Traveling With Cystic Fibrosis

L

LilyKate

Guest
Hi everyone! I'm 17 years old and have CF, and this summer I'll be traveling with my theater group to London for 10 days. I'm really excited for the trip, but I'm also a little worried about traveling with all of my medications. I'm currently doing Pulmozyme, Toby, and Hyper Saline, and I take 3 oral antibiotics daily, plus, of course, Enzymes and daily vitamins. For those of you that have traveled (especially out of the country), what have you done to keep your medications cold during the flight, deal with airport security, etc? If you have any tips, please share them with me! Thanks guys!
 
L

LilyKate

Guest
Hi everyone! I'm 17 years old and have CF, and this summer I'll be traveling with my theater group to London for 10 days. I'm really excited for the trip, but I'm also a little worried about traveling with all of my medications. I'm currently doing Pulmozyme, Toby, and Hyper Saline, and I take 3 oral antibiotics daily, plus, of course, Enzymes and daily vitamins. For those of you that have traveled (especially out of the country), what have you done to keep your medications cold during the flight, deal with airport security, etc? If you have any tips, please share them with me! Thanks guys!
 
C

cfsucks

Guest
bring a doctors note, prescriptions, extra meds just in case, adaptors.when i went to europe my compressor was too powerful for the adaptor so i had to get a special transformer. roamed the streets of barcelona and found a store- the language barrier was terrible but we got what we needed. it was used for refridgerators.
 
C

cfsucks

Guest
bring a doctors note, prescriptions, extra meds just in case, adaptors.when i went to europe my compressor was too powerful for the adaptor so i had to get a special transformer. roamed the streets of barcelona and found a store- the language barrier was terrible but we got what we needed. it was used for refridgerators.
 
1

1woodswoman

Guest
My partner, who has MS, has medications that require refrigeration & needles/syringes for injections. As above , get a note from the doctor on letterhead, keep Rx's in original containers, use freezer packs in a small flexible lunch cooler for the flight, which doesn't count as extra carry-on luggage because it's for medical use, & be prepared to open & show the contents of the cooler at every step of the way. If it's an extra long flight, an attendant may be able get you ice to cool it down if it starts to get warm. If you have CFRD, & use insulin, keep it in original packaging, be prepared to show the needles & syringes & Dr. note at every step of the way, although they may not ask or want to see it each time. And definitely take extra meds, PRN meds, & I always pack at least a 3 day supply of my meds in my day pack on the plane, & some in my luggage, in case my luggage gets "misplaced". Hope this helps.
 
1

1woodswoman

Guest
My partner, who has MS, has medications that require refrigeration & needles/syringes for injections. As above , get a note from the doctor on letterhead, keep Rx's in original containers, use freezer packs in a small flexible lunch cooler for the flight, which doesn't count as extra carry-on luggage because it's for medical use, & be prepared to open & show the contents of the cooler at every step of the way. If it's an extra long flight, an attendant may be able get you ice to cool it down if it starts to get warm. If you have CFRD, & use insulin, keep it in original packaging, be prepared to show the needles & syringes & Dr. note at every step of the way, although they may not ask or want to see it each time. And definitely take extra meds, PRN meds, & I always pack at least a 3 day supply of my meds in my day pack on the plane, & some in my luggage, in case my luggage gets "misplaced". Hope this helps.
 
B

Beccamom

New member
As for airport security we make sure out daughter does not go through the full body scanners and just say she has has too many CT scans recently. I also suggest asking the security screener to put on new gloves. I also find if I take the compressor out of the bag, then they immediately see medical equipment and they are more accommodating when they then see the whole vest suitcase which I open up the main compartment. They just use a wipe on the machine and put the wipe through a computerized scanner.

On the doctor's note I suggest a phone number to call and preferably written for an international call in case they don't recognize some of the medical supplies.


As for medicine the liquid rules do not apply if they are packed in containers with prescription labels. To decrease the packing space I asked our pharmacy to print labels for the nebulized medicine and stick them to gallon size zip locks bags. This bags take up much less packing room.


Have a great trip.
 
