Tag Archives: travel

Traveling with Diabetes, and getting felt up by security thanks to my Omnipod.

28 Saturday Jan 2012

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I flew home from California last week after visiting my aunt in San Francisco…thankfully I wasn’t flying through LA, because it looks like my pump might have caused a bigger scene there. “TSA Mistakes Insulin Pump for a gun, Causing LAX Security Scare.”

I was asked to step aside in the San Fran airport (made it through the Charleston airport without a hitch), and felt up by a female security guard. The whole experience was uneventful and only took a few seconds, but still, it bothered me. My mom stood off to the side waiting while I was searched and I couldn’t help feeling a little resentful about the whole thing. I was glad that I was traveling by myself and not my 3 young kids because it would have added to the already hectic experience of flying.

A few of the commenters on the article in the LA Times wrote about traveling as a diabetic:

“I don’t know what idiots were on duty that day, but I am glad it wasn’t me. I fly quite a it WITH MY INSULIN INFUSION PUMP on all the time. They can’t go thru the x-ray machines as they will be damaged and I have been told by Medtronic not to go thru that walk thru thing. Have them see the pump, hold it in my hand and run a scanner across me, so they have seen them many a time. It’s very simple and easy to deal with. I also carry a medical device card with me and should others in my position. No hassle, plain and simple.”

“PATHETIC! If anyone ever did that to me and my insulin pump I would make sure to cause hell for the people that accused me. Ive been thru a lot of airports and have never had any problems so im curious as to how this happened.”

“Yes an insulin pump with a tubing and attaches to a canula in your body, comes in all sorts of colors like blue, green, pink, purple, no larger than a deck of cards in the similar shape, yes this so looks like a gun. I dont know why people are saying she walked away and left it behind, you do not detach it from your body. It just pops on the scan that theres something and further screening needs to be done. But the TSA needs to change its medical rules and stuff….cause so many people travel with medical devices that are attached to their bodies or had surgeries and plates or pins or screws in their bodies.”

(on facebook) Kerri Morrone Sparling said, “I personally have never had an issue at the airport (and I wear an Animas Ping with a metal clip and a Dexcom CGM with all kinds of crazy bits, sometimes opting for the pat down, sometimes putting my devices through the machine, and other times being randomly selected for screening), but I know everyone’s experiences vary.”

What we can all take away from this is the importance of being prepared when we travel. I devoted an entire chapter of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Diabetes (and it could have been much longer) to travel. Some helpful tips from the chapter include:

  • See your doctor before you go. Get a letter describing your diabetes management and a copy of your prescriptions.
  • Whenever possible, bring prescription labels for medication and medical devices (while not required by TSA, making them available will make the security process go more quickly)
  • Pack medications in a separate clear bag and place in your carry-on luggage.
  • Keep a quick-acting source of glucose to treat low blood glucose (glucose tabs) as well as an easy-to carry snack such as a nutrition bar.
  • Carry or wear medical identification ( a cute diabetes bracelet) and carry contact information for your physician.
  • Pack extra supplies, at least twice as much medication and supplies as you think you’ll need.
  • Keep supplies in a carry-on bag.
  • Because prescription laws may be very different in other countries, write for a list of International Diabetes Federation groups: IDF, 1 rue Defaeqz, B-1000, Belgium or visit http://www.idf.org. You may also want to get a list of English-speaking foreign doctors in case of an emergency. Contact the American Consulate, American Express, or local medical schools for a list of doctors. Insulin in foreign countries comes in different strengths. If you purchase insulin in a foreign country, be sure to use the right syringe for the strength. An incorrect syringe may cause you to take too much or too little insulin.
And don’t be surprised if you get pulled aside because you are wearing an insulin pump!

Traveling to California and Finding my Way…

21 Saturday Jan 2012

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I flew to San Francisco this week to meet with Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine to discuss a job opportunity. My aunt lives in Mill Valley, and offered to pay for my trip. I flew out, leaving my 3 boys and husband behind, thinking that this would be the perfect job. I’d written a few pieces for Amy and whose feedback ranged from: not enough personality to, too much personality, and after much deliberation, I realized that our styles did not match.

