Planning Our First Trip Post-Diagnosis
We booked the trip almost immediately after Elliott's diagnosis. We were already talking about doing it, but at the hospital, just days after her diagnosis, when asked by one of the educators what she liked doing, Elliott replied “Going to different countries with my family.
We suddenly felt the push to prove to her she can still do it all! We booked the plane tickets and set about making it work while living our new life with diabetes.
As a typical working mum – trying to do it all, I'm a huge fan of anything that can make life a little easier. From day one we started asking questions and researching diabetes tech. Elliott left the hospital with her first CGM and we started looking into insulin pumps very early.
Like many others, we experienced difficulties getting support in the public system, and truth be told we only managed to make headway in the quest to get her on an insulin pump due to my own diagnosis and the help and advice from my own diabetes management team.
With our own research and some trusted professional advice, we decided on the Omnipod® 5 which was about to be launched. I was able to start on pump therapy straight away, however with the lack of availability for paediatric appointments, Elliott had to wait a little longer. Due largely in part to my persistence, we thankfully managed to get Elliott fitted with her Omnipod 5 with only 2 weeks left before take-off.
How We Travelled with Type 1 Diabetes Technology
Travelling through airport security with our devices was something I had been concerned about and thoroughly prepared for. I contacted the airline ahead of time, filled in their paperwork along with organising letters from both our endocrinologists and educator explaining that, along with our need to carry insulin, lancets, back up needles & sharps container on board, our CGMs and Omnipod Pods were not allowed to go through security scanning equipment.
I packed our diabetes equipment in our carry-on bag, with our CGMs and Pods in separate zip lock bags, ready to pull out easily for screening. We allowed extra time everywhere and thankfully didn’t have any issues with our equipment in airport we went through! The clear plastic packaging the Pods come in was a bonus as it helped security staff have visibility over what we were bringing through. In Dubai I did have to open one of our Dexcom boxes to show them the sensor inside.
As we all know, tech fails on occasion. You bring back ups… and you bring back ups for your back ups! Omnipod gave us the flexibility to travel a little lighter when out exploring each new city, needing only take lancet, glucose strips & monitor along with hypo treatments out without requiring needles & sharps container and insulin (in cold packs out in the heat). Don’t get me wrong, we still had our back up needles at the ready back at the hotel in case!
Often eating out, or travelling on trains, planes, buses etc. means less room to get out your needles so being able to administer a bolus via Omnipod controller is even more beneficial while travelling. It also makes it so much easier for split boluses and correction doses when struggling to keep your levels down in the heat and eating so many meals that are difficult to carb count away from home. The reduced risk of hypos on any pump system is also invaluable considering the amount of walking you do while travelling, not to mention all the stairs and hauling luggage you do.
While our CGMs and Pods connect via Bluetooth and the Omnipod controller comes with an international sim already, we needed to be able to connect our own phones to data overseas to receive Elliott’s alerts to our own phones when out and about… The ability to buy eSims these days is so much more affordable than global roaming through our provider! One thing I had not realised though was that Elliott’s phone was not able to take an eSim… To get around this, both my husband and I bought more data than we each expected to use and just hotspot her the whole time. It was annoying to set every time we left the hotel but worked just fine for what we needed while out exploring.
Another little issue we had was that the chargers were a little temperamental when plugged in through European adapters. Elliott’s phone was the worst affected with us often waking up to find it had not charged fully overnight. It didn’t cause any major issues, just another thing that needed continual monitoring and something I would be more prepared for next time.
In terms of the diabetes specific devices, we had a few CGM failures at less than convenient times – One mid-flight! One challenge I had not expected was having to deal with CGM dropouts due to the very solid masonry walls in so many beautiful buildings we stayed in. However, those little niggles aside, everything worked smoothly for us and helped take a lot of the diabetes stress out of our trip.
One tip I have is that we have a shared google calendar which has all CGM, Pod and lancet changes for each of us booked in, with reminders. In general, I find that the best way to plan out when to prepare for a change and where that overlaps with plans we must be out of the house. We found this was especially useful when changing time zones! Our calendar automatically shifted times, so we didn’t get confused or caught off-guard. Once overseas we brought forward Pod and CGM change times to suit when needed, usually to early morning before heading out for the day. At home I may have considered this wasteful – but overseas it was more convenient.
Our Top Tips for Traveling with Type 1 Diabetes as a Family
Get out there and do it! Plan. It may be a little harder, but that makes it more rewarding.
If you still have concerns, one thing that made feel better was the online community we’ve built with @type1travellers and the people we are now connecting with through Instagram. I was put at ease by the thought that if anything popped up that we needed help or advice on, we could ask a question knowing that someone would respond.
