Are you ready to drive, fly, walk, and run all over the country this summer?
This is still attainable for many ostomy patients, provided you prepare for certain traveling bottlenecks. Fortunately, we’ve met many ostomates who’ve returned to living the same active lifestyle as prior to their surgery after learning how to make some simple adjustments.
What are the most effective ways to prepare?
Check out these tips for traveling with an ostomy in the summer to learn more.
So, the number one problem you may encounter on any multiple-day trip is the chance of running out of ostomy supplies. That’s why it helps to make a checklist and create an inventory of everything you need. This involves carrying plenty of backup pouches, wafers, stoma paste, and anything else you need. You can determine the supply volume based on the length of your trip, and how many pouch changes you normally do. Of course, it’s prudent to bring more than what you’d need under ordinary circumstances.
So much of ostomy care boils down to incrementalism. Whether it's trying to reintroduce foods back into your diet or seeing how well you travel with your condition, it helps to start small. Consider, for example, doing a three or four-day trip, monitor your condition, before embarking on that two/three-week summer excursion.
Make sure you know what’s lawful versus forbidden on commercial flights. Certain scissors and supply tools may not be permitted. This may require you to pre-cut some of your ostomy pouch systems before going through the airlines.
Temperature and humidity can affect your ostomy supplies as well. If you live in Florida, you’re probably already used to storing things amid all the heat and humidity. Just remember to pack reliable storage bags and containers to keep everything clean and usable during your summer travels.
This is a helpful precaution, especially for those who want to take a long-distance trip and spend most of the summer driving every day. The normal duration between changing pouches is about three to four days. Therefore, if you drain your pouches more often, you’ll have plenty of wiggle room even while you’re driving or flying extensively.
Do these tips help you understand what traveling could be like?
Fortis Medical Products is dedicated to creating ostomy supplies and helping patients manage their colostomy, ileostomy, or urostomy conditions better. In 2023, more folks can live fulfilling lives with either a permanent or temporary ostomy. If you’d like to learn more about ostomy care, including traveling precautions, then call us for further help at 855-550-2600.