Newbie Checklist draft - input needed

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Gator & H (GA)

Gator & H (GA)

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Please see the New PZI Sticky for the Newbie Checklist and PZI Links & Reading. This topic is still where to post your comments/additions/suggestions etc.

Thank you all again for your input. :smile:
 
Thanks for putting this together, Gator & Joanna for your softening. I'll read it all again tomorrow, but my first thought is if the "onset, nadir, duration" section of our other stickie should be moved to this stickie. Keep the other stickie as pricing and where to buy??? Maybe? Just a suggestion.
 
Did I say what a great job you did on this draft? You're so awesome!!! Thanks for taking the time to put this together. It took a lot of time and effort. It's very much appreciated.
:thumbup
 
I'd make it the 1st post in an overall sticky, and then cut & paste our current sticky stuff into that thread, and have that replace the current sticky. I think we could do all that ourselves, and then ask a Mod to sticky the new one and remove the old one? That would also solve our (in)ability to edit everything in the current sticky. I guess I should go see what's up top in our current sticky before I commit to that. :lol: Seems like the checklist should be up top though, no?

As a formatting comment (I realize it might not be at that stage yet, so sorry if I'm jumping the gun), I'd put the #s in bold, and I'd bold the key topic for each #d point - either putting that 1st, or making sure it's somewhere in the 1st line and stands out for easy reading.

e.g. something like:

1) Get your home testing on! This can be challenging to learn. Newbie Kits with meters and testing supplies are available here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=19528 . And here are links that detail how to achieve home testing: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287 . Even if you are still mastering home testing, read on! You can tackle other items on the checklist while you are still learning to test. Reading about curves can be found here: http://felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

2) Get a spreadsheet going! Once you are home testing, you will hopefully be recording your results in a spreadsheet that we can all view. It is ideal if you link to that spreadsheet [“SS”] in your signature. Instructions for this are in the Tech Support Forum Stickies here:
viewforum.php?f=6

3) Dosing. Generally PZI is suggested to start at 1 unit twice per day.
 
Or maybe one sticky that starts with a very short post at top that is the key PZI reading links (moving syringe conversion stuff to a later post - not suggesting that isn't important!!! we all know that is one of the most used topics - but seems like sort of a stage 2 item for newbies...?), followed by Newbie Checklist as the 2nd post, and then everything else after that? I'm thinking we should make it so the top post (or top section if we want it all in one post with some divider lines) is short enough you can still see Newbie Checklist is there without having to scroll, but still ensuring that the PZI links don't get buried too far down?

Just brainstorming...

Hopefully some newbies will chime in too with feedback on what they need to see 1st when they get here. I'm sure it's overwhelming and there's only enough brainspace to read like 3 things on day one, so we should make sure the things that are most critical are the easiest to find. Which I'm thinking would be the PZI reading links and newbie checklist? Not sure if my perspective is too warped at this point :lol: to be accurate.

And now that I reread this thread :) I like the idea too of a separate sticky for pricing & where to buy, and then everything else in a separate sticky. Probably many of us wouldn't think to look in a general sticky for pricing info, so might be useful if it has it's own topic name for easy finding.
 
wow thanks for doing this!

I would like the "health link" to possibly have a brief list of what one might find when they click it because the jargon is a biggie to many newbies. For example:

hypo info
our Jargon
food charts
transitioning to wet
More...

OR since most of these you already linked directly, maybe just a direct link to the jargon list. It helps us oldsters :lol:
and I love Dr Lisa's food website,

THANK YOU SO MUCH AWESOME Ill take another look tomorrow when I'm less tired
 
Joanna,
You have written so many awesome posts/guides/advice over the years. Is there any way I can convince you to hunt down some of your better and more pertinent to newbies posts to add to the links. Like "wait and test" and "shoot only on a rising number" so many more? Even ones that apply to certain scenarios if we label those scenarios. I'm going to try to dig up your last on "delta" and add that. I'd really like to use this as an opportunity too to bring some of the better & more frequent scenarios posts up front for those that are in the reading mood but to hopefully avoid them having to hunt and peck in here to find them. And have it as a place for us to refer to that newbies or even intermediates can look to find the links.

