Planning Ahead
Traveling can already be a stressful experience without the complications of a time-consuming disease. I’ll share some of my mishaps in traveling with Type 1 Diabetes in the hopes that it will help you travel more successfully. Whether you have diabetes or another chronic illness, planning ahead and being prepared for anything will always be your best bet.
I’ve been living with Type 1 diabetes since February of 2009 and started wearing an insulin pump in October of the same year. Although wearing an insulin pump helps me live a more “normal” life it does throw some extra considerations into the mix when it comes to traveling.
The first thing you want to do when traveling with diabetes or any chronic illness for that matter is to make a packing list. I’ve provided my diabetes packing list as an example, but your unique situation and devices will dictate what gets put on your packing list. My rule of thumb is to take double the amount of supplies that you will need during the trip.
There are two main reasons for this, one being that you never know how your travel plans may be changed, and two, technology is a wonderful thing, but it can fail. I’ll tell you two stories later about technology failing and how I overcame it while abroad.
Airport and Security Checks
When traveling with any medical devices, you want to do your research about the travel precautions of your device(s). For instance, my current insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can pass
through X-ray devices while they are on the body, but are not tested with all full-body scan devices. Therefore, my device manufacturers do not recommend going through full-body scan machines.
If you wish to bypass all X-ray machines and full-body scanners, you can let a TSA Agent know that you’d like to “opt out”. Let the TSA Agent know that you are wearing medical devices and wish to bypass these machines. The TSA Agent doing your pat down will be very thorough in asking you questions to make sure you understand what they are about to do. They will also ask you if you are okay with having a public screening or if you would prefer to do it in private. They’ll pat you down and will ask you to rub your hands over all of your devices and they will swab your hands for any chemicals.
The entire process can sometimes take a few minutes, mainly to find a same-sex TSA Agent to do your pat down but is a fairly easy process. You also want to make sure you know what packed devices can go through the X-ray machine. Some devices suggest you do not put devices that are in your luggage through the X-ray scanner. You can then opt to have your carry-on luggage visually inspected.
My advice for this is to have all of your devices in a clear bag that can easily be pulled out and visually searched. Make sure you know all the rules about all of your devices before you get to the airport. Once you are in the line for your security screening you will not have time to mess around with your luggage and devices.
Be Prepared for Anything
My first technology mishap was in Grand Cayman in March of 2019, 10 years after I had started on an insulin pump. This happened to also be my first trip out of the United States with my now husband’s family. Though I came equipped with a backup plan I wasn’t completely prepared for the day I was going to have.
We were staying on the West end of the island near George Town and we had taken the bus to the East end to see another beach and go snorkeling. I had been swimming for three days in shallow waters with my waterproof insulin pump, so I thought nothing of it when I went out into the water to snorkel, insulin pump in tow.
After some time filming a sea turtle, I heard my insulin pump alarming. I knew from the long, drawn-out, high-pitched alarm that it was not good. My pump had somehow gotten damaged by the water and had a “Critical Pump Error” message on
the screen.
I shut the pump off and had to make the trek back to the other side of the island where my backup plan was waiting. Never had I needed a backup plan before, so it was not very well thought out. I had no long-acting insulin which meant I had to inject short-acting insulin more frequently than you would if you had a regular regimen of daily injections.
I tested my blood glucose every 1.5-2 hours and dosed myself with my short-acting insulin accordingly. Luckily it was towards the end of my trip, and I only had to do this for about two days. I kept a really well-documented note on my phone of what time I tested my blood glucose, what my blood glucose
reading was, and how much short-acting insulin I gave myself. All-in-all it turned out to be a manageable mishap but one that could have been better planned for ahead of time.
My second insulin pump mishap occurred in 2021, on the beautiful island of St. Lucia. I was on a completely different system this time and had never heard about aerosol sunscreen cracking plastic. With this system, spraying sunscreen around my device cracked the plastic. This is where bringing extra supplies saved me.
We had prepped ourselves for a day at the pool and swim-up bar. I went in the pool for a dip and heard the dreaded long, drawn-out, high-pitched squeal of the insulin pump. Upon inspection, I realized it had water damage from a small hairline crack in the plastic. Not to fear, I ran up to our room, filled and attached my insulin pump, and was ready to go back to the pool.
It took me some time to figure out what had caused the crack, and I must have done the same application of sunscreen when my pump started alarming again sometime later. After researching that night, I had realized that there were other people in my insulin pump community that had this same problem, all with the connection of using aerosol sunscreen.
Bringing those doubled supplies allowed me to have enough supplies on hand for the entire trip, despite my two pump failures. This time I was prepared for anything that could go wrong. I still use spray sunscreen; I cover both my insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor when applying and use my hand to apply sunscreen around the devices.
The one other issue I have had while traveling was not a technology mishap but was a big inconvenience and could have been prevented. I learned my lesson from my Grand Cayman story and started traveling with long-acting insulin. However, I did not prepare myself properly for a TSA Agent to search my cooled container that stored my long-acting insulin.
I never expected to have to use the long-acting insulin, so I kept it in a small cooling container. The TSA Agent did not follow the instructions I gave them and pulled the vial of insulin out the wrong way. As it shattered on the floor my heart skipped a beat. It was my backup plan so it wasn’t an absolute
emergency and I was able to file paperwork for reimbursement.
I always have access to my Electronic Health Records when traveling so that I can get any prescription I need filled at the drop of a hat. If you do not have access or a way to get in touch with your doctors while on vacation, make that a part of your plan.
I hope these precautionary tales will help you prepare as best you can for the uncertainty of traveling. My diabetes technology has helped me live a more normal life and allows me to be more present in everyday life and in my travels. Never let a disease stop you from conquering your dreams and traveling the world, I sure don’t!
Packing List
-Low blood glucose snacks
-Continuous Glucose Monitor Sensors (2 for every 10 days of travel)
-Continuous Glucose Monitor Transmitter
-Pump Sites (2 for every 3 days of travel)
-Overlays for CGM & Pump
-Insulin (current usage up to 45 units per day) including long-acting insulin if using an insulin pump
-Alcohol swabs
-Skin Tac wipes
-Glucose monitor
-Test strips
-Lancing device/lancets
-Glucagon Emergency Kit
-Syringes
-Printed medication list
-Printed plan of action
-Access to communicate with doctors
Are you traveling with diabetes and thyroid disease? Be sure to check out our post about how to travel well with thyroid disease and never let auto-immune disease put a stop to your exploration!