Living and traveling alone

Hey everyone.. I thought i'd start a topic about diabetics who live and travel alone, because it is something that i'm not totally secure with and I don't want to let it stand in the way of my life anymore.

I live in NYC and I have my own apartment. My parents live very nearby, though. I can't help but get scared sometimes. I find myself always wanting to be near my mom or dad in case of an emergency. I monitor myself VERY well.. almost TOO much.. so I know there really is no reason to worry so much, but I still do. 

Traveling alone scares me even more. I feel like I would be doomed if something bad happened on a flight or in a hotel room by myself. Does anyone else live alone or travel a lot successfully with diabetes? I'd love to hear some positive feedback.

I have lived alone for around 5 years (2 years of dorm life, 3 years of my own apartment). For 4 years, my parents were only 45 minutes away, now they are 2 hours away. I have friends and/or family I talk to almost every day. They know if they haven't heard from me in a day or two, something could be wrong. I made a few close friends at college and gave them keys to my apartment. I told them to call me and if they couldn't get ahold of me, to come into my apartment to make sure everything was okay. In all 5 years, I've never had an occasion where someone has needed to use my apartment key, but it's comforting to know it is out there for someone to use should they need it. I've had diabetes 20 years, take good care of myself, and don't tend to worry about my health. Only once in 5 years have I ever called my parents, and it was because I had a horrible flu where I couldn't stop throwing up (ended up being pancreatitis). I needed them to take me to the hospital (and didn't want to pay for an ambulance).

If you can establish contact with people, those you trust and talk to often, it might help you feel "safer." It always comforted me to know there friends around I could trust to help me if I needed it. Like I said, I never needed it, but the support system was there.

I haven't traveled alone, other than a couple hours in a car visiting friends. I'm sure someone else on here can offer advice on that part :o)

I've lived alone at various times of being diabetic for the past 20 years.  Never been scared.  The only thing I worry about is going low at night.  Luckily I've trained my body (or maybe the other way around) to wake me up when my blood sugar starts to go low.  Really, as long as you test and keep some emergency juice around, there's nothing to be afraid of.

I've also traveled around alone quite a bit.  I was in Europe for 3 months by myself and went around Central America for a month by myself.  Again, no real worries.  Just gotta test and keep emergency sugar on you.  If you stay in hotels there's usually always a vending machine or front desk people around.  Even when camping or staying in very remote places you can usually find some juice or something during the day to stash in your bag or room.

I'd really encourage you to not let your diabetes stop you from doing whatever you want, especially traveling.  

That's great! I'm glad to hear neither of you have really had any problems. I haven't either, and I do travel a lot. I just would love to not WORRY so much. But you've helped ease my mind a lot.. thanks!!!

I currently live by myself in Japan and it can definitely be hard sometimes. My best advice is to set an alarm for the middle of the night so you can test to make sure you are okay (it is very annoying, but can save your life). I also have my girlfriend call me on Skype from America every morning to make sure I`m okay.

I have lived by myself for 53 years, and I've had T1 for 67 years. Back in those earlier years there were many occasions when I awoke after having been unconscious for several hours from low BG, and I worried about how the next one might be my last one. Fifteen years ago I started using an insulin pump, and for those fifteen years there have not been any more events of unconsciousness from low BG. Needless to say, I am a strong advocate of insulin pumps!

At least twice a year for about 40 years I have driven alone from Phoenix to LA and back. That's about 8 hours each way. The pump keeps my BG stable for the drive each way. I also fly alone several times a year, and haven't had any trouble.

Tom Beatson

506, 1995; 508, 2000; Cozmo, 2005; Navigator, 2008

I haven't lived alone very much.  I've usually been married (for better or worse).  I did live alone with my 2 children for about 2 years before I got married to wife #2.

I have traveled by myself alot though.  It's not so bad.  Just do your thing and be careful.  Anything from 1 day fly out int he morning and back in the evening, to 2 weeks in London.  Just do it.

Had to remove it. Apologies.

Man...I can't believe I forgot this. Cats and dogs are real life savers. They will let you know every time if you are low or high. That is a fact. And usually they're much easier to get along with. I never knew a cat or dog who didn't bond in this way. They all did in my life. Just don't lock the bedroom door, I would suggest. Let them in; they'll stand on your head the minute your blood sugar drops.

I've never lived alone, but I dream of it occasionally when things are getting crazy round here. (; (Don't tell my family!)

But, what occasionally worries me is when my husband travels for business and I'm home alone w/ my son. Knock on wood, I've never been unconscious from a low since I was 5 or 6 years old. But, in the back of my mind, it sometimes makes me worried that he'd be left alone if I had a problem. But, it's not enough to make me try to stop us from living the life of a "normal" family, whatever THAT is!

Good idea to set a middle of the night alarm! (If one of you could call me to make sure I actually got up it would be a help though, lol).

Sorry to be tardy to the party. I will be living alone starting Saturday. Right now I live with a roommate who is an ignorant and lazy stoner, so I might as well be living alone. I've tried to explain diabetes to him but I feel like I'd have a better chance conveying the information to an inanimate object.

I'm moving to a condo in downtown Baltimore. I'm not really nervous about living alone or taking care of myself. I don't think I'll ever pass out from being hypo since I've been as low as 19 and haven't gone unconscious. I think I take pretty good care of myself too...never had an A1C greater than 6.8 and am active enough and eager to actually be able to cook.

I travel alone often for work and I haven't had any issues...I had one experience in Boston where the insulin I brought did not last the week I was there so I needed to go to Walgreens or CVS to get an emergency Rx filled.

 

I've lived and travelled alone and never once did I worry about anything.... maybe I should have been?  I flew to Spain by myself my jr year in college to meet my boyfriend and had to stay in a hotel for two nights by myself before he got there... I remember being worried about being bored or lonely, but not about my diabetes... huh.

Like most others in this post, I've never had a low where I go unconscious or been unable to take care of myself.... KNOCK ON WOOD!

 

I haven't lived alone in many years, but do travel alone pretty frequently for work.  I try to make contact with people some someone will be expecting me at some point every day to either show up or call them, but there are plenty of times when that just isn't possible.  I've never really been concerned about traveling alone - just make sure you're being safe, and as long as you're generally under good control most people should be able to handle it just fine.

So, reading this thread has made me feel a little better.  I felt kind of silly when I was filling out a portion of my son's application to dance camp this summer (six weeks of living in a dorm 4 hours from home) and wrote on the form that because of his type 1, he HAD to have a roommate (sometimes the odd person here and there will end up in a single).  He's only been at the diabetes thing for a year (almost) and will be doing at least six hours of dancing every day, so I didn't want him crashing and there being no chance of a roommate finding him.  He's sixteen and feels rather invincible right now.  Fortunately, it looks like he'll be rooming with his best friend, a sweet guy who is in touch with my son's diabetes.  Yay!