? I need some suggestions please

Bellas_mom_2020

Bellas_mom_2020

Member Since 2024
Good morning,

My mom will be watching Bella when me and my husband go away a few days in April and this will be her first time with Bella being diabetic. I’m going tonight and staying over so I can show her the routine.

What are some ways I can help prepare my mom? Am I able to pre-fill the syringes for her? The 0.75 is so hard to read. If they can’t be prefilled what else can we do? We will be gone Wednesday-Saturday and I want to make sure she’s comfortable.
 
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No, you can't pre-fill the syringes. See these:

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/preloading-syringes.95587/#p1023442
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prefilling-syringes.121959/
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-member-lantus-insulin-prefill-the-syringe.226102/

0.5 units is an easier dose to measure. I would have someone give a lower and easier to measure dose than to try to eyeball the regular dose and accidentally measure too much insulin and not realize it. Bgs might a little higher than usual for a few days but it's not the end of the world. Just refill the depot when you return from vacation.

I would leave a dummy syringe filled with colored water (a drop of food dye in water. Should be dark enough to see in the syringe barrel but not too dark so the line markings are hard to read) to the 0.5 unit mark (or whatever dose you end up choosing) so your mom can compare her drawn up syringe to it and make sure she has the correct amount of insulin before injecting.
 
Yeah for some time away :cat:
Insulin needs can change between now and when you leave. When in April will you be away? How long will you be away? Will your Mom also be testing Bella?
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
@Bellas_mom_2020
Hi Jen I'll let others to give you suggestions on how to prepare your mom
:cat:
Since you are following the SLGS dosing method she has earned a reduction by dropping below 90 last night with that BG of 83 last night her morning you should have given Bella 0.5 units this morning
I'll tag a few members to confirm that
@Bandit's Mom
@tiffmaxee
@Angela & Cleo
Click to expand...

I feel like that’s the part that confuses me. How does she earn the reduction if she gets 1 low number like that? And then this morning it was 367 which i know was a bounce. (Getting better with the terms)
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Yeah for some time away :cat:
Insulin needs can change between now and when you leave. When in April will you be away? How long will you be away? Will your Mom also be testing Bella?
Click to expand...

I know im so excited for a few days away. My husband is a little nervous but I know my mom will do great watching Bella. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with her and my mom’s house is big so Bella has lots of space to roam around. We call it her vacation home :). We will be away the 3rd and coming home the 6th but not sure when on the 6th. And yes my mom will be testing her, I’m going to show her how to do it. Hopefully Bella cooperates.
 
squeem3 said:
No, you can't pre-fill the syringes. See these:

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/preloading-syringes.95587/#p1023442
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prefilling-syringes.121959/
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-member-lantus-insulin-prefill-the-syringe.226102/

0.5 units is an easier dose to measure. I would have someone give a lower and easier to measure dose than to try to eyeball the regular dose and accidentally measure too much insulin and not realize it. Bgs might a little higher than usual for a few days but it's not the end of the world. Just refill the depot when you return from vacation.

I would leave a dummy syringe filled with colored water (a drop of food dye in water. Should be dark enough to see in the syringe barrel but not too dark so the line markings are hard to read) to the 0.5 unit mark (or whatever dose you end up choosing) so your mom can compare her drawn up syringe to it and make sure she has the correct amount of insulin before injecting.
Click to expand...

I think I saw someone in the group say they would put a colored tape on the syringe on the line where the dose needed to be. I can do the dummy syringe, that’s a good idea.
 
Hi Jen,
I use a lighting pad and a free-standing magnifying glass (and a caliper to make sure!)
20240316223156.jpg


So much easier to see the lines on a syringe. ;)

Hope you find a way that makes you comfortable being away and enjoy your holiday! :bighug:
 
Mikanmama said:
Hi Jen,
I use a lighting pad and a free-standing magnifying glass (and a caliper to make sure!)
20240316223156.jpg


So much easier to see the lines on a syringe. ;)

Hope you find a way that makes you comfortable being away and enjoy your holiday! :bighug:
Click to expand...

I feel like this would help me a lot too. The 0.75 is so hard to read. I don’t know what a caliper is but my mom does have a magnifying glass.
 
Hi Jen, it's a little soon to determine what dose Bella will need while you are away 4/3-4/6.
It's great that your Mom is willing to test and shoot so you can have some time :bighug:.
Let us know how your Mom does with testing and shooting. That will help determine whether to keep her on the same dose she will be on or maybe give a vacation dose. :)
 
Bellas_mom_2020 said:
I feel like this would help me a lot too. The 0.75 is so hard to read. I don’t know what a caliper is but my mom does have a magnifying glass.
Click to expand...
Caliper is an instrument that can give you a precious distance measurement in mm. That looks like this.
20240316225815.jpg



You can see how many mm is per unit for your syringe and set the caliper for the particular unit mm.
In my case, I measured that a syringe has 1.34mm per 1 unit. So to give Mikan 2.5 unit, I calibrate my caliper to 3.35mm.