Links still needed for [incomplete]:
- Wait and test
- shoot only on rising number
- working P test
- remission guide, how to test, how long to wait, etc.
- delta
- TID explanation??
- BAM!
- WOW!
- liver training
- panicky liver
- more, more, more please provide
PLEASE PLEASE FIND LINKS TO THESE AND OTHERS

I was just reading your post for Ashley and was again just like "wow." :smile:

Nancy, I included a link now in my list of things that might cause wonky numbers to the Acro sticky that explains were to get testing. I'm not sure if it would be too scary to put something [a link to acro our one of your posts] in this about Acro?

Lori, I would like to add your few "teaching moment" scenarios you outlined please dig them up.

Everyone, please provide your favorite links - this is the chance to bring the best forward. If you have posted particularly good advice or seen another post with particularly good advice bring it forward.

And HEY ALL YOU NEWBIES OUT THERE! I'm waiting to hear from YOU what you want in this guide, so pipe up OK?
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence! :-D You must have caught Ashley's post before I edited most of it out - I realized it made no sense since she is already at shot 2 of this dose, and not at shot 1. ohmygod_smile

I don't have the energy to dig back through things, but if you are motivated, I have no issue with it. You should know that much of what I know I learned from Chriscleo & Terri & Lucy when I got here. There are some great posts from each of them, they were VERY patient with explaining things to me, as I asked a h*ck of a lot of questions when I got here. They explained all the wait & shoot stuff, discussed the deltas and what % they like, detailed onset/nadir timing, how often to spot test and what are the best times, the WOW factor, BAM doses, etc., etc., etc. You may already be aware that Chriscleo wrote a detailed PZI guide at one point that for unknown reasons was never posted. She has much more experience than I do, but I don't know if she is on the board much or not these days. I haven't seen Terri around much for a while. (And incidentally did Lori disappear after our Day of Drama a little while ago? Hope she comes back soon!!!)

I think Acro should be mentioned if it isn't already. Possibly in the "Help, I'm not getting results!" (#10) section? Or somewhere in an Additional Info section. We've seen a few I think (?) come through here.
 
Joanna,
I don't have the motivation. And it will be better and more efficient for the folks that actually wrote the posts to find them. I've been trying to dig up mine that I like. This effort is a bit of a swan song here [at least for the immediate future]. I think it's important that this get done and committed. I'm committed to trying to martial the resources here to get this accomplished. There might be few of us around shortly. I think it is important that newbies have some reference to what's going on in different scenarios and some reference to our accumulated best work.

I'll PM Chris - [edit: she refuses to help]

Terri is busy with "school work" currently.

I'll PM Hope and Aria & see if she can't come up with good TID posts.
 
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=29427
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=29447

these are some fun games you can use to motivate peeps to think about some 'what if' scenarios and learn by playing.
it's just a good way to open a learning discussion for newbie's and old timers alike since we all could use a think tank like talk from time to time.

justin you put together such a great condenced version of feline diabetes 101 that i can't really add to it.
 
This is awesome you guys. We definately need it. I've jotted down a few things but havn't pulled them together yet. I wish our newer members would add their input as it is fresher in their memories. Marcy & Klinger had a great suggestion in the PZ discussion, I just don't remember what it was now.

You guys ROCK!
 
Search PZI group only for those old posts you really liked:
http://tinyurl.com/24apetv
Place + in front of a word which must be found and - in front of a word which must not be found. Put a list of words separated by | into brackets if only one of the words must be found. Use * as a wildcard for partial matches. Example [without the “]: “+wait +and +shoot”
 
I couldn't find my post...but I found the post that you commented on what I suggested, Robin.

