Get out there - travelling with a medical condition

About three years ago our eldest son (aged just over three at the time) was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  It was a bit of a watershed moment in our family, causing a readjustment of priorities in our lives.  We embarked on a strict diet regime, overcame our fear of needles, and learnt how to administer insulin to our young son.  We were (and still are) determined to give him every opportunity to live a normal life, and don't make a big deal of his diabetes.

As such, the aim of this blog entry is to share some techniques we have found helpful in getting the most out of going camping and exploring with someone who does have a medical condition that requires constant vigilance.

Our philosophy is simple.  One of our sons has a pancreas that doesn't work properly - in the same way that people who wear glasses have eyes that don't work properly.  We all have little quirks and ailments, and we consider diabetes to be just one of these things.  We, as parents, just need to be a bit more organised that we would normally have been and a little more selective in what equipment we use.

In a way his diagnosis galvanised us into action.  At the time, Project 2014, our year long camping trip around Australia was but a distant half conceived dream. We took a long hard look at where we were, and committed to our dream.   We have been since been slowly refining our travelling and camping in order to ensure we are ready for our trip to give both our boys the opportunity of a lifetime.

So how do we do it?


Preparation


In a word - preparation.  Preparation is key.  Any parent knows that travelling with kids creates its own new dimension.  Travelling with a medical condition such as diabetes just requires a little more planning.

Depending on the length of time we are away from home, we take a large kitchen container and fill it with enough supplies to last not just the planned length of the journey, but also a few extra days.  We also take spare batteries, some spare parts and for items such as blood glucose monitors, we carry additional or duplicate items.  We lay these out of the kitchen bench and tick them off a list to check we have everything.

Make a list... and check it twice!

We are far from perfect - and on one occasion didn't take spare blood glucose test strips.  Whilst staying with friends we suddenly realised we had only a couple of test strips left, late on a Sunday evening of a long weekend in a small coastal community.  Thankfully we found some additional test strips with our spare meter, before plan B (trip to a regional hospital some 45 minutes drive away) was required.  Lesson learnt!

Kids are like hoovers and will eat just about anything.  A selection of healthy snacks and regular breaks on any car trip have become an essential part of travelling.  The added bonus is we now often take the scenic road less traveled, stopping in small country towns for a leg stretch and a play at the local park.  It sure beats belting along the freeway and stopping at the massive service stations with their grotty and crowded playgrounds.

The Bell River at Wellington - a favourite stop of ours

Selection of Equipment

With a young family, toys need to be robust, or they soon get broken. When we decided to try insulin injections controlled via an insulin pump, one of the main requirements was that the pump was robust. We ended up choosing an Animas Insulin Pump.  Whilst all pumps essentially do the same thing, some of its features were that it is fully water proof, and used a generic and therefore easily obtainable infusion set.  It can also run on either lithium or normal AA batteries.

Indeed robustness and supplies availability is only part of the story.  Animas is supported in Australia by the good folk at Australasian Medical and Pacific and we have found their 24/7 support and service to be outstanding.

The pump has to be hard wearing.  On this occasion the boys repeated belly flops in the mud on one of our camping trips. You can see the pump clipped onto the belt of the eldest little helper (wearing the formerly yellow shirt).

So for us we have found it essential to find a pump that is has hard wearing as our kids, with supplies available around the country and with good follow up support.

Multi-functional

Optium Xceed

With our BGL (Blood Glucose Level) meter, we chose a different brand, the Optium Xceed.  The main reason for the choice of this meter over the many on offer is that it is the only meter that has the ability to also measure ketones in the blood as well as blood glucose levels.  The other main way of testing for ketones is in the urine, which is far less accurate.  Young children are far more susceptible to large fluctuations in glucose levels in their blood, and the ability to test for ketones as well as glucose makes this meter a winner for us.

Emergency Equipment

I have talked earlier about communication and distress alerting when beyond the fringe of mobile phone range.  We ensure that we carry a Personal Locator Beacon registered with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.  In our registration form, we have included our dates of birth and medical conditions.  Whilst we may never turn our beacon on for a diabetes incident, it allows the rescue party to prepare and perhaps bring insulin and glucose tablets with them when responding to our call for help.

This is an example from Mediband

We also get our son to wear a medical alert bracelet.  His is made from silicon, which makes it comfortable to wear, unlike the engraved bracelet we started with.  The bonus is they are cheap to replace - so even if they aren't particularly hard wearing, we don't mind.  These are available for a range of conditions such as asthma, anaphylaxis reactions to bees or peanuts.  You name it, they probably have it.


We have two boys

We have two beautiful boys who are quickly growing up in a fast and ever changing world.  Only one has diabetes, so we are careful to ensure that we don't let the diabetes dominate our and their lives.  We try to ensure that they are both given the same opportunities, time and love as each other.  It is a balancing act, and we don't always get it right.  We don't want our other son to feel like he is missing out because he doesn't have diabetes.

Thank you


I hope that this blog has been of benefit or interest to those of you who care for or have diabetes or some other medical condition.  I think it was important to share this story, but diabetes is not going to be a focus of our strory.  Indeed the story is about our camping, travelling and exploring and the opportunities we will share with our boys as they grow.

Please consider supporting Diabetes Australia or the JDRF as your charity this year, by making a donation to Diabetes Australia or JDRF.  Your support is very much appreciated.

May I wish you all a very merry Christmas and hope that 2012 brings much joy and happiness to you, where ever you may be.