In her role as the director of education and support at ModernHEALTH Specialty Pharmacy, Stacy has become quite the frequent flyer. From her home in Southern California, Stacy regularly travels to Florida, Louisiana and Northern California for her job. But she also makes sure to get in some personal travel as well so that she can take any opportunity to explore other cultures, and get a different perspective on the world.

But before Stacy embarks on any trip, she consults the travel checklist that she created to make sure that she doesn't forget to pack anything. “There have been times when I have forgotten medication or equipment that I needed on a trip and it was very difficult for me to track them down in a foreign place,” explained Stacy. “In those situations, I had to ask my doctor to send new prescriptions to a local pharmacy. After having this happen a couple of times throughout the years, I made my travel checklist and that has helped me to remember to pack everything I need.”

Stacy's number one travel tip is to pack extra medication, and recommends putting those medications and equipment into your carry-on luggage so that you not only have access to your medications in case of emergencies or delays, but also they won't get lost, as checked bags sometimes do. She also recommends traveling with doctor's notes to help explain, and avoid fees for, your equipment.

As Stacy navigated this new frontier, she did run into some trial and error once she was away from home. The first time Stacy traveled overseas, she went to Australia where she experienced some difficulty in using her treatment machine. Even with an adapter to account for the voltage difference, her treatment machine broke and she had to connect with a local CF center to get a new one. This replacement machine ended up setting off the fire alarm in her hostel, and the fire department was called out to investigate!

Although it might seem that a lot of work goes into preparing for a trip, it is well worth it. “I encourage everyone with CF to not let their disease stop them from seeing the world and from experiencing all of the things that they want to,” said Stacy. “I have traveled to some amazing places throughout my life and my travel bucket list is filled with many more places that I hope to travel to."