<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" For a long time, people with a serious chronic illness were advised to stick close to home. (My grandmother, a type 1 diabetic, was told that traveling overseas to visit her parents was out of the question.) Boy, how times have changed. Today, traveling with a serious medical condition isn&amp;#039;t always easy, but it&amp;#039;s no longer the feat that it once was. Just ask Veronica Crowe: She was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 14, and since then had dreamed of traveling to Italy. And, as you can see below, she recently did just that! Here&amp;#039;s how:  &amp;quot;I have always wanted to travel abroad, but having uncontrolled epilepsy held me back,&amp;quot; says Veronica. &amp;quot;After working with my doctors for years and lots of trial and error with my medications, I finally attained seizure control. I decided that I would go to Italy to celebrate my 30th birthday\u2014but there were a few important things that I had to do to prepare.&amp;quot;  The first thing she did was find a group of women to travel with. (She was traveling solo but didn&amp;#039;t want to be completely alone.) Next she told her doctor about her plans, and he helped her figure out how to do it safely. The top tips: \u00E2\u00A2Order extra medication from the pharmacy a few weeks before the trip in case there are travel delays or the medication is lost.  \u00E2\u00A2Keep medications in their original bottles. \u00E2\u00A2Bring a written prescription from your doctor, just in case you lose your medication. \u00E2\u00A2 Figure out the time difference and plan to take your medications at times that correspond with your normal times at home. Before leaving for her trip, Veronica also called her health insurance company and confirmed that they would continue to cover her while she was abroad. (If yours doesn&amp;#039;t, consider purchasing travel medical insurance.) When she arrived in Italy, she told her new travel companions about her condition. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s important to let people who are going to be around you know what to look for so they can help if a seizure could occur,&amp;quot; she says. She wore her medic alert bracelet throughout the trip (a good idea at home, too!) and also carried cards with her at all times which explained what to do if a seizure were to occur. Learn more about traveling with epilepsy at epilepsyadvocate.com. Do you have a chronic illness? If so, share your best travel tips! \u2014Barbara Brody, Health Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/a46421/traveling-a-chronic-ilness-951/>