I forgot to finish the story....

So, I called the airline and they said it should be no problem to take the ice packs on the plane, just explain it to the tsa. Of course the tsa took it away. It was soooo stupid. I watched the girl look in the soft cooler I brought them in and call over a supervisor. He came over, kind of shrugged and then looked at the girl and shook his head no. He could have just as easily shook his head yes, but he didn't.

I watched all this at a distance and then they called me over and said I couldn't take them on. I explained the situation and told them I would basically be in pain as soon as I sat down and it would escalate throughout the flight. They said they were sorry, but they had started to melt. I looked at the supervisor and gave him my best 'if you weren't tsa, i might have to take you out back and shove that badge up your *&%.' I'm 6'3", 225 and tend to look pretty menacing if I want.

Anyway, I ate a good edible as we pulled up to the airport and it was kicking in just as we were boarding. I sat down, put my shades on and basically 'zoned' out. It worked perfectly. I did the same thing for the flight back, but couldn't quite repeat the perfect escape I did on the flight there, but it was manageable.