Bear 5-2/PMPS 408/+2.25 291/Life Crisis Need Advice For Bear

Bear & Lora

Bear & Lora

Member Since 2018
Previous Day

I have to leave for Seattle tomorrow and I am not sure for how many days I will be gone.
My son has been in and out of the ER for three days now with double vision and a multitude of other symptoms and has gone through a battery of different tests, with no answers as of yet.

I am mainly directing this post to @Wendy&Neko because she has been monitoring Bear since the beginning of his change from Prozinc to Lantus, but I welcome any and all advice from others and I know Wendy wants many experienced eyes and input also.

This is what Bear's situation will be while I am away. My DH is away from home work/driving from 10 to 13 hrs daily.
The only thing he will be able to do for certain is AM preshot test, shot and PM preshot test, shot, PM might run an hour late sometimes.

Things to take into consideration for Bear's reduced dose is majority of the time Bear is NOT Carb sensitive.
I have kept meticulous records of Bear's low events and food sensitivity plus some of feeding the curve.
Anyone that would like to advise please look at Bear's most recent low event on 4-18.

I would like to feel fairly confident that Bear will be ok while I'm gone and sad to say would like to aim for yellow and blue level because Bear can be volatile and dramatic at green #'s.
I would like to be balanced but I lean toward conservative in this situation.

As far as DKA since Bear is an extremely bouncy kitty majority and frequently bounces to red my ketone testing has shown me trace readings which occur only rarely.
In the last 14 days that Bear has had red numbers within either AM or PM Cycle, I estimate 13 days with only trace ketones once on 4-18.
I do test fairly regularly for ketones but haven't been recording negative for ketone tests on SS.
Bear will be over eating while I am gone so calories can be taken out of the DKA equation.
The auto feeder will be set up daily and nightly.

I also need to adjust Bear's dosing time safely from his 9 to 9 schedule to 5:30 to 5:30.

I will admit I feel twice the amount of anxiety with concerns for the well being of both my only child and Bear.
My mother will be well taken care of by her very much appreciated, competent sister.


Thank you before hand for any and all advice.

@Wendy&Neko @Sienne and Gabby (GA)
 
Krystina & Nelli said:
ANY, any possibility you can bring Bear with you?
I flew often with Molley (last and 1st kitty). She was fine. With safety; mommy.
Click to expand...
No this is spur of the moment and tickets are purchased with no time to get Bear anti anxiety meds for a plane ride.
I have to run for mom's Dr's appt now and have too many people to pack and additional home prep all in less than a day. :banghead:
 
Lora, I am so sorry to hear about your son’s eyes. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

I am glad you tagged Sienne too, as she has often had to leave Gabby in the hands of a petsitter and Gabby was a cat who only let one person test her. I was thinking something like 3.0 units. For one, it’s easy to draw on the line. Second, it gives you some margin away from greens. You also need to think about what to do if Bear gives a lower preshot in the AM than you are comfortable shooting and having DH leave for the day. Any neighbours, relatives or vet tech’s around that could be backup for DH if for some reason he cannot make shot time?

As for timing, I am not so worried about the late shots, but rather the morning after if Jeff is late getting home one night. Will he be able to be move the following morning shot time out 1/2 an hour so it’s only 11.5 hours between shots?

Did you shoot at his usual 9 am this morning? Will you be around for the tomorrow AM shot? Just wondering about how to move the shot back.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your son's eyes. I hope you get some answers soon.
:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:

I haven't been following Bear's journey close enough to offer specific dosing advice. However, I had a somewhat similar situation happen years ago. I had just administered 2 units on an 87 when my husband came downstairs complaining of a "wooshing" sound in his head, feeling strange, and knowing something was really wrong with him. He had a brain aneurysm. To make a long story short, this involved some quick thinking, a ride in an ambulance, surgery and several weeks in the hospital, coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and no one else to give a ketone prone cat her shots.

I had to deviate from "protocol" out of necessity in order to keep Alex safe. It's ok. Do whatever is necessary to keep Bear safe... this may include skipping shots, not shooting on a 12/12 schedule, not dosing consistently, and leaving food out for him in case he feels himself going too low... whatever.

