Living with a stoma, creates some degree of anxiety for most people. Traveling away from home compounds that anxiety. The security of knowing where you are, where there is an acceptable bathroom, that clinicians are available if there is a real problem, and the simple security of knowing you can run home to change appliances and, if necessary clothing....well, all of that is gone with travel.
Remember back when you came home with a brand new ostomy, did you have any real sense of security? You, like most, felt insecure in every setting and expected the worst case scenerio to befall you. The reality is that accidents can happen but the reality is that they seldom happen. As you gained more and more experience with more and more new adventures without a problem, your confidence has grown. In part, your confidence has grown because of your experience and in part, because of your knowledge that you can handle an emergency. You have developed plans and contingencies to manage any crisis.
Traveling is no different. You still have the confidence that you can manage a leak if one would occur, but real security
will be enhanced with some planning and contingencies. The following is a list of tips and suggestions to help the ostomy patient when traveling regardless of whether you are taking planes, trains, automobiles or cruise
ships.
Airline travel has been a HOT TOPIC in the news over the past year for patients with ostomies. The good news is that although
a few people suffered from uninformed TSA agents, the rest of the ostomy population has benefited by everyone at TSA being better trained. A letter can be provided for you from your physician or certified ostomy nurse, but I do not think that these may ever be needed. I do think that it is advisable to carry the ostomy card that is available through the UOAA website and carry this
in your wallet. What you should expect is not that you get a “free pass” through security but that the TSA agent will be informed and respectful of you. I recommend going through security with a recently emptied pouch. This may not even trigger any further screening than that the standardized xray. If more is needed, you should inform the TSA agent that you have an ostomy and share the TSA card with him/her. They will ask you to run your hand over your pouch and then will test your hand for explosives. (They are interested in a different kind of explosives than what you normally have in your pouch!) In addition to emptying your pouch before going through security, always empty before boarding. If you need to empty in-flight, the restrooms on board will work just as well as the one at home. Additional options are available that some that do not apply to everyone. Patients with a urostomy may opt for a leg bag. If so, the same suggestions hold true for keeping both pouches emptied. Other patients may want to add an extra gas filter for odor control and maintaining a flat pouch. The filter is NOT needed for airline travel since all cabins are pressurized.
Please visit the UOAA website, Hollister.com,
Coloplast, and Convatec websites for additional information.
Remember back when you came home with a brand new ostomy, did you have any real sense of security? You, like most, felt insecure in every setting and expected the worst case scenerio to befall you. The reality is that accidents can happen but the reality is that they seldom happen. As you gained more and more experience with more and more new adventures without a problem, your confidence has grown. In part, your confidence has grown because of your experience and in part, because of your knowledge that you can handle an emergency. You have developed plans and contingencies to manage any crisis.
Traveling is no different. You still have the confidence that you can manage a leak if one would occur, but real security
will be enhanced with some planning and contingencies. The following is a list of tips and suggestions to help the ostomy patient when traveling regardless of whether you are taking planes, trains, automobiles or cruise
ships.
Airline travel has been a HOT TOPIC in the news over the past year for patients with ostomies. The good news is that although
a few people suffered from uninformed TSA agents, the rest of the ostomy population has benefited by everyone at TSA being better trained. A letter can be provided for you from your physician or certified ostomy nurse, but I do not think that these may ever be needed. I do think that it is advisable to carry the ostomy card that is available through the UOAA website and carry this
in your wallet. What you should expect is not that you get a “free pass” through security but that the TSA agent will be informed and respectful of you. I recommend going through security with a recently emptied pouch. This may not even trigger any further screening than that the standardized xray. If more is needed, you should inform the TSA agent that you have an ostomy and share the TSA card with him/her. They will ask you to run your hand over your pouch and then will test your hand for explosives. (They are interested in a different kind of explosives than what you normally have in your pouch!) In addition to emptying your pouch before going through security, always empty before boarding. If you need to empty in-flight, the restrooms on board will work just as well as the one at home. Additional options are available that some that do not apply to everyone. Patients with a urostomy may opt for a leg bag. If so, the same suggestions hold true for keeping both pouches emptied. Other patients may want to add an extra gas filter for odor control and maintaining a flat pouch. The filter is NOT needed for airline travel since all cabins are pressurized.
Please visit the UOAA website, Hollister.com,
Coloplast, and Convatec websites for additional information.