20240316225827.jpg

After drawing insulin into the syringe, I check to see if I got this right!

Easy ;)
 
Be sure to cover all your bases too. I would make sure she has a hypo kit and knows exactly what to do if she hits super low numbers. You don't want to be out with your husband at dinner or something and miss an emergency phone call from her. Maybe write down what numbers/ranges/thresholds of when she needs to take action with food, carbs, or karo. She needs to know where Bella's vet is and also the emergency vet, have the phone numbers on a piece of paper next to the hypo kit (high carbs 20%+, bottle of karo or honey, instructions).

I would simply print out some of the posts from the forum that might be helpful for her to read. Who knows, you can maybe train mom to be a permanent Bella vacation watcher. :joyful:

That's great you're taking her over there tonight to stay the night. I would be hands off and let mom feed Bella and do everything as much as possible, so Bella can associate better with her. Is she a good eater or is she picky? Maybe for the trip give more than enough options of different foods if she protests food in a new environment.

I would recommend your mom and Bella do some dry runs. Drop Bella off with mom for a couple nights before the trip so she can take care of her completely on her own with no stress knowing you can just go right over to assist. This will build everyone's confidence.
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Hi Jen, it's a little soon to determine what dose Bella will need while you are away 4/3-4/6.
It's great that your Mom is willing to test and shoot so you can have some time :bighug:.
Let us know how your Mom does with testing and shooting. That will help determine whether to keep her on the same dose she will be on or maybe give a vacation dose. :)
Click to expand...
I will let you all know how she does tonight. I’m staying over but I will show her and then let her do it. My mom is really the best. We can go away and know Bella is in good hands.
 
Jason - Kona's Dad said:
Be sure to cover all your bases too. I would make sure she has a hypo kit and knows exactly what to do if she hits super low numbers. You don't want to be out with your husband at dinner or something and miss an emergency phone call from her. Maybe write down what numbers/ranges/thresholds of when she needs to take action with food, carbs, or karo. She needs to know where Bella's vet is and also the emergency vet, have the phone numbers on a piece of paper next to the hypo kit (high carbs 20%+, bottle of karo or honey, instructions).

I would simply print out some of the posts from the forum that might be helpful for her to read. Who knows, you can maybe train mom to be a permanent Bella vacation watcher. :joyful:

That's great you're taking her over there tonight to stay the night. I would be hands off and let mom feed Bella and do everything as much as possible, so Bella can associate better with her. Is she a good eater or is she picky? Maybe for the trip give more than enough options of different foods if she protests food in a new environment.

I would recommend your mom and Bella do some dry runs. Drop Bella off with mom for a couple nights before the trip so she can take care of her completely on her own with no stress knowing you can just go right over to assist. This will build everyone's confidence.
Click to expand...

my mom has been watching Bella since we adopted her so Bella is very comfortable with her. This will just be her first time taking care of her with Diabetes.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
@Angela & Cleo
@Wendy&Neko
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@tiffmaxee
Hi Ang, Wendy ,Sienne and Elise do you agree with me that Bella has earned a reduction?
She's following SLGS and last night Bella's BG was 83 @+3
I told her she should have given 0.5 units this morning ,or am I missing something. Also can you read her question in post #6
Thanks ladies
Click to expand...

I get confused with the earned reduction because when we dropped her to 0.5 her BGs were high again and we had to go back up to 0.75.
 
Bellas_mom_2020 said:
I think I saw someone in the group say they would put a colored tape on the syringe on the line where the dose needed to be. I can do the dummy syringe, that’s a good idea.
Click to expand...

That would work too :) There's actually labels that go on syringes to help patients measure medicine correctly. Amazon sells them (here's one such label) and other web sites as well. You could put the label on syringes and show your mom how to measure up to the line and no further.
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Hi Jen, it's a little soon to determine what dose Bella will need while you are away 4/3-4/6.
It's great that your Mom is willing to test and shoot so you can have some time :bighug:.
Let us know how your Mom does with testing and shooting. That will help determine whether to keep her on the same dose she will be on or maybe give a vacation dose. :)
Click to expand...

So here’s an update. My mom did great with Bella, she gave her insulin like a pro. Bella also takes clopidodrel (blood thinner) so that medicine makes my mom nervous but she doesn’t have to take it everyday so that’s not to bad. Bella definitely is being a little naughty with my mom checking her sugar but I told to make sure she closes all doors so she can’t hide anywhere. She used a magnifying glass for the insulin. I will make sure I make videos of everything she needs to do and leave her plenty of notes. But I’m confident she’ll do great especially since she’s comfortable giving the insulin.
 
