Christie & Willie (GA)
Member Since 2010
Yesterday's Condo
Another healing zone start for the Dubs today. He's already btb, snoozing away next to me. No rest for the weary here as I'm back on DS shuttle duty. At least an early start at the office means getting home in time for a run or yoga and some yard work. The warm temps this March are wreaking havoc on my allergies though, so a stop at the drug store is in order today, and maybe a doctor's appointment as well. Boo hiss!
I think towards the end of this week, I will be adding a drop back on Willie's numbers (assuming they stay high greens/low blues). On Sunday, DS and I will be taking a one day train trip back home to Iowa, leaving around 7am, getting in at 10:45am, then departing at 6:30pm and returning back home around 10:30pm. My parents' anniversary is next Tuesday, and since she can't take any time off from her new job until May, and my DB and DSIL dealing with all the twin stuff, we didn't get an early start on getting tickets, and with gas prices and our schedule crunch, driving home for a weekend really wasn't an option. Rather than deal with a sitter coming in that day, I'm just going to go with kitty cubes and a big plate of fuds and just skip Willie's PM shot that day. I'd like to have his shed pretty full at that point to minimize the effects of the skipped shot, since he's been doing so well. We'll be starting a new pen right around then as well. For any newbies that might be reading this, please note that I'm able to do this because a) I have a lot of data and am very familiar with Willie's reaction to insulin, and b) that data shows that Willie has a very stable curve at this point and is not a diver... his reactions tend to be very predictable. If this weren't the case, adding a drop wouldn't be an option.
I'm also pleased to report that, for the second pen in a row, I've been able to get 60+ days out of our pen (antijinx is in order as I really would like to wait until Saturday to purchase a new pen!!). I think two things have gotten me here... first, is pen care. at EVERY shot time, my goal is to have the pen out of the fridge no longer than 2 minutes, and the insulin exposed to light for no more than 30 seconds or so, never holding the pen around the part at which the insulin is contained (so as to not warm it with body heat from my hand). Also, I keep it in the very back of the fridge upright in a coffee cup that is elevated on another jar so I can easily reach it. Second, in the past, once the pen is approaching/beyond 30 days, whenever Willie's numbers would start to creep upward, I think my natural inclination was to assume it was the insulin going bad, and I've simply suppressed that inclination and have made myself assume that it is the FD and not the pen and have adjusted the dose accordingly. A good example of this can be seen earlier this month. After a skipped shot on 2/24, Willie did see greens shortly thereafter, but his curve did widen so we were seeing preshot in the 140s to 150s. With the pen right around the 1 month mark, in the past, I'd have immediately assumed that the problem was failing insulin and would have tossed the pen. Instead, I upped the dose and found that his numbers came down. We hung out at that dose for over 30 cycles (mainly due to my not being around to test as much) and started seeing lower pre-shots, even earning a decrease just last week. And that's even with my habit of regularly shooting insulin back into the pen.
I share this because I know many here are on tight budgets, and while the method of FD management we practice here is very effective and I think contributes greatly to the health of our cats regardless of whether we ever see remission, it isn't cheap, and insulin can be the biggest cost. I think that with consistently meticulous handling of lantus, focusing on really minimizing time spent out of the fridge, exposure to light, and not wasting insulin (I used to draw 4-5 units each time and then get to the right dose, now I draw maybe a unit), you can easily extend the life of a pen if you're shooting at lower doses.
Okay, time to get ready for work... wishing all our LL friends a wonderful day!!
Another healing zone start for the Dubs today. He's already btb, snoozing away next to me. No rest for the weary here as I'm back on DS shuttle duty. At least an early start at the office means getting home in time for a run or yoga and some yard work. The warm temps this March are wreaking havoc on my allergies though, so a stop at the drug store is in order today, and maybe a doctor's appointment as well. Boo hiss!
I think towards the end of this week, I will be adding a drop back on Willie's numbers (assuming they stay high greens/low blues). On Sunday, DS and I will be taking a one day train trip back home to Iowa, leaving around 7am, getting in at 10:45am, then departing at 6:30pm and returning back home around 10:30pm. My parents' anniversary is next Tuesday, and since she can't take any time off from her new job until May, and my DB and DSIL dealing with all the twin stuff, we didn't get an early start on getting tickets, and with gas prices and our schedule crunch, driving home for a weekend really wasn't an option. Rather than deal with a sitter coming in that day, I'm just going to go with kitty cubes and a big plate of fuds and just skip Willie's PM shot that day. I'd like to have his shed pretty full at that point to minimize the effects of the skipped shot, since he's been doing so well. We'll be starting a new pen right around then as well. For any newbies that might be reading this, please note that I'm able to do this because a) I have a lot of data and am very familiar with Willie's reaction to insulin, and b) that data shows that Willie has a very stable curve at this point and is not a diver... his reactions tend to be very predictable. If this weren't the case, adding a drop wouldn't be an option.
I'm also pleased to report that, for the second pen in a row, I've been able to get 60+ days out of our pen (antijinx is in order as I really would like to wait until Saturday to purchase a new pen!!). I think two things have gotten me here... first, is pen care. at EVERY shot time, my goal is to have the pen out of the fridge no longer than 2 minutes, and the insulin exposed to light for no more than 30 seconds or so, never holding the pen around the part at which the insulin is contained (so as to not warm it with body heat from my hand). Also, I keep it in the very back of the fridge upright in a coffee cup that is elevated on another jar so I can easily reach it. Second, in the past, once the pen is approaching/beyond 30 days, whenever Willie's numbers would start to creep upward, I think my natural inclination was to assume it was the insulin going bad, and I've simply suppressed that inclination and have made myself assume that it is the FD and not the pen and have adjusted the dose accordingly. A good example of this can be seen earlier this month. After a skipped shot on 2/24, Willie did see greens shortly thereafter, but his curve did widen so we were seeing preshot in the 140s to 150s. With the pen right around the 1 month mark, in the past, I'd have immediately assumed that the problem was failing insulin and would have tossed the pen. Instead, I upped the dose and found that his numbers came down. We hung out at that dose for over 30 cycles (mainly due to my not being around to test as much) and started seeing lower pre-shots, even earning a decrease just last week. And that's even with my habit of regularly shooting insulin back into the pen.
I share this because I know many here are on tight budgets, and while the method of FD management we practice here is very effective and I think contributes greatly to the health of our cats regardless of whether we ever see remission, it isn't cheap, and insulin can be the biggest cost. I think that with consistently meticulous handling of lantus, focusing on really minimizing time spent out of the fridge, exposure to light, and not wasting insulin (I used to draw 4-5 units each time and then get to the right dose, now I draw maybe a unit), you can easily extend the life of a pen if you're shooting at lower doses.
Okay, time to get ready for work... wishing all our LL friends a wonderful day!!
