- Joined
- Sep 20, 2023
- Messages
- 15
I started Skyrizi a few months ago. Just finished the third infusion and I'm about to switch to the on-body injectors.
The complicated thing is my partner and kids live overseas.. so even I'm a U.S resident and only a tourist when I'm overseas.. but now I need to figure out how to carry 1 year of Skyrizi with me.
There are three main problems..
Problem #1) Getting permission from various countries in Asia to actually carry 1 year of Skyrizi. This is very complicated and challenging. Only thing I can do is slowly figure it out. No one is going to help me with it. I have to reach out to every country I'll be traveling through. Even though these are some of the strictest countries in the world for this kind of drug authorization.
I actually don't know how long I'll be staying overseas. I just said "1 year" because I suppose that's the longest possible duration. The country where my partner lives, I only get 30 - 90 days at a time. Then I need to jump over to a neighboring country for a few weeks and then come back again for another 30 - 90 days. This was relatively simple to do in the past, but now that I need to carry a cooler of expensive medicine that cannot be replaced.. so I'm nervous. I've never had to do anything like this before.
Unfortunately, my partner / kids coming to the U.S isn't an option. I also have no permanent housing in the U.S nor any family. So even though I'm a citizen and resident of the U.S.. there is little holding me here except for health coverage. Which is sad but reality. Asian countries are particiularly strict about who to give permanent residency too and citizenship etc is out of the question. No option to get normal health insurance there either. I only can buy travel insurance.. which last year actually DENIED my claim even though it was a genuine emergency.
Problem #2) The instructions for Skyrizi say that it's good ONE TIME out of the cooler up to 25C for up to 24 hours. So only 1 time. Just the flights to get there will be a multi-day trip and I cannot predict delays, cancellations, unexpected issues, etc.
I tried to have the medicine shipped overseas, but the company said that it would literally be impossible and they are unwilling to assist with that.. so I feel I'm on my own to transport this medicine.
Problem #3) I've never actually seen the Skyrizi on-body injectors in person.. and I never transported temperature controlled medicine before in my life. I don't really understand how big the cooler needs to be to carry 6x Skyrizi injectors. I looked at travel coolers on Amazon but when I asked them about Skyrizi.. they said that only 1x Skyrizi injector can fit inside. So how big and heavy is this cooler going to be to carry? Can someone please give me a better idea? I'd love if someone can suggest what exact cooler I need to buy to transport 6x Skyrizi. I asked AbbyVie on the phone but the guy only had general copy and paste info.. with no specific information on how to carry more than 1x for trips lasting more than 24 hours. Whenever I call AbbyVie they're always reading generic info off of a screen. There's no brainstorming of any kind.
I really feel on my own.
I also don't know how many ice packs I need to transport 6x Skyrizi or what kind of ice pack or how large.
Technically, I should probably get the cooler within the next week or two so I have time to play with it a bit. But I don't know what cooler I would need to buy for this task!
TIA
The complicated thing is my partner and kids live overseas.. so even I'm a U.S resident and only a tourist when I'm overseas.. but now I need to figure out how to carry 1 year of Skyrizi with me.
There are three main problems..
Problem #1) Getting permission from various countries in Asia to actually carry 1 year of Skyrizi. This is very complicated and challenging. Only thing I can do is slowly figure it out. No one is going to help me with it. I have to reach out to every country I'll be traveling through. Even though these are some of the strictest countries in the world for this kind of drug authorization.
I actually don't know how long I'll be staying overseas. I just said "1 year" because I suppose that's the longest possible duration. The country where my partner lives, I only get 30 - 90 days at a time. Then I need to jump over to a neighboring country for a few weeks and then come back again for another 30 - 90 days. This was relatively simple to do in the past, but now that I need to carry a cooler of expensive medicine that cannot be replaced.. so I'm nervous. I've never had to do anything like this before.
Unfortunately, my partner / kids coming to the U.S isn't an option. I also have no permanent housing in the U.S nor any family. So even though I'm a citizen and resident of the U.S.. there is little holding me here except for health coverage. Which is sad but reality. Asian countries are particiularly strict about who to give permanent residency too and citizenship etc is out of the question. No option to get normal health insurance there either. I only can buy travel insurance.. which last year actually DENIED my claim even though it was a genuine emergency.
Problem #2) The instructions for Skyrizi say that it's good ONE TIME out of the cooler up to 25C for up to 24 hours. So only 1 time. Just the flights to get there will be a multi-day trip and I cannot predict delays, cancellations, unexpected issues, etc.
I tried to have the medicine shipped overseas, but the company said that it would literally be impossible and they are unwilling to assist with that.. so I feel I'm on my own to transport this medicine.
Problem #3) I've never actually seen the Skyrizi on-body injectors in person.. and I never transported temperature controlled medicine before in my life. I don't really understand how big the cooler needs to be to carry 6x Skyrizi injectors. I looked at travel coolers on Amazon but when I asked them about Skyrizi.. they said that only 1x Skyrizi injector can fit inside. So how big and heavy is this cooler going to be to carry? Can someone please give me a better idea? I'd love if someone can suggest what exact cooler I need to buy to transport 6x Skyrizi. I asked AbbyVie on the phone but the guy only had general copy and paste info.. with no specific information on how to carry more than 1x for trips lasting more than 24 hours. Whenever I call AbbyVie they're always reading generic info off of a screen. There's no brainstorming of any kind.
I really feel on my own.I also don't know how many ice packs I need to transport 6x Skyrizi or what kind of ice pack or how large.
Technically, I should probably get the cooler within the next week or two so I have time to play with it a bit. But I don't know what cooler I would need to buy for this task!
TIA
