Hello Ostomates,
We just returned from a trip to Switzerland. What a beautiful place filled with good food, people, and scenery. The trip lasted 13 days. We traveled by bus, train, and various gondolas, trams, and lifts. There were a few things I noticed that may help with travel here or any such place.
First, the 12-hour flight necessitated a few trips to the bathroom. Following my advice of placing tissue or Kleenex at the bottom of the toilet prior to bag emptying worked great. I had a cup for water just in case. As I mentioned in past posts, flushing an airline toilet uses suction and has no water. Empty first and provide some type of liquid (use your imagination :) One does not want to push the flush too many times as to attract attention to oneself.
The issue of bag expanding during flight was nonexistent. Pressurized planes take care of this. Where bag expansion became an issue was when traveling on the gondolas and trams. There were a few instances where we rose from 3,000 ft elevation to over 12,000 ft. The bag expanded some but not so bad as to resemble a pillow. Prior to getting on one, I would use the restroom, aka WC or water closet. Rising to that height with a half-full bag may cause some undue anxiety. One other thing to note was that in some restrooms you needed 1 to 1.5 Swiss Francs. Most times you found out about this once you finally found the restroom. Carry some small change with you. At the top of the tram ride, there was usually a restaurant. On the various trains we traveled on, the toilets are airline style. Use the same rules as above. In the end, restrooms were not an issue.
There are many excursions that you can be a part of. Tandem parasailing and ziplining are popular. This may necessitate using a stoma guard or similar device to protect your stoma while you're strapped to a stranger with your life in their hands. Gondolas and trams are another great way to get to scenic locations for elevated photos if parasailing is not an option! We were lucky in that we had great weather, 62-80 degrees during our stay. Rising so high, there was not as drastic a change in temperature as I thought there would be. I even wore shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt to 10,000 ft one day. Not too bad for a short trip. I carried a jacket in a small backpack just in case.
As for supplies, I can usually go a week between changes. For this trip, I took 4 ziplock bags with supplies for a complete change. This made it easy to carry in the backpack. As for buying some there if needed, I didn't openly see supplies in the pharmacies we visited. On that note, if you go to a supermarket to find things like Sudafed, Tylenol, etc., you won't find them. Pharmacies are usually nearby. We went to one looking for some cough suppressant and were questioned about our symptoms as if we were in a clinic. Great service. Also, at large supermarkets, you could buy water, Powerade, etc., for a fraction of the cost of a street market. I brought some Liquid IV and used it daily. One can get very dehydrated there, especially if you choose to sample some of the local wines and beers!
Finally, regarding the TSA inspections, etc. Leaving from San Francisco, there were no questions asked. TSA pre-check allows one to pass through a metal detector without question. If no TSA pre-check, you will go through a body scanner which will pick up the outline of your bag. You'll probably be asked to rub your hands over the bag. They will do a swab of your hands and analyze it. Nothing too bad during this process. In Zurich, my bag bulge was evident. I wear an ostomy support belt also. I was asked what it was, and I said "ostomy bag." I was told I'd need to take it off. I lifted my shirt (discreetly) and said, "I can't take this off without making a mess." The agent must have understood enough English to understand what I meant. He quickly apologized and led me aside where I wiped the bag and the swab was completed. This took all of 10-15 seconds. Another thing to remember, their TSA rules are the same as ours. I bought a jar of olive and pesto tapenade at an airport shop, and it was confiscated for being an ounce too much.
The point of this post is to encourage any of you that may want to travel but have doubts. I look back to a trip I made a year before my surgery. It was to Ireland, a place I always wanted to go. We called tour companies and towns, making sure there were restrooms available, etc. Even after doing all that, I nearly walked away from the trip, willing to lose all I paid for it. Those concerns are gone now. As one gets older, they realize that life is like a roll of toilet paper. It goes quicker as you get closer to the end. You've been through the hardest point, which was living with UC, colitis, cancer, etc.
Get out and enjoy yourselves!
Best of Health,
SharkFan
