Recently as I prepared for an airline trip with the kids, I realized how exhausting it was with type 1 diabetes as "luggage"... and we hadn't even left the house. Insulin pump supplies, infusion sets, waterproof bandages, insulin, lancets, lunches and snacks for the trip, etc. etc.: the list kept growing. Our flight departed at 10:30 a.m. so we didn't have to get up at oh- dark hundred. Our travel day went something like this:

Going through airport security with my son Nick, who's still on insulin shots, was typical: We removed our shoes and placed them on the conveyer belt along with our suitcases and other carry-on items. He and I passed through the scanner without issue.

Our daughter Johanna is on a an insulin pump: an Animas IR1250. The first summer after she received her pump we called Animas and asked about passage through airport scanners: we were advised to bypass the scanner, that insulin pumps don't like the x-rays. This has been our protocol since then.

Johanna's security check went something like this:

TSA personnel escorted her (and her dad) around the scanner to a glass enclosure, where a female officer politely patted her down. While this occurred, others around her stared. It didn't matter what they thought, I could see the fright and embarrassment in Johanna's face.

The kids glucose levels  yo-yoed all day. I couldn't keep up.

JoJo felt low before the flight: her BG was 54 and it was only 10 a.m. Four glucose tablets, even though I had packed a cooler full of every energy and food bar I could get my hands on, plus lunch for later. The flight took off around 10:25 a.m. About 20 minutes into the flight we bolused insulin for a Bumble Bar.

During the flight Nick felt low... his BG was 49! We gave him 15g of juice to elevate his glucose level. A taxi took us from JFK to LGA. We retested him in the taxi and he proceeded to eat his lunch.

Once we arrived at the airport JoJo checked her BG, 111. She sat on a luggage cart eating her lunch while we checked in.

The kids finally settled down as we waited to board the second airplane. Once our flight was boarding I heard the words, "I feel low!" It was 3:25 p.m. and JoJo's BG was 71. A lesson in the making: Hypoglycemia and airline travel!

Nick chimed in soon after we took off, "I'm hungry and I'm testing!" BG was 108 at 4:30 p.m.

The kids were in and out of airport restrooms all day long. You'd think their glucose levels were really high, but not so. They each needed a break right before the flight, during the flight, once we landed in JFK, and upon arrival in LGA. 

We prepared for the unexpected as best as we could and even had a few contingencies. We figured we'd roll with the rest. In the end, everything worked out fine, and we were no worse for the wear...after two days rest!

There's a resource about diabetes and travel from the American Diabetes Association:
Diabetes Travel Guide by Davida F. Kruger, MSN, APRN-BC, BC-ADM.

"This new edition takes the worry out of traveling for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Create a diabetes survival kit, find insurance to cover your medical expenses while you travel, prepare for security measures throughout the world, and plan for every on-the-road situation you can think of (and survive the ones you didn't expect)."

The Diabetes Travel Guide