Question on skipping doses?

[tobakett]

Hello,

So I just found out next week Friday I won 2 tickets to a really fancy zoo gala in the area. The trouble is, it starts at 7pm and its an hour to hour and a half drive, depending on traffic. Gizmo's shot time is usually 6:30. So far, I have not been able to find anyone who is willing to learn how to test/shoot/feed for us, and I am really hoping not to miss out on what would be a pretty rare treat for us, these are usually REALLY pricey tickets.

What I am trying to figure out, is would it be better to shoot an hour/hour 15 mins early, or just skip the dose, or if I can't find someone am I just stuck at home without a babysitter?

I haven't posted a daily update in like a week mostly because things have been uneventful. I couldn't run a curve this weekend because of plans and then on what was supposed to be curve day, a medical emergency with a human friend, so he's still at 1.25 and his numbers are....meh. Not terrible but not good either. I really wanted to try and jump in on TR over the holiday weekend but the friend emergency kinda threw that out of wack. I think I need to raise him back up to 1.5 but I'm scared to since last time he was at 1.5 he almost went hypo, though that might have been the depot from the 1.75 clearing his system, I'm not sure.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Can you start moving shots up a little between now and the show? I had a monthly meeting that started 1/2 hour before regular shot time. I would start moving Neko's shot up by 15 minutes a shot, giving myself enough time so that by meeting day, her shot time gave me enough time to shoot and head out the door. I also had a couple regattas that were even more off my schedule so that took a little longer to get things on schedule. I didn't worry so much about getting back on schedule, just shot an hour or two late.

The gala sounds fun. The other thing to explore is what happens if you arrive 1/2 hour late? Since it's a gala, I'm sure they are flexible that not everyone arrive precisely on time.

As for dose, you do need to get a better idea of how this dose is doing. As he's shown you, he can have yellow or pink preshots, with low greens in the middle. Any chance you could get into the habit of grabbing a test just before you turn out the lights to go to bed, each and every night? Even a +2 test will provide valuable data. Sorry about your friend. I hope it turned out OK.

 

[Amanda & Shmee]

I hope your friend is ok Gen
I think Wendys idea of moving the shot is a great idea, if its possible for you.

Can you start moving shots up a little between now and the show? I had a monthly meeting that started 1/2 hour before regular shot time. I would start moving Neko's shot up by 15 minutes a shot, giving myself enough time so that by meeting day, her shot time gave me enough time to shoot and head out the door.

I was actually curious about this too. I have a few events scheduled where I should be there at 9pm, but that is his shot time. So I could do; 9pm, 8:45am, 8:30pm, 8:15am, then 8pm? So it would only take two days to move them up or down by a full hour? Just want to be sure I am understanding correctly. This shouldn't affect their numbers too much?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I just bumped a post on getting back on schedule. It included an example of having a late shot then moving your shot back up. It's the opposite example to what you want to do, which is shoot earlier, then move the shot time back. Either works. I found moving things 15 minutes a shot had no impact. Some people have tried the 1/2 hour once a day thing and found more impact there, but I didn't. ECID.

 

[tobakett]

Thanks all, friend is okay, just had a scare fortunately.

I hadn't even thought about trying to move up the shots...thats a great idea! The rest of the week (should) be pretty stable so that should be doable since I have plenty of time to gradually shift it and then will have the weekend to shift it back. To make sure I understand, if I try to aim for a lets say a 5:15 shot time, it would look like this:

Wed AM - 6:30 <- normal
Wed PM - 6:15
Thurs AM - 6:00
Thurs PM - 5:45
Fri AM - 5:30
Fri PM - 5:15 <-goal
Sat AM - 5:30
Sat PM - 5:45
Sun AM - 6:00
Sun PM - 6:15
Mon AM 6:30 <-back to normal, just in time for workweek

Hrmm...this also might free up a future possibility for if I do want to see my family near holidays (since I have come to the reality that OTJ by Xmas is probably not realistic, and that I have to accept he may not get there ever). My ex hub, who the cats have known their whole life, is willing to help out (hes just out of town that Friday unfortunately) but his work schedule is 5am to 2pm, so not so conductive to my shoot schedule. But with enough prep, I could slowly shift him to an earlier schedule and then shift back once I return (having me wake up early to do AM shots and having him stop by after work to do PM shots until they are back at a time I am home from work). This actually takes a ginormous weight off my shoulders. I'm good at prep, I'm good at planning ahead, that's kinda my forte.

I'm also going to work on trying to get before bed numbers a bit more. I really want to try and get to TR as soon as I can, the hiccup right now is having another 3 days off where I can curve for 6 cycles (unless I am misunderstanding how it works)

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Yes, you have the schedule correct. That plus an autofeeder to make sure kitty is safe while gone, really helped give me a life back.

As for TR, you don't need 3 days of curves. What you need, at a minimum, is 4 tests a day which is the 2 preshots plus two others, one in each of the cycles.

 

[tobakett]

Oh, well, I really misinterpreted that. Getting tests between AM and PM shots will be tricky on work days (most I can probably get are +1 or maybe the rare +11 given the amount of time I am gone due to commute and traffic. But between PM and AM I can get more tests, since that's just a matter of staying up late or waking up early.

I'm gonna have to re-read that again with the new understanding. On a "Normal" work day I have to leave by 7:15am and am lucky if I get home by 6pm, but if it's just the first few days I need the tests I can time it for weekends.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Even a +11 test can help. Just get what data you can during the work day, and make it up with extra tests at night or the weekend. The Sticky Note on doing TR with a full time job has some tips to help.