Bellas_mom_2020 said:
So here’s an update. My mom did great with Bella, she gave her insulin like a pro. Bella also takes clopidodrel (blood thinner) so that medicine makes my mom nervous but she doesn’t have to take it everyday so that’s not to bad. Bella definitely is being a little naughty with my mom checking her sugar but I told to make sure she closes all doors so she can’t hide anywhere. She used a magnifying glass for the insulin. I will make sure I make videos of everything she needs to do and leave her plenty of notes. But I’m confident she’ll do great especially since she’s comfortable giving the insulin.
Click to expand...

Great news, Jen!

Now you can rest assured she'll be totally fine and you can... ENJOY YOUR VACATION! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Your new dose should be 0.5 units. Yes the number lower than she's used to caused a bounce, but that's a normal reaction. Ignore the bounce numbers and focus on "how low is this dose taking my cat?" Eventually once she's seen more normal numbers, she'll get used to them and stop the bouncing, or at least won't bounce as high or for so long.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Your new dose should be 0.5 units. Yes the number lower than she's used to caused a bounce, but that's a normal reaction. Ignore the bounce numbers and focus on "how low is this dose taking my cat?" Eventually once she's seen more normal numbers, she'll get used to them and stop the bouncing, or at least won't bounce as high or for so long.
Click to expand...
Thanks for confirming that Jen should have reduced to 0.5 like I told her :cat:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Your new dose should be 0.5 units. Yes the number lower than she's used to caused a bounce, but that's a normal reaction. Ignore the bounce numbers and focus on "how low is this dose taking my cat?" Eventually once she's seen more normal numbers, she'll get used to them and stop the bouncing, or at least won't bounce as high or for so long.
Click to expand...

So I should drop her down to 0.5? Her nadirs are above 150 still. Today her nadir was 154 so we’re getting better.
 
Jen you have the amount of insulin in the wrong cell for Bella's dose on 3-16 the night cycle . You have it in the +1 cell as lime green. Can you please fix it
@Bellas_mom_2020

Hi Jen
Here is what the SLGS method says which you are following
Hold the dose for at least a week:
  • Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
  • Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unitimmediately.
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet.The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
  • If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
  • If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
  • If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit
So yes you should have given her 0.5 units for the morning of 3-16

You might want to start a new thread for today (3-17) on the Lantus Board so members can follow along and link this thread to it
(? I need some suggestions please)
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Jen you have the amount of insulin in the wrong cell for Bella's dose on 3-16 the night cycle . You have it in the +1 cell as lime green. Can you please fix it
@Bellas_mom_2020

Hi Jen
Here is what the SLGS method says which you are following
Hold the dose for at least a week:
  • Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
  • Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unitimmediately.
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet.The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
  • If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
  • If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
  • If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit
So yes you should have given her 0.5 units for the morning of 3-16

You might want to start a new thread for today (3-17) on the Lantus Board so members can follow along and link this thread to it
Click to expand...

I fixed it and added the numbers I forgot to put in yesterday.
So even if one time she goes low, I automatically drop her dose? I gave her 0.75 yesterday and this morning. So tonight should I go to 0.5?
 
Yes, go down to 0.5 units next dose. The SLGS dosing method says to reduce immediately by 0.25 units if they go under 90. Then you hold the dose for a week, unless they go under 90 again. Somewhere towards the end of that week you can do a curve and decide after the 7 days if her dose needs to change.

Ignore the numbers/nadirs during a bounce when you are looking at how low this dose is capable of taking her.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Yes, go down to 0.5 units next dose. The SLGS dosing method says to reduce immediately by 0.25 units if they go under 90. Then you hold the dose for a week, unless they go under 90 again. Somewhere towards the end of that week you can do a curve and decide after the 7 days if her dose needs to change.

Ignore the numbers/nadirs during a bounce when you are looking at how low this dose is capable of taking her.
Click to expand...
Okay. I guess the 417 threw me off and I thought we should hold the 0.75 dose. it’s hard for me because I can’t always do a curve. Like I don’t know if I’ll be able to do one next Sunday. If I can’t do a curve, do I still continue that 0.5 dose.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Best way I can explain it look all the at the top of this page above the pic of the cat you see on the left hand side
Above that is in that long line where it says
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/i-need-some-suggestions-please.287767/#post-3162239
You will copy and paste that to your new thread today for 3-17 when you post it ?
So everything you start a new post you will link your previous post to your new one
Click to expand...

im sorry I don’t understand how to do it. But I did make a new post for today
 
Just copy the URL in the web browser's address bar and paste it into the condo (thread) you started for today.
 
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