Question about transporting serum tears

[lost in thought]

My Mom is 70 with severe dry eye and will be taking a trip in a few weeks and needs to transport enough serum tears to last a month.  These must remain frozen through 35 hour travel time.  I've recommended to her to ship them to destination, but she would like to have them with her because she doesn't trust shipping to another country (Malaysia).  Does anyone have any ideas on how to transport them while keeping them frozen?  If it was only a week or two trip, an insulin cooler would work.  

[leaveitallbehind]

Is this something that your doctor or pharmacist could assist with - or whomever they are purchased through?  Perhaps they know of different methods of transport that would work.  I would be curious how it is shipped to them. 

[lost in thought]

She doesn’t get them shipped to her, the pharmacy that makes them is close enough to pick them up.  She’s going to ask them how to transport them.  Shipping them to the destination has a lot of hoops to go through.  I’ve got a couple of ideas I’m going to test out to see how they work out.  I’ll post if they work, I’m sure someone else will need that info at some point

[leaveitallbehind]

39 minutes ago, lost in thought said:

She doesn’t get them shipped to her, the pharmacy that makes them is close enough to pick them up.  She’s going to ask them how to transport them.  Shipping them to the destination has a lot of hoops to go through.  I’ve got a couple of ideas I’m going to test out to see how they work out.  I’ll post if they work, I’m sure someone else will need that info at some point

I meant that I was curious how the source she gets them from has them shipped to them.  But you say the pharmacy makes them?  Hope you find a solution.

[ShadowzBtlr]

Is your mother going to be on a cruise ship for the 30 days? If yes, you or your mother should call the cruise line's "Special Needs Dept." to find out if they can offer some solution.  Maybe a small portable freezer unit for the cabin or maybe the ship's medical center can store the supply and have the required dosages deliver on a scheduled basis. 

[lost in thought]

She's not a cruiser, that's me.  But I had wondered if any cruisers had the issue of of trying to transport serum tears (aka Autologous serum drops).  Between flights and layovers, it's a long travel time but she has a freezer available once she gets to Malaysia.  And once the bottles thaw, they are only good for a week.  Dry ice on a plane means contacting the airlines and getting approval, I can't make the calls for her due to my hearing and she won't do it ("too much hassle with contacting multiple airlines").  

 

My thought process at this point is to make ice cubes with the eye drop bottles in them and put them and more ice in a yeti bottle.  Once I get the mold, I can test it out with her empty drop bottles.  The only other option I can think of would be shipping them, but from some cursory research, there's a lot of hoops and red tape to go through to ship them. Sorry to dump this on y'all here, but I really want her to be able to go on this trip because it's probably going to be her last trip before mobility issues stop her from travelling.

 

I'm hoping the pharmacy that makes the drops has some ideas, or someone here thinks of something that I haven't.

[lost in thought]

Posting this now for anyone needing the information in the future. 

 

My mom talked to the pharmacist about transporting the eye drops.  He said to keep them on ice and as long as they are kept cold they will be ok to refreeze once.  A thermos or yeti bottle with ice would work fine and refilling the ice as needed at each layover.  

 

That's a relief. And what I was hoping the answer was going to be.  Leave it to me to make things more difficult than they need to be.

 

Now to find out what other preparations she's been procrastinating on.  Nothing like prepping one's self for a cruise and someone else for a different trip while trying to keep it all straight.

 

Happy Holidays and merry cruising to everyone!

[mom says]

There may be a problem with using a thermos and ice when going through security. You could be required to pour out the ice if any of it has melted. Might be better to use an insulated lunch box or bag with the rigid freezer packs designed for use transporting frozen goods. Look for something that says transportation freezer pack. Do not use the cold packs used for treating  injuries- they start thawing immediately. My freezer packs were still mostly frozen after a 22 hour flight day, and would have stayed cold for much longer.

Edited December 7, 2023 by mom says