Airline travel with Ostomies

Has anyone had any experiences at airports with the TSA concerning ostomies. A friend said I should have a letter from my doctor stating my two ostomies so the TSA would know.

Any advice.

Thanks again for all your great comments.

The UOAA has a card to print out to give to people at the airport. It's at http://www.ostomy.org/ostomy_info/pubs/Travel_Card_2011b.pdf I didn't actually find it all that helpful, as no one seemed to know what it was, but maybe they'll learn.

If you get a metal detector, no big deal, just go through, but the x ray scanners do see the bag. There have been people here who have gone through just fine, and when I fly next month, I am going to try not telling people and see what happens.

I have flown a few times between my surgeries, and each time I gave them the card, and they looked clueless..... then I had several things happen. The easiest was having to touch the bag and then they tested my fingers for explosives, which was no big deal. Other times, I've had to go into a little room w/two agents (both female), and once they did a whole pat down; the other time they mostly had me do the same thing w/touching the bag.... the agents I had were professional and it wasn't that awful. I tried to focus on how great it was to be able to travel w/out having to worry about running to the bathroom all the time.

A lot of people here have had no problem though.....

One tip -- if you do have to talk to an agent, use the phrase "colostomy bag" not ostomy or ileostomy..... you have a better chance of them knowing what you're talking about....

I've heard a few horror stories on the internet, which made me very nervous to fly. I ended up going through the full body scanners at a very busy airport and they never said a word to me. Then on the way back I was flying out of small airport and they actually had the scanners. Went through those and they didn't say anything. I guess they knew what it was.
Print out the card, put it in your pocket and don't tell them. I think telling them makes them want to investigate more. If they find it and dont know what it is they will ask you.
Most importantly have fun Flying