Marcy & Klinger had some very good suggestions about receiving newbies, we need to post our no shoot bg of 200 for new people until they have enough data to support a lower no shoot number. Also the 12/12 schelule but also include info about our flexibility with shooting early or late.
Click to expand...
 
that post alone is a topic for an entire discussion. about the 200 no shoot #.
 
lori and tom said:
that post alone is a topic for an entire discussion. about the 200 no shoot #.
Click to expand...
Well Lori get busy with the search function that I just posted a direct link to search PZI only and instructions and find a discussion we've had about it. I'm sure it's happened. :smile: :smile:
 
If you expand on it in another topic [even an old topic] or find an old topic with it expanded on, then it can be linked in the checklist in an appropriate place [potentially with #4].
 
justin it does not work with the +sign in front of each word with the phrase 'no shoot number'. i really did look.
 
The search feature is taking a little time. It needs time to grind away on it. Be patient.

Put "+no +shoot +number" like that without the " into the "Search for keywords:" area.

Make sure "PZI" is selected in the "Search in forums:" area.

The click the "Search" button. Wait....

If needed, use more limiting functions to get where you need including adding the word "200" perhaps to your list.

I wish I knew how to search for phrases with the board. I'm lacking motivation to search out the Internets for that.

I get 25+ pages of results. For that query in PZI alone. You can expand the snippet of the posts by expanding "Return first:"
 
Thought I would mention that Hope just lost her civie. :sad: So if you know her you might drop her a line.

I'm attempting to martial some resources here. But it's going to take some time to work with people's schedules. This probably won't get completed for a couple weeks. But your continued input on this in the mean time can be integrated and will help me so I do not have to deal with a dump of material all at once.

Just got some input from a PZI old timer. Here's some more points to potentially address:
--The basics: food/hometesting (links to the info)
--The impact of food on diabetes (gotta be something in the wiki)
--Insulin basics and how those basics relate to PZI ( http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_tre ... z17NB2AUSQ )--check with other FDMB member to see about something that's already been written
--newly diagnosed vs insulin switchers (issues, such as newly diagnosed don't need to worry about panicky livers while insulin switchers generally do)
etc etc
 
Gator,

Been lurking and following this thread. Applaud your efforts. Just an idea - I find the search function much more user friendly on the old board. It still works.
 
Thanks Sue. I assume you are talking about the google search tool on the old board? I'll consider putting in a link to that search tool [or seeing if there is just a way to embed it]. From my experience it does not allow one to just search a specific forum [PZI in this case] nor allow any of the other limiting functions [date, author etc etc]. If you know a way to make it cooperate with you to limit the results then let me know.

Google does have a way to limit but the URL by using the inurl: operator. For instance one can search "blood glucose inurl:http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/" . However but because the board works [and Rebecca has not set up the special simple URL stuff for this board] one cannot search for instance "blood glucose inurl:http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/PZI" . Also I remember Rebecca saying something like she has prevented Google from spidering if not the entire board then portions of it. I'm not sure if this is true anymore.
 
You obviously know more about computers than I do. But, I don't think the old PZI forum was terribly busy, so it might be better to search the whole site. For instance, when I search PZI starting dose, I get the general info sites first (Like felinediabetes.com and wiki) and then specific posts. No, I don't know how to isolate the search function on the old board into an URL. I just like it better, as I can see the subject line, and not every post that has PZI in it.

I am retired and spend quite a bit of time on the computer. If you want me to search for specific things, let me know and I will see what I can do.
 
Yea, sure!

The list of things that I would like to have links to right now is :
viewtopic.php?p=325670#p325670

Also also:
viewtopic.php?p=326750#p326750

And hopefully the best of. If we or you find better ones than the ones I have already linked to then they can replace any that I've already links to. Multiple links to different topics on the same concept are fine too.

And just any scenarios or posts that sick out to you as good teaching moments. Heck and any topics you think are important to address. I would like this to be a collaboration and not just me coming up with what I think is important. :smile:

List what you find kind of like how I have with a short tag line about what's in that post then the link. Then I can integrate it.

Thank you Sue for your participation. :smile: :smile:

BTW if you are searching for phrases in google you can use "" to limit for that phrase such as:
"blood glucose" or PZI "liver training"
 
Okay, I think I get it. It is very hard to search and find anything that fits. And when you do, it is usually part of a long thread with extraneous stuff. Or part of an existing document that has lots of other information.