Look at Alex's 2011 spreadsheet beginning Nov. 7th to see what I mean. I'm not saying you'll have to handle things as I did, but rather letting you know it's ok to do some of the things you generally wouldn't do... or have been told not to do. His treatment won't be perfect, as you can see Alex's wasn't, but the important part of all this is to get insulin into him while keeping him safe.

You can get back on track when the crisis is over.


Take care.
Wishing the best to your family...
:bighug:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Lora, I am so sorry to hear about your son’s eyes. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

I am glad you tagged Sienne too, as she has often had to leave Gabby in the hands of a petsitter and Gabby was a cat who only let one person test her. I was thinking something like 3.0 units. For one, it’s easy to draw on the line. Second, it gives you some margin away from greens. You also need to think about what to do if Bear gives a lower preshot in the AM than you are comfortable shooting and having DH leave for the day. Any neighbours, relatives or vet tech’s around that could be backup for DH if for some reason he cannot make shot time?

As for timing, I am not so worried about the late shots, but rather the morning after if Jeff is late getting home one night. Will he be able to be move the following morning shot time out 1/2 an hour so it’s only 11.5 hours between shots?

Did you shoot at his usual 9 am this morning? Will you be around for the tomorrow AM shot? Just wondering about how to move the shot back.
Click to expand...
Okay, let's see, You have definitely brought up things that my frenzied mind didn't think of.
I am on my phone which is limiting.
I did shoot Bear at 9. I can shoot him as late as 7:30 before leaving for the airport.
Just Jeff to handle Bear so we are looking at reductions or NS for low numbers because Jeff leaves the house at 5:30-35. Jeff will have to put his foot down and refuse later construction load deliveries so it should be rare for him to have to shoot Bear late. I will phone monitor Jeff on his schedule as I can.
I will look later on the laptop to see if I missed anything you asked.
 
Keeping you and your son in my thoughts and prayers. You are a master at keeping multiple balls in the air Lora so I know you've got this. You could leave Jeff your sign on for the board so he can get some help if he needs it in your absence. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I am glad Jill shared her experiences and what she did for dosing during her crisis. The easiest way to get back on schedule is to essentially skip one shot and spread the other out between now and tomorrow at 5:30 pm. So if you go to bed late, maybe one around 11 or 12 pm, or +14, +15, and the following one tomorrow night at +18.5 or +17.5 which would be 5:30 PM. Or if you are up early tomorrow morning, skip tonight and sleep/pack tonight and shoot at +20.5 or 5:30 AM tomorrow. Start the new dose on your next shot to start to drain the depot, though the delay will do that too.

I had though of trying to not skip, but it would have meant too many back to back early shots and more risky. I would rather you don’t have to worry about Bear diving. Let Bear become fat with plenty of food out. Whatever it takes to keep him safe.

Take care of you.:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Still working on things.
We didn't get home till after 10 pm from dropping my mother off.
Who knew how much stuff needs to go with an elder with health issues, wow.

Thank you all for your warm responses. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Jill thank you for sharing and I did take a look at Alex's SS.
It brought to my mind walking on a tightrope with the rope swaying in the wind.
I could tell that time was fraught with difficulty.

Wendy thank you for all your help.
We are going with your advice to skip and adjust to 5:30 am and reduce to 3u.

Thank you Linda.
Jeff does know sign in and pass.
He posts every big once in a while Bear's daily and (he should sign his name.)

I'll be back as soon as I can.
 
Like Wendy, I was looking at Bear's SS and thinking 3.0u. If your DH is good with testing and shooting and he can stay close to a schedule, you should be fine. Remind him that if he gets off schedule, he will need to adjust for the next shot time (15 min at each shot or 30 min once a day -- preferably at a time when he can monitor).

We're here for both you and Jeff. You might want to let him know how to tag people if you think that would be helpful. I've done those emergency flights to take care of a family member and it's a lot to handle. Take care of yourself.
 
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