Working on no sleep this morning. Lets the mind wander wonderfully. So here are the issues I can think of with our trip and my new diabetes:

How to store enough insulin for extended times away from “civilization” -Â We will have to have refrigeration now, for sure, and will probably have to have a backup refrigeration system. Wind generator and solar panels, and a big alternator to make sure we always have adequate power. We’ll probably want to cruise in company with someone else, as a third-level backup, so we can transfer my insulin to someone else’s refrigerator.

Insurance/supplies – I have no idea if I will be able to get health insurance, and if so, at what cost – and whether I will be insurable when we get back. Suddenly the health care debate has become very personal to me. I was one of those perfectly healthy people who pays in and pays in to the system, and never takes anything out. Now I am completely dependent on my health insurance; without it, we probably would have already rung up thousands of dollars in medical expenses already. If the current system persists, I may not be able to get insurance when we get back – or my diabetes might be excluded, and since anything bad that happens to me in the future may well be related to the diabetes, well… It’s more clear to me than ever that universal health care is the only civilized solution. The point is to spread the risk and the burden out – you never know when you’re going to go to the doctor and find out you have a chronic, serious disease.

Diet – will I be able to maintain a good, heart-healthy diet that’s easy to measure against my insulin intake?

Injections – will I be able to stick myself when we’re on passage? What if it gets really rough?

Emergencies – what if the boat sinks? I’ll need to have a way to keep at least a few days’ worth of insulin below 85 degrees if we have to abandon the boat…

I’m sure more issues will come up as we go forward. This takes the level of difficulty of our dream up a big notch – but I’m not giving up on it. We can do it.

I don’t know if anyone out there is following our progress anymore – we’re still working on Norman, and are currently planning to leave in the fall of 2009. Having a baby has really taken up our time and concentration, but we are still planning on going as soon as we can get everything together.

The latest not insignificant hurdle is that I was just diagnosed with late-onset Type 1 diabetes. Out of the blue, as a total surprise. I had a stomachache that wouldn’t go away – went to the doctor to get it checked out and ended up in the emergency room. I’m now on 5x daily insulin injections – and that’s causing us to seriously rethink the level of refrigeration we’re going to need on the boat – I think we need a primary and backup system, to keep fresh insulin on hand when we’re far from civilization.

It’s a strange thing, having this condition that makes you so dependent on advanced medical technology. If I don’t have a regular supply of this stuff, I will DIE. Not get sick, but die. If I do a good job of managing it, I should be just fine – but I can’t entertain the fantasy of being an autonomous being anymore – no living off the land, no Robinson Crusoe ideas of eking out an existence on an uninhabited island… not that any of that was truly possible, but it’s more concrete, knowing that pretty soon, my body will not be able to regulate itself at all without these regular injections of mysterious liquid.