Have Insulin, Will Travel About This Page:

[Kenny]

Hi, All;
DW is an insulin diabetic. We have traveled with those little ice pack cases a few times with poor success. She would like to know what those of you who are insulin diabetics use to keep your insulin cold. We are going on a 7 night Western cruise in October, so with the "cooler" in the staterooms, and all the air and bus travel, we were just wondering what the rest of you use. I did a search and couldn't find where this specific question was answered.

[emtpej]

Kenny, look at: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...e-insulin.html
Also, look at: Vacationing Your Way: Your Special Needs - PassPorter Community - Message Boards and Forums and do a 'Forum Tools' - 'search this forum' and enter "diabetic".
If you can't find what you are looking for, post a question in that forum. The guides thee are very helpful (you would think they are all Disney trained).

[Kenny]

Thanks, EJ,
I never thought to post in the "Special Needs" Forum. I will post this question there, too. I did a search there but came up empty for the specific question of what to do on the cruise. Anyway, I got some good links from those threads for travel pouches.

[emtpej]

Cool.
You are welcome!

[Belle*]

Be sure to contact DCL and make them aware of the need for a refrigerator for insulin. You are correct in assuming the cooler will not be cold enough for insulin. As Erik mentioned the Special Needs forum is another great place to ask this question! Also make sure to request a sharps container.

[Kenny]

Thanks, Sara,
I did post in Special Needs, and we will add both questions to our list for the next call to DCL.

To make it easy to someone who may come across this question here, this is a company that sells a pouch for long term cooling (45hrs+ @ 100F): FRIO :: Home

[duck addict]

I used the Frio for transporting my insulin in December. The mini-refrigerators in the rooms both at WDW and DCL were sufficient for me (I only take it once a day, so I can make use of the refrigerator.). You can carry your insulin in the Frio if you need to use it during the day, or if in WDW, you can label it and leave it at First Aid in each park.

[dmpyron]

I had one family who took their insulin in a cooler which had some ice in it and put that in the "refrigerator". Their stateroom attendant dropped ice off "a thousand times a day". They took their own sharps container, but the infirmary insisted that they use DCL's. YMMV.

If you fly, make sure you tell security that you must carry the whole amount as it is temperature sensitive. A friend has MS and when she went to Russia last year, she took her interferon with her, which is very temperature sensitive. She had no problems in London, none in Moscow, none in Belarus, none at JFK. But when they were heading out, security at Austin gave her hell. It took a call to DHS to get things sorted out.

[Kenny]

Don, I had noticed you were diabetic and was going to PM you, but I think we have the questions answered, now. DW is only once a day, too, so everything should be OK. We will be leaving from Cincinnati on Delta this time, so it will be non-stop and that should help (flying can sometimes take all day!). And Dillon, I thought that would work, too, but we were hoping there would be a better way. LOL
Thanks, Guys

[duck addict]

Originally Posted by Kenny

Don, I had noticed you were diabetic and was going to PM you, but I think we have the questions answered, now. DW is only once a day, too, so everything should be OK. We will be leaving from Cincinnati on Delta this time, so it will be non-stop and that should help (flying can sometimes take all day!). And Dillon, I thought that would work, too, but we were hoping there would be a better way. LOL
Thanks, Guys

You are welcome. My Lantus book says store unopened insulin between 36 and 46 degrees. You might want to get a cooler pack if your trip is too long and you have to carry more than one cartridge. I use 40 units a day, so a cartridge will last me a week, so I don't carry a spare unless the trip is longer.

I think most 'drink' refrigerators will be under 46 degrees.

Once opened, the limit is 86 degrees. The frio keeps it between 59 and 79. This is adequate for the open cartridge, specially when in the parks.
In addition, the frio ought to keep a cold cartridge cool enough for the ride between the boat and the parks.

A good source of both cooler packs (for low temperatures ) and frios for the open cartridge is Health and Beauty products and information from the specialists at Medicool, Inc.

[Kenny]

Thanks, Don.
DW is at 15 units a day, so one bottle will last long enough for this trip if it stays the same. We went ahead and ordered the Frio.