For most families, going on a trip is both taxing and
exciting. Packing is stressful, and it
takes a day or two to get ready and make sure everything that might be needed
is in the bag. For most folks,
forgetting to pack something is not a huge deal – just stop at any Wal-Mart,
and you can pick up what you need. That
is not the case, though, for parents who have a child on life support
machines. When it comes to travel, even
the most experienced of special needs parents can be thrown into a tizzy. When you know your kid could die because you
forgot to pack something, well, that ups the ante a bit. Wal-Mart doesn’t carry backup breathing pacer
antennas or ambu bags, so Mighty Z relies on me to make sure a backup of
everything she might need is easily located in our luggage.
I start getting anxious about an impending family vacation
about a month before we leave. I write a
list of what I need, and then I add to the list again and again in order to
make sure I have all of my proverbial ‘ducks’ in a row. This year, part of lining up my ducks
included calls to both the cruise line and airlines we planned to travel on, as
it is important to tell them that Mighty Z will be coming and all that she will
becoming with. Although some may think
such phone calls unnecessary, it’s been my experience that making these calls
seems to help our vacations go much smoother – it’s just easier when everyone
is on the same page from the start of a trip.
So, further toward getting everyone on the same page, my
pre-travel prep also includes drafting a letter re: Mighty Z’s medical
condition and needs (including a brief list of her machines, supplies, and
medicine) for her doctor’s signature.
After the letter is drafted, I take Mighty Z in for a checkup just to
make sure she is 100%, and of course so that my doctor can sign my letter. After the letter is signed, I give it to the
airlines and the cruise ship, etc., so that they are in the loop concerning
what Mighty Z’s medical needs might be during her travel with their company.
With the above out of the way, I begin to imagine all that
could go wrong if I am not there next to Mighty Z every minute of the vacation.
So, I start the hunt for her medical
alert bracelet and determine it is MIA. I order another online, and pay the extra
$20.00 to rush it.
Now the tricky part: I
need to somehow convince my insurance to give me Mighty Z’s supplies one week
early – ugh! Insurance no like-y paying
for supplies early; rather, they like everything to be filled at the same time
every month. Some pleasant-voiced phone
calls in which I explain numerous times why the supplies are needed early finally
get the needed approval for early payment.
Hooray! I feel like I won the
lottery, and off to the pharmacy we go!
Last but not least, I do an inventory check make sure all
Mighty Z’s machines are in tip-top shape.
Like the other tasks above, this too needs be done in plenty of time to
‘make it so’ in the event some of Mighty Z’s machinery doesn’t pass initial
inspection.
On the morning of vacation everyone knows not to talk to
momma while I’m packing Mighty Z’s medical bag. I have the packing of the machines into her
medical bag down to a science.
Thankfully, gone are the days where I had to pack 2 ventilators, suction
machine, and all trach, circuits, and suction catheters. Since Mighty Z had her
Avery biomedical breathing pacers implanted, I can skate by on one bag to carry
everything. Sweet!
On the way to the airport, my anxiety mounts. Did I pack it all? Did I forget something? I make my husband stop the car so I can do a
quick look, and even though he obliges so I can do another inventory check, I
still feel anxious and unconvinced that I have everything. Unplanned stop notwithstanding, we get to
the airport two hours early.
We arrive at the airport with lots of time to spare simply because
I know that it is going to take forever to go through airport security. We have done this drill too many times to
count, but its still pretty funny to watch Mighty Z “assume the position”
without being asked – my bionic girl can really make those scanners sing! After TSA goes through each bag and takes out
each machine to wipe it down and make sure its not a bomb, we are cleared and
admitted to the airport terminal.
Because of Mighty Z’s condition, we get to pre-board. That works out pretty good, because its during
this time that I get a chance to recheck Mighty Z’s medical bag to make sure
once again I have everything and make sure that airport security didn’t inadvertently
forget to put something back in her medical bag. Happily, its all there, and we are cleared
for takeoff both literally and figuratively.
AHHH finally on the cruise and all Mighty Z’s machines,
supplies, and medicine are here. I feel
like saying, “YAY! Mr. Ambu bag we are
together again at last.” Now, where’s
that flight attendant? Momma wants a nice wine-spritzer.
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