New York, New York! What a city! To say I was just a wee bit excited to be headed to NYC was an understatement! I hadn’t been to the USA in over 10 years, and whilst I have been blessed to travel many places since my ostomy surgery, this was my first trip with a stoma to the USA! Would it be any different to travelling elsewhere with an ostomy?
Even better, my husband was travelling for work, and somehow managed to get me a ticket too, so it was basically an all-expenses paid trip. How lucky am I?!
With the Beast from the East snow storm hitting most of Europe the week I was due to leave, snow carpeted much of London and flights were being cancelled left right and centre on the day I was due to travel. I was incredibly lucky that my flight went ahead and in fact we landed at New York’s JFK airport ahead of schedule. Mikey was waiting for me when I got off the Airtrain at Jamaica station and we headed straight for our hotel in Midtown the INNSIDE by Meliá New York NoMad, with a great location on West 27th Street.
I had 5 nights and 5 full days to pack in as much of NYC as possible! And that we did!! We walked for miles, ate lots of yummy food, saw a Broadway show, gawked at the amazing architecture, gazed at the skyline views, visited museums, iconic sights galore, and generally soaked up the incredible vibe of the Big Apple. One thing I love about NYC is the fact that it’s virtually impossible to get lost. The grid like pattern of the streets running East to West, and the street numbering system means you don’t need a map. You just walk!!!
Firstly, here is a day by day account for anyone interested in my travelogue of NYC!
Day 1:
A day exploring on my own (Mikey had to work). Went from snow in London to snow in NYC but I didn’t let it stop me! A misty view from our hotel room and you could barely see the top of the Empire State building. Walked around midtown and kept getting drawn around every corner as a new building grabbed my attention. Eventually dragged myself uptown and spent hours exploring the Met. Didn’t even make a dent on the 2500 paintings! What a place!!
I think I was the only crazy person walking through Central Park in the freezing sleet to meet Mikey back near his work. Even the squirrels were somewhere else warmer!! And would you believe after around 15 unsuccessful attempts at the Book of Mormon lottery in London, we got 2 front row box seats first try in NY!! Must be our NYC luck as we also got Rent tix in the lottery when we were here 10 years ago! Absolutely hilarious musical and great first day in NYC!
Day 2:
The snow made way for sunshine and blue skies, and I think I reached a new step count record on my Fitbit!!! We made our way down past the Flat Iron building and Madison Square Park to the lovely fresh produce at Union Square Greenmarket. From there we wandered the streets of the Lower East side and stopped for an ale at one of NYC’s oldest pubs, McSorleys. Only 2 drink choices made it easy, a dark ale for Mikey and light ale for me, sitting with the sun streaming in onto our window seat soaking up the atmosphere and in awe of how many glasses the bar staff could hold in one hand!
To save a few $ we decided to do our own DIY food tour which included a knish from Yonah Schimmel, an everything (onion, garlic, sesame) Bialys from Kossar’s, a delicious pastrami on rye from Katz’s delicatessen, and a coffee and vanilla bean doughnut from Doughnut Plant to finish on a sweet note!
We continued down through Chinatown and some of the municipal buildings of the Civic Center, the impressive new Westfield (they’re taking over the world!) and headed off Manhattan island over the 1-mile span of the Brooklyn bridge. I love the view looking towards downtown of all the city skyscrapers through the bridges cabling, and back across from Dumbo once you reach the other side.
We finished off the night in Red Hook in South Brooklyn, where in what felt like the middle of nowhere we had the most buttery lobster roll at the Red Hook Lobster pound (not before a typical clam chowder entree and leaving room for a keylime pie!), and a craft beer at a trendy local the Other Half Brewing Company. I still don’t think we burnt off all those calories despite the miles of walking!!!
A walk uptown via the ice-skating in Bryant Park and more magnificent Manhattan architecture including the Chrysler and Met Life buildings, and the buzzing Grand Central station. Caught the subway to Harlem for a Sunday southern style gospel brunch at Sylvia’s (Mikey even got serenaded!). Afternoon walk around the interesting streets and sights of Harlem, then a bike ride and stroll through beautiful Central Park as the sun set. We ended another great day at Eataly and the rooftop bar, followed by a spread of tacos and a michelada (spicy mexican cerveza cocktail with tomato juice, hot sauce and spices) at Tacombi.