I can find some explanations for "wait and test" for example:

Q4.4. My cat's pre-shot level was way below the usual value. Should I give the injection?
A4.4. There's no hard and fast rule, but if you don't have data on how your cat responds to insulin, here are some general guidelines. Below 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), don't give insulin. Between 150 and 200 (8.3-11.1 mmol/L), you have three options: a.) give nothing; b.) give a token dose (10-25% of the usual dose); c.) feed as usual, test in a couple of hours, and make a decision based on that value. Above 200 (11.1 mmol/L) but below the cat's normal pre-shot value, a reduced dose might be wise. In all cases, if you are reducing or eliminating insulin, it's wise to check for ketones in the urine. Above the normal pre-shot value, give the usual dose, but if the pre-shot value is consistently elevated, it's a good idea to schedule a full glucose curve to see whether a change in dose or insulin is appropriate. In most cases, the target "peak" value should not be below 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L), and for some cats it might be higher.

But it isn't terribly current or easy to understand. And we are usually suggesting to wait 30 minutes and retest, not a couple of hours.

Instead of hunting up previous posts, is there a way to write a paragraph that explains about wait and test and have it be a document with an URL? (I know there is, I just don't know how to do it.) I would be willing to write up some of the more obvious ones, like wait and test, shoot rising number etc. if you want. Then you can edit them. That is, if there is a way to attach them with an url, not just as a cut and paste paragraph.

Am I making any sense?
 
and as it happens we have a wait and test going on right now with charliemeow.
 
If you want to create a new topic and call it "Wait and Test explanation" please feel free to do so. Then we can just link to it in the links part. :smile: Then if folks want they can respond to those new topics you created. Then you can go back and edit your own explanation of you want. :smile:

And for that matter if you want to write about you can.

If it is part of a long thread that is fine. There is a way to link to the exact post within a topic/thread. I use the theme that looks more like the old board and just to the left of the "Posted: Day Month Date, Year Time am/pm" is a little page looking icon. If you click on the icon it takes you directly to that post. Or you can right click that little icon and then click on "copy shortcut" or "Copy link location" then you can paste that link into one of your posts here in this topic with the short tag line.

Whew, hope that makes sense.

Even if you can't manage that then post the topic and I'll find that post and link directly to it myself.

Thank you Thank you thank you for getting your hands dirty with this and really digging it. It's a huge help.

On the wait and test from above the question part might also address the no shoot if you want to do it in a Q&A style [what if my cat is just below the "no shoot"? for instance]. I don't know, I don't want to make things too complicated.
 
Sorry, had no luck with the link feature. So here is a long post:

When you get a low preshot number

When you get a number under 200 and you have very little data to support shooting at that number, you can wait and test instead of giving the usual dose. Wait 30 minutes and test again. If the cat is over 200 and that represents a rise in blood sugar values, you can shoot. It is best to avoid feeding during this wait time, so you do not get a rise in values due to the food. This will be a day when you do want to get some extra tests in to see if the low number is part of a pattern of lower bg values. Be sure to get a mid cycle number at your cat’s nadir if known. If not known, around 6 hours after the shot was given.

If you get a low number at the preshot (80-150), you would follow the same procedure, but you would want to reduce the dose of insulin by as much as one half when the number has risen to 200.



Is my cat headed to remission?

When you start to get lower blood glucose levels in general, and you are feeding wet, low carb and reducing doses, your cat may be nearing regulation/remission.

Your cat’s body may be starting to produce its own insulin. An indicator of this pancreas action can be either sudden low PS values or extended duration of insulin- those flat numbers after peak. The pancreas may work off and on- what some call a "sputtering pancreas".

This can get complicated because you are trying to decide what, if any, dose to give at lower numbers. Wiki articles describe this period as “a game of chicken”. It is time to do quite a bit of testing. You may want to choose a blood glucose level (be it 120 or 150 or 180) at or above which to administer insulin. The decision of whether to administer insulin in those situations should be affected by knowledge of when the cat last ate and whether the elevated level could be the result of food.

