Late at night, I'm finally packing up for a spur-of-the-moment one week trip to Amsterdam. As I'm packing, I can't find the next box of needles. (I'm MDI). Oops, forgot to fill the next prescription. How did that happen?!
We have to be at the airport at 4AM, no pharmacy open at this time. Plus I didn't want to get my husband nervous; the whole point of this trip was for him to relax after a very stressful time.
So I did what I normally don't do -- reused the needles for a few insulin shots each. Sometimes they stopped working, got bent etc., once I wasn't even sure if I had injected myself or not, that is a tricky one.
Managed to get through the trip OK, and even had a great time. So far have not told this to my hubby...
I went on a cruise and followed the cruise ships advice to store my insulin stock in the infirmary. Unfortunately they froze it, all my insulin for a two week vacation. I posted on dealing with getting insulin while on a cruise ship and in Mexico in this post.
Sometimes dealing with crises can make you feel more confident that you can in fact handle situations.
Yeah, you're right. After my initial panic (even thinking "how do I tell my husband that we have to cancel the trip"), I realized that I can handle it. And it worked out well. Thanks for pointing that out.
I have re-used syringes many many more times than that. Sometimes the needle gets plugged up, other times it gets bent, but I was often able to re-use them so many times that the unit numbers on the outside of the barrel were nearly worn off! Must've been hundreds of times!
I have an office in Amsterdam...you can get needles there, I think they even have a cart that travels through the red-light district passing out free condoms and syringes....
When I was first diagnosed I ordered about 20 boxes of pen needles from one of the discount online retailers. I found them as cheap as something like $12/ box. That stockpile has come in handy countless times, like every time I need to go to work (for weeks away from home and pharmacies) 25 days into my 1 month supply of prescription needles
I was at the airport waiting for my flight to head to Italy and realized I didnt pack any needles!!Ttotal freak out mode b/c I was going to be away for 17 days.
Luckily, when we got to a town in Italy there was a pharmacy and they reluctantly (but THANKFULLY) let me buy a box (:
This just happened to me! I was about to go off on vacation, and discovered I was short two insertion sites for my pump. My insurance program had changed a bit (still Kaiser, but changes), and I had not done my reorder. Thankfully, I contacted my Kaiser endo, who helped me get some insertion sites to tide me over. I really was impressed with how helpful everyone at Kaiser was, and how kind! It was the first time I had to do anything like that--remarkable since I have been on the pump for 17 years.
P.S. Love that we have Help Around, as Marie B says above.
Which actually reminds me, it is always good to carry extra prescriptions on international travel should you need them. My GP actually has what they call a "travel clinic" that they hold on a regular basis to get you all the necessary shots and prescriptions that you may need when traveling.
