New York Travel Experience
June 2022, I adventured to New York with my mom, my aunt, and my cousin for a few days to watch my daughter sing at Carnegie Hall.
This was a first time in the big city for the rest of my crew, the last time I had been there was when I was in high school singing at the same location. This adventure was going to be extremely different, I was hauling my machine and bags of dialysate as it was a short trip and I would only need to run two days. I am able to fit 4 dialysate bags per hard case carry on that I have. Both have great wheels so easy to roll around, but still take some muscle to lift. We had 1 checked clothing bag, 2 hard case carry one with dialysate, 1 hard case carry one with all other supplies and pole, and my machine in a hard case.
Airports "should" allow you to check 5 medical bags without charge, but always check with airline first. Knowing that I only needed 2 days worth of supplies it was not worth fighting with Nxstage to get them shipped for me. I figured it would be easier to bring them along.
Once the plane landed we looked for an Uber to get us to the hotel. When planning an Uber you have to take in account the number and size of all your bags that you have extra. Not all cars can fit the dialysis machine.
Traveling to New York on a short trip and packing all of my supplies in luggage, made traveling by uber and subway. Bringing a Dialysis machine at an airport is easy as they have carts that you can add it to and easily move it throughout the airport. I have not had any issues with checking saline bags and all of my other liquids. I have also brought my bags with saline as a carry on, which causes a lot of time that needs to be planned to get through security.
One thing that I learned going through New York is that if you divide your luggage, dialysis supplies between a number of people it helps to reduce the load on whom ever is the main person moving the supplies. Rolling bags onto subway takes a lot of extra effort as it is easy for the wheels to get stuck, make sure that you are paying attention to how your bag is rolling when they are so heavy with the dialysis machine. Being prepared for it to get stuck, makes it so that it is less likely to happen.
Planning around all of the events, and talking to the cleaning people is advised as there is a Lifesaving Medical device in the hotel room. Most of the time I request for our room to not be cleaned as then I don't have to worry so much about re-wiping it down every time that I am running. It is only needed to wipe down when I get there saves some time each time that you run. Also it gives me the opportunity to prime when we are in the room instead of letting it beep for all of the others to listen to until we are back in the room.
A little bit about our trip to New York. If you go to Central Park definitely take a ride on the bike carriage. The individuals who bring you around are great tour guides and are willing to take tons of pictures. Definitely take in the Broadway Shows. Visiting the Empire State Building is a must, seeing the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, China Town, and of course the 911 memorial. If you are a food lover you are in the place where everything is just a couple of blocks away. New York Pizza, yum.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Get help moving your baggage
2. Order Ubers that machine will fit in
3. Watch when getting onto subway that bag wheels don't drop between.
