michreev
01-03-2009, 06:15 AM
Just wanted to share a positive story, its nice to have something good to write for a change.:smile tee I flew to NY for the first time since diagnosis and was very worried about the plane flight. I am very lucky that the majority of my symptoms are pain related and while frequency does increase it's not as bad as it is for most people. (I know that seems like a weird thing to say...but for the purposes of travel I can understand how much worse frequency could be than pain.)
I am, however, really water sensitive. I called our airport ahead and checked to see what kinds of water they carried: none of which I could drink. The woman over the phone suggested I get a doctor's note. My urologist wrote me a brief letter explaining that I needed to carry water with me. I was forewarned that it was still up to the individual FAA agent to determine whether or not I could bring my water on board, but luckily they complied. I did get the initial patent "you can't bring that" response at each security post...but once I pulled out the letter they all let me go through a special lane and be scanned. So my advice to fellow IC'ers with airline travel, if this is a concern for you, is to give it a try. I also got a medical alert bracelet and listed on there an allergy to water and a need to have frequent access to a bathroom. My husband and I made sure to get to the airport extra early. (It didn't really take that much longer but we figured if the lines were bad we didn't want to stress about being pushed aside for extra security measures.) I have to say, you do have to put up with a few odd looks (and at one airport they didn't even know what tests to run which resulted in a group of agents gathered around my water bottle...a little embarrassing) and it did take some work previous to my flight...but if it means not having a flare thousands of miles in the air it was worth it! I think there are so many things about IC that make it hard to get along with normal daily routine things...I was glad to find there was a way to work through this one. So good luck fellow travelers, know that it's possible!
Michelle
PS I also brought my own food since I doubted any airport food would be "safe" but if you happen to fly through the JetBlue terminal in JFK they have some great organic options in terms of food. It was a pleasant surprise!
I am, however, really water sensitive. I called our airport ahead and checked to see what kinds of water they carried: none of which I could drink. The woman over the phone suggested I get a doctor's note. My urologist wrote me a brief letter explaining that I needed to carry water with me. I was forewarned that it was still up to the individual FAA agent to determine whether or not I could bring my water on board, but luckily they complied. I did get the initial patent "you can't bring that" response at each security post...but once I pulled out the letter they all let me go through a special lane and be scanned. So my advice to fellow IC'ers with airline travel, if this is a concern for you, is to give it a try. I also got a medical alert bracelet and listed on there an allergy to water and a need to have frequent access to a bathroom. My husband and I made sure to get to the airport extra early. (It didn't really take that much longer but we figured if the lines were bad we didn't want to stress about being pushed aside for extra security measures.) I have to say, you do have to put up with a few odd looks (and at one airport they didn't even know what tests to run which resulted in a group of agents gathered around my water bottle...a little embarrassing) and it did take some work previous to my flight...but if it means not having a flare thousands of miles in the air it was worth it! I think there are so many things about IC that make it hard to get along with normal daily routine things...I was glad to find there was a way to work through this one. So good luck fellow travelers, know that it's possible!
Michelle
PS I also brought my own food since I doubted any airport food would be "safe" but if you happen to fly through the JetBlue terminal in JFK they have some great organic options in terms of food. It was a pleasant surprise!