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Well, I'm almost packed - carry on full of stuff I probably will not wear over the 2 weeks we're on our cruise - and of course ... the "legal" drugs that I have to pack when I go on a trip away from the homebase. Besides having to have all my prescriptions with me as well as the meds - and a doctor's letter explaining why you carry sharp objects, etc. etc. - I find air travel to be abit of a test of my level of comfort. Since 911 - air travel is not my choice of getting from A to B - but when I can't drive to a destination - I get a lift on the big bird in the sky and flap my wings along with the other passengers.
The packing of what I need to maintain my health while away is the most stressful part of the trip. Do I have enough insulin, needles, BG test strips? I know I have more then enough - but there is still always that egging question in the background of my mind - have I forgotten something? I can forget to bring that fav t-shirt and not worry - but to forget that spare vial of insulin - crikey!!! I did this on a trip back in June visiting my sis-in-law in Florida. No spare vial of insulin - luckily tho' I found out I could find a similar insulin the States without a prescription - but managed to have enough insulin to see me thru' a week - but still - that was the first time I've ever done a goofy thing like that (oh - I did burn my feet really badly on the sands at Cocoa Beach - warning to other foreigners like myself - sand in the month of June is much hotter then it is in January).
So, hopefully if I can find an internet cafe along the route we're taking in the Caribbean - I'll be able to report back to you and tell you how life is going on the high seas. As usual I will probably have some of the staff on the cruise ship (Princess Caribbean) thinking I'm pulling out my camera to take a picture of them - when I'm actually preparing to bolus for insulin with my pump! I am not shy about speaking about my diabetes as you can see - the more people know about it - the less daunting it can be. I even had one waiter wanting more info on my pump for his Mum in the Philippines who was an insulin dependent diabetic.
So, wish me luck - that the floating city I am on does not hit an ice berg (NOT) - and that I come back relaxed and ready for the Christmas season fast approaching!
I'll be back in 2 weeks time ...
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By: dorisjdickson: Nov, 20, 2008 09:56 AM
Well, first of all, have a great trip. Second ... travelling these days is on my i can't be bothered list.
I flew less than a week after September 11th. I flew from West Palm to Boston for a doctor's appointment. The terrorists were not going to stop me and I wasn't stressed about it. That first flight was not full of very stressful levels of security either.
Subsequent trips got a little worse but it still wasn't so bad. I could still fly my cooler of meat (from a Boston area meat market) back down without annoying security people harassing me or without an inordinate extra charge.
These days, however, I don't plan on flying any time soon. I've gone from loving to fly to not wanting any part of it. I don't want to worry whether I can take as much juice as I feel comfortable taking - usually a six-pack of 4.25 ounce juice boxes. And they say I can only take 2 - 3 ounce. Totally not enough. And no, I don't plan to start using candy or glucose tablets to avoid the fluid restrictions.
In additition, I'm really not interested in standing in the "family" line because my insulin and juice might inconvenience someone or it might take 30 seconds longer for me to say "I have insulin and syringes in my bag." I am an experience traveller and I find it very annoying and to be honest, degrading, to be shoved in a special line because I have medication with me.
This kind of "thing" pushes my blood pressure up and takes any fun out of getting to the final destination. As you said Ana, remembering to have enough insulin, syringes, test strips etc is quite a bit of effort as it is. These new "restrictions" are just too much for me to pay for at this point in life.
Hopefully, you'll be avoiding the US airlines and all this aggravation.
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