Travelling

[CDKdiabetes]

Hi, would like to introduce myself 🙂 My name is Christopher, I am 25 years old and I am deaf. I was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed in Peru whilst I was on my RTW trip, after only 2 months of travelling. I looked up online for diabetes symptoms and it turned out that they matched to what I have been experiencing in the past 3 weeks. My girlfriend who was travelling with me told me it'd be best to get myself checked out but I wasn't keen on going to the hospital to have it checked as I thought it would be a wasted trip and money. It turned out to be a very wise decision by her. I had a blood test and my glucose level was trebled. My first reaction was shock and thought why it happened to me. I started to feel upset at being diagnosed as I thought it meant I would not be able to eat all of my favourite foods again including cakes. I guess the reaction is normal at being newly diagnosed! Diabetes UK is certainly a great website to use whilst in Peru as I felt lost! I was so gutted when the Diabetes UK helpline and the doctor over in Peru told me that I should come home for the treatment and be more educated about diabetes. I have to put my health first and make a wise decision to cut my travelling short. I am currently at home, the best place to be. I'm currently using insulin 4 times a day; Novorapid 3 times a day before meals and Lantus Solostar for night. I'm still confused about diabetes in general, but I know I will be more confident about my condition over time. I am in huge dilemma at the moment as I was supposed to be on my one year round the world trip which started on 3rd September 2012 and due to end on 2nd September 2013. As you know it was cut short after only 2 months because of myself being diagnosed with diabetes whilst in Peru. I was planning on travelling around South America until 12th December than on to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand for 3 months. From there onto Asia and India for 6 months! I dont know if I should stay here for little longer and wait until the glucose level become more stable and get myself more educated everything about diabetes or I should have a quick short educated from my diabetes nurse and get the flight to Sydney in time to celebrate Xmas on Bondi Beach! Wonder if I will be able to control myself for more than 6 months travelling, after being at home for short while? Look forward to hearing your feedback 🙂

 

[HOBIE]

Hi CDK. You sound as though your haveing a good time on your trip & then bang ! Dont think you have to learn everything at once. It takes years to sort. If it were me i would be back in the uk. I am not knocking Puru but ? Hope you get sorted 🙂

 

[CDKdiabetes]

Hi, yeah it happened out of blue. It wasn't what I expected to happen whilst on travelling, I am currently at home it's the best place to be for my health! Unsure if I should go that soon before xmas to carry on travelling or stay here for a bit longer until I get more confident as am planning to be away from home for quite while.

 

[HOBIE]

Hope you get sorted. The NHS are pretty good. 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Hi Christopher!

Well - if you could pick the worst time it wasn't actually cos you could have been halfway up a mountain in Peru. So in one way - THAT was lucky wasn't it?

I think you are gonna have to forget it for a while to be absolutely brutally honest - or do some of the trip in shorter lumps spread out over a period, but of course that will cost extra money.

What's the availability of insulin , needles and test strips in all the places you were going to? Most places you have to pay for it and as NHS can only prescribe 3 months at a time ...... then of course, you have to keep it at the right temp in between using it. Only lasts 30 days out of the fridge.

And you need to know how to adjust your dosages for different temps - at altitude and otherwise. And for different types and legths and strengths of exercise. Or if you are otherwise ill, it all affects our dosages and we need to know what to do when it does. You can't learn that in 5 minutes and nobody can teach you exctly becuase we don't always behave according to the rules written in the textbook.

I don't mean 'We misbehave' although of course, sometimes we do! I mean everyone's body is actually different and we have to get to know how ours behaves when we do this or that or the other.

After 40 years and on a pump, I may be more of an expert on MY diabetes than I was in August 1972, but sometimes it's still a mystery! And I may be able to suggest what I think might sort out some problem for someone else - but I most certainly wouldn't give any guarantees it will do em any good.

I feel horrible telling you this.

Sorry.

 

[Ginnie]

Welcome to the forum but sorry you have had to join...... Im newly diagnosed so I wont be giving any tips or advice im definitely still learning the basics 🙂 but so far iv been alot happier now iv adapted my diabetes around my routine but this takes time, I really hope you get everything under control and are able to enjoy a bit of your travelling which sounds amazing in the mean time keep your chin up 🙂

 

[fencesitter]

Hi Christopher
What a bummer
Good that you're home and safe though. I tend to agree that it's best to stay here for a while at least, but once you've had a few months getting sorted and feel more confident I'm sure you could travel, maybe adjust your plans a bit though and take shorter breaks nearer to home? They say when life gives you lemons make a gin and tonic ...
This forum is full of knowledgeable people, and soon you'll be one of them 🙂

 

[lucy123]

Sorry to hear this and what a kick for you having to leave your trip.
Just a thought, could you delay the rtw trip for a year, by which time you will feel more confident with your diabetes and this will give you time to sort lots of things out - like medical insurance e.g. We have all the time in the world to get into the wheel of going to work every day - so maybe taking another year out wont hurt?

