reduce to. I’m sure we need more numbers to asses. This is crazy. She really knows when I am leaving. Happens every single time!! This time she’s psychic ... I don’t even have a suitcase out yet CAN anyone help me edit so that colors are correct? Switched to human meter on 4/4 so only 1 lime today but I can’t change the color
Yikes. It's too bad you have to leave. I'd be inclined to say shoot through the bounce and then see if she needs a reduction tomorrow. But I wouldn't do that without being home to keep an eye on her just in case. You should start tracking if these do coincide with your travels. They sure seem to. And I absolutely believe cats are psychic.
I was so waiting to be able to shoot through and I’ve been fouled. That said I lowered to 1.5 tonight and tomorrow am. Would you suggest I go right back up upon my return? Dang!! Just when I thought I was making progress. Arrrhgh!!
Any chance the sitter can test in the morning? I'd be inclined to go 1.8ish in the morning, then maybe 2.2 tomorrow evening, and then 2.6 the next morning. Although I suppose vets tell people to make full unit moves all the time. That just seems kind of harsh to me though.
I know. I really wanted to only pull back to 2U today but 38 was low and I could tell she felt it for the first time. .In the past when she’s been hypo she was pretty Unaffected clinically. Pretty sure no matter what we shot tonight there will be a big bounce. I think I’m gonna keep AM at 1.5 so I don’t freak. Even though I’m freaking now cause I’m not with her. Then when I’m home late afternoon tomorrow assuming numbers reflect I may go right back up to 2.4 or 2.5... thoughts ? I am sick to my stomach that I had to leave and as exhausted as I am mentally.. no sleep for me tonight. Also, can you advise on how I can make the colors correspond to numbers on my SS now that I am using human meter ? Seeing those 3 limes that aren’t really limes today is ugly....
Lol...by the way, if it's seeming like she's feeling it, bust out the high carb food. There is a time and place for it, and anything under 40, or anytime they're seeing woozy is the right time for some carbs. As for the spreadsheet, if you put an apostrophe in front of the number, you can then choose "fill color" (the little bucket icon) and make it any color you want. I know this is easier said then done, but try not to stress. You got her through it just fine today. When I was traveling more for work, I got nanny cams for the house and found it incredibly comforting to be able to look in on them from whatever state I was in. You can buy some simple ones for like $25 off amazon. I started with one and just put it in the bedroom where the kitties sleep. It records motion so even if I couldn't see them at the moment I peeked in, I could see that they had walked into the room or whatever which gave me some reassurance they were okay. Hugs to you, and try to get some sleep.
Thank you. Guess I should have busted out the HC even after she came up a bit with LC. -I was dumb. As for changing the fill color... won’t let me in those particular cells. Weird ....as you can see, I’ve managed to highlight and color the rest of my sheet. Perhaps it’s a setting or something in those cells? It seems once a color auto fills it won’t let you change ..Also- .what are your thoughts on moving the dose right back up quickly assuming the #s dictate that?
I don't think it was dumb. She came back up by your next test, and that's what matters. When Sam doesn't seem bothered by a low number I use LC, and if he's close to nadir, or just in the 40's....but I did give him some FF gravy twice when he seemed bothered by how he was feeling and still had a ways to go before nadir. It's not usually necessary, but once in awhile it's the right thing to do. The cells are programmed, but if you put the apostrophe before the number, so enter '38 instead of just 38, it will trick the programming and then you can color it however you want. Personally, I wouldn't move a full unit all at once, although again, vets tell caregivers to do that all the time. I think at the most I'd step it up a half unit at a time instead. It just means two cycles instead of one. I don't think it would be dangerous to increase a full unit, I just think it would make her feel lousy. Hormones are powerful, and dramatic changes make us feel like crap (think jet lag and PMS as two easy examples), so I just imagine it would have the same impact on a cat. Your call though. If you get home and find really high numbers, that probably feels pretty lousy too, so it could be a coin toss which kind of lousy she'll tolerate better.
Great advice here @Djamila thank you so much always. You always manage to talk me off the ledge while giving great advice
There is a separate SS for human meter's but the only ranges that change are the dark green and lime green. Dark green becomes 50 - 99 and lime green becomes <50. If you really want to change it, then you have to remove the conditional formatting from that cell but be careful if you remove it as it can remove that condition for the entire SS. Ask me how I found that out . Thankfully, I did know how to fix it too lol. Don't have too much fun on that trampoline Ms. Little .
