The Easter holidays were coming up and I wanted to do something special with my two kids, Oliver and Bella. We decided to take two weeks to travel to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland. It was hard choosing online between hotels and airlines, so I put my faith in the local travel agent, but didn’t yet realise what organising a US holiday for Oli, who has type 1 diabetes, entailed.

Oli’s diagnosis in June 2010 came as a huge shock to the whole family that eventually broke up my marriage and was shattering to Oli. However, after a year of learning to self-inject, he went on an insulin pump and was adapting well to his new life with diabetes, continuing his beloved cricket, soccer, swimming and running.

Contingency planning for type 1

Travel insurance that covered type 1 diabetes was the first puzzle I solved for the upcoming holiday. The premium covered overseas medical expenses of $12.5 million, personal liability and legal advice, etc. with a clause covering unexpected claims arising from Oli’s diabetes added once he declared it hadn’t led to him being hospitalised in the past 12 months.

I met with the diabetes unit at the hospital to learn about what was required on such a trip. The main precautions were around the insulin pump breaking down, I could either take a backup with me or order one there. I chose the latter as I figured that a pump could be delivered quite quickly in the US but while waiting for it to arrive we’d need to use needles! So I had to relearn when and how to inject insulin, and took a refresher lesson on using the glucagon syringe.

Arrival and Disneyland

Oli, Bella and myself left home very early to fly from Launceston to Melbourne, then 14 hours to LA. We did not feel tired at all and watched numerous movies, although Oli had one hypo, which on a plane is quite an unusual feeling!

We got through Customs reasonably quickly and caught a shuttle to a hotel near the airport, and immediately slept to about 2pm. We then went to Manhattan Beach and at dinner had our first sighting of the large American meals we had heard about: burgers and fries!

It probably took me a few days to start feeling comfortable looking after Oli so far from home. Once we settled into a rhythm everything worked well although overall his blood glucose levels (BGLs) were high, which may have been a result of me trying to avoid any life-threatening lows.

After a few days in Santa Barbara, we caught the train to Anaheim for our Disneyland visit, where we had the most amazing time for three full days.
We were told that the excitement and exhaustion could play havoc with Oli’s BGLs but he coped really well. We usually ate three big meals per day rather than continual snacking and used an express pass that allowed us to return to a ride at a set time instead of queuing, which could be exhausting for Oli. We enjoyed numerous rides and I was impressed by the absolute fearlessness of the kids.

Rides, film sets and a Mustang

Our next stop was San Diego, where we had our only rain. We spent three nights there with the highlights being Sea World and the Safari Park. Rides were becoming our favourite so we went to Knotts Berry Farm for our last four nights, where rides are the order of the day. It was hard leaving the kids while I went on some faster rides, but Oli looked after his little sister well.

At Universal Studios we took a studio tour that featured film and TV sets, including Desperate Housewives and Psycho, although the kids got worried when a knife-wielding actor chased our bus!

It had long been an idea of mine to drive a Mustang convertible so on our second-last day I surprised the kids by hiring one. I immediately discovered that it wasn’t easy to drive a left-hand drive vehicle on the right-hand side of the road — but it did feel fantastic driving to Santa Monica, Malibu and the Sunset Strip!

When it came to the long flight back home, Oli and Bella were very sad and did not want the holiday to end. It was the trip of a lifetime and we are already
thinking of our next adventure! Perhaps crossing the States in a camper van?

Have type 1, will travel: CHECKLIST

From insurance to emergency supplies to letters, everything is taken ‘just in case’. If you think it could happen, have a contingency plan!

• Back-up supplies of diabetic equipment, including insulin, pens, needles, meter, blood glucose strips, lancets, fingerpricker, ketone strips and batteries.
• Hypo remedies, such as juices, sweets, snack bars, dried fruit, etc.
• Cool storage of the insulin in specialised travel wallets for when there is no refrigeration.
• Letters from the paediatric consultant which stated Oli’s condition, what he required and the supplies he carried, we never had to produce these letters at airports but they are essential to carry regardless.

This article was originally published in Conquest Magazine published by Health Publishing Australia