I would be disappointed to hear that you have to give up on the trip altogether,but wouldn't want you to go at the moment, worrying either.

Maybe take some time, replan things again - and then you still have it to look forward to - and to remember for years afterwards.

I do hope you get things sorted - oh and Welcome to the forum btw.🙂

 

[DeusXM]

Hi CDK,

I know this isn't the answer you want to hear but I would seriously wait until you've got your head round this first before jetting off again.

Travelling with T1 does not have to be a big deal and once you know what you're doing, it's not a problem at all. However, there is a LOT to take in and a lot of things your care team won't be able to advise you about before you go.

In my experience, there are some things you'll need to be 90% sure of before you go away:

• How to adjust your basal insulin as you cross time zones
• How to reasonably accurately eyeball the carb content in food
• How to survive for a day when food is scarce
• How to store and transport your insulin through hot climes with no refridgeration
• How to buy/access insulin while you're abroad
• How to manage serious gastric upset

As I said, all this is doable but some of it is more about experience than knowledge. For instance, I've powered through having bacterial dysentery while in India but if I didn't know how to manage my blood sugar levels when food is essentially coming out like a fountain at both ends, I could have been in a LOT of trouble.

I also haven't even covered booze yet, which is a whole topic in itself.

You CAN do this however, but I think you need more than a month to get your head round it. And this investment WILL be worth it. You will actually enjoy your trip a hell of a lot more if you know how to manage your diabetes. Otherwise I think you're going to have some days where you're going to feel dreadful from the high blood sugar, and other days where you could be in serious (ie. life-threatening) trouble from low blood sugar.

But yes, you CAN do this. Others will be able to give you their travel experience but as a brief rundown, since having diabetes I've dived the Great Barrier Reef, gone trekking in the Australian rainforest, climbed mountains and stayed with hill tribes in Thailand, got hopelessly lost in deepest darkest Mumbai, enjoyed a week of dysentery in Goa, lived in the Middle East for a couple of years and lived on ?2 a day including accommodation for a few weeks in Eastern Europe. So yeah, your world trip is totally doable, you just need to be comfortable and confident before you go.

And I'll tell you this; you should definitely write a book on your trip when you get back because I'll be honest, I'm already gripped by your story and you've barely started.

 

[Copepod]

Based on my experience, which was getting diagnosed with diabetes at a SCUBA diving medical in New Zealand in March 1996, but not needing insulin instantly, so I continued with my work contract until it ended in late March, my planned travels in NZ, Australia and Malaysia, returning to Uk as planned in May 1996. I had a miserable summer, living with parents, but no friends within 100 miles, and no mobile phone or email in those days. NHS GP and hospital didn't really know what to do with a fit & active 30 year old, so they put me on bimodal insulin, and it was only after a couple of trips overseas, that I started on MDI / basal bolus regime. An uncle & aunt who lived in Brittany invited me to come to their small holding for Christmas, then an Australian friend, training as a midwife in London, invited me to go with her to Belgian WWI sites, as she wanted a companion who could speak French and had some experience of travelling in mainland Europe. Her mother was a pharmacist in Tasmania, who posted me a phtocopied article about basal bolus insulin regime, from an Australian journal. My next trip overseas was as leader of a youth expedition to Costa Rica in summer 1997.

So, I'd say that as long as you get the right initial guidance, and have some travel experience, then you could continue with your travels. Perhaps since diagnosis, I have favoured French and Spanish speaking countries, particularly Latin America, but have also travelled in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe & Baltic states, Morocco (using French), Jordan etc.

You'll need to sort out a few things, such as insurance (original policy may still be valid, as T1D started during policy), supplies etc. However, a simple cheap stainless steel vaccuum flask, which you may already own, is a great piece of kit for storing insulin between fridges, although insulin (and blood glucose testing kit) is a lot tougher than many people believe - check patient information leaflet for manufacturers' recommendations, plus phone / email for "what you can get away with", which is usually longer out of fridge than is stated in PIL.

 

[rachelha]

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to...esnt-stop-my-adventures-and-seeing-the-world/

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to...ed-out-to-be-the-best-five-months-of-my-life/

I thought you might be interested to see these two articles. Diabetes and travel can be managed. I have been to Borneo and trekking in Nepal with type 1. However you do need to be on top of things. Do you know what the health care system in Australia is like - would you be able to get medical care if needed?
I would check with your insurance company as to whether you cover is still ok. It may be that they would not insure you to continue on the trip so soon after being diagnosed.

 

[Steff]

Hi christopher just wanted to welcome you to the forum

 

[trophywench]

Australia - free for Brits as long as you register with their Medicare office BEFORE you need to use it (where you can't make an appt, have to find out where it is and go and just wait till they see you, GPs surgeries similar)

Free without pre-registration in an actual blue light emergency or if you can get yourself to A&E - eg you think you may have broken summat but are walking wounded.

Free for residents? - yes nominally - even diabetics etc - but they still have to pay something towards meds. (my sis is Australian)