You have to start to think of food in a different way; once the pancreas is starting to work, food can actually bring DOWN the BG, because it can stimulate the pancreas to release insulin. One way to check if the pancreas is waking up is to feed a meal and if 2 hours or so after the meal, the BG lowers, the pancreas may be starting to work. At this point it can also be helpful to divide the food into multiple small meals, to stimulate the pancreas without overwhelming it with a lot of food at once.

I have borrowed liberally from various old posts and wiki. Please feel free to edit.
 
Wow thanks Sue!!! That actually covers a least a couple topics which is great. What I may do is take that info and copy and paste it into a new topic [and of course credit you]. I'm very happy to have your input too Sue because I know you spend time in health and see a LOT of newbies :smile:

Also, I wanted to ask about thoughts on adding something to the actual checklist about testing every PS and encouraging testing. Something like:

- Testing. It is recommended that you test at least before every shot or "PS." The more you test likely the faster you can adjust dosing to hopefully more quickly regulate your kitty. With PZI we also tend to like to concentrate on the +3 and +6 and then hours adjoining those hours. Complete curves [testing every 2 hours for 12 hours] should be achieved as frequently as you have time to do so. For those with busy schedules, hopefully perhaps take one weekend day a week in the beginning to achieve this. Here is some reading on achieving BG curves: http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

The above is just off the top of my head, please feel free to take it and edit/suggest/etc.
 
Please don't credit me. I stole and compiled from other people's posts.

The info on pre shot sounds good.

The other ones I saw on your list were basic food (Janet and Binky's list?), impact of food (Dr. Lisa's site?). Do you also want just a few paragraphs on beginning hometesting? There are lots of sites to send people but maybe you want just a few paragraphs with urls?
 
Here is one for hometesting. Let me know if there is something else you need.


What do I need to hometest?
A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

Why should I hometest?
Blood glucose readings at home will not be artificially elevated by the stress of the trip to the vet.

Doing pre shot and mid cycle bg readings will help you gauge how effectively the insulin is working and to evaluate how changes in diet, feeding schedule and dose are impacting your cat.

When your cat or dog doesn't seem right, you can test the bg and know whether you are dealing with hypoglycemia (bg dangerously low) or hyperglycemia (bg dangerously high) and respond accordingly. A lower than normal pre shot bg reading can also warn you that the usual dose of insulin may be too much.

Doing curves at home is less expensive and more accurate than those done at the vet. Besides the stress factor, vets usually don’t do 24 hour curves. Getting bg readings during the night can be essential to regulating.

How do I get the first blood glucose reading?

If you are using a meter new to you, try it out on yourself first.

Make sure you know where you are going to poke Where to poke Put a dab of Vaseline on the spot.

Have all your supplies ready including loaded lancet device, the rice sack (or whatever you are going to use to warm the ear), the meter with strips and cat treats. It also helps to have something behind the ear to poke against, perhaps the rice sack or a folded kleenix.

Warm the ear. After it is nice and warm, poke on the spot where the Vaseline is. If you don’t get a spot of blood right away, “milk” the ear, pushing from the bottom up.

Once you get blood, or even if you don’t, reward the kitty with sweet words and a treat.

Be warned that very few people get blood on the first try. The ear seems to learn to bleed, so keep trying.

This video shows you the technique, with a very compliant cat. Video for hometesting

If your cat doesn’t want to sit still for the test, you can try the burrito. Wrap your cat in a towel with only her head showing. If you have a very resistant cat, you can try the clothespin technique Clothespin trick
 
I'm a newbie, and I have to say the idea of not giving a shot seems scary to me. Of course, Sam just spent a full week in the hospital due to DKA, so doing anything that might send him back there freaks me out. I do understand that feeding LC wet food (which I'm doing as of 5 pm today) can drastically change BG readings, and I don't want to send Sam into hypo, either.

I did 4 bg readings today (the first full day since he's been home from the hospital) and tomorrow he has a check-up at the vet, so I probably won't get a full curve in tomorrow either. (He's currently on 2 units of Prozinc and his lowest reading today was 264)

I just feel...overwhelmed. If there was anyway to make the info easier to digest, maybe highlighting the most important things, that would be my suggestion. I'm fairly intelligent, but reading through all this info makes my head hurt.
 
