If you don’t already know this about us, we have TWO Type 1 Diabetics in the family! Both myself (Kristin) and our oldest, Sydnee. Thanks to my own parents instilling a “Diabetes doesn’t stop you” attitude in me, we are where we are today! Our philosophy is that T1 does NOT keep us from doing anything – we just have to do some planning.
So on that note – here is how we RV with T1D!
1. Where do you PUT all those supplies?!
T1 takes up a LOT of space – and having TWO of us only makes it worse. We did need to get a little creative on our storage space, but I think we ended up with a good deal. Here is one of THREE storage areas with our supplies…
We keep all of our supplies in the master room storage area – safely away from children’s play areas and easily accessible! Storage drawers are a huge lifesavor – like these from Amazon!
2. Ok, but how do you GET all those supplies?
Many T1 supplies are received by mail order pharmacies. This is efficient, since most send a 3-4 month supply in one large order, but moving around makes this more difficult. We currently use a supply company called “Pumps It”, which has been fantastic to work with. They actually call before shipping, and then we give them our current address. If we are near family or friends, we ship to their homes. And if all else fails, we ship to family and they can over-night to us! It’s not as “easy” as living in ONE location, but it’s completely do-able. And for those supplies that do not go through Pumps It, we can pick up at a CVS, Walmart or Walgreens which are found all over the USA!
3. Ok…. so…. insurance?
Yes, we need insurance! Thankfully David’s job already takes care of that, and we continue to use that insurance.
4. How do you maintain your endocrinologist appointments?
This is a little more tricky for us. The first step was openly speaking with both of our endocrinologists. We made sure they were on-board with us doing 6-month check ups, instead of 3 or 4 month check-ups. Both drs were very supportive!
Outside of those main points, here are a few other “travel” related things we have learned along the way:
1. We always take along our “site-seeing” supplies. This includes pump site-changes, testing equipment, insulin, syringes, glucagon, quick sugar, snacks, and water. We typically throw them in a simple draw string bag. Then we can just grab the drawstring, or put it in a backpack with other “site-seeing” items. (We have found we can’t have enough of these bags around the camper!)
2. Boating, Beach, Waterparks, ETC…. we always pack gallon-sized zip lock bags. These store our testers, phones (for the glucose sensors), insulin, etc. We also make sure we both have extra adhesive for our sites, so they do not come off in the water! I typically order these fun ones from Amazon – easy and lots of fun color choices!
3. Lastly, we have found that having reliable internet is very important to us. Sydnee’s Dexcom uses wifi to send her blood sugar to her phone, which then sends it to our phone. This then notifies us if she drops low or goes to high, particularily during the night. David has spent some time assuring the internet is always reliable, in nearly any location!
I hope this gives another T1 family the courage, and ideas, to be able to travel! All it takes is a little planning!
