Breast Cancer and My Unique Security Problem

I travel across the border between Canada and Michigan almost once a month to visit my family in Ontario. Thanks to breast cancer, I have an interesting problem — I have three pieces of ID that I use, each with a picture of me sporting a different hairdo and hair color. In this age of increased scrutiny and tighter border security, having this distinction is not a good thing. Several times I have had border officers look at my passport, then my permanent resident card (“green card”), and after noticing that I am blonde in one and brunette in another, ask for a third piece of ID. It doesn’t help that I then give them my driver’s license, which shows me with a third hair color. This happened because I got my driver’s license when I was wearing a wig during treatment for breast cancer, I got my green card when my hair was growing back, and then I got my passport after I changed my hair color back to blonde. So I end up having to explain my history with breast cancer in order to explain the extreme difference in my appearance. The journey through breast cancer and treatment was long and hard, and I’m still on the road back. Chronicling the journey through pictures is what many of us do, but recording the different phases on important documents… well, that’s not such a good idea. Take it from me, traveling back from Canada tonight I once again had to show all my identification to the officer at the border and tell my story. The one thing I have found ...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs