Help For Molly # 17

Continuing on from previous threads.
@MrWorfMen's Mom

 

Got it!

 

Nice PMPS tonight. Word of caution.....that flat yellow cycle today may be forecasting an active cycle tonight so keep an eye on Molly.

 

I was up at +8 to check on her, I see I jumped ahead on the thread should be 17 not 18 . Can Molly have turkey today?

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

# on title doesn't matter but if you want to change it for the sake of continuity you can. Use the Thread tools tab up on the right and pick edit title.

Happy Thanksgiving! And of course Molly can have turkey (just no onion/garlic). She gets to celebrate too!

Lovely cycle last night and beautiful start today!

 

Another bounce?

 

It appears so. She's not doing it as often and they are not lasting as long now so just wait it out. You get to relax today.

 

What should I do for this morning?

 

I'd give her regular dose of 0.5u but if you prefer you could reduce to 0.25u for one time only. Check her before you leave and if need be, leave down higher carb food.

 

Safe to give her .50 this morning?

 

That's pretty much the same pre-shot as 2 days ago so you should be fine with 0.5u. Test before you leave and leave out MC food if she's dropped at all.

 

Ok, that’s what I figured but thought I’d ask

 

She’s dropped

 

I was scared to leave for work this morning, where she dropped low. I fed her MC and retested and still low. So I put more MC down for her. She was still down at lunch a bit. I assume I decrease tonight? where she hit the 2.8 this morning?

 

Sorry Adrienne. Just seeing this now. Although technically Molly didn't drop below 50 and earn reduction, you can reduce to 0.25u. That was surprising that she dropped off that much in the first hour this AM. Not sure if you have HC food around but some FF Gravy lovers is a good option to keep handy for times like this. That way you can carb her up quickly.

 

No worries I was worried about you when you weren’t online.
I do have HC FF but mixed it in with the pate, I guess I shouldn’t have done that. I reduced tonight see what Happens,
I’m always afraid to give her HC don’t want her to go high BG

 

No worries. I have a cold and haven't been on the board other than morning and evening around shot times for the last few days. I really expected Molly would either have a nice cycle today like the other day or she'd go up. Never in my wildest dreams did I think she'd drop that much. Next time you get a reading under 100 at PS before work, don't feed her and retest in 20 to 30 minutes to see if she is still dropping or going up on her own. She pulled a fast one this AM. Let's see how she does on the 0.25u dose.

 

Ok, feel better soon!
I was surprised she dropped that much too

 

Not sure what to do for tonight? I see she finished her Dinner food. But don’t know when

 

You can give her the 0.25u but get a +1 test to see if which way she is headed. She may just surf or she could surprise you but as long as you have strips and food, it would be good to keep up the momentum unless monitoring if necessary is not possible. If monitoring could be a problem, then you could do a one time reduction down to 0.10u.

 

Ok we’re going out for supper. But she’s eating so I’ll test after she’s done

 

I'm confused. Was that 88 a fasting BG or influenced by food?

 

88 is fasting she’s 4.8 now after eating

 

If she just finished eating, it won't show up in her BG yet. Leave her a bit of MC food while you are out and then check when you get back. She will be fine.

 

Ok I left MC out and gave her .10

 

For future reference, you didn't need to leave MC out if you only gave the reduced dose of 0.10u. No harm done but I only suggested the MC not knowing how long you'd be out for dinner.

 

Ok, I was worried from yesterday where she dropped lower.

 

@adrienne, just an FYI. I won't be home until sometime between 9:30 and 10pm tonight. I'll check in when in I get back but if you need advice re: the evening dose before that, add a "?" to your title to get some attention.

 

@MrWorfMen's Mom need a little advice. This coming Saturday we have a concert. Have to leave town by 5pm not sure what to do with Molly? where I test her at 6pm

 

You can skip the shot but your best option would be to back up your shot time to 5pm (4:45) slowly over a few cycles before the concert. You can back up by 30 minutes each day or 15 minutes per cycle. The other option would be doing a couple of extended cycles but that really depends on when you expect to be home from the concert.

So for example you could shoot as follows:

Option 1 - Small time adjustments
Thurs AM - shoot regular time @ 6:00am
Thurs PM - shoot 15 minutes early @ 5:45pm
Fri AM - 5:45AM
Fri PM - shoot 30 minutes early @ 5:15PM
Sat AM - shoot @ 5:15AM
Sat PM - shoot 30 minutes early @ 4:45PM
Sun AM - back to regular schedule @ 6AM

Option 2 - Extended cycles (two 18 hour cycles)
Shoot regular time Sat AM (6AM)
Skip Sat. PM shot at 6PM and give shot when you return from concert (assume roughly MN or 01AM)
Sunday skip AM dose and go back to regular shot time Sunday night at 6pm

 

Ok, not sure which one to pick. I'm assuming we'll be home between midnight- 1pm. But I'm also scared she'll drop. I won't be there for her

 

Don't fret about it now. See what she's up to in the earlier part of the week. You don't have to decide until Thursday night if you decide to go with the small time adjustments. And if anything changes after that, and Molly is running lowish or coming out of a bounce, the other option of skipping is OK too. Safety trumps everything else.

 

Don’t know what to think?

 

With that drop last night from 15.4 to 10.9 in 3 hours, I can't help but wonder how low Molly might have gone last night. I think you are just seeing a second bounce compounded on the one from yesterday's low during the day. Ride it out. She'll be back on track very soon.

If you see a drop of 4 or more mmol in the early part of the cycle, it would be a good idea to set an alarm and test Molly again around +6 but if that is not possible, carb her up a bit with some MC food to keep her coasting without dropping off a lot.

 

Yes, I felt guilty and should’ve set an alarm last night. I’ve been so tired lately. Hopefully she’ll be in the blues and greens again.

 

Molly will see blues and greens soon enough. Unfortunately this can be a hilly road but patience always pays off. I know with my girl, there were times I'd set an alarm and I would sleep through it. It happens so if need be, just carb her up a wee bit and get your rest. She needs you so don't discount your own wellbeing.

 

Tonight was the night to start Molly early. For the concert on Saturday, but I won't be home til 6:30pm

 

So what about doing the 2 extended cycles instead?

 

Ya I will have to do the extended

 

Beware those flat yellows. If you see this, grab a test before leaving home to see where Molly is headed.

 

What's a flat yellow? I try to watch for it but not sure. I also gave her MC this morning before I left. I wasn't sure if I'd be home for lunch. Weather was crappy this morning

 

268 last night at pre-shot, 292 at +3, and 268 pre-shot this AM are all basically the same readings given meter variance. That is flat yellow. Looks like she came down today but not too much. Always a good idea to leave out more or higher carb if you have any question about getting home to test especially when Molly starts out the cycle at a lower pre-shot.

 

Reminder the concert is tonight

 

Are you online? @MrWorfMen's Mom

 

Do I decrease tonight? also I'm running into some problems. I have noticed lately that when I leave food out for Molly. For when I am not home she won't eat it until I'm home. So for example this morning I left food out for her in case she dropped, in which she did. But she ate her Dinner when I was home for lunch. Not sure what to do about that?
With winter fast approaching there is going to be days. That I won't be able to make it home for lunch. I don't know what to do when that happens, especially if she won't eat.

 

That's interesting that Molly didn't dig into her food but I'm not totally surprised. Molly may be getting more used to lower BG and therefore not experiencing that urgent need to eat. I know from personal experience with the Freestyle meter that it reads a bit low in low range so while we aren't about to guess by how much or not use those numbers as an alert, my girl too did not show any sign of hunger at that level on the Freestyle Lite meter once she had become accustomed to the lower numbers.
I would reduce tonight to 0.10u and let's see what Molly can do with the lower dose. She is doing great and you are handling her extremely well. I know not being able to get home at lunch to check on her is a concern but I'm pretty sure if her BG dropped much more she would have been digging into the food. The fact that she ate once you got home may be indicative that she was just at the threshold of eating.

 

Adrienne, I may not be back home by your shot time (getting snow tires on car) so if there is any concern/question about shooting today, please post over on the Lantus forum. You can title your post "today's date, Molly and then her AMPS and ? dose advice" or something similar and you will get lots of support. I'll check in on you when I get home. Just wondering if Molly might be lower this AM because of all those yellows the last couple of cycles and don't want you to think I forgot you.

 

Ok, I was wondering if we should increase dosage? Maybe tonight or tomorrow morning? Depending on BG

 

I wouldn't increase tonight. Its been 6 cycles...tonight will be 7th cycle since the lower green the other day. Molly seems to often take 6 or sometimes 7 or 8 cycles to fully clear a bounce so I wouldn't increase just yet. Maybe tomorrow morning but definitely not tonight. I might even consider holding off until tomorrow night given you can't monitor through the day tomorrow.

 

Ok, she’s not a fan of Halloween and the trick or treaters

 

I take it your weather is decent. Here it was raining torrents. Don't usually see many kids anyway but it was a desert out there tonight.

 

Yes, weather is perfect tonight cool but nice.

 

@MrWorfMen's Mom will you be online in 1/2hr? I may need advice for tonight. Also tomorrow I’ll be 2 hours behind you. We don’t turn the clocks back here.

 

I remember your lack of time change and yes I'm here. I won't however be around for shot time tomorrow night as curling has started now and I am out till around about 8pm your time every Sunday night.

It would be a good idea to post in the Lantus forum so that if I am not around when you need assistance, folks there can get to know you and Molly. If you want to continue posting here, that's fine but I think we should start a new thread at least every couple of days instead of these long threads. I just worry that you are going to need help some time when I am not around and want to make sure you get full benefit of the board. I'll still be checking for posts and involved..... but you'd have more support.

 

Ok, so start a new thread? And how do I post in the Lantus forum? In case I do it wrong

 

Just click on the Lantus forum and use a title of the "Date, Molly, AMPS # or PMPS # and then if there is a question click on the prefix and use the "?" and dose advice or whatever might be the case. They are a little more regimented title wise over there because there are lots of posts but every one filters for questions first and gets those posts looked after and then they cheer each other on. Otherwise it works just like this forum.

 

This is what frustrates me. No one answers me on the Latus board.

 

Adrienne, if you have a dosing question, include that info in your title and that will get more attention. You can add the "?" prefix and just say "Dose advice needed" or something similar. If all you post is the AMPS, then no one knows you have a question and those with questions will get first attention. That said, if you only posted a few minutes ago, it may take a few minutes for the post to be seen and responded to. I happen to know when you are going to post so I check for your posts. It's going to take a few posts for folks on Lantus to get to know and start following Molly's progress and they will become familiar with your timing. In the meantime, you can always tag me. I'm still following your sweet little girl but I don't want you to need assistance and I don't happen to be around. I just want to make sure you have support when needed but I am certainly not abandoning you and Molly!

 

Ok, so tag you in the Latus if I have a question? Will other people still respond if your tagged?Sorry I got use to my own thread and you and Kris helping me. This is all new to me again and I can be impatient .
I don't seemed like you were abandoning me.

 

Yes others will respond if they see you have a question. It does take a bit of getting used to but the Lantus community is the largest board so there is usually someone around even in the middle of the night most of the time. Those folks will look for posts elsewhere too but Lantus just tends to get the most traffic and a lot of folks don't necessarily go into Health to see if anyone needs help particularly during normal waking hours in North America.
Now with the time change, I won't be around on Sunday nights when you usually shoot so if you need help then, it would be nice to have some others familiar with Molly and her tendencies so you can get help if needed. It also never hurts to get different perspectives.

One other thing we should do is fix your spreadsheet from last weekend with the concert and extended cycles. It doesn't really reflect what happened then but we can fix it when you are home and have few minutes. Let me know when and I'll walk you through it.

 

Ok, I'm at work but have time to fix the spreadsheet. I was also thinking with the New Year approaching. Do I create a new spreadsheet? I like using the world mmol. I will have to use the US for the lantus board? I'll start a new thread

 

Your spreadsheet does the conversion from mmol to us automatically so no worries. I'll have to look at how you deal with the New Year on our sheets. I used a US meter in my later years so never had to convert it. I know someone who can fix it for you but I'll play with it and see if I can figure that out.

What time did you shoot on the Saturday night/Sunday AM of the concert? Looking at the SS I think you might have shot around 3 am but right now it looks like you skipped 2 consecutive shots which you didn't. Then we need to know what time you shot on the Sunday evening which I presume was at the usual shot time. Is that about right?

 

We got home at midnight so I gave Molly insulin then. Then at regular time Sunday evening. It felt good to sleep in past 6am lol. Not get up to test her or shoot. It was a little break for us both.

 

I'm sure you did a PMPS before shooting at MN but you have a reading in the +10 day cell and then next one is at +6 during the night cycle. Is the +6 (12.2 mmol) her PMPS?

 

Yes, The +10 was before we left for the concert. Then the +6 was when we came home at midnight (12.2) then I gave her insulin. So do I move the 12.2 to the PMPS?

 

Yes. Move it over but also put an "@ + 15" in the cell along with the number so we know it was an extended cycle (late shot). Everything after that stays as is. You will have to manually colour the PMPS cell yellow because as soon as you add the extra text in, the auto colour feature won't work. You colour it by clicking on the paint can up on tool bar and select the yellow while that cell is highlighted.