Thank you Kristen for your input. Sorry about the head hurt. :smile: And I'm so sorry you had to go though DKA. The whole situation of feline DM can be overwhelming - it was absolutely for us too in the beginning.

The most important things are in the numbered list - so digest that first. The other links are like additional reading and may not even be part of the "checklist" when it is done and may be more of an addendum. But for the sake of things right now, they are together so that hopefully we can get as much input as possible. But the links are good info and background - but maybe wait until tomorrow to tackle them.

I will admit it is a very sharp learning curve but it does get easier. Conversely, even I'm still learning. So I don't think it ever ends - it just gets a whole lot easier.

As for "no shoot." This is a topic that we have addressed a couple times here in PZI. I am personally not a big fan of "no shoot" and keytones in the picture are a great example of outlier situations to that advice that should be kept in mind. The U100 syringes really help to when trying to reduce your dosing and get reliable incriments. IMHO at a minimum during the start you should at LEAST 1/2 your dose if under 200 and at least 1/3 your dose if under 150 and no-shoot if under 100. Even then that might not be cautious enough. I think as a general rule we would like to be more cautious about overshooting insulin in the beginning. As anyone gets more experience they are likely to shoot less PZI as their BG get lower [particularly lower than 200] and likely shoot insulin under 200 too. Once you get more experience and data you will be able to better tell more exactly what dose Painter may need at say as PS of 186 or 148.

As this is a working draft I really haven't put too much energy into formatting. Hopefully here in a couple weeks when some more info is added I can polish this thing up/off.

You are the first official newbie to comment on this topic. So your input is valuable.

With those ketones do keep Painer hydrated - put extra water in his food [definitely thinner but not quite soupy]. You may also want to do SubQ LRS liquids at home. There are several topics about this in PZI lately. You can get a lesson from your vet. I'm hopping the food sitch for you will help the keytone sitch too.

And welcome to PZI.
 
Thanks, Gator. I'm doing sub-q fluids with Sam already as he had extremely high kidney values that went down to normal with fluid therapy (part of the reason he was in the hospital for 7 days) but then approx. doubled when they weaned him off the fluid. I've had a CRF cat before and it was a heart breaking experience as she went downhill very fast no matter what we did. I'm hoping Sam's levels will have stabilized and will find more out about that tomorrow.

I'll go back through the list and reread tomorrow to see what else I can absorb. I think my brain has had all it can take for today. ;-)
 
You may want to ask your vet about what they propose you do if Painter's BGs come down. Not that vets always have the right answers but I do think their advice should always be weighed. For instance ours, after I had to repeatedly prod him since he was not a fan of our hometesting, said I should no-shoot at 100. :shock: Well some days later I just happened to be testing and he was below 100. So that started our adventure.
 
I'm not a fan of skipping a shot unless they are in non-diabetic #s and someone's schedule does not allow them to wait & retest (i.e. too low IMO to shoot even a token dose, and no chance to manage a delayed shot - in that case, I don't see much choice but to skip the shot).

If we are recommending skipped shots as an acceptable option, I think we need to caveat it that it is ONLY appropriate if your cat does not have ketones and not super-sick, or if you simply have no other option for whatever reason. It's one thing to skip a shot with a cat who is doing pretty well and gets a non-diabetic # for a PS and you have to leave for work. It's another thing to skip a shot for a cat who is really sick & has ketones, or if you are home all day (or up all night :lol: ) and are able to easily retest, or shoot a reduced dose on a lower PS and do some data collecting.

Thanks for the input Kristen, that is great to hear! Just focus on what you need to for each step and don't worry about trying to absorb everything at once. It's definitely a learning curve, but you learn a lot of it along the way as you do things and gather data and then it starts making sense. If you aren't already, I'd encourage you to post daily or semi-daily with updates and any questions you have. There are great people here who can help you out, and that way you get more personalized suggestions, and hopefully answers to any immediate questions.

I think the Top 10 list is the attempt to get the most important info out there. This particular thread may have gotten overwhelming at this point. Maybe it's time to get the Top 10 into its own thread & stickied? Even if it's work in progress, it might stand out better if it's not part of a long discussion post? Up to you of course Gator :mrgreen: ... just a thought.
 