B

Beccamom

New member
As for airport security we make sure out daughter does not go through the full body scanners and just say she has has too many CT scans recently. I also suggest asking the security screener to put on new gloves. I also find if I take the compressor out of the bag, then they immediately see medical equipment and they are more accommodating when they then see the whole vest suitcase which I open up the main compartment. They just use a wipe on the machine and put the wipe through a computerized scanner.

On the doctor's note I suggest a phone number to call and preferably written for an international call in case they don't recognize some of the medical supplies.


As for medicine the liquid rules do not apply if they are packed in containers with prescription labels. To decrease the packing space I asked our pharmacy to print labels for the nebulized medicine and stick them to gallon size zip locks bags. This bags take up much less packing room.


Have a great trip.
 
L

LilyKate

Guest
Thank you so much to all of you! All this information is extremely helpful, and I'll definitely remember all of it when preparing for my trip!<img title="Smile" src="include/wysiwyg/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0" />Hopefully everything will go smoothly! Thanks again!
 
L

LilyKate

Guest
Thank you so much to all of you! All this information is extremely helpful, and I'll definitely remember all of it when preparing for my trip!<img title="Smile" src="include/wysiwyg/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0" />Hopefully everything will go smoothly! Thanks again!
 
T

Twistofchaos

New member
When I travel I keep a paper on me stating my name, condition, phonenumbers of family to contact and my medical center. This way if something happens it's more likely the right people will be contacted. Maybe also stating the name of the person(s) you're traveling with.
To go through customs a clear signed doctornote noting the condition and the medication you take.
I keep one or two copies of both these papers throughout my main and handluggage.
Medication if possible all new and in original packaging so it's clear what it is. (Though maybe that's more important for me as I look like a hippie and am from Holland..) And I try to have doubles of everything in hand and mainluggage.
Ofcourse you'll likely be making some miles on foot everyday when you travel and that'll help keep your lungs clear but it sounds like you really can't do without your nebuliser but it's no problem if you lookup what sort of powersupply and connection is used in the country of destination and have a good adapter.
As for cooling really most medication can go uncooled for a while with no risk of it going "bad", fe. pulmozyme. When packed well I think it really won't be a problem for the duration of the flight and then at some point have them cooled again at the hotel.
Prepare well enough before you go but then stop worrying and enjoy.
Hmm in december I had a chance to drag my mom into an airplane and to Rome. (I was packing the paper and really essential stuff on my belly and regular medication in my backpack and then spares at the hotel. Not a lot could go wrong that way and not having to worry too much is the best way to travel.) Here's a pictorial report of my trip <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpD7bWMoh1w">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpD7bWMoh1w</a>
 
T

Twistofchaos

New member
When I travel I keep a paper on me stating my name, condition, phonenumbers of family to contact and my medical center. This way if something happens it's more likely the right people will be contacted. Maybe also stating the name of the person(s) you're traveling with.
To go through customs a clear signed doctornote noting the condition and the medication you take.
I keep one or two copies of both these papers throughout my main and handluggage.
Medication if possible all new and in original packaging so it's clear what it is. (Though maybe that's more important for me as I look like a hippie and am from Holland..) And I try to have doubles of everything in hand and mainluggage.
Ofcourse you'll likely be making some miles on foot everyday when you travel and that'll help keep your lungs clear but it sounds like you really can't do without your nebuliser but it's no problem if you lookup what sort of powersupply and connection is used in the country of destination and have a good adapter.
As for cooling really most medication can go uncooled for a while with no risk of it going "bad", fe. pulmozyme. When packed well I think it really won't be a problem for the duration of the flight and then at some point have them cooled again at the hotel.
Prepare well enough before you go but then stop worrying and enjoy.
Hmm in december I had a chance to drag my mom into an airplane and to Rome. (I was packing the paper and really essential stuff on my belly and regular medication in my backpack and then spares at the hotel. Not a lot could go wrong that way and not having to worry too much is the best way to travel.) Here's a pictorial report of my trip <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpD7bWMoh1w">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpD7bWMoh1w</a>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top