Airport Security: The next big breast cancer "screening" debate

I travel a lot for breast cancer advocacy work.  In the last year I have been through at least a dozen airports, on more flights and in or through more than 20 states.  As a breast cancer survivor, I know there are many issues that don't merely disappear when our treatment and surgeries are finished.  I would have never considered that the mere act of getting to the places where I can fight for good cancer research and best practices would in itself become such a reminder of my cancer fight and those of my fellow survivors.

It started a few months ago.  I got a call from a dear survivor friend, for the sake of this post lets call her "Bonnie" (not her real name).  She is one of the most intelligent and, "with-it" women I know.  She travels often for her job and I have often consulted her about packing tips, travel help and general good sense that she always gifts me with.  When she called she was half laughing and the absurdity of what had just happened to her and half crying at the gravity of her new reality.  Unfortunately, when a survivor friend calls me upset, my mind often jumps to worries of recurrence or new complications.  She assured me that this was not the case, but Bonnie (who has done such an awesome job of not letting her cancer past define her or drag her down in her ongoing pursuits), was now having her cancer past find her off-guard in one of the last places most people would expect.  The middle of the airport.  Her home airport had recently installed a full-body scanner.  She wasn't much bothered by the intrusive scanner in terms of seeing through her clothes.  She was used to TSA random checks, separating liquids, she always wore shoes she could get on and off quickly, she is a pro at this travel thing.  In fact, she accurately describes this pattern as one of her "core competencies," which I would fully agree with.

This day was different, her flow was interrupted.  After the full body scan, she was pulled aside for additional screening from an area of her body that was flagged by the scan.  Low and behold her breast that had been reconstructed by some of her abdomen tissue years earlier was showing some abnormalities.  She quickly learned that there were some permanent surgical clips left in place that had to be identified and screened closer.  Now this professional woman in plain view of other business colleagues was being "felt-up" by a stranger.  She was questioned, she provided explanation, but the poking continued.   After forty-five minutes (and missing her flight) she was released.  She inquired if this issue would continue to come up and was assured it probably would.  She asked if she could bring a letter from her doctor or get a card from the TSA as a medical waiver in a preemptive move to prevent this humiliation in the future.  She was told this wouldn't matter.  She called me in tears that day, not even because she was embarrassed by what had happened (she would have had every right to be), but because she realized that she had just received an extra hour on all her trips now, that she would get an almost daily reminder of her missing breast and cancer past and that the whole game was changed now.  Cancer takes so much, and now, 5 years later, it was taking again.

Since this call, I have talked to two other survivor friends who have been humiliated and stunned by their airport screening experiences.  One woman, in a fit of frustration at continued problems with poking and screening, has begun pulling her breast prothesis out, putting it in its own bin and just letting in go through the conveyer belt with her shoes and coat.  In one sense we giggle with a gesture of, "That'll show them."  However, then there is a lingering sadness over the privacy lost.  To a woman whose lost her breast, pulling out a prothesis can be tantamount to walking through the airport topless.  Why do we have to be reminded of the pain of cancer at the airport of all places?  This same woman said the first time this happened to her she was on the way to a long anticipated vacation with distant family and the shadow of this event made her self-conscious the whole rest of vacation and she dreaded the return flight and repeat of events.

I will be the first to admit my views on this airport screening have changed 180 degrees.  I grew up in the Washington DC area.  I was just a few miles from DC on September 11th and I, like many Americans, felt like the extra airport security was my patriotic duty to protect our country from terrorists. I looked at flying as a privilege and not a right.  This has changed for me with the evolution of the new airport scanners and pat down guidelines.  There are 3 million breast cancer survivors living in this country.  There are many more people living with synthetic body devices from all kinds of issues.  The TSA guidelines shown here:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1370.shtm#0

 state very clearly that you are not supposed to be asked to remove any medical devices or even required to show the device, but all of my friends who have experienced this intrusive "pat-down" have indicated they were not made to, but felt encouraged to show these items.  Also, unlike other airport screening waivers, a doctor's note does not in any way make anyone immune to more involved screening or humiliation.  The guidelines also state that even though each individual has a right to request a private screening, there is no guarantee that flights will be held, connections made or accommodations to the actual details of travel adjusted for the extra time needed to move to another location, call in a understaffed supervisor and sort out any questions that have come up.  These "private locations" are often some distance from the original screening area, understaffed and in many instances poorly maintained or dirty.

It was suggested to me that we should unite in protest by all insisting on pat-downs, holding up security or making our presence known.  Yes, this idea sounds like a great idea to, "Stick it to the man!"  but so difficult for people who have real life demands.  What about the woman flying to see family she hasn't seen in years?  What about the pennies she pinched to get the ticket, because cancer left her in massive debt, and the flight that she will miss (because the TSA doesn't really care if we are inconvenienced) is she supposed to sacrifice this trip to, "Stick it to the man?"  What about the stage 4 woman who is flying to a major cancer center half way across the country in a desperate effort to find more treatments for her metastatic cancer, is she supposed to take extra hours of her life to, "Stick it to the man?"

Here is a glimpse of just one dialogue amongst cancer survivors on how this issue plays out: http://csn.cancer.org/node/204598

How is this not disturbing to ALL Americans??
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40278427/ns/travel-news

I don't really know if it will make a difference, but we need to start by making our voice heard on this issue:

Here is a link to NBC News and their call for submissions on these types of issues: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40197782/ns/nightly_news

Here is a link to the TSA complaint form:
 https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/DynaForm.aspx?FormID=10

How is this ok?  Pat downs on children???
http://www.wbtv.com/global/story.asp?s=13526724

Something has to change, this should not be acceptable in the United States.  How do YOU think we should resolve this issue???  Here is a great interview with the head of security for El-Al Israeli airlines and a great commentary on how to do this right:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/11/yeffet.air.security.israel/index.html