I’ve been on the pod since February and I’m leaving for a 3 day trip to Albany today. Never traveled since starting on the Omnipod, so I’m not sure whether to just take insulin pens (I still have some from when I was on MDI) or bring extra pods/insulin in case of a problem. I haven’t had any problems since about the first month (knock wood).
My question is, does the insulin have to be refrigerated?? Or do I just keep the vial in the pod case?? Guess I could ask the hotel for a mini-frig if I had to.
I usually carry 2 pods for every anticipated pod change plus a “spare” just in case of a problem. As for the insulin…Once the bottle is opened…it starts that 28 day clock. I use more than one bottle in a month sooo I carry along humalog pen as a back up. There are always coupons out there for free kwik pens! I have a medi-cool case that allows for the insulin to be kept “refrigerated” for several hours. If you don’t refigerate the pen…then you can draw out the insulin when your vial is exhausted.
I too have no problem using a full vial before a month is over. I’ve never had insulin go bad from being out to long. I carry my vial with me at all times. I just have to be careful not to leave it in the car in a purse or something. I’ve done that a couple times though for short periods of hot weather and it’s been ok. I wouldn’t worry to much about it.
So once you start using the vial it’s ok for it to not be refrigerated? Never knew that, always kept the vial in the refrigerator (and then have to take it out an hour before my pod change to get it to room temperature) - guess I was really missing something here:X Guess I’ll take the vial with me in my pod case.
Changing my pod today before I leave, so won’t need it unless something goes wrong - crossing fingers!
Once we take a new vial out of the fridge I put one of those little round stickers you can get for prices at yard sales and I write the date it was taken out of the fridge…we keep it in the closet then w/ the pods…it never has lasted more than maybe 4 pod changes…so it has never gone bad. Just don’t let them get above normal room temp for too long. He also need an open vial at school…so when the one at home is empty he brings home the school one and uses it…thus the need for the dates on the vials to make sure they aren’t getting too old.
If traveling by air she said not to go throught the big body scanner. Be sure to take a doctor’s note. Security will wand you and then have you touch your pod and then test your hand for explosive type residue.
If traveling by car (which we were), we take extra pods, insulin and test strips in another bag in case his kit becomes contaminated or lost. I am always afraid that my son will drop the only vial of insulin on the tile hotel bathroom floor or leave his kit in the hot car. If in the heat, I also take the unopened insulin in a Frio.
But we also got scripts for Levimir and Apidra pens (since we are not going to a remote location), in case we lose his Pod Controller, that can be used at any local pharmacy. She showed us the daily totals screen on the Pod Controller that can be used to calculate the MDI needed. These pens are so common now that most pharmacies have them in stock. I like this better than taking the extra pens because I always had to toss them after our trips since they had been out of refrigeration.It is also good to take the printout of your Pod Controller settings just in case. Omnipod can overnight you a controller but if you don’t have the settings, you may have to wait unitl you can return home to your CDE.
I also did not know that we can transfer our RX from our home location to whereever we are if we needed an extra vial of insulin or test strips.You can only transfer one time, so we would have to call and get a new script once we arrive back home.
I never changed my script over from pens to vials for the pod, but there really isn’t a practical reason for me to do that. Each pen turns out to be a 9 day supply of insulin and I’ve never had a problem carrying one around unrefrigerated going back the ten years that I’ve been using pens. I’ll carry a pen for filling my pod and a back-up pen with needles just in case.
On an extended trip, like the 3 day trip you are taking, I might just take an entire months supply of pods if it’s just a matter of putting a box of pods in a bag and keeping them in a dresser drawer for the duration. Otherwise, if I know I’m not going to be close to some base location like a hotel, like Janice, I’ll take one pod and one backup for each change.