Here are the posts I wrote for DM:

Little Helpers for Managing Your Medical Bills

C-Sections vs. Natural Births in Diabetic Moms

Diapep277 Re:educating the Immune System (I “ghost wrote” this one)

Realizing this job was ‘not right for me’ was hard because I wanted the security of a full time job. I wanted to write for a great site with a huge readership like Diabetes Mine, but I also don’t want to change my writing style.

So if it takes flying across the country to realize the kind of writing I want to do, so be it. The trip was not a waste for many reasons, most of all because San Francisco is a very cool city! Also because it helped me realize that the kind of writing that I want to do here, on my own site, is personal and insightful. As I look back through my posts I realize that the stories I want to share are about real people living with diabetes, especially those stories that will help readers feel less alone. I want to give my readers stories about the emotional side of living with diabetes like managing the cost of diabetes and our fears of complications. I will continue sharing my stories of my attempt to  live well with diabetes physically and emotionally.

We are in this together, redefining diabetes.

Guana Island, BVI.

17 Thursday Jul 2008

Posted by in diabetes, posted by Amy S. Mercer

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I would like to say that all my fears about traveling were unfounded. I would like to say that my blood sugars were steady and that I was able to adjust accordingly to the changes in diet and exercise. I would like to say that it is easy to travel with diabetes, that I don’t mind doing a shot in the middle of the airport in San Juan or at the dining table in Guana, that no one looks at me out of the corner of their eye and that I never feel wierd, that I never wonder if what I’m doing makes someone cringe. I would like to say I was unruffled by my low blood sugars and that on the day I was low from breakfast to bedtime, that my husband didn’t wake me up all night long to make sure I was okay, I would like to think my disease isn’t a burden on him. I would like to think that I do not need to live in a box, that I can be spontaneous and sail away into the blue ocean. But that would be a lie.

Guana Island

05 Saturday Jul 2008

Posted by in diabetes, posted by Amy S. Mercer

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As a mother, I tend to hermitize (my word) myself; it’s easier to stay close to home, I tell the in-laws at holiday planning time. We live close to my mom, step-dad, sister and her family so other than our annual summer trek to Maine to visit my dad, we rarely need to travel. We live on a limited income so a “get-away” means a sleep-over at my mom’s house in the country. Gone are the days (before I was a wife and mother) of living abroad, sleeping under the stars, hitch-hiking along the Amalfi Coast, and camping out in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was simple, I carried a bag of GORP (Granola, Oatmeal, Raisins, Peanuts), my shots and meter in my backpack. When I got low canoeing in the Gulf of Mexico, my friend paddled while I ate peanut butter crackers. No big deal. Now, my days are mostly spent at home, so close to home that I rarely even drive on the highway, because everything we need is right here. But not for long. I’m about to be thrown from my comfort zone. Next week, sixteen of us will travel to Guana Island for a week to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday and I’m starting to panic.

I don’t know if I would be such a creature of habit if it wasn’t for diabetes. Maybe I would be the kind of mother that would go camping with her children and cook dinner over a fire if I wasn’t diabetic. Maybe I use my disease as a crutch (like my high school nurse long ago accused me) and maybe I should push myself out of my comfort zone. Maybe I’m just stuck in a rut. Maybe I’m teaching my kids that taking risks, changing schedules is hard or bad. That idea scares me. So I am looking forward to our trip because I know it will force me out of my habits.

My son asks me if they have toy stores in Guana and I say I don’t think so which is like a domino effect- making me wonder about food. The airlines charge extra for each bag but what if I get low? (I always get low when I travel because of the change in schedule, change in eating habits etc.etc.) Will I be able to run, what if I can’t run? I don’t want my blood sugar to be low but I also don’t want to be high because I can’t exercise…..I’ll need to pack enough bags of Skittles, syringes, blood strips and insulin so I don’t run out because what if there are no stores on Guana?

This is why I never travel! Ugh. I don’t want to think about packing food. All I want to think about is spending time on a beautiful island with my family, so why can’t I turn off these nagging questions in my head? It’s easier to live inside my bubble where I eat the same thing every day, exercise at the same time, run the same trails, have the same snacks and can always find sugar when I get low. It’s easier, less scary, more manageable, predictable, safe and dull. So here I go, off the diving-board, into the deep-end. I’ll write back when I re-surface.