Semester in Australia - TID Pumper

Hi, I have a college-age son in Michigan who will be spending 5 months in Australia (primarily in the outback). He has T1D and pumps Novolog with a T-Slim and uses a Dexcom. I'm looking for suggestions on how he should manage his diabetes and insulin pumping overseas (I won't be with him). I'm not sure yet if he'll need an adapter for charging his insulin pump or if it makes more sense to go back on shots for the time he is away, or whether it will be a problem to get all of his supplies overseas. Is anyone familiar with extended visits overseas and/or with trips to Australia?

Thanks.

Lisa

 

I've learned from a friend that t:slim is not available in Australia, so your son will need to bring with him sufficient supplies to last his trip. Power is also different, so he will need adapters. I would check with Tandem to be sure that their power supply is dual voltage and current.

 

My daughter spent 10 months out of the country with a t:slim. These are my recommendations if he wants to pump:

1. Get Tandem to send you a loaner pump! If the pump poops out, they will not ship a new one out of the country. We had the situation where her original pump pooped out and she opened the loaner. I asked Tandem if they would ship me an additional loaner for her to have (in case the loaner went south) so that I could ship it to her in the Czech Republic. They were very accommodating and the second loaner (shipped priority but declared it as books) got there just fine! Also, we did insure the loaner pumps, though we've never insured the pump she wears. We figured in case of theft, she'd be covered.

2. Get an extra large Frio for insulin. I think we stuffed it with Lantus and 10 vials and placed rubber bands around each vial so they wouldn't hit against each other. While traveling and until you can get to a refrigerator, you can refresh the gels in the pack per instructions! Works great! Take twice as much as you think he'll need!

3. Stress the importance of taking syringes, long acting and the vial of insulin if going to be away from home base for a few days. Our daughter was 3 hours from Prague when her pump died (in the middle of the night) and she had to go to an all night pharmacy and beg for some insulin syringes to keep her going until she could get back to her apartment where the loaner was.

4. Our daughter charged her pump with the USB connection on her computer. Of course, she had the computer charged from the wall with an adapter.

5. Use the carry-on as the designated carrier for all things T1 related. Don't check it. Take the infusion sets out of the boxes, you can fit more in the case that way. Ditto with the sensors.

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you for the replies and suggestions! I plan to call Tandem this week and will check into adapters and a frio, I may also contact jdrf of australia to see if they have any suggestions. I've worked hard not to let type 1 hold him back in anything he wanted to do, but this makes me nervous.

Lisa