Music Festivals
While not everyone’s cup of tea, a few days of camping and concerts is music to the ears of some. For those who do enjoy a good music festival, there are a couple of things that will definitely make your time easier.
Though I’m not an event planner, safe money is on the fact that most festivals opt for sunshine and warmth over rain and cold. So let’s assume things are hot. As you’d likely know, heat can cause dilation of blood vessels and make your insulin extra absorbent, potentially dropping your sugars. Yet the pendulum can swing the other way too. If you’re dehydrated, your sugars may rise. Know how the heat affects your sugars and plan accordingly.
It’s not just your precious selves but also your equipment that can be at risk from the boiling sun. Often at larger festivals there will be ambulance or other medical staff present. I’d recommend asking them to store your insulin in any fridges they may have. I did this at the Falls Festival in Lorne with St John’s Ambulance happily accomodating. This certainly beats a hot car or tent or an esky that might be too cold.
With the allure of festivals comes the masses. Crowds are a fact of life. You will be fine but it’s always worth being vigilante to ensure no one accidentally pulls out your insulin pump line or bumps you when you’re injecting. Best option is to find a secluded spot whenever diabetes management calls.
Another fact of life for many when getting festy is alcohol. Safe to say diabetics deserve a drink. Enjoy yourself and cut loose but do not forget though that you are likely in unfamiliar surroundings with less support around you than normal. Know your own limits, toe the line and you’ll be fine. While we certainly don’t encourage or condone it, the same goes for drugs. Recreational drug use is taboo at the best of times but even more so when you add a serious disease like diabetes to the equation. Despite this, not talking about it solves nothing. If you’re going to do it, know what you’re putting in your body and how it will affect both your sugars and your state of mind.
If the festival is longer than a day then chances are you’ll find yourself camping. Cleanliness is not a word invoked when thinking of sleeping in a tent for a few days. Yet its always important to do what you can to make sure all your injections, infusions and finger pricks are as sanitary and sterile as possible. Packing extra alcohol swabs and hand sanitiser could be the difference between happy days and a possible infection.
If you want to keep things simple, just stay clean, cool and collected and have a ripper time.
