Trip Drill for AlteCockers: Medications and Plastic Baggies
The trip drill for us old farts is a bit different than it is for you young whipper snappers.
The first thing AlteCocker does is count out her meds. She does not bring vials of prescription meds. They are all decanted into attractive plastic bags. In fact, plastic bags are her favorite packing accessory. She will explain.
When you take a trip for 2 weeks, the drill is easy. When you go for 2 months it gets a little complicated. First of all, there was the matter of the pantaprazole prescription. For the uninitiated, any medication ending in "prazole" is what you take for acid reflux. Half of all seniors take this medication. AlteCocker's prescription was due to be refilled on the day she was scheduled to get out of Dodge. Fairly simple, she thought. Wrong. She tried to get a vacation refill one day early. Was it approved? No. Lots of arguing with prescription drug plan. AlteCocker was told you are entitled to only one early refill a year and she had had hers last summer. It was suggested that she go to a pharmacy at midnight on the day she has to be at the airport at 5:00am as a "solution". She was also told that the doctor could provide an alternative medication. Let AlteCocker put it this way: Is it a wise thing to change a medication from one that works to one that might not work as you head off on a long trip? No.
AlteCocker called Medicare and complained. Their "solution" was to just have the doctor write a new prescription. So she did. The prescription drug plan denied the prescription because it was the same medication and was not due for a refill until October 30th.
Fortunately, there was a Plan B. Remember AlteCocker recently went to Turkey. Turkey is one of those countries that sells medications for pennies (although sunblock costs a fortune). AlteCocker could not go by a pharmacy without stepping in and buying a few boxes. So, she has a stockpile. It is to maintain her stockpile and avoid silly situations with prescription renewal dates that she maintains her stockpile and refreshes it every time she hits a country where you can buy stuff over the counter and it costs very little. In fact, her main souvenir from Turkey was to refresh the stockpile--a much better deal than to get taken purchasing a carpet. So she is all set but the stockpile will be diminished by the trip. Thai pharmacies will be a main tourist destination to refresh it. The prescription will have to stay as is until she returns. AlteCocker is convinced that the Medicare prescription drug plans do this because they save money by denying people needed medication--and this was a request for a refill ONE DAY early. Nuts--and never mind what they don't pay for.
No other prescription drug problems but AlteCocker did put a block on her two prescriptions for automatic refills. She doesn't want that pantaprazole sitting around on the pharmacy shelf until she returns.
All the meds are put into those sexy plastic bags. AlteCocker still has her brains and knows which is which so there is no danger she will take the wrong thing and/or more than she needs to.
Then AlteCocker makes sure she asks her physicians for an assortment of "maybe" medications--such as emergency prednisone for her back. A kind physician doubled the prescription at one blow and told her to wait a month between dose 1 & dose 2 if she needs to use the second dose.
The bottom line is that it is a lot more complicated to take long trips out of the country as an AlteCocker. All AlteCocker's routine physical exams are on a schedule so that she gets them in between trips. She never misses, for example, a mammogram or an eye exam. They are just on the schedule.
Now returning to the plastic bags: Half of AlteCocker's luggage these days seems to be taken up with electronics. To prevent tangled cords and temporary "can't find the cord" panic, AlteCocker puts each device in a separate plastic baggie. You put the baggies you need on the plane in your purse. You put those that are less urgent in luggage. When you pull out the pouch all the little do hickeys you need are right there--and the cords are not tangled.
You do all of this ahead of time. Then packing is just throwing in plastic bags and not having to check which cord goes with which--or which cord should be tossed because you don't know what it is for anymore (AlteCocker has a lot of those). In hand luggage she puts her computer devices but she only needs her Kindle (and cord to plug in at her seat if it gets low). She does not need every damn computer device she has. Just the Kindle and the old ipod with music she likes as opposed to music the airline has on the plane.
AlteCocker is bringing 3 cameras on this up coming trip: A new camera (nothing fancy but everything works), an old camera (has problems and is to be used only for a kayak trip and, should it get ruined, tossing is fine) and a new GoPro Video Camera (detailed instruction booklet printed from the internet). The tossable camera will go in the main luggage. The other two will go in a carry on that will be put in the overhead during flights.
A couple of extra plastic bags will go into the the luggage for plastic bag emergencies. By the time the trip ends, there will be fewer because most of the meds will have been "eaten". Plastic baggies with holes will be tossed!
