Laments of a Travelling Humira User

As mentioned in my last post, I'm in Canada at the moment and was attending a conference in lovely (albiet, cold and damp) St. John's, Nfld.

I've had a lot of flights on this trip, and this is the first time I've had to fly or go abroad with Humira. This was the cause of some anxiety as there was so much to sort out. 

It took ages to get someone hold of the pharmacist at the company who delivers it to confirm whether or not what the internet was saying about not needing to pack it with ice pack is was true. I couldn't re-freeze the packs at one of my stops, and airport security won't let them through partially frozen as they are a gel. Several weeks of calls, and I had the pharmacist tell me that I actually could leave it out of the fridge if the environment wasn't too hot, but fridge is better and once it's been out, be sure to use it within two weeks. That contradicts what I had been previously told, but hey-ho, it was less to carry.

If I didn't absolutely need to take the ice packs, then I need a new insulated bag, because I wasn't taking that hideous pink thing again. 

http://foodlovingcrohnie.blogspot.ca/2015/08/the-silly-season.html

I also needed to sort out how and where to dispose of the sharp, as I really didn't want to haul the used on home in some puncture-proof container.

Then I had to get a note from the doctor saying I was carrying a needle on a plane for medical purposes. The NHS won't pay for that, so the three line letter that I pretty much wrote myself cost me £25 (!!!), and I have yet to have anyone ask to see it.

So I had all that to sort, plus having a bit anxiety about whether or not I was going to get hassles from airport security. Thankfully I didn't, but that's possibly because I just told whoever was checking my bag that I was carrying injectable medication before they put it through the scanner.

To be on the safe side, I emailed the conference centre I was staying at, asking if I could store my Humira in a fridge there. The person who responded and very kindly suggested that they store it in their staff fridge for five days as there was no fridge in my room. 

I set myself about a dozen reminders to remember to pick it up on Sunday before I flew out to my next destination. I asked the staff for it after breakfast.

The insulated bag it was in came back soaking wet. You can't see it in the picture, but it was absolutely soaked through.

Soaked right through to the box inside.

And completely soaked the letter my GP wrote telling airport security that I had permission to carry a needle on a plane. I paid £25 for that!

It was so wet, the bag soaked the bed in my room. Good thing I was leaving that day!

I had to get a flight to my next destination, so I just put everything in a Ziploc bag, shoved it in carry-on and went. By the time I arrived and had a better look, it was like this.

It pretty much fell apart. It was also beginning to soak through the back of the packaging over the needle itself. Good thing I was taking it that night.

Thankfully, the injector is plastic and unlikely to be water damaged, but still. The injector itself seemed fine, and everything I could see through the little window on the needle looked normal, so I took it that night as usual.

And I was also able to rescue that letter from my GP with very careful handling and allowing it to dry flat. At least I shouldn't have to pay £25 for another one.