Traveling/flying with CF

Rebjane

Super Moderator
Just thought I'ld share how it went flying and traveling with my almost 4 year old with CF and husband and son and what worked for us.

First off, we packed light, my husband and i shared a suitcase and my daughter and son shared one(both of which we checked) also checked a carseat for my daughter. We took my daughter's VEST as a carryon, they had to x-ray it in security. the VEST fit in the overhead on the bigger airplane but we had to switch flights and took a very small plane as well, we put the VEST under the seat as a carry-on on the smaller plane. I carried on my daughter's compressor, which also got x-rayed at security. The liquid medication, like nebulized albuterol, pulmicort, zantac, anti's I packed in one bag, which all had to be looked at by security to make sure they were meds.(didn't take long) Also, all medications need to be in original bottle with the prescription/name of person on it. I had another carryon bag of just meds that were pills. The pulmozyme we put on an ice-pack, the kind that CF Services pharmacy uses to ship them to you and put it in an insulated lunchbox(this worked very well to keep it cool). I was allowed to bring on my Purell hand sanitizer but it had to be in a 3 oz bottle in a clear ziploc bag. You are only allowed to bring in drinks that you buy at a shop in the airport past the security gate.

We did do one VEST treatment and neb treatment at the airport, at at empty gate area, just plugged right in and noone seemed to care.

I had my daughter's doc write a letter about her CF and all the stuff we had to carry but noone wanted to see it, but I'm glad I had it for just in case.

I brought some disposable nebs to use if I didn't have a place to wash and sterilize them. The hotel we stayed at had a kitchen in it so once we were there I boiled the nebs like I usually do at home.

Anyhow, The kids had a great time, we went to Disney world, and a few differnet parks there including Animal Kingdom.

Traveling was not as hard as I thought it would be, though my husband carried the VEST and I can imagine it gets very heavy.

I'ld be happy to post more tips if anyone has questions because it all turned out fun and ok and we not only survived but had a good time!
 

Rebjane

Super Moderator
Just thought I'ld share how it went flying and traveling with my almost 4 year old with CF and husband and son and what worked for us.

First off, we packed light, my husband and i shared a suitcase and my daughter and son shared one(both of which we checked) also checked a carseat for my daughter. We took my daughter's VEST as a carryon, they had to x-ray it in security. the VEST fit in the overhead on the bigger airplane but we had to switch flights and took a very small plane as well, we put the VEST under the seat as a carry-on on the smaller plane. I carried on my daughter's compressor, which also got x-rayed at security. The liquid medication, like nebulized albuterol, pulmicort, zantac, anti's I packed in one bag, which all had to be looked at by security to make sure they were meds.(didn't take long) Also, all medications need to be in original bottle with the prescription/name of person on it. I had another carryon bag of just meds that were pills. The pulmozyme we put on an ice-pack, the kind that CF Services pharmacy uses to ship them to you and put it in an insulated lunchbox(this worked very well to keep it cool). I was allowed to bring on my Purell hand sanitizer but it had to be in a 3 oz bottle in a clear ziploc bag. You are only allowed to bring in drinks that you buy at a shop in the airport past the security gate.

We did do one VEST treatment and neb treatment at the airport, at at empty gate area, just plugged right in and noone seemed to care.

I had my daughter's doc write a letter about her CF and all the stuff we had to carry but noone wanted to see it, but I'm glad I had it for just in case.

I brought some disposable nebs to use if I didn't have a place to wash and sterilize them. The hotel we stayed at had a kitchen in it so once we were there I boiled the nebs like I usually do at home.

Anyhow, The kids had a great time, we went to Disney world, and a few differnet parks there including Animal Kingdom.

Traveling was not as hard as I thought it would be, though my husband carried the VEST and I can imagine it gets very heavy.

I'ld be happy to post more tips if anyone has questions because it all turned out fun and ok and we not only survived but had a good time!
 

Rebjane

Super Moderator
Just thought I'ld share how it went flying and traveling with my almost 4 year old with CF and husband and son and what worked for us.

First off, we packed light, my husband and i shared a suitcase and my daughter and son shared one(both of which we checked) also checked a carseat for my daughter. We took my daughter's VEST as a carryon, they had to x-ray it in security. the VEST fit in the overhead on the bigger airplane but we had to switch flights and took a very small plane as well, we put the VEST under the seat as a carry-on on the smaller plane. I carried on my daughter's compressor, which also got x-rayed at security. The liquid medication, like nebulized albuterol, pulmicort, zantac, anti's I packed in one bag, which all had to be looked at by security to make sure they were meds.(didn't take long) Also, all medications need to be in original bottle with the prescription/name of person on it. I had another carryon bag of just meds that were pills. The pulmozyme we put on an ice-pack, the kind that CF Services pharmacy uses to ship them to you and put it in an insulated lunchbox(this worked very well to keep it cool). I was allowed to bring on my Purell hand sanitizer but it had to be in a 3 oz bottle in a clear ziploc bag. You are only allowed to bring in drinks that you buy at a shop in the airport past the security gate.

We did do one VEST treatment and neb treatment at the airport, at at empty gate area, just plugged right in and noone seemed to care.

I had my daughter's doc write a letter about her CF and all the stuff we had to carry but noone wanted to see it, but I'm glad I had it for just in case.

I brought some disposable nebs to use if I didn't have a place to wash and sterilize them. The hotel we stayed at had a kitchen in it so once we were there I boiled the nebs like I usually do at home.

Anyhow, The kids had a great time, we went to Disney world, and a few differnet parks there including Animal Kingdom.

