Having never travelled any further east than Egypt I really didn’t know what to expect with airport security in the various countries I wanted to visit in Asia. Fortunately I love being in an airport although I have to say this has slightly worn off having experienced major delays and some of the ‘amenities’ in the ones I’ve now travelled through!!!
By nature I hate rushing so have always allowed plenty of time to get to the airport and to allow for any security issues with my medical supplies – in this case it was even more important due to the quantities I was now travelling with. As you can see from my last post I could not have been more prepared and organised with the packing of my medication…..or so I thought!!! I managed to have my first encounter with security while at Heathrow before I even left the country.
I use ConvaTec Stomahesive paste and had 5 tubes, 1 of these had been put in each of the vacuum packed bags in my carry on case. When I got to security I told them that my bag contained all my medical supplies – no problem they said, not to worry they said. They asked the usual questions about removing liquids and laptops which I had already done but I explained I had medical liquids (paste) which were all vacuum packed. Unfortunately this was not going to work even with the letters from my GP explaining all that I was carrying. The security man could not have been kinder or more sensitive but the guy still had his job to do.
I was taken to a private room where 2 security women were waiting to carry out the necessary searches. They asked me to take out the tubes of paste from my beautifully packed vacuum bags – which of course now opened were no longer vacuum packed!! The vacuum bags were swabbed for drugs and explosives. Of course it was my turn next as they had to test the bag I was wearing so that was swabbed too. The women were so lovely, they could see I had just made a mistake with how I had packed everything but they of course needed to make sure I was not a risk. The security man kept popping his head in to make sure I was ok and actually we were all having a bit of a laugh. I told the staff that I had bought myself my first ever business class flight as a special treat to myself and that I was less bothered about their searching me and more disappointed I was missing valuable time in the business class lounge!!!
Once it was agreed that I was no security risk I was able to pack everything into my case again; easier said than done as there was now more volume as the vacuum bags had been opened. I managed to find a safety pin and once closed I punctured the vacuum bags (making sure not to puncture any of my ostomy bags – that would have been a complete disaster) so I could squeeze the air out before putting them back in my case. It was at this point I think the security women thought I was completely bonkers!! I was just trying to get it all done as quickly as possible……I was missing valuable time in my lounge.
Before I left I asked the security man what I could do in the future to stop this happening. He said all that I needed to do was to put all the pastes in a clear plastic bag (prescription labels could be added although I’ve never had problems without them). As I already had one of these for my other liquids I hadn’t thought this would be allowed but was told as these were for medical reasons I am allowed a second bag of liquids………oh how much easier it would have been to know this!!!!
How my Stomahesive paste should have been packed!!! Prescription labels could also be stuck on if you have them.
