Seamless Travelling with IBD

"I have a medical condition, can I use the first class bathrooms if I need to? They're a lot closer"

I'm on a bit of a travelling theme, going to Disney took a lot of preparation, thought, planning and strategic packing for me to have the best trip possible.

I think, I have almost perfected flying with IBD. This is my guide to seamless travelling with Crohn's. 

Your Carry On:

1. Bag with Multiple Compartments
• As for any traveller, the separate compartments keep you organized in times of stress and hurry.
2. Change of Underwear/Shorts and a Ziplock Freezer Bag
• It's probably the worst reality of IBD, but accidents can happen. Flying, there are limited bathroom situations and you might not make it. Bring a change of clothes and a freezer bag to seal the soiled garments (and their smell) in. Then throw it out. No pair of underwear can be worn again after it has been tainted with that kind of memory.
3. Charmin's Flushable Wipes Travel Pack
• Public washrooms almost always use extra cheap toilet paper which can do more harm to us IBD sufferers than good. These super soft wipes clean you well, do so gently and they are safe to flush!
4. Hand Sanitizer
• Between children, old people, and recycled air, planes and airports might be the best place for germs and viruses to thrive. I suggest sanitizing after touching public surfaces. You never know what's living on them. 
5. All Your Meds in their Original Containers
• Even the ones you don't think you'll need or that you don't use regularly. Murphy's law is that if something can go wrong, it will, so you will probably end up needing your weird eye drops, or nasal spray.
6. Plane Pillow and Blanket
• Comfort is my #1 priority when I fly. I find major comfort in soft material so when I fly I have as much of it as I can. A blanket because it can get cold on airplanes and the pillow so I don't rubber neck when I pass out asleep. 
7. Cellphone and Charger
• The charger is especially important to me because I find that in new locations, my phone dies extra fast when searching for wifi networks. I need my phone to be charged so I can let my travel companions that I'm in the bathroom. Duh.
8. Minty Gum



Best Cap Type Ever

• I don't actually chew the gum. I just find that the minty taste can calm my stomach, so I tend to just suck on it and mash it up with my tongue in order to refresh my mouth. I avoid chewing it because it makes you swallow air and that ends up causing pain.
9. Water
• You have to buy it past security, but water is 100% essential. No IBDer can afford to get dehydrated, or not have something to take meds with. It's best if you can get a bottle with the top like the one in the picture, because you don't need two hands to open it. 
10. Kleenex
• It's just a great multi use product and comes in very convenient packaging for travel. I especially like to use mine to blot my face if I sweat while I'm in pain.

Accommodations You Can Get

There is a lot more that you can get to accommodate your illness while travelling than you'd think. You just have to ask. 

1. Use of special bathrooms. 
• I just asked the flight attendant if I could use the first class bathrooms if I needed to, on account of a medical condition, and without hesitation they always permitted me. Go figure.
2. Downsized Medication Containers.
• Sometimes when I get medications I get a couple month's worth of pills at a time. These come in huge containers. I went to my pharmacy and asked for a small pill container with the same label so that I could save space in my carry on and they happily obliged. It saved so much space. 
3. Use the Chair
• If you're tired or in pain take a deep breath, realize that your illness does not define you, and take a seat. Generally you will feel better and get a little bit better treatment if you use a wheelchair in airports.

Take Responsibility

Your illness isn't your fault but it is your problem and your responsibility. You have to do what you can to keep yourself healthy.

This might be a TAD overkill

1. Don't Experiment
• Travelling is NOT the time to be adventurous with your food choices. I learned this the hard way. Stick like glue to foods you know won't set your disease off. Personally for me this means low fibre grains, meats, and water.
2. Dress Appropriately
• It's ok to want to be stylish or professional looking, but if you're boarding a 10 hour flight, don't wear something that presses on your abdominal pain spots. Make sure you dress comfortably, with stuff you can easily use the bathroom in, walk, and/or sleep in if need be.
3. Take Your Meds
• This is just plain common sense. It doesn't matter that your routine is thrown off. You need to take your meds to stay healthy and enjoy the vacation. 
4. Sleep
• You can't stay up all night. Or maybe you can, but I can't. If I don't get enough sleep I get this horrible hangover feeling and it's harder to make good choices about activity and food. Sleep is almost like a medication.
5. Be Realistic
• You may not be able to do a 6 hour hike up a mountain. You may not be able to go wind surfing for an entire day. You may not be able to sit through a Tibetan monk meditation session. Try to be realistic about what you can do so you don't burn out within the first two days. 

I hope some of this helped my fellow IBDers, I wish someone had given me this advice before I went on my trip. 

If you have any other suggestions let me know! I'd LOVE to hear them. This is the first time I feel like travelling is even plausible for me, and it's so exciting!

A Different Fear of Flying

"I'm going on vacation with my family" "I hope you're feeling 100% by then!"

This WILL be my family. Awww.

I fear travelling and I blame it on my Crohn's disease. I love being in new places, seeing new things, experiencing a different culture (ok, I'm going to the states from Canada, but you'd be surprised by the difference). But constantly being in fear of getting sick or, even more pressingly, needing to be by a bathroom at all times in a foreign place makes me beyond anxious. We've been planning our family vacation to the south for about 10 months, and I've been having anxiety dreams about it for the last 4 of those. 

There are the regular travel stresses: airport security, packing, just getting where you need to be when you need to be there. But when you have an illness you have a TON of other things to be concerned about. 

This is pretty much me. 

I have to make sure all your meds are in their original containers and they take up a LOT of space in your carry on so you have to account for that.

I have to be careful about metal detectors if you have anything not quite human inside you, i.e. my portacath. I get searched just about every time I fly. 

I am fearful of all the germs and recycled air that stays on the plane. I can't remember the last time I flew and didn't pick up a virus. 

I just got a new medic alert bracelet so that if I faint or something in the land of the free whoever attends to me will know what's all going on. 

I acquired anxiety medication for the flight because being in a situation with limited bathroom access pretty much makes me panic.

 I won't eat before going on the plane. I'm probably going to settle in for about 6 hours without food, which sounds bad, but is SO much better than awakening the beastly colon. 

Except put the meds in original containers.

It's just funny because I'm afraid of flying, but for totally different reasons than the normal person.