Thursday, 15 May 2014

Being 7,182 miles away from safety!!!

To many going on holiday is the most joyous time where all the hard life decisions, day to day burdens and just normal life can be almost forgotten and you can live how you would like with out a care in the world. In most part this is still correct except for one large part.for my daughter and I. It is currently 9.55pm in the Anaheim area USA, some 7,182 miles away from the comfort of home. After a day in Disneyland I sit here reflecting on the number of challenges we were faced with just because we did something a little different.

The day started with pulling together the supplies for the day including testers, strips, pumps, hypo food, back up needles just in case the pump failed, and of course the extreme hypo measure of the glucagon shot. Now this isn't necessarily any different to any other day other than the face that we are out of the comfort zone and our team and general process for supplies and doctors are not at an easy reach.

Yes we are in a large modern country and the majority of what we use to keep us alive probably originates from companies here but what we also know is that every country has its own medical system and when you do not know the ins and outs the fear of "if something goes wrong" is daunting. What happens if the pump fails. How long will it take to replace. What happens if we get sick who do we call or where is the hospital. Things can change rapidly and knowing that is just the start of the worry.

I have spent multiple days adjusting settings on both my and my daughters pumps to try and counteract hypos or highs that were becoming present over numberouse consistent days. Tweaking to make sure that health is maintained so that we can enjoy our trip. Today for instance I had dropped back my daughters basal rates as she was constantly going low. I did this slightly and now I drop it again just a little as it still was not quite enough. If it had been a one off I would use the temp basal rate so that when things went back to normal, or less exciting it would fix itself however as these hypos were appearing over multiple days and during periods away from food intake and over various settings (such as Disneyland one day and driving the next) I am adjusting the basal on the current pattern she is on. It could very well be the end of a growth spurt that started a week before going away which saw an increase of basal by an average of 170% across a 24 hour period however I need a few more days to drop it right back.

My levels on the other hand have needed increasing in some areas and decreasing in others. I think the out of the normal routine, and it really does become evident of the routine you get yourself into when you get out, has had this effect. Eating different foods, having different strains on my body and just being in a different environment causes variousness changes in the body that will have an effect.

In no way am I ever going to stop traveling but I suppose what I want to share is no matter how much we may want to step out side of T1 and go on a holiday the same pleasures, problems, calculations and considerations will follow and yes I am tired but it needs to be taken into account even on the other side of the world because if something goes wrong here then I have to rely on strangers to ensure everything can be put on track.

No comments:

Post a Comment