Gosh what a blinking palava you are having to go through. I just cant believe it!!
I left Ireland on Friday and when we went up to the security I said to the guy handing out the trays that I had a medical implant. Now at this stage I did have my 'remote controller' my programmer, in my hand to turn off the stim. He called over a lady. She looked at me and I told her I had a medical implant, explained what that entailed...and she said, 'ok so whats that in your hand?' I explained it was a remote control controller etc , so I turned off my stim and put the controller into the tray along with all my other possessions. Then she told me to come around past the scanner. She then did a body search and said ' thats fine thank you' and off I went.
Now coming back from London on Sunday evening was a bit different.
I came up to the scanner again and there was a lady at the trays. I leaned in to speak with her, not wanting everyone to hear my business, and said that I had a medical implant and couldnt use the scanner. She looked at me rather oddly... I had my card(which I might add I didnt have to use in Dublin) and said, look its all on there, where it explains no MRI's Diathermy etc....so she looked very puzzled. So she called to a man, I reckon a manager. She said ' this lady has some kind of thing in her back' and handed him the card. He looked more puzzled than she did. So she asked if the programmer could go through the scanner, I told her yes!....then I was beckoned around by the scanner by a lovely young girl. In the meantime the manager is looking at the card and then approached me. He said 'can I use the metal detector'
I said WELL NO!!! I said cant you see it says on the card not to etc...now there is a line on it that does say IF a metal detector is necessary then use it swiftly, but I said NO it cant be used. Afterall Ive just had a problem with the battery and didnt want any more hassle all because of a metal detector. So anyway the young girl proceded to ask me if I was in pain and to tell her if she was hurting me. The manager said, we will do a frisk and if we are not happy we will have to do a more thorough one
in private!! I just stood there with my arms out........thinking AS IF
So she did her 'thing' and yep I was cleared. They then checked my cardigan which I had taken off along with my scarf.
I was so surprised to think that these people have NEVER come across anyone in my situation, even a pacemaker Im sure has somethings that arent to be used, ie scanners, metal detectors!! I dunno!!
When I was on the planes on both journeys I just turned my stim down to low, didnt pass any remark to any crew staff that I had anything different to anyone else. I will say though that on take off and landing my stim did increase somewhat
with the gravity so I would suggest if anyone else is travelling with the stimulation like most of us have , to reduce the power a bit unless you want to be 'uprooted' from your seat at take off and landing!!!
Jenna it does sound as if the airline are making a mountain out of a mole hill, then again I suppose if you bring attention to yourself you stand to be questioned endlessly!...... I cant imagine that if you had just gone ahead with what you were doing before contacting the airline that there wouldnt have been a problem. I read earlier that you said you were worried about charging while the other passengers are around you, SO WHAT!!!! its no big deal really. What do diabetics do when they need insulin, or others that need medication, if everyone was feeling that they dont want people to see them or whatever the plane would be full of passengers moving all over the place.
I think that you should have just gone about your business and said nothing. When you are seating its only the people around you on your row and across that can really see anything so I wouldnt be too worried. Plus on these long haul flights you generally get pillows and blankets so you can always put your charger on and put it up under the blanket to conceal it...no big deal at all.
I do hope that the airline is understandable and that they dont start making a big fuss. As Mark said there are lots of other MORE technical stuff around. Sure I could put my IPHONE on Airplane mode while up in the air and it didnt matter, plus I didnt turn my stim off at all and we still got there safely!
Hope this clears up some of your worries. I know it was only over the water for me but its the same in all airports. So dont worry too much please. I hope you have a fantastic time I really do and your daughter too!
Take care and BON VOYAGE if I dont get to talk to you beforehand.
Bye for now
Jackie
