Children with diabetes eventually grow up to become confident young adults that want to see the world. Parents need to learn to let them go – even to unfamiliar destinations where the medical facilities cannot be taken for granted. 

Spain or Italy? No way. For Yaltah Worlitzsch and her friend, Niklas, it was to be the Middle East. In 2008, they travelled to Syria via Istanbul, from Aleppo to the desert ruins of Palmyra and on to the capital, Damascus, followed by the Jordanian capital, Amman, to Wadi Rum and then on to Aqaba.

Yaltah Worlitzsch is 21, and has had diabetes for five years. She is studying philosophy and economics in Bayreuth. She is a keen musician (violin and piano), and performs with her parents and siblings with the Worlitzsch Quintett. “Must it really be Syria and Jordan?” was my mother’s initial reaction to my plans to backpack with my best friend across the Orient. “If something should happen, you will not be able to find insulin!”

From Istanbul to the Red Sea 
Apart from the fact that she was actually right, I was determined not to let such an adventure fail. Not because I got diabetes five years ago, and not because I have been wearing a pump since then. “Then I will be prepared!” was my reply, and could hardly wait to start our journey.

A few weeks later it was all go. The flights were booked, and the itinery organized. Our plan: 17 days from Istanbul with a bus to Syria, and from there to Jordan to the Red Sea. We would find accommodation on site, in order to be flexible, and in case we reached our destinations before time.

Now was the time to be prepared for all scenarios. We thought about everything I needed: catheter, reservoirs, the lancing device, disinfection material and, of course, insulin. In addition, the monitoring gear, sufficient test strips and, of course, dextrose.

All of these were packed in duplicate – one set in my friend’s rucksack, and one in mine. Should one of our rucksacks go missing, we would still have the other one. I also packed an additional pen with three ampules in my day pack, just in case.

Double pump, but no insurance
One thing, however, we only had one of, and that was my insulin pump. One month previous, I had thought about this and rang the manufacturer Medtronic to ask about borrowing a second device. Indeed, this was no problem, as the lands I was travelling to had, in contrast to the West, no direct line to the manufacturers. But they were not able to insure the pump. This I was supposed to be able to do through the household insurance. When I contacted them, however, they told me that I couldn’t insure the pump as there was no special insurance for medical equipment. Finally, I turned to the Children’s Hospital ‘auf der Bult’ in Hannover. They couldn’t help me either, as this case was unprecedented.

I had to make a choice: either to inject, in case something happened to the pump, or to take the risk and carry a borrowed pump worth around 3700 Euros, which I would have to pay for if lost. I discussed this with my parents. We had already experienced such a situation when my pump failed whilst on an orchestral tour. In view of the stress this had caused, my parents decided to trust me to take the borrowed second pump.

The adventure begins
Nothing now could stand in our way, and we went forth into a world so different from ours. We soon realized that this trip was the greatest thing we had ever experienced. And my diabetes was no bother at all.

Neither the long hikes nor the strange food, neither the heat of the desert nor the cold nights. Not even in Jordan, when we were with Bedouins and slept in their tent at night. I simply stuffed the insulin deep into my rucksack, so that it was protected by my clothes. I needed no refridgerator during the day, nor did I need to protect it from the cold during the night.

Throughout the whole trip, I didn’t need even one single dextrose. My values were perfect. Even the borrowed replacement pump remained in its case and was returned unharmed to Medtronic.

The time just flew, and it is difficult to say exactly what the highlights were. One highlight does remains with me, however, and that is that I now know that diabetes does not have to rule my life. For people with diabetes, everything is possible. One just has to be prepared. 

Hopefully, the problem with the insurance will eventually be solved. Then I can only say from the bottom of my heart: just do it!

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Yaltah Worlitzsch