C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2015 19:38:23 -0300

Haven't seen this anywhere on the internet and it may help someone.  I have
travelled quite a few times on planes - to Europe, Japan and the USA - with
Betaferon, and have had no problems with the following method.

The background to this is that it is supposed to be kept cool.  I don't know
how much this is emphasised in other countries, but here in Chile it can often
be hotter than 25C, which is the maximum temperature, so when I was shown how
to use it, the nurse emphasised that it shoul dbe cariied in an insualted
container.

So, I use an insulated "picnic box", made by Coleman, I think.  It looks like
it  would maybe hold a six-pack of beer.  Inside that I have a "freezer bag"
like you can buy in supermarkets to keep frozen food cold.  That is cut to
size, so that it fits inside the box and folds over at the top.

Then, inside the bag (inside the box) go the boxes of Betaferon (containing
the entire injection kit).  I can get, I think, 7 or 8 boxes in there plus one
or two of those blue "ice blocks" (again, used to keep frozen food cold).

The ice blocks sometimes raise questions at check-in, but the final decision
seems to be with the person who checks hand luggage just before boarding and
they have always accepted them.  I should note that I also have a photocopy of
the prescription taped to the top of the box and a photocopy of a letter from
my doctor saying it is needed, and needs to be cold, inside.

I also always explain, before it goes through an X-ray machine, what it
contains.

Recently I bought a digital clock / thermometer.  Nothing very fancy, but it
has max/min temperature functions.  And that shows that in normal use (ie much
of the time in the overhead locker in a plane) the temperature over 24 hours
doesn't exceed around 22C (by which time the blue blocks are completely
melted).

Before getting the thermometer I did try using ice (from inside the plane) on
long journeys (eg second or third leg).  But while that kept things cool, it
was a mess, with water sometimes leaking into the overhead locker.  So now,
with the knowledge from using the thermometer, I just leave things closed as
much as possible.  And I would use ice again if the blue blocks were ever
confiscated.

My vitamin D and betaject also go in hand luggage, but the gel packs for
cooling the area before injectinos are checked.

Also, it's worth checking regulations for different countries.  Japan, for
example, is pretty strict, but if you look carefully at the rules, there's an
exception for "injection kits" that seems to have been written pretty much
exactly for this kind of medication.

Andrew