Comical Chronicles

Stories of humor, resilience, and humanity from women navigating cancer on their own terms.

Travel Alert

I was trying to fly back from Hawaii to California when, at the Hawaii airport, I ran into some post-9/11 security measures.  Going through the security arch, I set off the alarm. They pulled me aside and questioned me about jewelry. When they learned that I wasn’t wearing any jewelry, they had me take off my shoes. I was then asked to step onto a special mat, but I still set off the alarm.

A woman then approached me with a thick metal wand and began running it down my legs and up my torso, over my arms. And then, voilà—near my left breast, the wand lit up. And so did I. "I know what it is!," I said, with newfound pride. "It’s my metal port. I have an expander with a metal port!" 

 Clearly, this was a new one for them. So I explained to them the intricacies of breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. With great embarrassment, but still needing to do their job, two women escorted me into a room near the security gate where I could pull up my blouse. They both looked at my chest, then at each other. After an awkward moment of silence, they let me go.

─Stephanie

Jennifer Omholt is the author of Just Diagnosed: A Survivor’s Guide to Navigating Cancer. A longtime journalist and 24-year cancer survivor, she writes about the emotional, practical, and medical challenges faced during the critical first weeks after diagnosis.