Traveling with a CGM

I grab my beat up small travel suitcase. I will only be gone for 3 days, so I don’t need to take to many clothes. The smaller case should get me through the next few days. My last travel was a few months ago, so I need to locate all my travel gear. Somehow it has gotten spread around the house. There are some items in the office and a few more in the bedroom. I found some items in the upstairs bathroom and the down stairs bathroom. How does this stuff get moved to all of these different places?

Three days so I need three of everything: socks, underwear, shirts, trousers, maybe an extra pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I grab my light leather jacket, I am headed to San Francisco and it could be cool this time of year. I have decided not to take a sport-coat, my jacket can double as a sport coat.

I need to evaluate my medical kit as I have added more items to carry with my CGM. I will need three packages of syringes. I also need three pen needles and I have to restock my sugar tablets. I pack 5 snack size Glucerna bars in my suitcase and a couple in my backpack. I have one day left on my Guardian sensor, so I had better pack two sensors, one for the replacement and an extra if the first one doesn’t work properly. I pack my Guardian user guide as reference material. I look at my Symilin and the vial is almost empty. I may get one more day, so I pull another vial out of the refrigerator. I have enough Humalin R and Humalog to get me through the week. I refill my weekly pill container with enough pills to get through the week. I had better grab the IV tape for the sensor. I opened a new bottle of test strips the other day and I have plenty of lancets. I think I have it all.

I grab a quart size bag and put my shaving cream, toothpaste and deodorant into the bag. This seems like a silly rule for airport security. I think the US is only country in the world, which requires this kind of Security Theater. I call it Theater as it doesn’t really serve any purpose other then to look good and make the traveler feel like something important is taking place when it is really not.

I need to update my Emergency card and add my CGM to the list. I also update my list of medications and print it is the smallest font on my printer. I fold it and stick it into the SOS medical necklace. I also grab the CGM medical card, which states I am carrying a medical device. I don’t know if the sensor will set off the security alarms, but I want to be ready, just in case it does.

I think I am ready, so I load my suitcase and backpack into the car and head to the airport. An hour later I have my ticket and I am standing in the security line. I hand the first TSA agent my ticket, my driver’s license and my medical card. I move to the next security line.

I unload my computer. I take off my shoes and jacket. I put my quart bag in a plastic tub with my shoes and jacket. I put my backpack and suitcase on the conveyer belt. I shuffle forward and make sure all of my items go into the scanning machine.

OK, now it is my turn to go through the metal detector. Will I set of the alarm? I have my

Medical CGM card in hand and ready to give to the security agent. I am ready for the alarm to go off. I get the hand motion to step through. One, two, three steps and I am clear of the metal detector. I get the hand motion to move on through.

Nothing happened. No alarms, no body searches. OK, then, time to move on and gather my stuff. I shove my compute back into my backpack. Slip on my shoes, put on my jacket and put my quart bag of liquids back into my suitcase.

I head down to the trains and out to the concourse to wait for my flight to take off.