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Over Thanksgiving my entire family drove to Grandma's house which is 11 hours away. Packing for a family trip with a van load of children is always involved but when you add chronically ill children to the mix there are extra steps one learns to do.
My extra steps:
Or: The Never Ending Search For The Right Purse
Over Thanksgiving my entire family drove to Grandma's house which is 11 hours away. Packing for a family trip with a van load of children is always involved but when you add chronically ill children to the mix there are extra steps one learns to do.
My extra steps:
- Ensure that both my sons' letters of medical protocol are up-to-date and not stained with too many coffee cup rings or sticky with gum from the bottom of my purse.
- Pack a folder with abreviated medical records, just in case.
- Pack extra meds. in case I do something stupid, like trip in the night and spill the entire contents of a bottle. Not that I've ever done that... oh, wait, I have.
- In fact. on meds.- since one son is still on mostly liquid medication I have the pharmacist fill 4 small bottles instead of one large one. They are easier to handle, plus if he gets a virus and I've accidentally double dipped with an oral syringe I haven't contaminated his entire supply.
- Pack extra syringes.
- Pack all of the above meds. and supplies in two separate locations, just in case.
- Call ahead and find out where the nearest E.R. is located and do some research to try and discover whether it is staffed with monkeys or caring professionals. I do this online at FOD Family Support Group because they are they go-to support group for my sons' particular condition.
- Call ahead and get the name and location of the closest hospital staffed with a metabolic specialist.
- Pack the car with enough food for the trip, because road-side fast food is not an option.
- Look at the itinerary and figure the furthest we will be from medical care and decide if that is acceptable. We have family in an area of the country that I cannot take my 5 year old to see, they are just too far from a children's hospital for me to take the risk.
- Find a purse that all of the above will fit into.
Then I count my blessings. My sons can travel. I don't have to pack large medical equipment.
Btw, we had a great time at Grandma's.
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4 comments:
I'd love to see the purse you took!!
Yeah, that must be some purse. My checklist is currently running through my head for our next road trip. We had a big one for Thanksgiving as well, and those are mentally really taxing to prepare for! I'm glad that you were able to enjoy yourself when you got there!
I think the most stressed I've been when traveling was the time I forgot the small round container I used for a 2-day supply of medicine. From then on I just bring all the bottles. Thankfully God supplied a very kind pharmacist along the road, well not literally of course, but in a pharmacy.
Merry Christmas!
Picturing a pharmacist walking alonside the road tickled me. I actually thought about you while packing. Driving 11 hours was a big deal for me- but you fly regularly around the world Cristy!
Brenda, I don't have the purse I need. I ended up with multiple, awkward and unfashionable bags. My husband likens it to his never ending search for the perfect computer case for work. Luckily for our budget- we imagine alot more than we purchase.
About how big would this bag have to be, anyway? Now I'm really curious!
Oh, and glad I could "tickle you". :) And thanks for thinking of me! We did a 14-hour drive to NC for Thanksgiving, but we're taking it easy for Christmas and traveling just under 3 hours. I hardly know what to do with myself. :)
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