Gator, my cat's name is Sam. My last name is Painter. When I signed up, I didn't know people usually put their cat's names in their username, so I just went with what I'd remember. ;o)
 
Joanna,
One issue here is that I'm not being very effective at FDMB topics lately :smile: My brain is just shot on it and I need to take a rest and get some inspiration. Also I'm hoping for input shortly [like within the next week or so] from Terri and maybe Hope too when she is feeling better.

I could take what Sue wrote and break it out and link it into this.

Anyway if you can think of another/better way to write #4 please have at it. Currently it is:
4) Pick your “no-shoot” number. This is the Pre-Shot [“PS”] number at which you will not give insulin. For beginners this is usually between 200 and 150 [usually 200 or slightly below]. You can reduce this number as you gain experience.

If no links are set up in separate topics yet then just put a [see link to xyz] as a place holder and I'll put it in later. If you like you can even create xyz topic to be linked to or find link that already describe what you need. Heck if it's not called "no shot" but something like "the point you might want to think about no shooting but with some caveats for your schedule" then I'm game for that ;-) lol I do need a break.

Maybe it should read???:
4) Watch for a PS lower then 200 and know your options. Please read this topic explaining your options: [see link to PS under 200 options for beginners place holder]

Then in that topic explain much like the checklist does what the options are. Guess who I think the best person to write those options would be? ;-) As you know, those options are something I think you are particularly gifted at Joanna. And Sue has already pulled together a lot of verbiage that could be applied to that effort. If not then I'm sure I would get around to it eventually [but I would do 1/2 as good a job as you Joanna :smile: ].

As a side note I think it has been pretty clear since we created this topic that newbies are reading it, so I really think this effort is very well spent.
 
Here's another suggestion: A brief explanation of the spread sheet, not just how to set it up and attach it to your signature, but an explanation of how to use it, what it means, etc, would be great. Maybe even a sample of one partially filled out. I just looked at the blank spread sheet template and it's a little confusing. To the point that I'm not going to use it. Right now, I'm just keeping track of Sam's reading on a sheet of paper with date, time and reading. But on that SS, I see AMPS, I see a bunch of numbers that don't instantly make sense and BG readings are already listed at the top. I'm sure I'm missing something, but for someone like me who's just starting out, it seems overly complicated.
 
One of the best ways to learn here is to look at other people's spreadsheets which can be found is just about everyone's signatures. I'll considder a note about that.

Some of us older folks don't have our SS in our sigs. And Some of us older folks test waaaay less than a newbie would be suggested to test too just because we have/had gotten the hang of it. That's one of the reasons I don't like to put my SS in my sig is that it's not the best example for newbies. Robin's SS is a good one to look at if I remember.

Do link yours in your signature when you get the mind frame. :smile:
 
I'm hoping to get a working template soon, so I'll post as soon as I do. Gator, that Hydrogen's chicken stew recipe on the Know What You Feed Your Cat site - is that yours? I'm thinking I might give that a shot, but was wondering if the liver could be beef instead of chicken? Sam loves beef liver.

Sorry, I know I'm getting this thread off topic.
 
I think we should add a blurb about expanding their comments section. Include a WCR every day including what they tried and why they tried it, did it work or not. That way they can always look back on their ss to remind themselves of what they did and why. Newbies looking at their ss in the future will get a better understanding of how it all works together.

I didn't do that in mine and I now regret it since whatever I was thinking worked, at least for Harley but now I don't remember why or what. CRS.
 
OK guys, I'm about to make this live. Here's what I propose:

A NEW PZI Sticky.

First post in the topic is an "Index" that would link to the other posts likely below it [and potentially others]

[INDEX]
- Newbie Checklist [at bottom will contain blurb about U100s from current]
- PZI Links and Reading [split the links from current checklist and PZI sticky]
- Onset, Duration, Nadir
- PZI Sourcing and cost


I've also updated some of the order and the #2 food topic. Plus put a lot of lipstick on this pig.

Let me know if this concept with the index and one Sticky with an index as the first post works for you all?
 
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