Blog Katie Allen June 2023

Summer fun on vacation is just one of those childhood memories that glows the brightest. However, when you have a rare disease, there are a few handy tips for making it all fun in the sun. The first lesson I learned was to have extra medications, whether it’s cancelled flights or wildfire season in Canada, I have found you always seem to need more than you thought. Likewise, for things like lifts, contacts, or compression stockings it always seemed to be when I was on vacation that I lost those essentials, so having prescriptions or measurements on hand can be a lifesaver.

Technology isn’t always the best thing on vacation, but I have found that most mobile phones now allow you to have a medical section in case of emergencies (ICE), this may be in the phone’s security options or in a notes app for you or someone else to access. I find this gives me far more confidence in other countries, as in an emergency, you have all the important medical information written down and can quickly translate it to almost any language using Google Translate. It won’t be perfect, but it’s far better than my Italian when I am trying to explain my condition. Overall, summer is all about getting out and enjoying time on your own or with family and friends, technology and planning help relieve some of the stress that my condition carries.