1 00:00:14,969 --> 00:00:20,630 I travel over 100,000 miles a year in my job. I travel domestically and abroad and one thing 2 00:00:20,630 --> 00:00:24,930 you learn with that experience is you have to be prepared when you have Type 1 Diabetes. 3 00:00:24,930 --> 00:00:28,220 You have to sort of think forward a little bit and decide what would be problems you 4 00:00:28,220 --> 00:00:33,239 may have. For example, you might not always get to food when you need to have it or you 5 00:00:33,239 --> 00:00:37,030 might not be able to take insulin conveniently when they’re serving food, so you have to 6 00:00:37,030 --> 00:00:38,550 think those things through a little bit. 7 00:00:38,550 --> 00:00:42,720 There’s a few things you need to prepare if you’re going to travel if you have Type 8 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,989 1 Diabetes. First, you need your insulin and you need to have back up for your insulin. 9 00:00:45,989 --> 00:00:49,869 You need enough insulin to carry you not only for the trip but in case there’s an unanticipated 10 00:00:49,869 --> 00:00:50,659 delay. 11 00:00:50,659 --> 00:00:54,559 When I’m traveling I usually figure how many days I’m going to be gone. I figure 12 00:00:54,559 --> 00:00:58,330 out how much insulin I’ll need for those days and then I at least double it if not 13 00:00:58,330 --> 00:01:01,729 triple it. You never know when something is going to happen--the plane doesn’t take 14 00:01:01,729 --> 00:01:03,019 off right. 15 00:01:03,019 --> 00:01:07,070 If you have Type 2 Diabetes, the same rule applies to you. You need to take your oral 16 00:01:07,070 --> 00:01:11,580 medications to control your diabetes, not only for the time that you’re going to be 17 00:01:11,580 --> 00:01:14,320 gone but have back up in case you don’t get home on time. 18 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:18,390 Second, you need a way to assess your glucose. You need to check your control and know what 19 00:01:18,390 --> 00:01:22,110 your control is; that means you carry a meter and enough strips to carry you. 20 00:01:22,110 --> 00:01:26,570 Third, you need a way to correct a hypoglycemic reaction, a low blood sugar. That could either 21 00:01:26,570 --> 00:01:31,280 be a form of rapid acting you know carbohydrates or something to eat but make sure you have 22 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:31,750 it. 23 00:01:31,750 --> 00:01:36,290 Fourth, you need to have a form of identification. In case you get into trouble where you can't 24 00:01:36,290 --> 00:01:41,880 help yourself, you need the help of somebody else and they need to know that you have diabetes. 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,140 when I’m taking a long plane flight where there’s going to be meal service, there’s 26 00:01:45,140 --> 00:01:48,950 three things I want on my person. I don’t want them overhead where I may not be able 27 00:01:48,950 --> 00:01:53,100 to get to them because of turbulence or something in the aisle. I don’t want them under the 28 00:01:53,100 --> 00:01:58,890 plane. I want my glucose tabs with me in case I get low. I want my insulin with me so I 29 00:01:58,890 --> 00:02:02,869 can't take it for the meal. And I want to have a meter with me so I can adjust and determine 30 00:02:02,869 --> 00:02:04,590 what dose to take. 31 00:02:04,590 --> 00:02:09,369 When you start traveling over large time zones, for example if you’re going over to Europe 32 00:02:09,369 --> 00:02:13,790 or Asia or someplace where the time really shifts a lot, you need to think a little bit 33 00:02:13,790 --> 00:02:19,590 about your diabetes and how your insulin works in terms of the timing of your insulin. So 34 00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:24,450 if your insulin is good for four to six hours but you change the time zone, you need to 35 00:02:24,450 --> 00:02:25,950 account for that. 36 00:02:25,950 --> 00:02:30,470 When you’re thinking about traveling for pleasure, taking a vacation, sometimes you 37 00:02:30,470 --> 00:02:35,620 can really incorporate a lot of things into that vacation that are really good, sound 38 00:02:35,620 --> 00:02:37,450 practices for diabetes. 39 00:02:37,450 --> 00:02:41,800 You can take vacations that have physical activity built into them. Go to national parks, 40 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,489 take hikes, go out into the wilderness a little bit and use your feet. You know, not a bad 41 00:02:45,489 --> 00:02:50,750 idea. Sometimes you can go to places where there’s pools and oceans and--and the options 42 00:02:50,750 --> 00:02:56,989 for swimming or using a bicycle. It’s not a bad idea to incorporate good diabetes care 43 00:02:56,989 --> 00:02:59,959 into having fun and into vacation. 44 00:02:59,959 --> 00:03:03,170 When you’re driving in your car, a couple of good rules: 45 00:03:03,170 --> 00:03:07,410 First, don’t put your insulin in the glove box, leave it there, and forget because if 46 00:03:07,410 --> 00:03:11,030 the car gets too hot or gets too cold you ruin your insulin. Now you have nothing to 47 00:03:11,030 --> 00:03:12,910 work with and that’s a big problem. 48 00:03:12,910 --> 00:03:17,440 Number two, make sure you have something to help you correct hypoglycemia. If you get 49 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,860 low that means you need to have something that’s rapid and will correct it and you 50 00:03:21,860 --> 00:03:23,349 shouldn’t drive while you do that. 51 00:03:23,349 --> 00:03:27,690 You should pull over, correct it, and that brings us to the third rule: have a meter. 52 00:03:27,690 --> 00:03:31,310 You don’t know what’s going on unless you can check. So you need to find out when 53 00:03:31,310 --> 00:03:33,040 you’re safe to drive. 54 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,989 If you have diabetes and you haven't traveled a lot yet, you can get excellent advice from 55 00:03:37,989 --> 00:03:43,200 your healthcare team. They can give you good sound tips about how to travel safely with 56 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:44,000 diabetes. 57 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,870 If you’re living with diabetes, you can get excellent information, great educational 58 00:03:48,870 --> 00:03:53,489 support at a really wonderful website, www.YourDiabetesInfo.org. 59 00:03:53,489 --> 00:03:57,910 I’m David Marrero and my Type 1 Diabetes does not prevent me from traveling.