Traveling was not as hard as I thought it would be, though my husband carried the VEST and I can imagine it gets very heavy.

I'ld be happy to post more tips if anyone has questions because it all turned out fun and ok and we not only survived but had a good time!
 

gr33nie

New member
That is wonderful!

I'm glad that you had a great trip and didn't let CF get in the way of having a nice family vacation.

Thanks for sharing.
 

gr33nie

New member
That is wonderful!

I'm glad that you had a great trip and didn't let CF get in the way of having a nice family vacation.

Thanks for sharing.
 

gr33nie

New member
That is wonderful!

I'm glad that you had a great trip and didn't let CF get in the way of having a nice family vacation.

Thanks for sharing.
 

ktsmom

New member
Thanks - this is good info. I copied it for future reference.

Really glad you were able to enjoy your trip!

Dana
Mom to Katy (3, cf) and Kyra (6, no cf)
 

ktsmom

New member
Thanks - this is good info. I copied it for future reference.

Really glad you were able to enjoy your trip!

Dana
Mom to Katy (3, cf) and Kyra (6, no cf)
 

ktsmom

New member
Thanks - this is good info. I copied it for future reference.

Really glad you were able to enjoy your trip!

Dana
Mom to Katy (3, cf) and Kyra (6, no cf)
 

loriz65

New member
When my niece was diagnosed 5 years ago (5 y/o) we were told she wouldn't be able to fly because of the recycled air. How did you resolve that issue? Did your child wear a mask or something else?

Loriz Aunt to Gillian 5 y/o w/cf
 

loriz65

New member
When my niece was diagnosed 5 years ago (5 y/o) we were told she wouldn't be able to fly because of the recycled air. How did you resolve that issue? Did your child wear a mask or something else?

Loriz Aunt to Gillian 5 y/o w/cf
 

loriz65

New member
When my niece was diagnosed 5 years ago (5 y/o) we were told she wouldn't be able to fly because of the recycled air. How did you resolve that issue? Did your child wear a mask or something else?

Loriz Aunt to Gillian 5 y/o w/cf
 

jgan

New member
You know you can rent the vestcompressor from the company. They ship the compressor to whereever you are going. We did it one time and what a lot easier it is!
 

jgan

New member
You know you can rent the vestcompressor from the company. They ship the compressor to whereever you are going. We did it one time and what a lot easier it is!
 

jgan

New member
You know you can rent the vestcompressor from the company. They ship the compressor to whereever you are going. We did it one time and what a lot easier it is!
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Did you take your nebs and drugs along with you to disney at leave them at the First Aid Station or did you just go back to your hotel?
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Did you take your nebs and drugs along with you to disney at leave them at the First Aid Station or did you just go back to your hotel?
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Did you take your nebs and drugs along with you to disney at leave them at the First Aid Station or did you just go back to your hotel?
 

Rebjane

Super Moderator
Liza,

We scheduled our trip to disney so that neb and Vest sessions would be done at the hotel. We went from about 9am to 1pm or if we did the trip in the afternoon we went from 2p-6p. Even if my daughter did not have CF I don't think we could spend the whole day at disney, the kids get tired, overstimulated, and plain cranky. For meds all I needed to bring was my daughter's enzymes and one dose of antibiotic. I also packed a backpack when we wouild go into disney of bottled water, juice boxes, snacks(salty ones), sandwiches(in an insulated lunchbox with a icepack) sunscreen. They inspect your backpack when entering disney and saw all we brought and didn't say a word. We also brought my daughter's own umbrella stroller(didn't want to use a rental stroller for the germ factor). We scheduled our vacation when it was disney"slow" season so there would not be long lines and lots of waiting for rides.

For the poster who was concerned about the airplanes and air quality, I had asked my daughter's Cf doc if it would be ok for her to fly and he said she should be fine. Anytime you are on an enclosed space full of strange people, I would imagine there is a chance you could catch something. I brought my Purell on the plane, made sure my daughter drank lots of fluids. I even brought masks, if Someone was coughing, but we did not use them. There was an older lady on the plane with oxygen but we weren't seated near them. I guess i try to protect my daughter from germs the best I can while also having a fun and close to normal childhood as possible. Our CF doc says specifically do not put your child in a bubble and just live your life.

HTH
 

Rebjane

Super Moderator
Liza,

We scheduled our trip to disney so that neb and Vest sessions would be done at the hotel. We went from about 9am to 1pm or if we did the trip in the afternoon we went from 2p-6p. Even if my daughter did not have CF I don't think we could spend the whole day at disney, the kids get tired, overstimulated, and plain cranky. For meds all I needed to bring was my daughter's enzymes and one dose of antibiotic. I also packed a backpack when we wouild go into disney of bottled water, juice boxes, snacks(salty ones), sandwiches(in an insulated lunchbox with a icepack) sunscreen. They inspect your backpack when entering disney and saw all we brought and didn't say a word. We also brought my daughter's own umbrella stroller(didn't want to use a rental stroller for the germ factor). We scheduled our vacation when it was disney"slow" season so there would not be long lines and lots of waiting for rides.

For the poster who was concerned about the airplanes and air quality, I had asked my daughter's Cf doc if it would be ok for her to fly and he said she should be fine. Anytime you are on an enclosed space full of strange people, I would imagine there is a chance you could catch something. I brought my Purell on the plane, made sure my daughter drank lots of fluids. I even brought masks, if Someone was coughing, but we did not use them. There was an older lady on the plane with oxygen but we weren't seated near them. I guess i try to protect my daughter from germs the best I can while also having a fun and close to normal childhood as possible. Our CF doc says specifically do not put your child in a bubble and just live your life.

HTH
 
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