"The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it"
Aneurin Bevan

Tuesday 5 August 2014

Been there, done that!

This blog from a type 1 diabetic about losing her insulin while in the US reminded me of my own experiences. Here's the comment I left on that site (just in case it does not get past moderation).

I live in the UK and for five years I used to speak at US conferences four or five times a year. My T1D was usually not an issue, although there were a few issues - like security at Birmingham International telling me I had to put my insulin in the cargo hold and me demanding the airline book me an ambulance at Chicago because I would arrive "unconscious" without my insulin (OK, a bit over the top, but they "made an exception" for me).

On one occasion I was a bit lax. I had enough insulin for the trip, but on the way back the transatlantic plane was delayed and I had to stay overnight in a hotel. I needed to change the basal insulin in my pen and I did it in the bathroom. (Lesson: don't change cartridges in the bathroom, the floor is hard). I dropped the cartridge and it broke. This was my 'spare' (I was in the US for one day more than I had planned).

What to do? If you are a clinician, do not read on.

I had the same dilemma mentioned in the blog, except my only option was #3 - find a doctor and get a prescription. However, this was 1 am, so the choice of doctor and pharmacy was limited. I didn't want the option of spending hours and hundreds of dollars that it would cost. I had travel insurance, but the administration involved in getting the refund was far too much. Anyway, I had also spent a day travelling, I was tired from a week's work at a conference, and wanted to go to bed.

So I got a spare disposable syringe and sucked as much insulin as I could out of the smashed cartridge. (Lesson: carry disposable syringes, you never know when you'll need one.) There was enough for that injection. But what about the plane trip home? Usually, to take into account time zones, I would inject a half dose half way across the Atlantic. There wasn't enough remaining insulin in the smashed cartridge for that.

However, while travelling I had got into a habit when changing cartridge of putting the spent cartridge in my wash bag to dispose of at home. Except I didn't remember to dispose of the cartridges at home, so there was quite a collection in my wash bag. So I had spent basal cartridges from this trip, and from other trips in my wash bag. In each was a little bit of insulin and, with the syringe, I was able to draw out enough for the half dose on the plane. The insulin was old, and not stored at a cold temperature, but in that situation, any insulin was better than none.

2 comments:

  1. Well, i confess you did exactly what i would have done. Whats more you survived too. Life is complicated and we do what we have to. I say 'well done' :0)

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  2. Thank you for making the effort and spreading this information with all of us. It was indeed very useful and informative while being straight forward and to the point.
    NHS Eye Test

    ReplyDelete