Some time has passed since we last traveled. Last September, my husband suddenly became very ill with an unknown heart condition, and he was in the hospital for two weeks. Without exaggeration, there was a time I didn’t think we would ever be able to travel ever again. The only travel we did between our trip to Virginia last July (see previous blog post) and the Atlantis in March (see next blog post) was to see family/friends in Chicago and to go the Cleveland Clinic to see a heart specialist. I am so happy to say that Kevin is healthy and traveling again.
With Kevin’s medical condition, he is required to have a (subcutaneous) implanted cardiac defibrillator (S-ICD) which has changed the security process slightly in the airport. He can not go through a metal detector or get “wanded.” He has to receive a pat-down or go through the body scanner. Sometimes this slows down the check-in process, but overall it isn’t a hassle at all; the TSA agents are very familiar with people who have medical devices. It does present a problem occasionally when we are at tourist attractions with metal detectors because security staff does not know how to handle someone who cannot get the wand OR go through a medal detector.
I mention all of this because I never thought, especially in our 30s, that we would ever have to deal with anything like this. Sometime life throws you curve-balls, and you have to work through fear and other struggles. I am grateful that Kevin is able to travel, and we are going to spend this next year taking advantage of his second chance by seeing as much of the world as we can!
All Our Bags Are Packed 