Day 4:
I got up close and personal with the Empire State and did a bit of window shopping, before meeting up with Mikey at the beautiful New York Public Library. The whole building is impressive but the cathedral like Main Reading Room is a stand out, taking up 2 whole city blocks.
We built up our energy with a lox and cream cheese bagel before walking the High Line (a disused railway line that’s been converted into a park with great views and pop up art) to Chelsea market (housed in the former headquarters of the National Biscuit Company) where after exploring the plethora of food options we opted to share a bowl of hot Chinese style noodle soup. We were drawn towards the Hudson for a very cold but very beautiful walk as the sun set behind Jersey.
The rest of the night was spent in dive bars drinking beer and doing a pizza ‘pepsi’ style challenge at Joe’s and Bleecker St pizza (jury’s still out!) both pre and post getting standby tickets to the 9:30 show at the Comedy cellar. 5 different comedians none of whom we’d heard of but all very funny!
Day 5:
Fifth and final day, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. Sun and blue skies for the Staten island ferry past lady liberty, then Battery park, and One World Trade centre. The 911 memorial where the Twin Towers once stood is a place of reflection and has been tastefully designed to remember and honour those who died in the 2001 (and 1993) terror attacks.
Back to midtown to the Rockefeller Centre, up 70 floors to Top of the Rock for virtually unobstructed 360-degree views of Manhattan, and a final walk around Times Square before heading out to JFK just in time before another snow storm hit!!
Travelling with an Ostomy in the USA
I was interested to see how travelling with an ostomy in the USA compared to my travels elsewhere. I thought airport security might be stricter in the US especially at a big airport like JFK. There were no issues leaving Heathrow, nor on entry into JFK. Nobody even checked my bags or supplies (although I was carrying a letter from my stoma nurse and an ostomy travel certificate like I always do).
When leaving New York, I had to go through a full body scanner during security. Most people were going through the standard metal detector, but they were randomly selecting some people to pass through the full body scanner. I was actually pleased I got selected to see what would happen! I stood in the middle of the scanner on the yellow footprints with my arms raised whilst the machine did its thing, taking no longer than a minute or so. I could see on the screen that the lower right of my abdomen lit up like a Christmas tree!! I told the security lady that I had an ostomy (without explaining any detail). No questions and she didn’t want to see it, she just asked me to wipe my hands over/near the bag and then did a swab of my hands for one of those bomb residue tests. I didn’t feel uncomfortable or like my privacy was invaded at all. After 30 seconds when the test was clear, I was told to carry on and enjoy my flight!
Apart from that, there’s really nothing else to report ostomy wise. As I like to say, it was smooth pooping all the way! No issues with carrying my supplies, changing my bag at the hotel (which I only did once in 5 days as I changed the day before I left and again the day I got back), emptying in public bathrooms, or anything else!
One of the highlights of this trip for me was going back to Central Park. I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I had a very vivid dream when I was in the middle of a bad Crohn’s flare several years ago. I was in NYC in Central Park but it was like I was trapped on the outside looking in. I could see my boyfriend out there enjoying the park. He was calling me to join him. But I couldn’t. I was stuck there. I literally couldn’t move. The Crohn’s had a hold of me. The Bethesda fountain was most definitely the one in my dream, only in winter there was no water, and in my dream it was the peak of summer, sun shining and people everywhere. I don’t know why I dreamt of this specific place, but somehow I knew that was where I was in my dream, and being back there concreted this for me. After the dream I woke to the most awful feeling of deep sorrow at the thought/fear of never being able to travel again because of my Crohn’s. Suffice to say, being back there, and being able to be free and walk through Central Park without a care (thanks to my ostomy) was quite an emotional experience for me, and the Bethesda fountain will always have a special meaning for me because of that.
May you all get back to somewhere you thought may never be possible 😁 🗽 🌎 ❤
Happy travels,
Laura x
stomalicious 
[…] In March Mikey had a work trip to Toronto and New York. We cheekily asked if I could tag along, and his work said yes! So, my ostomy and I were off on an all-expenses paid 5 nights in New York City!!! First time in the USA with my stoma I was a little nervous about what the security would be like, but it was all smooth pooping!! I did manage to write a detailed blog post about this trip which you can read here. […]
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