Traveling with dilators

marctravis · April 17, 2018, 11:14:56 AM

Hi all. It's been a while since I posted. My wife is now 11 months post op and we've encountered an issue traveling with dilators. We bring all 4 together and we only have carryon luggage. Every time we have traveled we have been stopped by TSA to check what the dilators are. Wife is really annoyed to have to take this extra time. It's also a little embarrassing when the agent takes them out in front of everyone. Last time they even swabbed the dilators.
We got a letter from McGinn but they still stop us. Any ideas for avoiding this?

Colleen_definitely · April 17, 2018, 11:17:52 AM

Checking a bag is about the best way to avoid this.

Devlyn · April 17, 2018, 11:43:38 AM

https://www.tsa.gov/transgender-passengers

Barb99 · April 17, 2018, 12:10:29 PM

They want to check mine just about every time now.

When the agent picks up the bag and asks if it's mine, I say yes it is. What your looking for is right on top, upper right corner, it's a medical device.

The last guy didn't even bother unwrapping it from the cloth pouch, there were two in there. He just picked it up looked at it and put it back. Closed up my bag and said thank you mam, have a good flight. I'm TSA Pre, so they are a bit more relaxed.

marctravis · April 17, 2018, 12:55:06 PM

Thanks. I guess we're stuck with the inconvenience for now. This last time we even took the dilators out separately and tried to explain to the agent before they sent it thru. He asked what is it? And we were like dilators. And he was like I don't know what that is. I think at the least they should be aware of what dilators are.

Devlyn · April 17, 2018, 02:12:55 PM

Ask for a supervisor as soon as you get there.

I Am Jess · April 17, 2018, 02:35:12 PM

It happens to me every time I travel. I just grin and laugh when they pull it out. It's a part of my life now and I have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.

Colleen_definitely · April 17, 2018, 02:42:58 PM

"So now that you have your hands all over it, wanna know what I do with it?"

Michelle_P · April 17, 2018, 02:47:34 PM

"Medical equipment". All they need to know. If one gets nosy, "for treatment of vaginal stenosis."

Wash in hot water with soap when you get to your destination. They NEVER change gloves between passengers.

HappyMoni · April 17, 2018, 05:25:42 PM

Quote from: Colleen_definitely on April 17, 2018, 02:42:58 PM
"So now that you have your hands all over it, wanna know what I do with it?"

Hi Marc, hope your partner has healed up well. You might consider getting a printout of the literature on the dilators and handing it to them. "They are medical devices and here is the paperwork. They should only be touched with clean gloves." They will probably not want to bother changing the gloves. Plus you are handing them a plausible explanation of what they are.

Funny Colleen!
Moni

Maybebaby56 · April 17, 2018, 05:43:12 PM

Hi Marc,

You wonderful significant other, you! You are just a sweetheart, lol.

<Focus, Terri!>

Ahem, yes. Personally I am not at all embarrassed to have to explain dilators to an unwitting TSA agent, but it bothers the crap out of me to have them waste my time as I wait for my bag to be searched, and have them paw through it, especially when you expect to whiz through security as a TSA PreCheck customer.

I pretty much solved the dilator problem by buying a set of soft silicone dilators from Soul Source. I use them as travel dilators, and they come in a cute little pouch.

Ironically, the last time I packed them in my luggage I got flagged by TSA anyway, but it was not about he dilators. They didn't like my hand mirror. Folded up, it apparently looked like a knife.

Sometimes you can't win.

With kindness,

Terri

marctravis · April 18, 2018, 02:12:57 PM

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the responses and will look into some of the suggestions.

Hey Moni. Spouse is healed up except for some leftover places on her scars. They looked like they had healed but then started oozing. I finally convinced her to soak in the tub. Or the doctor did bc she never takes my advice. Hard headed. The soaking really helps. Not sure if you remember but she had a lump about two inches above her scar on one side. Got really big. It turned out to be an abscess. Another one appeared on the exact opposite side a few months later. We saw several bewildered doctors before realizing the soaking in a tub works well. Other than that she complains about tightness. We just had a follow up with McGinn and she has lost some depth. She's at 3.5 when she was at 5. She is gonna start dilating a lot more to try and regain the depth. Hope you're doing well. Nice picture.

Hi Terri. Thanks for the kind words. That's pretty much our situation. We really hate being stopped every time. I'm gonna check out those dilators you mentioned.

Marc

HappyMoni · April 18, 2018, 05:00:25 PM

Marc,
Yes I remember about your spouse very well. I am so glad you found an answer and things are getting much better. As for the tightness, I am very conservative in my tapering down. I could be doing once a day but do 2 because I can sense things being tighter. I would rather try to be out in front of the tightness issue and not have to play catch up. Your partner is very lucky to have you. I hope she realizes that.

Moni

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Traveling with dilators