Hahhaha I’m not so worried to change it I guess as long as my advisors aka- you guys - know we did have an ugly lime but only one. As for the trampoline .... my legs are tired! Thanks for checking in
Oh, sweet Little! It hurts my eyes to see that red. Poor baby! (and welcome home, mama!). Did you have a good trip? I'm not bothered by the colors since I've been following the whole journey and know about the switch in meters. When you are getting ready to switch to Lantus though, we can tag someone who can help sort out your SS so you can start with the right one over there. You're certainly not the only person who has switched meters and there are wise, techy people who can help.
Trip sucked as I was a mess worrying. I was pretty sure I was going to see the red today by dropping dose so drastic but that lime came out of no where so I had to be sure she was safe ... I Swear I don’t think I ever loved “ anyone”as much as I love this girl. Broke my heart o leave
Oh do I understand that! Sam didn't eat a bite all day today, and never showed up on the cameras. So I spent the entire afternoon worried about him until I could finally come home and find him. He's having a pancreatitis flare, so i shouldn't be surprised that he wasn't eating and wasn't walking around, but still.... too many hours without being able to check on my sweet boy. I'm glad you're back home! Little will get back on track. You can up to her regular dose in the morning and she'll be back to normal soon enough. Do you have the Lantus already and are just waiting to see if she gets some better numbers? or just the script so far?
Ohhh poor Sam they really mess with our emotions. Hopefully his panc clears up soon. Waiting on script. Do I need a different script if I decide on pens?
When I ordered from Mark's in Canada yes, they needed the vet to specify which type I was allowed to have. So I just talked to the vet and explained - my vet is pretty great about letting me take the lead on the diabetes stuff now so it was easy.
Do you think it makes sense to use pens and draw with regular U 100? Don’t want to make it too confusing for times I need a sitter. Does Lantus have a longer shelf life than PZI when opened? If so maybe I start with vial.
The pens are essentially a smaller vial. They have the same kind of rubber topper (just smaller) and you draw the dose out the same way. It's super easy and not at all confusing once you see one. If the vet will write the script for the pens, I would go that route since you don't have to worry about it going bad. Lantus is quite pricey at the outset, and it will go bad before you can use the whole vial. I hate wasting things that cost that much. That's the advantage of the pens - since you only open one at a time, you avoid all the waste. I was nervous about figuring it out when I was first starting on Lantus, but once the pen arrived and I looked at it I started laughing because I realized it was exactly the same thing, just smaller. All that stress for nothing.
Lol. It’s like you are in my brain... I watched the video and panicked. Did you follow the 30 day rules s discard an open pen? I also read somewhere NOT to store open pen in fridge but that seems wrong ... did you use pen needle or regular syringe? If using syringe don’t inject air? Sorry to keep bugging you but I swear you keep me sane
You can use the pen longer than 30 days. You can store it in the fridge since you'll use it longer than humans do (they take larger doses so go through it faster). I used the u100 syringes to draw out the dose. The pen needle only works for full units. Nope, don't inject air. and don't push insulin back into the pen. If you draw too much you remove the needle and push out the excess insulin into the sink. You're never bugging me. It's much better to ask than to mess up! Plus, we work on a pay-it-forward system here. Everything you learn, you'll someday pass on to the next person. That's how the board keeps working!
Thank you so much. I truly value all you have taught me and hope one day I am confident enough to give advice.
Lisa, I can post the Lantus video I've been putting up for people considering switching . One pen lasts us more than 30 days and I keep it upright (standing in a little mug padded with paper towels, with the cap on, in the refrigerator. Also, unlike Prozinc, you don't have to mix anything. The pen is ready to draw from when you take off the cap .
Thank you. That is super helpful. Not ready for the Lantus switch yet as I am waiting on the script and have some travel booked so won’t be until June. So here is the question .. she was doing fairly well on 2.6 until the crash on the 15th. She’s been at 2.5 again for 5 cycles and numbers not good. Do I dare try 2.6 again? She did pretty good till that day. Could that low have been a “one off?”
Being a "one off" is definitely a possibility. With long term kitties (more than six months since diagnosis), some folks decide that they need three lime greens on a dose before they reduce the dose. That's only for people who are able to be home a lot and test a lot. (you would qualify) Personally, I find that a little aggressive, but then I don't have a cat that is prone to random dives. If I did, and if I wasn't at work all day, I would probably consider it. Kris had to deal with similar shenanigans from Teasel. He either ran too high, or randomly and without warning dove down into the 30's. She just had to make her peace with the fact that both of those things were going to happen, and there wasn't a d---n thing she was going to be able to do to stop it. Some cats just like the drama. I would probably say to go back up to 2.6, and then just know that one of these cycles Little is going to mix it up on you.
Yes. As I thought. A bit scary but... I’m going in will wait till am. Thanks for confining what I was thinking.
