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Preparing to Fly with Complex Medical Issues



One of the most stressful things to do is travelling, now add some needles, medical liquids, and a suppressed immune system to that and flying goes from stressful to down right scary. As I prepare to fly to the rare patient advocacy summit taking place this week in California I  figured I would share what I have found works the best for me when traveling.

Before my first flight with a feeding tube I looked up the TSA policies on medical liquids. Basically as long as you notify them while going through security and separate them from the rest of your things you should be allowed to take them through without issue. No doctor's note required. Same goes for needles and syringes and inject-able medications. You may want to print this policy out or have easy access to it on your phone in case you encounter any issues although I have yet to have a problem.

A few days before your flight call up TSA cares. They will set you up with a TSA specialist to help you through security. This is the first time I am using this service since a friend recently told me about it so I don't have mush to say about it yet but the woman who set it up for me on the phone was lovely. She also double checked the medical liquids and injection policies for me.

If you are like me and have to travel with a ton of medical supplies make sure you pack them in a separate bag than the rest of your stuff because airlines can not charge you to check a bag of all medical items. When you check it make sure to explain what it is, sometimes they will double check to make sure it is but generally I find they take my word for it.

On the day on the flight make sure in you carry on you have enough medical supplies for at least 24-48 hours in case your checked bag is lost. (I have a confession to make, I prioritize since that would be way too much for me to carry I probably take a little less formula than I should but I won't end up in the ER with out it) In my carry on I also like to have purel and lysol wipes (airplane seats are germy!). If you have a suppressed immune system make sure to wear a face mask in the airport as well since germs and exotic germs!

Lastly is you need to be connected to feeds or IV fluids/other IV things I would try to wait until you are past security to hook up any IV things so you can still go through the metal detector (ports due on tend to set them off ) instead of doing a pat down. With a feeding tube you can disconnect and reconnect much more easily before and after the metal detector.

Good luck and happy travels!


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  1. PamSeptember 23, 2016 at 9:50 AM

    I travel a lot with chronic illness, and one of the most stressful things is flying. Thanks for sharing your expertise!

    ReplyDelete

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