Melanie Kozak: My Experience of Vacationing with Pulmonary Hypertension

In September, my husband and I went on a cruise to Bermuda for our one year anniversary.  I was a bit nervous as I was on I.V. medication at the time, and figured I would set off every scanner and security would be alerted.  Thankfully I was very wrong!

Before boarding the ship, I passed through security with my medication.  No one even stopped me: I was happy already!  Then, onboard, we requested a sharps container which was no big deal at all.  We were able to mix in the room and use the mini-fridge for the medication.  As for the ice packs, we went to the infirmary and advised them that we needed to keep my ice packs frozen.  They didn’t ask why.  They just did it.

On arrival in Bermuda, I was a little anxious about going through customs.  However, we moved through to the island without any hitches!  We rented a scooter that my hubby drove to get around the entire island so I didn’t have to walk everywhere and waste my energy. We found some great pink sand beaches where I could actually go waist high in the water without anything getting wet.  It was so much fun.  We even went to a beach that had roosters walking around.  Now that’s something I’ve never seen!  We visited the aquarium and zoo.  Both were great because they were small and had plenty of places to stop and sit.

Getting back on the ship was a bit of a hassle the first time.  They put my back-up bag through an X-ray scanner and kept insisting I was carrying needles.  Which of course I wasn’t!  We tried to explain pulmonary hypertension and the medication to them.  Eventually after 5 minutes of talking they let us back on the ship and after that never bothered us again. 

Back to enjoying the vacation and how relaxing it was!  We window shopped all of the expensive stores.  We even went to a few more beaches and some of the forts on the island.  We took a ride to the lighthouse but I wasn’t feeling up to climbing 200 stairs to get to the top.  Another great time was at the science museum.  It was great to be inside for a bit after all the heat we were dealing with.  Plus they had this amazing collection of shells.  There was also a shark attack cage where they did a simulation of what it would be like to have a shark hit the cage.  Being the brave girl I am I was the first to jump in.  It was hysterical because I didn’t know the cage would move when the fake sharks (on film) hit it and I literally jumped.  Then I started giggling because everyone was looking at me.

As we sailed home we only had one issue.  I didn’t bring my diuretics because I had been taken off them the previous week.  I should’ve known to bring them but you know how it is trying to pack everything…  So I went to see the ship’s doctor and I basically just told him I have PH, explained it to him and showed him my legs.  I told him the only thing that would help was diuretics. He said “apparently you know more about this disease than I do” and just gave me a few pills.  I walked out of there laughing!  Did I really just tell this doctor what to do and he listened?  It was great.

I even got a massage on board.  No worries there either.  Just showed them the pump and line and they worked around it.  The massage therapist never made a big deal over the pump she just told me to place it where I felt comfortable.

I think I’ve decided that for my next vacation I would really like to cruise again.  It was easy with my medication, a lot less stressful then airport security and it was so relaxing!

Have you vacationed recently? Where did you go and how did you manage your PH?