The first thing AlteCocker does is count out her meds. She does not bring vials of prescription meds. They are all decanted into attractive plastic bags. In fact, plastic bags are her favorite packing accessory. She will explain.
When you take a trip for 2 weeks, the drill is easy. When you go for 2 months it gets a little complicated. First of all, there was the matter of the pantaprazole prescription. For the uninitiated, any medication ending in "prazole" is what you take for acid reflux. Half of all seniors take this medication. AlteCocker's prescription was due to be refilled on the day she was scheduled to get out of Dodge. Fairly simple, she thought. Wrong. She tried to get a vacation refill one day early. Was it approved? No. Lots of arguing with prescription drug plan. AlteCocker was told you are entitled to only one early refill a year and she had had hers last summer. It was suggested that she go to a pharmacy at midnight on the day she has to be at the airport at 5:00am as a "solution". She was also told that the doctor could provide an alternative medication. Let AlteCocker put it this way: Is it a wise thing to change a medication from one that works to one that might not work as you head off on a long trip? No.
AlteCocker called Medicare and complained. Their "solution" was to just have the doctor write a new prescription. So she did. The prescription drug plan denied the prescription because it was the same medication and was not due for a refill until October 30th.
Fortunately, there was a Plan B. Remember AlteCocker recently went to Turkey. Turkey is one of those countries that sells medications for pennies (although sunblock costs a fortune). AlteCocker could not go by a pharmacy without stepping in and buying a few boxes. So, she has a stockpile. It is to maintain her stockpile and avoid silly situations with prescription renewal dates that she maintains her stockpile and refreshes it every time she hits a country where you can buy stuff over the counter and it costs very little. In fact, her main souvenir from Turkey was to refresh the stockpile--a much better deal than to get taken purchasing a carpet. So she is all set but the stockpile will be diminished by the trip. Thai pharmacies will be a main tourist destination to refresh it. The prescription will have to stay as is until she returns. AlteCocker is convinced that the Medicare prescription drug plans do this because they save money by denying people needed medication--and this was a request for a refill ONE DAY early. Nuts--and never mind what they don't pay for.
No other prescription drug problems but AlteCocker did put a block on her two prescriptions for automatic refills. She doesn't want that pantaprazole sitting around on the pharmacy shelf until she returns.
All the meds are put into those sexy plastic bags. AlteCocker still has her brains and knows which is which so there is no danger she will take the wrong thing and/or more than she needs to.
Then AlteCocker makes sure she asks her physicians for an assortment of "maybe" medications--such as emergency prednisone for her back. A kind physician doubled the prescription at one blow and told her to wait a month between dose 1 & dose 2 if she needs to use the second dose.
The bottom line is that it is a lot more complicated to take long trips out of the country as an AlteCocker. All AlteCocker's routine physical exams are on a schedule so that she gets them in between trips. She never misses, for example, a mammogram or an eye exam. They are just on the schedule.
Now returning to the plastic bags: Half of AlteCocker's luggage these days seems to be taken up with electronics. To prevent tangled cords and temporary "can't find the cord" panic, AlteCocker puts each device in a separate plastic baggie. You put the baggies you need on the plane in your purse. You put those that are less urgent in luggage. When you pull out the pouch all the little do hickeys you need are right there--and the cords are not tangled.
You do all of this ahead of time. Then packing is just throwing in plastic bags and not having to check which cord goes with which--or which cord should be tossed because you don't know what it is for anymore (AlteCocker has a lot of those). In hand luggage she puts her computer devices but she only needs her Kindle (and cord to plug in at her seat if it gets low). She does not need every damn computer device she has. Just the Kindle and the old ipod with music she likes as opposed to music the airline has on the plane.
AlteCocker is bringing 3 cameras on this up coming trip: A new camera (nothing fancy but everything works), an old camera (has problems and is to be used only for a kayak trip and, should it get ruined, tossing is fine) and a new GoPro Video Camera (detailed instruction booklet printed from the internet). The tossable camera will go in the main luggage. The other two will go in a carry on that will be put in the overhead during flights.
A couple of extra plastic bags will go into the the luggage for plastic bag emergencies. By the time the trip ends, there will be fewer because most of the meds will have been "eaten". Plastic baggies with holes will be tossed!