A dry shipper..

I've been told by the hospital here in Wellington that I will need something called a "dry shipper" to transport my frozen stem cells in. It's a leak-proof container filled with liquid nitrogen that is used to transport items (like my stem cells) at -150c.

I started the hunt last week, it didn't sound like too much of a problem, after all they freeze horse and cattle semen and ship that around the world all the time. There must be plenty of them around! Nope.

I contacted a place called World Couriers who specialise in couriering medical equipment, blood and transplant organs around the world. They said there was a seven week wait for a shipper.

Then today they have told me they can get one to hire but the freight ($4500) will me more than it costs to buy one. sigh.

I phoned every lab in the country, no luck. Every supplier in NZ and Australia.

My only hope is that I can get one from the US in time for next week. Word is that there's a two week delay from the manufacturers due to the high demand. Apparently the airlines changed the rules a few years back and all cryo containers must be of the "dry" type in order to travel by air.

Hopefully tomorrow being monday in the US i'll get some good news from all my emailing and have this sorted.