Many home TPN consumers are preparing to travel to San Diego next week for
the annual Oley Foundation meeting (www.oley.org). Others are planning summer vacations to
beaches, camping, and even abroad.
Contact your home infusion pharmacy and let them know your
plans. They will advise you on whether they can ship to your travel location,
or if you have to take supplies with you.
Call ahead to your hotel to check refrigerator availability and size,
and check with airlines for rules about traveling with pumps, medications, and
TPN bags.
Create a zip lock baggie of supplies for each day with a
couple extra. Include flushes, syringes,
alcohol swabs, tubing, etc. When it is
time to hook up, just grab the baggie and you will have everything you need
without digging and searching in a suitcase.
Take a non-porous tray for a work surface to prepare and
setup TPN. These can be purchased from
any variety, grocery, or home store.
Stainless steel bakery trays or smooth plastic trays (usually with the
summer table items) are good. They are
easy to pack at the bottom of a suitcase and can be easily washed with soap and
water or other antiseptic. Hotels and
camping areas may not have a clean work surface other than the bathroom, which
is not
a good choice.
Make sure you have plenty of Purell™ hand sanitizer in the
car, camper, hotel room….everywhere you go! There may not be paper towels or
adequate soap where you are staying.
Avoid hand sanitizers with extra additives and fragrances. Remember friction X 15-30 seconds and allow
to completely dry.
Don’t forget to pack the catheter repair kit. Hopefully you
won’t have to use it, but if you have a tear or break in the line, you will be
prepared to visit any hospital or clinic with what you need to get the line
functioning again. Remember, that the
instructions for repair can be easily removed from the outer wrap of the kit
without contaminating the sterile contents.
This will come in handy if the health care provider is not familiar with
the procedure.
Lastly, I hope everyone has a memorable summer vacation and
I look forward to seeing everyone at Oley next week!