Hi everyone --

Barry and I got back from Australia last night after 3 weeks' driving and birdwatching through Queensland and the Northern Territories. We had a great time and everyone -- recall we had to pull the plug on our Oz trip last year weeks before leaving when Barry was d'x'd with HNC -- was really happy to see us and see how well Barry is doing.

Lots of great experiences -- one was Barry trying to stop a 6'-high female Cassowary -- a large aggressive bird with 5" velociraptor-like claws on its feet-- from entering our cottage..Stop! No! BAD cassowary! Impression on cassowary -- zero -- so we slammed the door and then she walked around the cottage and looked in all the windows -- you have FOOD in there! Who said birdwatching was a tame sport?

On the way home, suffering through the added security restrictions, I realized that if Barry had been relying on Oral Balance liquid or gel for dry mouth, as many oral cancer patients must, these would have taken away from him and he would have had a 15-hour flight without them. They did take his water but that was easily replaced. Luckily xylitol gum works well for him as his dry mouth is not bad (and improving) but I think TSA needs to be made aware of this issue. They allow prescription products but are suspicious of OTC or unlabelled items -- no problem with our few prescription drugs but they were not happy with the supplements (in a "daily pill box" so not labelled), and only Barry's saying he is a cancer patient got them through (they did look guilty at taking his water). Just a word to the wise if you are travelling by air in the near future.

Anyway, back to piles of mail and oodles of email messages -- and dirty laundry...

Best, Gail and Barry

Australia is great, everyone very friendly and helpful. I was surprised that almost everyone drives big cars (like here) and in the Northern territories, more SUVs' than our suburbs which is saying a lot, despite their $4-5 a gallon gas prices.

Welcome back. Glad you had such a good time. Although my planned trip will be different than yours, I am now more anxious to go than before.

Thanks for the tips on flying. Hopefully, things may be back to "normal" by February when we go.

Jerry

Welcome home Gail and Barry

Glad you enjoyed your well-deserved holiday. Until now I'd thought that birdwatching was humans watching birds - not the other way around!

Thanks for the airport security info.

Love from Helen

Hi, Gail and Barry, Great to know y'all had a good trip! So where are you going next? Amy

Gail,

I agree the new regs pose a lot of travel problems for oral cancer survivors. I have flown twice since rad and chemo and rely very much on biotene gels and a spray I use for extra mouth moisture. Water alone would not cut it for me. I'm actually going to a conference in DC in a few weeks and have decided to drive just to avoid the hassle.

The there's the fact that I still get most of my nutrition through a PEG tube--I wonder what they do if you have to carry your liquid food with you on the plane--for a 15 hour flight especially you'd have to have *something* to eat. I hope eventually I won't have to have the tube, but I still doubt I'll be able to eat what the airlines would serve so what are people wityh dysphagia supposed to do? I really hope someone is thinking about this. I'd like to travel abroad eventually.

Nelie

I typically take 2 to 3 water bottles and a few bottles of Boost in my backpack when I fly. We are flying to California next month and I wonder just how big a hassle this will be. I wonder if a letter from a Doc at MD Anderson stating that the "cancer patient" must have hydration and nutrition would make any difference. Actually I can eat most anything but still rely on Boost when I need a quick snack at the office, on a plane or at the golf course. I actually like the stuff if it is chocolate.

Danny G.

As of now they will not let you take Boost or similar on board, but might let you take a prescription formula (such as Nutren) but each can would have to be labelled with your name and match your boarding pass. No Oral Balance or other gels or liquids unless less than 100 ml.

I wrote to the TSA on their comment page about this and I urge others to do the same. Perhaps OCF and other head/neck cancer support and information organizations need to get on TSA's case. Also, oral cancer patients are not the only ones who might need liquid nutrition during a long flight, my mother used it during her leukemia treatment. Perhaps as a quick fix airlines could carry some cans of Boost or Ensure but that does not solve the "articifical saliva" problem. I will post when (or if) I hear back from TSA.

Gail