psychoticparrot
psychoticparrot
- Time of past OR future Camino
- April, May (2017)
As I mentioned in some previous threads, my husband and I are making plans to walk the Camino starting in April 2017. His health has been a concern, as he has been suffering from an autoimmune condition that would prevent him from going if it remains uncontrolled.
His doctor has recommended that he start taking Humira for his condition and is very confident that it will control the problem. Humira is a medicine that has live biologics. It can't be frozen, nor can it be kept at temperatures higher than 77 degrees F (25C). It's given via injection every two weeks. It's recommended that Humira be kept refrigerated, but it can be kept at room temperature at no higher than 77 degrees F (25C) for no longer than 14 days.
So, given the conditions of the Camino from early April to mid-May (our Camino time frame), is there any way for my husband to be able to walk the Camino and carry/store Humira along the way?
I don't think it's possible to carry it along in a chilled cooler, as that would be cumbersome and the outdoor temperatures too unreliable. Carrying it unprotected in his pack is even more chancy. From everything I've read, there is often snow or freezing temperatures in the Pyrenees in early April. If the Humira gets frozen, it's no good for use. By mid-to-late May, it could be getting pretty warm in Galicia, so temps over 77 degrees (25C) may be a problem. Even on days with the ideal temperature range, the medicine may get too hot inside his pack.
He would prefer to buy the Humira in the U.S. and bring it along, as it's very expensive (full cost is about $2,000 per injection; he will need 5 injections during our 2-month stay in Spain), but our insurance will cover most of the cost. If he were to buy it in Spain, it would be prohibitively expensive and probably not available except in cities (Humira is not a common medicine). So the biggest problems are storage and transportation. I hesitate to use a transport service, as we could not be certain the medicine would be stored properly.
Any suggestions/solutions/advice would be very welcome.
His doctor has recommended that he start taking Humira for his condition and is very confident that it will control the problem. Humira is a medicine that has live biologics. It can't be frozen, nor can it be kept at temperatures higher than 77 degrees F (25C). It's given via injection every two weeks. It's recommended that Humira be kept refrigerated, but it can be kept at room temperature at no higher than 77 degrees F (25C) for no longer than 14 days.
So, given the conditions of the Camino from early April to mid-May (our Camino time frame), is there any way for my husband to be able to walk the Camino and carry/store Humira along the way?
I don't think it's possible to carry it along in a chilled cooler, as that would be cumbersome and the outdoor temperatures too unreliable. Carrying it unprotected in his pack is even more chancy. From everything I've read, there is often snow or freezing temperatures in the Pyrenees in early April. If the Humira gets frozen, it's no good for use. By mid-to-late May, it could be getting pretty warm in Galicia, so temps over 77 degrees (25C) may be a problem. Even on days with the ideal temperature range, the medicine may get too hot inside his pack.
He would prefer to buy the Humira in the U.S. and bring it along, as it's very expensive (full cost is about $2,000 per injection; he will need 5 injections during our 2-month stay in Spain), but our insurance will cover most of the cost. If he were to buy it in Spain, it would be prohibitively expensive and probably not available except in cities (Humira is not a common medicine). So the biggest problems are storage and transportation. I hesitate to use a transport service, as we could not be certain the medicine would be stored properly.
Any suggestions/solutions/advice would be very welcome.