Injections on board

[Hogbay]

you .. sorry your friend has to be 'Fit to travel"  . See your Dr and call RCI . can post Australian Link To special needs . 🙂

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com.au/allaboutcruising/accessibleseas/otherNeeds.do#targetText=Royal Caribbean International cannot accept,doctor is required for boarding.

[Maverick61]

On 8/30/2019 at 10:33 AM, nathanb2 said:

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do it.

 

Without knowing the medication or condition, all people here can do is speculate.  I self-inject once a week.  My spouse who is a RN would give me the injection as I was squeamish.  That changed when I was out of town myself for a month and had no choice but to learn to do it myself.  Now no longer an issue, I self inject each week

 

Not sure what jurisdiction has to do with whether she can self inject or not

 

But if the ship's nurse or MD will do it, you will pay.  And I suspect they would need some doctor's orders from her physician 

[Jared2]

Thanks for the input everyone. The reason why I mention the jurisdiction is that she can't learn to self-administer (even if she wanted to) because self-administration is not allowed in our jurisdiction for this particular condition, so there are no classes for it and you can't buy the materials (needles, etc.).

 

I will send an email to the special needs department.

 

Worst case she can go without the injection for one week and/or plan the previous and next injections right before we leave and get back. Telling someone to not cruise because of this seems a little excessive.

[Maverick61]

5 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

 

Worst case she can go without the injection for one week and/or plan the previous and next injections right before we leave and get back. Telling someone to not cruise because of this seems a little excessive.

 

Yes, if you are creative, you can plan the previous and next injections right before you leave and get back.

Even though I am fine self injecting once a week, that is what I will do on my trip just so I don't have to carry the auto-injector and the medicine (which needs refrigerated) in a small cooler with icepacks.

I normally inject on Sunday's anyway - our cruise is Sunday to Sunday - and we are flying in on Saturday.  So I will just inject Saturday before we leave to catch our flight and then the following Sunday evening when we get home.

 

Just plan it out in advance so if she has to adjust the day when she injects, she can adjust gradually several weeks ahead of time

[Ourusualbeach]

10 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

Thanks for the input everyone. The reason why I mention the jurisdiction is that she can't learn to self-administer (even if she wanted to) because self-administration is not allowed in our jurisdiction for this particular condition, so there are no classes for it and you can't buy the materials (needles, etc.).

 

I will send an email to the special needs department.

 

Worst case she can go without the injection for one week and/or plan the previous and next injections right before we leave and get back. Telling someone to not cruise because of this seems a little excessive.

As you have a plan that will work for you this really doesn’t matter but I’m curious if instead of injection you meant infusion.  The difference being that an injection is usually intramuscular and basically stick the needle in and you’re done while an infusion would be setting up an IV and having the medication released slowly directly into a vein over a period of time like an hour to 2.  That could definitely explain why you can’t do it yourself.

[Jared2]

9 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

As you have a plan that will work for you this really doesn’t matter but I’m curious if instead of injection you meant infusion.  The difference being that an injection is usually intramuscular and basically stick the needle in and you’re done while an infusion would be setting up an IV and having the medication released slowly directly into a vein over a period of time like an hour to 2.  That could definitely explain why you can’t do it yourself.

Good thought but it is indeed an intramuscular injection, not an infusion.

[wendychloecruiser]

On 8/30/2019 at 3:33 PM, nathanb2 said:

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do it.

 

Your jurisdiction must have a lot of money to pay for everyone who needs frequent injections.  Or it something she needs some further teaching to get more comfortable with the the procedure?

[Monk86]

An injection into the muscle is simple...surely you can do it for her...stick needle in, pull back syringe to ensure no blood (i.e. not in a vein) and continue the injection...unless I'm missing something...?

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Monk86 said:

An injection into the muscle is simple...surely you can do it for her...stick needle in, pull back syringe to ensure no blood (i.e. not in a vein) and continue the injection...unless I'm missing something...?

Yes, that is easy.  I’m guessing that it is the medication that is the issue.

[Monk86]

We we might never know as details are sparse and sketchy to say the least.

[Jared2]

8 hours ago, Monk86 said:

We we might never know as details are sparse and sketchy to say the least.

What other detail do you need to know that I haven't already provided?

[Jared2]

10 hours ago, wendychloecruiser said:

 

Your jurisdiction must have a lot of money to pay for everyone who needs frequent injections.  Or it something she needs some further teaching to get more comfortable with the the procedure?

I guess we do. She picks it up at the pharmacy and then usually her GP's assistant or receptionist injects it for free.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, nathanb2 said:

I guess we do. She picks it up at the pharmacy and then usually her GP's assistant or receptionist injects it for free.

So one is permitted to possess the medication. It not administer it?  That is quite odd, and as everyone has said IM injections are very simple; (heck even the secretary does it) just procure a couple syringes and needles and away you go. 

Edited September 12, 2019 by not-enough-cruising

[brillohead]

A monkey can be taught to give an IM injection.  

Either there's something about these injections your friend isn't telling you, or (quite probably) the doctor's office has been telling your friend that the injection must be administered in their office because they think your friend won't inject it properly on their own.

