Byetta Travel - and Storage
1. Michael - thank you for the link for the Medi-Fridge. I plan to
purchase it soon to have on hand in case I have an extended car trip.
2. For those considering the FRIO WALLET: I purchase one and was unhappy
enough with it that I tossed it. I had the one designed for one Byetta
pen. I followed all the instructions - there was no way to insert the pen
after the ‘gel beads’ swelled - and it was nigh impossible to even get the
gel bead pack back into its ‘jacket’. I could have forced the pen in - but
I kept thinking I might damage the dial top of the pen by jamming it with
the force needed. For me, a total waste of money.
3. My recent air travel experience. Last week I flew on CONTINENTAL
AIRLINES from Houston, Texas to Seattle, Washington - a 4 hr 30 minute
flight. Since the Frio wallet I had purchased for this trip was a problem,
I decided to go with the Byetta gel pack. I had checked the Continental
Airlines and it said that gel packs were acceptable for medication. I put
my Byetta pen in the cooled gel pack (the freebie from Byetta) and put that
in a zip-lock bag and then put a frozen plastic ice pack in the bag with it
- I knew it could not freeze the pen because it was not inside the Byetta
bag - it was outside of it. It is the kind of very small plastic ice pack
like you would put in a child’s lunchbox and keep in the freezer until
needed.
I then put that zip-lock bag with the Byetta bag and ice pack into a small
tote. In the tote I put my Byetta prescription box from the pharmacy that
had my name on it, a box of pin needles that had my prescription name on it,
and a box of lancets. I put my meter pack in the tote as well. For
precaution, I had printed out the info from the Continental web site about
the gel packs being allowed for medication.
When I went through the security check-point I put that tote in a bin with
my purse. I told the security person that I was diabetic and that the tote
had medication that had to be kept cool and was in a cooler pack. He said
"No problem, as long as you tell us about it - and less hassle if you just
let us run it through the scanner." I did and there was no problem - he
never opened the tote at all. Exact same experience on my return from
Seattle.
Interesting side note - I always take the Byetta bag with me to restaurants
and inject myself about ten minutes after I place my order. I usually have
shorts or pants on and a top. In a booth it is really easy to do the
injection with nobody even noticing. I just get the pin ready and lift my
shirt a little under the table and pull the waist of my bottoms down just a
tad and inject.
The reason I was in Seattle is I went to a law enforcement type conference.
The two people I traveled with sat across from me in the restaurants (we
always managed to get a booth). They never saw me inject (though it would
not have bothered me if they had).
I know that many people do not like the freebie Byetta bag but it has worked
well for me - especially now that up to 77 degrees is okay. I know, though,
that it would not suffice in a hot car.
September 1st, 2006 at 2:23 am
Nita, thanks for the info on the FRIO. I had thought about buying one for
when I go camping but guess I’ll just take my micro fridge along and run it
off my cigarette lighter. I’m flying for business next week and will let
you know if I have any problems with TSA. When I flew to Fairbanks last
week, I hadn’t received my micro cooler yet so I used a thermal lunch box
and put all my meds and a blue ice block in it along with my Byetta pen.
When I went through security, I simply told them I’m traveling with
refrigerated medication and have a gel pack. They x-rayed it and sent me on
my way. However, on the flight back to Anchorage, they not only made me
take each component out of the bag but they also "sniffed" for explosives as
well as running it through the x-ray machine. I had a tube of glucose gel
in my jacket pocket and they complained because I hadn’t put it with the
other meds (I’d forgotten it was there) and then told me that if they wanted
to be picky, that my gel pack was over the allowable size limit and could
have made me take it out but luckily they didn’t. I don’t know if it’s like
this other places but Fairbanks is a small town with only about 80K
residents in the immediate area so I often feel TSA agents there are just
looking for something to do. I work for an organ/tissue procurement
organization and frequently travel with samples of human tissue for
transplant but they never hassle me over that but they always get picky when
I go through with my CPAP machine.
September 3rd, 2006 at 3:46 am
Maybe put the meds in with the human tissue?? HA HA!
September 3rd, 2006 at 8:04 am
Hi Nita,
Thanks for the travel info, especially since I am going to Seattle late next
week. The tips will help with my packing of the pen.
Melodie
2. For those considering the FRIO WALLET: I purchase one and was unhappy
enough with it that I tossed it. I had the one designed for one Byetta
pen. I followed all the instructions - there was no way to insert the pen
after the ‘gel beads’ swelled - and it was nigh impossible to even get the
gel bead pack back into its ‘jacket’. I could have forced the pen in - but
I kept thinking I might damage the dial top of the pen by jamming it with
the force needed. For me, a total waste of money.
3. My recent air travel experience. Last week I flew on CONTINENTAL
AIRLINES from Houston, Texas to Seattle, Washington - a 4 hr 30 minute
flight. Since the Frio wallet I had purchased for this trip was a problem,
I decided to go with the Byetta gel pack. I had checked the Continental
Airlines and it said that gel packs were acceptable for medication. I put
my Byetta pen in the cooled gel pack (the freebie from Byetta) and put that
in a zip-lock bag and then put a frozen plastic ice pack in the bag with it
- I knew it could not freeze the pen because it was not inside the Byetta
bag - it was outside of it. It is the kind of very small plastic ice pack
like you would put in a child’s lunchbox and keep in the freezer until
needed.
I then put that zip-lock bag with the Byetta bag and ice pack into a small
tote. In the tote I put my Byetta prescription box from the pharmacy that
had my name on it, a box of pin needles that had my prescription name on it,
and a box of lancets. I put my meter pack in the tote as well. For
precaution, I had printed out the info from the Continental web site about
the gel packs being allowed for medication.
When I went through the security check-point I put that tote in a bin with
my purse. I told the security person that I was diabetic and that the tote
had medication that had to be kept cool and was in a cooler pack. He said
"No problem, as long as you tell us about it - and less hassle if you just
let us run it through the scanner." I did and there was no problem - he
never opened the tote at all. Exact same experience on my return from
Seattle.
Interesting side note - I always take the Byetta bag with me to restaurants
and inject myself about ten minutes after I place my order. I usually have
shorts or pants on and a top. In a booth it is really easy to do the
injection with nobody even noticing. I just get the pin ready and lift my
shirt a little under the table and pull the waist of my bottoms down just a
tad and inject.
The reason I was in Seattle is I went to a law enforcement type conference.
The two people I traveled with sat across from me in the restaurants (we
always managed to get a booth). They never saw me inject (though it would
not have bothered me if they had).
I know that many people do not like the freebie Byetta bag but it has worked
well for me - especially now that up to 77 degrees is okay. I know, though,
that it would not suffice in a hot car.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]