The fact that your friend can pick it up at the pharmacy and transport it to the doc's office on their own tells you that it's not some kind of harmful or dangerous substance that only certified personnel can possess.  

And the fact that literally ANYbody in the doc's office can administer the injection for free tells you that it's not something that requires any extensive medical knowledge to administer.  

I would recommend going along with your friend to their next doctor visit for a shot and ask if you can learn to administer it so you can take care of it on vacation.  If you go a few times and can demonstrate correct technique each time, I see no reason why you can't take care of it on vacation.
 

[ReneeFLL]

13 hours ago, brillohead said:

A monkey can be taught to give an IM injection.  

Either there's something about these injections your friend isn't telling you, or (quite probably) the doctor's office has been telling your friend that the injection must be administered in their office because they think your friend won't inject it properly on their own.

The fact that your friend can pick it up at the pharmacy and transport it to the doc's office on their own tells you that it's not some kind of harmful or dangerous substance that only certified personnel can possess.  

And the fact that literally ANYbody in the doc's office can administer the injection for free tells you that it's not something that requires any extensive medical knowledge to administer.  

I would recommend going along with your friend to their next doctor visit for a shot and ask if you can learn to administer it so you can take care of it on vacation.  If you go a few times and can demonstrate correct technique each time, I see no reason why you can't take care of it on vacation.
 

This!! Maybe the dr just wants her to have another office visit so they make more $$$. Please go with your friend and find out what's really up and question them about it.

[shellunderwater]

Or maybe, just maybe, the OP has told you the way it is, doesn't want to provide any more details than they already have and is happy with their alternate plan as a backstop.

 

Glad to know that the folks on CC believe themselves to be smarter than all of the accumulated medical knowledge of the OP's doctor and/or of the medical rules where the OP lives.

 

Geez.

[Monk86]

20 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

What other detail do you need to know that I haven't already provided?

I think the responses from the thread suggests there are more questions than answers here.

[Monk86]

1 hour ago, shellunderwater said:

Or maybe, just maybe, the OP has told you the way it is, doesn't want to provide any more details than they already have and is happy with their alternate plan as a backstop.

 

Glad to know that the folks on CC believe themselves to be smarter than all of the accumulated medical knowledge of the OP's doctor and/or of the medical rules where the OP lives.

 

Geez.

I would suggest that the OP isnt "happy with their alternate plan" considering the questions asked in this topic. The posters are being helpful and trying to give their best advice with the confines of the topic.

 

[shellunderwater]

4 minutes ago, Monk86 said:

I would suggest that the OP isnt "happy with their alternate plan" considering the questions asked in this topic. The posters are being helpful and trying to give their best advice with the confines of the topic.

 

Actually, the OP has never suggested being unhappy.  Their plan is to contact special needs to see if medical can handle this.  I don't think the OP knew to try to reach out to special needs about the situation.  Their alternate plan is to have the injection just before and just after the cruise.

 

The other posters have said things like the person needs to grow up and learn to give the shot themselves and still others have suggested the OP's doctor is using this as a mean to generate revenue unfairly.  Some even said the should allow fellow passengers (strangers) to administer the injections

 

All the OP has asked is if medical can administer an injection.  Everyone else has taken that and created an entire issue around it.  Determining the OP isn't happy because others are offering their $0.02 doesn't make the OP unhappy.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

This!! Maybe the dr just wants her to have another office visit so they make more $$$. Please go with your friend and find out what's really up and question them about it.

 

You must have missed the post where OP said it is injected for free. OP is in the Netherlands. Different health care system and different laws. 

[fred30]

Ignore most of the replies.   Contact the cruise line with your friends needs and see what their response is.   Once you have this information your friend should contact her physician with their reply and go over her options.  Her physician may prefer she get the shot at least once on the cruise.  

[123funcruiser]

42 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

You must have missed the post where OP said it is injected for free. OP is in the Netherlands. Different health care system and different laws. 

 

Nothing is for free in any Health System on this planet. The Patient doesn´t pay for the dr.´s visit and the injection, but that doesn´t mean it´s for free. The dr. is still being Paid for it - so it´s not free. 

[Charles4515]

54 minutes ago, 123funcruiser said:

 

Nothing is for free in any Health System on this planet. The Patient doesn´t pay for the dr.´s visit and the injection, but that doesn´t mean it´s for free. The dr. is still being Paid for it - so it´s not free. 

 

Second guessing and attributing ulterior motives to the health care provider is not helpful. You don’t know if the provider is paid per service or is salaried. OP explained that self injection is not allowed there for the condition. People here want to second guess cause they have nothing better to do. OP needs a direct answer from Royal Caribbean and then go from there. 

Edited September 13, 2019 by Charles4515

[wendychloecruiser]

On 9/12/2019 at 11:16 AM, Monk86 said:

An injection into the muscle is simple...surely you can do it for her...stick needle in, pull back syringe to ensure no blood (i.e. not in a vein) and continue the injection...unless I'm missing something...?

 

 

Yes, an IM injection is technically easy though you must know a little about anatomy to get the location correct.  You can do a lot of damage if you get it wrong.  

[Bloodgem]

The injection may have some side effects that need monitoring after admission.